Youth Space does Opening

Youth Space official opening 12:00 - Saturday 8th May 2010

Saturday 8 th May 2010 saw the official opening of Youth Space by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Wigley, chair of the Wales district.

During our short ceremony at 12:00 the keys to the space were handed to our youngest participant, Esther (age 12years and 12 days), from members of the church whose parlour our building once was and via the leader of our Vision Group. This was followed by representatives of our participants cutting the red ribbon from across the church doorway and the cutting of the celebration cake.

The building we are moving into is has been specifically renovated for us to occupy including the addition of a new inside toilet block, new kitchen and insulation works giving us a one room self contained space with independent access and a bus stop just outside.

This did mean that when we first got into the space in February it was a bare plaster shell. Following deep discussion on the use of the space six of our participants spent the February Half term decorating Youth Space in their chosen colour scheme representing the seasons and sectioning the space into utilities, chillout, activity and office/welcome zones.

This new space is for young people 24/7 and is to be a church in all aspects and senses. Not only do we worship in our own way as Youth Space 1 on a Sunday evening but as a group of Christians we are making disciples who create disciples. Through the informal learning and our more formal Christian teaching all young people who use the space during the week engage in this atmosphere of Fun, Fellowship and Faith. All members of the local youth community are welcome to share in the culture of Youth Space, in particular our after school project Somewhere to Go aims to offer a space for young people who pass on their way home from school to come in and share in fellowship within our new church without the scariness of a grown up church.

The dedication of this space now marks the start of new work to come as we hope, not only will those young people who have been creating this space grow through Youth Space we also look forward to working with new sections of our local community.

Youth Space as a project was set up following the creation of a Youth Work Vision group in the Cardiff Circuit in 2007 who in consultation with a group of young people from across the Circuit developed our vision for the future of Youth Work in Cardiff Circuit. The vision has been to create a safe space for young people (aged 11-18) in order to support young people from across Cardiff in discovering themselves, their community and the world through informal learning rooted in the Methodist Church. The dedication of this new church is a part of a wider scheme across the Cardiff Circuit to provide better quality youth work and a more focused approach to young people as a part of the Methodist Church in Cardiff.

Cardiff Circuit has a long history of youth work in individual church with many active Boys' and Girls' Brigade groups, Youth Clubs (formerly members of the MAYC) and other associated work (J Club, Messy Church, Sunday School, Discipleship classes. There has also been an element of Circuit Youth Work with two Circuit Youth Weekends per year and other ad events. Youth Space does not aim to replace this work, Youth Space provides training and support to all volunteers in the Circuit working with young people but also looks to offer opportunities for young people to get together as part of the larger body of Christ so that those from communities with many young people and those with few can meet together and be enthused by the power of the spirit moving amongst those who gather in the name of the Lord.

By young people, For young people, For God.

That's how we work, through the ideas of young people, focussed on what young people want and growing disciples who create disciples furthering the work of God in Cardiff.

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