Preparing hope
News
Pastor, Kinder- und Jugendwerk
Foto: Martin Obermeir-Siegrist is already looking forward to travelling to YouMe with teenagers and young adults in the summer.
Why should young people have hope - despite all the crises and threats?
As members of the Children & Youth Working Group, we are convinced that our Christian faith gives us reason to hope - even and especially in times of crisis.
The YouMe (Youth Meeting of the Central Conference), which will take place from 24 to 28 July 2025 in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), is intended to encourage young people in their life's journey based on this Christian hope:
With reference to 1 Corinthians 13:13, we will explore the reason for our Christian confidence based on the three daily themes of ‘love’, ‘faith’ and ‘hope’. In addition to the content of the programme, it is of course also about bringing the young people from our various annual conferences into contact with each other and having lots of fun together. After all, Christian hope is shared from person to person and the joy of faith is particularly tangible in the community.
The preparation of the YouMe was the focus of the annual meeting of the Working Group from 11 to 13 April 2025 in Budapest. However, other topics relating to work with young people in our Central and Southern Europe Central Conference were also discussed: Sharing resources, mutual invitations and social media were just some of them.
Foto: Members of the working group provide information about their work at the Sunday service of the UMC congregation in Kiscelli.
The Children & Youth Working Group is expected to meet for the next time in Vienna in November 2026. Between meetings, the work will continue via video conferences and other communication channels.
May God preserve the exceptionally good and warm-hearted cooperation of our Working Group; and may our ministry – in the various countries of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe of the United Methodist Church – strengthen the hope of many children and young people.
