- The Methodist Church
- The Square
- Dunstable
- Beds
- LU6 3SN
3Generate 2025
The Methodist Church National Youth Event
Last Friday (3rd October) 31 young people from our Methodist Circuit, including 17 from The Square, set off for the N.E.C. in Birmingham. There should have been 18 from The Square, but one person had been unable to change his Friday evening shift at work. Undaunted, he made his own way to Birmingham and slept outside the venue until I could bring him inside at 7am. That is commitment!
For me this was a very exciting year in terms of children attending from the Square. Seven of the 18 were first-timers and of these, three were asylum seekers from the local hotel, three were young people who have started attending The Square through the invitation of friends, and one was the youngest person we have ever taken and the fourth and final member of one of our regular families. God is doing marvellous things at The Square and we should rejoice.
The sleeping accommodation is in tents of varying sizes, all pitched and ready for our use. Each group has its own area of tents and ours was the South Bedfordshire Circuit. After some initial problems over who would sleep where, everyone was happy and we were able to get some food and begin to explore the venue. I slept very well that first night and was awake in time to go and find Blessing and get him through registration.
After breakfast, everyone was able to do their own thing until half way through the morning, when everything stopped for a time of worship, led from the Big Stage.
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The music wasn’t my cup of tea, but when the singer stopped and spoke for a few minutes, she was truly inspired, and when she called for the young people to stand if they wanted to make a first time commitment of their lives to Jesus, many children did stand. Of the wide range of activities around the venue, the climbing walls were very popular as usual. This time they had a system of timed tickets to cut down the queuing, and Claudia very thoughtfully booked tickets for all of us (including herself).
One thing I really enjoyed this time was seeing how our youngsters interacted with one another, and also with those young people from other churches in our Circuit and beyond. It is also a good opportunity for the youth leaders from the different churches to get to know one another better. We really work well as a team, supporting one another. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing the young people in a different environment. Three of our young men seem very calm and laid back when you see them around church, but as I watched them playing basketball, there was a transformation and they seemed unstoppable. And when I saw one of our girls dancing during the Sunday morning worship session, I was amazed at her incredible energy. It made me think of 2 Samuel 6 v 14 where we read, “And David danced before the Lord with all his might.”
The homeward journey was straightforward and we were back at The Square just before 4pm, tired, relieved and thankful to God for another successful 3Generate weekend.
Ivor J. Mitchelmore