What is it?

Encounter Youth is the youth ministry of Encounter Church, and it exists to facilitate a space for young people aged 11-18 to encounter Jesus, connect with one another and have fun!

We meet mainly on Sunday mornings for a time of worship with the rest of our Encounter Church family before going out to our separate youth programme.

We also have mid-week groups on a Monday evening for those aged 11-14 and a Thursday evening for those aged 15-18. In addition, there are occasional social events and the opportunity for the older youth to attend the Limitless youth festival ‘Limitless’ in August.

What would I do?

You would be playing such a significant role in helping people of the next generation connect with others and helping them on their spiritual journey!

Different roles and responsibilities could include room set up, team prayer, registration, hosting, leading from the front (icebreakers, talks), prayer ministry, leading worship, leading small group discussions, running the tuck shop etc.

How often would I serve?

Serving commitments at EC Youth are varied; but we try to adopt a schedule that can work for you.

For those who serve on Sundays; to be available once or twice/month.

For regular midweek groups, you can choose to serve from every week (term time) to committing to once/month.

We've also got special events throughout the year such as the Christmas party, Limitless Festival and Limitless One to name a few.

What kind of training is provided?

Each role comes with clear objectives and expectations as well as feedback on strengths and areas for improvement.

You will be required to attain a DBS certificate and attend an annual safeguarding training meeting. This is to protect our young people and ensure that they have a safe space to grow.

On top of all this, our team often attends regional training days that are designed to equip, inspire and give fresh input. These are run by Limitless (Elim’s National Youth Department)

Spiritual gifts or attributes that would help in this ministry include:

Helpful spiritual gifts include: serving, encouragement, mercy, leadership, teaching, wisdom, pastoring, prophecy, administration.

Expected attributes of someone serving on team include: have personal relationship with Jesus, reliable, self-disciplined, good at taking initiative, ability to work well within a team.

Is being in membership at EC a pre-requisite?

No, unless engaging in a senior role withing the EC Youth Team. However, all team members are encouraged to read our (Elim) statement of belief and adhere to them.

Being a member really communicates your commitment to EC but not required initially. However, it would be usual for a team member to attend EC regularly for 3 months before joining the EC Youth Team.