Conference
2025
St Michael’s Centre Bristol, UK
22 March 2025
Join us for the 2025 Y&C Conference.
With main sessions, practical training seminars and loads of fun thrown in along the way, the Y&C Conference is an unmissable experience for Volunteers, Church Leaders, Kids' Pastors, Youth Workers, Families' Ministers, Teachers and anyone else whose Christian faith motivates them to serve children and young people to be renewed, strengthened and equipped in their work with under 18s.
Tickets
Super Early Bird Ticket - £15
(24 February - 31 March)
Full refund available until 30 June 2024
Early Bird Ticket - £20
(01 April - 30 June)
Advanced Ticket - £25
(01 July - 31 October)
Standard Ticket - £30
(01 November - 21 March)
Keynote Speakers
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Dr Kandiah OBE is the founder of The Sanctuary Foundation. A charity supporting refugees to find welcome, work and worthwhile housing in the UK.
He is recognised as an expert in refugee resettlement , child welfare reform, educational innovation and civil society mobilisation.
Krish has led the charge on mobilising civil society groups and churches as they have supported recent arrivals from Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Sudan.
He is a regular advisor to government. He was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education as the Chair of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board (2019-2021) where he brought strategic leadership to the finding of permanent loving families for children in the care system.
He has helped to inspire and train thousands to care for vulnerable adults and children.
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Lucy is Head of the Growing Faith Foundation for the Church of England, helping schools, churches and households to work together for the spiritual flourishing of all children and young people. She is the founder of Messy Church and developed it through her work at BRF until early 2022. She worked as a secondary school teacher of languages and subsequently in many primary schools across the UK through the Barnabas in Schools RE programme, bringing the Bible to life through storytelling and drama. She lives with her husband in the Peak District in a draughty vicarage and enjoys walking the dog and joining in village life.
Seminars
Seminars at the Y&C Conference are designed to practically equip and resource you in your work with under 18s. Seminars fit within three streams; Youth, Children and Youth & Children, with the hope that there will be something for everyone whether you’re an employed youth or children’s worker or a volunteer.
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Dave Thornton
This seminar will be a practical guide to help you lead and teach young people well, so they grow to maturity as disciples.
No youth group or a small youth group? This will give you enough tools to start/grow one, giving you the skills, ideas and encouragement to keep you going long-term.
Learn to deal with conflict. Grow values in the ministry. Build a strong team of leaders. Plan a residential. Respond to a disaster. Leave a legacy.
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Clotilde Barberon + Dr Phil Thomas
Have you ever been caught off guard by a question one of your under 18s has asked?
It's time to turn the tables and give you a chance to ask the Müllers Theology Team some of those tricky questions you've been asked or don't know how to navigate.
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Lucy Moore
This seminar explores practical strategies and collaborative efforts to create a unified support system for the under 18s you work with. This seminar will equip you with tools and inspiration to strengthen these essential connections and help nurture the next generation in faith and life.
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With a panel of guests
This seminar is a dedicated space for you to be able to answer your questions surrounding additional needs.
Covering practical strategies and real-life experience this interactive session will be a valuable opportunity to learn and hear practical insights on supporting under 18s with additional needs.
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Mark Arnold
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Seminar Speakers
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Dr Phil Thomas has been in Bristol for 30 years, in that time he has been a Student Pastor, an Assistant Pastor and is now the Theological Training Coordinator at Müllers. He firmly believes that one of the ways the local church can be strengthened is through Scriptural and Theological study, by which we can put down deep roots and live fruitful lives. Phil is the author of “In a vision of the night: Job, Cormac McCarthy and the Challenge of Chaos” and "Hope for a Tree: Artistic Afterlives of Job". When he's not doing theology you’ll find him either doing some gardening or on his bike!
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Mark Arnold is the Additional Needs Ministry Director at leading national Christian children’s and youth organisation Urban Saints and is Co-Founder of the Additional Needs Alliance, a vibrant and fast-growing online community. He is an enthusiastic national and international advocate and ally for children and young people with additional/special needs or disabilities.
Mark is a Churches for All, Disabled Children’s Partnership, and Living Fully Network partner, and a member of the Council for Disabled Children and the European Disability Network. He blogs as the national award winning ‘The Additional Needs Blogfather’ and writes a monthly additional needs column for Premier’s Youth and Children’s Work (YCW) magazine, as well as for other publications in the UK, Europe and the USA. Mark is father to James, who is Autistic and has associated Learning Difficulties, Anxiety and Epilepsy.
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Clotilde is the Deputy Theology Training Lead at Müllers as well as Charity Administrator. She has recently finished studying a masters in theology with a particular focus on the place of single people in the Church and the liberation of the oppressed in the world. She moved to Bristol from her native France more than 10 years ago and loves cooking, planning parties and anything creative.
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Dave Thornton has been in full-time youth and children's ministry for over 30 years and is Youth, Children and Families' Director at Christ Church, Winchester. He's the author of 'Raising the Bar: Nearly everything you need to know about Christian youth ministry'. He loves helping young people feel cherished and discover their gifts, and encouraging other leaders to stay in ministry for as long as they can.
He's married to Fiona and has two children. He's had more strange incidents than most people, including falling off a cliff, setting fire to three tables at a youth group barbeque and finding a haybale in his bed. He's also made more mistakes than pretty much anyone else. He passes on those in his book so that you can make all-new mistakes!
How can I get my team to come?
The conference will be a brilliant way to train, envision, and keep your volunteer team serving under 18s. However, you might not have the time to do lots of administration and organising for them to come. If this is you, you can download our templates to help save you time in helping your team sign up.
Use the links below to download and use the templates
FAQs
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The Y&C conference is for anyone whose Christian faith motivates them to serve under 18s and their families. Whether salaried or voluntary, church leadership or congregation member, church based or ‘secular’, there will be something for everyone. The conference will focus itself on the wider Bristol region, but delegates from further afield are welcome.
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Yes! We encourage whole youth / children's / schools teams to attend, including church leaders. This is not a conference just for youth and childrens workers, but will boost your whole church’s approach to ministering to under 18s.
The Venue
St Michael’s Centre
BS34 8PD
(Next door to Bristol Parkway)
