1. To the Church of God in this place, to those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to
be God's people.
Grace to you and peace from God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We write to you as a body of young people called into life and witness, a people of faith who are vibrant, varied
and passionate. We write to you as the Church, in thanksgiving for youth leaders who understand, adults who act
like kids, for dancing, for a community with a deep history, where people of all generations meet. For Jesus who
is present in youth and Church gatherings. By these we are united as the Body of Christ.
We implore you, continue in these good works. Do not segregate people by age, keeping young and old apart
from each other. Bring people together in work and worship as one body. As young people, we feel pressured by
other people's expectations, but not welcome to come as we are. We feel called to use the breadth and depth of
our own God given talents and gifts, however the invitations are few.
While we have gathered at the Sorrento Centre this weekend we have explored the themes of freedom and
heroes in the context of the Church and our lives. As part of that exploration, we watched a music video for the
song Free by Rudimental feat. Emeli Sandé. In the video a young person who is being bullied finds freedom
through the invitation of a falconer and by witnessing the flight of a hawk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDPW_g2AhAU
Within our Church communities there are falconers who've left their mark on our lives. Some of their actions
have been small, seemingly insignificant, but they have helped us take flight.
These people have reached out to us with their many gifts, taken our hand and guided us.

2. The actions and attributes of these leaders have brought us full inclusion and healing. They have awakened hope
in us and helped us listen to God's call. Through the shared wisdom of all generations and all understandings we
can imagine the Church and through cooperative action we can live out God's call.
We have many interests, talents and passions through which we can be of service for the building up of the
Church. We want to be invited in.
This is how we wish someone would invite us to participate:
We want to be invited into worship. We want to be creators and not just consumers of worship. We want to sing,
act, dance, draw, write, compose, and make worship that is creative and engaging. We want to preach about how
God is active in our lives and about where God is inviting us all into the story. We can read and serve alongside
ministers of all ages. We can make a worship space that is aesthetically inspiring and beautiful. We can make
bulletins for worship. We can play and chose the music that we use in worship. We want to explore with you
what contemporary and relevant worship could be: to bless pets, to invite older people to make crafts with us as
a part of the service, to have disco church, to use rap and comedy and drama.
We want to be invited into outreach ministries. To serve at the Mustard Seed, community meals, to build
relationships and be an encouraging presence to people around us. We want to create new opportunities for
community outreach through learning about each others' projects like cafes in Church basements and the
blessing of the wheels for emergency response vehicles and personal transport.
We want to be invited into programs. We are interested in many different things and we want to learn. Don't
assume that we aren't interested or aren't able to participate. We can lead VBS and Sunday School and redefine
mission trips.
We want to be invited into spiritual formation. We want bible studies that take our schedule into consideration –
before or after school. We want deeper spiritual formation that addresses difficult questions and doesn't seek to
give easy answers. We want to engage in the ancient practices of our faith and actively learn through pilgrimage.
We want to be invited into organization. We want you to acknowledge that young people also have diverse
perspectives on faith and life – THERE IS NOT JUST ONE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE. We want to be involved
in decision-making and how the Church is run, in creating policies and not getting bogged down in politics. We
want to be asked to participate because of who we are instead of being the token young person.
We want to be invited into fellowship. We want more cookies and more community lunches and to help make
them. We want more festivities. We want to be invited to the Seniors tea and we want to do kitchen duty. We
want to gather for fellowship outside the Church – to go on camping trips and fishing trips. We want to be
together for youth group every week.
Why is this important to us? Because when we aren't included it's hard for us to worship and to live out our faith.
Because we feel we have a lot to offer and to teach others. It is important because the Church keeps shrinking
when young people aren't invited to contribute. We have ideas that nobody else has thought of and we need an
opportunity to share them. When we are invited to participate we feel a sense of belonging and a sense of
community. This belonging is important to us and it helps us become who we are called to be. The Church is not
just a place for adults, it is a place for everyone, for people from generation to generation.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Our love is with all of you in Christ Jesus.
Signed,