Coronavirus: A youth ministry liveblog

Youth for Christ have created a landing page directing you to their resources and support for youth ministry. They’re developing some video tutorials on moving your youth work online, plus they have a range of existing free resources you can download. Head over here to see them.

‘Self-isolation’ is a major challenge to our normal way of life, but the spread of COVID-19 has made it a necessary one. In this new post on Youth Work News, Head of Theology Phoebe Hill offers practical wisdom on how to self-isolate well, from her experience of living with chronic illness.

Were you in the middle of running an Alpha Course with your youth group? Or are you looking for fresh ideas to engage your youth group in the coming weeks/months?

Alpha have produced a guide for running the Alpha Course online, and this includes the Youth Alpha. Why not have a look and see if this is something that would work with your group?

With youth groups moving online, some of you will now be trying out live-streamed videos or little videos giving out encouragements to the young people you work with. Vineyard Churches have written this great post with some advice for filming yourself - equipment needed, lighting, sound quality, etc.

Several organisations across Luton have partnered together, with Youthscape, to form a response group as a central place for children, young people and families to get in touch and access town-wide support.

On Friday schools across Luton will close for the foreseeable future for the majority of students. In addition, many face-to-face support services and provisions in Luton already have already been suspended due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

We are aware this will be a significantly challenging time for many children, young people and families, as the impact of the current situation will cause financial, emotional and social strain on many in our community.

We know that your schools are working hard to ensure there will be on going support available over the coming months. Voluntary services across Luton also remain wholeheartedly committed to providing care and support for those who need it, particularly during this time. The group currently comprises of Families United Network, Level Trust, Luton Borough Council, Luton Food Bank, Tokko Youth Centre and Youthscape and more are likely to join in the coming days.

This is a local, rather than a national project, but we hope it's a helpful example to others across the country thinking about how to collaborate, at a chaotic time, to help support struggling communities.

To access this support or find out more, you can fill in the online referral form here.

School is cancelled and social distancing – or self-isolation – is the new status quo. In this new article Lahna Pottle speaks to other youth leaders to wrestle with what this means for working with young people. Here you can find government advice on keeping physically and mentally well whilst self-isolating.

Various events have been postponed and cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, both within and outside the Christian community. Earlier this week Big Church Day Out, which was due to run over the May Bank Holiday weekend, announced that it would not run in 2020. The organisers were this year planning to launch a dedicated youth stage and stream - Big Church Youth - but due to the extraordinary circumstances, the next BCDO event will not run until May 2021. You can find their full announcement here.

Then on Wednesday, long-running Evangelical event Spring Harvest announced that it was cancelling all four of its 2020 events, which were due to run in Minehead, Skegness and Harrogate over the course of April. In a video and statement shared on their website and social media, the organisers said they would now be looking at using ‘creative online methods instead’ to share the content they had planned and prepared for the event. You can read the statement here.

Youth leaders and groups will have been planning to attend both events in considerable numbers, with significant youth programmes planned at each. Wednesday also saw the announcement that schools in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be closed from Friday, an expected move but one that will place more pressure on parents, families, and home life for young people. GCSE and A-Level examinations in England and Wales have also been cancelled.

"We must look after one another, knowing that in an uncertain world with a new virus we are best protected with honesty, compassion and care." Our patron and the Archbishop of York offer guidance for a time of dread in this comment piece.

Here are just some of the questions we now face:

What happens to face-to-face youth work when we’re all social distancing? We know that social distancing is vital in slowing the spread of the virus, but we also know we can’t just give up on our relationship networks, particularly for those who may have no one else to support them.

How can youth workers help protect the vulnerable? (e.g. older volunteers they usually work with, as well as young people who are also at risk)

What are the theological resources for Coronavirus? What does Christian hope look like in this situation? What happens to church when we no longer gather?