After moving to Sydney from the UK in early 2020, Dylan established his freelance videography career and became a kids' church volunteer leader. Church friends encouraged him to attend LIT (Leaders in Training) and he loved it so much he returned to the conference the following year. It was there he had a transformative moment, while praying as he walked alone in the dark back to his cabin one evening.

About a year ago, Kim Anderson, a Blacktown local for 45 years, had it on her heart to reignite the SRE ministry in her area. She contacted Youthworks Ministry Support Advisor Annemarie Rivers, who met with Kim to answer all her questions about the role and what was required to run SRE smoothly in her four local schools.

‘When I asked what their favourite part of camp was, they said “We love small groups. We love reading the Bible with you and having fun.”’

Children’s Minister Kaitlyn Dixon was surprised to hear this response from her campers after their first experience of Square One Winter camp. These children really valued having dedicated time throughout the weekend with their church leader Kaitlyn, who modelled what it means to have a ‘quiet time with God’ – reading a Bible passage, asking questions about it and then praying in response.

“Attending camp each year really does fuel our kids ministry program.” - Pippie Krebs, Kids & Youth Minister at St Stephen’s Willoughby.

Youthworks Square One is a weekend camp for children in Years 3 - 6 and their church leaders. We spoke with two leaders, Robyn and Pippie, about their Square One experience and why they think every church should put the camp in their events calendar.

This is a story about a small church in the NSW Southern Highlands that recently hosted a kids party. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, just some pizza, party decorations and printed invitations. But for many of the invited guests—kids with disability—it was the first party invitation they’d ever received in their life.