For those of us who don’t run in the circles of fifteen year olds or listen to Jay-Z (popular hip-hop artist), the phrase “word up” may not make any sense.

That’s okay! If you’re reading this and you’re over 30, it’s not supposed to make sense to you—Word Up is a project the Evangelism Unit is styling exclusively for the under 20 crowd.

In March, after securing a grant from Stewards in Action to fund a year-long focus on youth, the Diocesan Evangelism Unit gathered to participate in a discussion about serving the youth of our diocese through an event that would take place this fall.

Word Up was the result of that meeting, and it will take place on Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, at Holy Trinity in Vancouver.

Besides a DJ (disk jockey), spiritual workshops, and the chance for youth to mingle and meet, Phil Cann, an enigmatic evangelical youth minister, will facilitate an energetic dialogue with the youth on the relevance of faith in their lives.

Phil has years of experience in youth ministry, and has developed the youth program Quest, with an interactive video designed to challenge teens intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

Samantha Cawker

Word Up will be the first of what one hopes will be many opportunities hosted by the diocese for youth to meet each other in a safe, spiritually stimulating environment. Through small-group workshops, they will challenge each other through the exploration of topics such as “Being a Christian at School” and “What am I doing with my life?” as well as engage in large group sessions.

They will have plenty of chances to reflect on discussions throughout the Saturday night after a movie screening and several group games, and they will build relationships with each other that will last beyond the weekend.

To find out more about Word Up, or if you know a teen or youth group who may be interested in attending, e-mail the Diocesan Evangelism Unit, which is at evangelismunit@hotmail.com.

For more details regarding the event go here.

For a poster to advertise the event go here.