|TOP|Crusaders, the youth and children’s missionary movement, will launch its first residential music and performance training project, ‘Rock School’, to encourage young people to use their talents for Jesus.

The training programme will run 23 to 28 October at Crusaders’ Westbrook Centre on the Isle of Wight.

Targeted towards 13 to 19s, Rock School aims to give young people the chance to develop their God-given musical talents and to apply their faith to their gifting.

The programme will involve individual tuition for musicians, DJs, singers and songwriters as well as guidance on performance, band dynamics, production and publicity. The residential is open to entire bands and also for individual musicians and DJs.

|AD|Anita Darashah, Crusaders’ Events and Residential Manager comments: “There is an amazing stack of talent in young people of today. All too often society chooses to ignore the originator of those talents - Jesus. Rock School provides young people with an incredible opportunity to have their raw talent nurtured, and to be discipled to live a life focused on the talent giver.”

According to Crusaders, Rock School is a small part of a larger plan to empower and develop young people in their God-given talents.

As Crusaders move towards their re-launch as ‘Urban Saints’, due in January 2007, they will also be releasing a CD of songs called ‘Songs of the Saints: Volume 1’. These songs were written and recorded by young people as part of a song competition held to celebrate the movement’s Centenary year.

The organisation also intends to start an independent record label, with a holistic approach to the young artists that they feature, encouraging them not only in their musical development but also in their spiritual development.

For more information on Rock School, go to www.rockschool.org.uk.