MAYC, the youth ministry of the Methodist Church under the Pastoral Care and Christian Education section in the Church Life unit, is planning to reform its sport programme in response to the changing lives of young people in today's society.

The current MAYC Sports Programme has existed since the 1960s. It mainly focuses on the district and regional sports competitions so as to bring young people together for fellowship in Christ, and to educate them in Christian values.

Throughout the years, it has been an integral part of MAYC youth ministries. However, in the light of declining participation and the increasing number of voices calling for more informal and local events, MAYC finally decided to make changes after the May meeting of the Council for Methodist Youth work, in an attempt to bring the widest benefit to most young people.

MAYC’s Christian Youth Festival 'Breakout Xposed 2004' has given much needed new inspiration to MAYC in taking a further step forward for change. The event, which was held at Blackpool Winter Gardens from 9th to 11th July 2004, saw more than 3000 people attend and enjoy a lively weekend of worship, sports, workshops and entertainment. Especially for the sports programmes, there were 27 football teams of mixed, ages, gender and ability in a league competition. With a purpose to expose the nature of God through contemporary culture and dedication in evangelism, caring and serving, Breakout Xposed 2004 harvested a great success. MAYC is looking forward to achieving the same in its Sports Programme.

In a Press Release by the Methodist Church, Mike Seaton, MAYC National Youth Secretary expressed his appreciation for the hard work of the sport programme’s management team over the years. He noted that many young people have found their way into the life of faith and the wider church through participation in MAYC Sports.

“The plan is that in the future the sports programmes will diversify, and an important feature of this will be that young people will have a key role in determining the future direction. The aim is to produce a Sports Programme that offers greater diversity, integrates sport into the wider work of MAYC and is manageable within the restraints of current resources,” Seaton continued to explain the future direction of MAYC.

All the current sports programmes will end by 31st August, except the volleyball weekend, which is scheduled for September. An open forum will be hosted by MAYC in the autumn for any interested members to explore a new format for the Sports Programme. Anyone interested in taking part in this should contact Val Lovett, MAYC Office Co-ordinator.