At the end of 2018, Windsor Park Baptist Church gathered our Young Adults (YAs) together to pick their brains about what it is that they wanted as a community going forward. We had an array of awesome ideas come in, however the one that really stuck out was facilitated evenings where they could unpack topical issues in a safe space together. With this being one of the most reoccurring responses that we received, we decided to start Round the Table events the following May.
Round the Table events are about providing a space where our YAs can engage in healthy faith-based conversations around topics that we generally don’t address as much (or at all) in the church. We aim to host one event per ‘season’. Our very first event unpacked the topic of ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen?’ Our second saw us chat about ‘Relating, Dating & Mating’, and our most recent night was dedicated to understanding ‘Mental Well-being’.
For each event, we have a panel of people come in and share their experiences and wisdom around these topics. We then try to create room for conversation around the tables to allow people to process, reflect and converse with one another. We understand that we are not going to cover everything, but we want to at least start having the conversations.
The beautiful thing about our YA Round the Table is that it creates a space where those who are deeply yearning to find truth and to form their views on God and the world can do just that, without any judgement. Every event involves some kind of food and time to socialise. After our events, we email out some resources that we believe may be helpful for those who have unanswered questions or for anyone who simply wants to keep researching and finding out more about the topic. We love that through our Round the Table events people have been able to hear the stories, journeys and facts that others have experienced or learnt, sharing and growing with one another!
To find out more email Ethan Miller.
