1. Introduction

The youth of the Church are the wealth of the Church. The youth can be seen as the wealth by virtue of the fact that they are the creative and the dynamic energy of the Church. More importantly, with them lies the future of the Church. It is therefore imperative that the Church look at this section of the Congregation with care and with all seriousness.

2. The Youth Board & The Pastorate Youth Fellowships - An Overview of the Existing Ministries

The individual youth fellowships at the pastorate level have diverse levels of activities. The Youth Board has involved in several ministries for the youth and has initiated ministries by them. In the recent times the need for a more dynamic approach has been felt. At this point of time the need to rethink, evaluate and re-formulate the ministries of the Board is a very serious and urgent concern.

The total membership in the youth fellowships in the Diocese of Madras is a challenging figure of 15, 032 and it demands a greater responsibility in the youth board's perspective in addressing the overall needs of the young people. This is also an encouraging figure on whom the Board can fall back upon, for concerted action in Mission.

3. Activities of The Youth Board

Meetings

• Inter-pastorate youth fellowship meetings.
• Area level youth fellowship get - together.
• Cluster level youth fellowship meetings.
• Meeting for the unemployed.
• Inter pastorate sport meet.

• Bible study material.
• News letter / Magazine for youth.
• Programme guide for youth fellowship.

• Self employment skill training.
• leadership training for youth fellowship secretaries and treasurers.

• Employment bureau.
• Counseling centre.
• Diocesan level career programme.

• To facilitate dynamic involvement of the youth in the church.
• The Board of Youth Work to be a board of the youth and not for the youth, where the young people themselves could formulate and decide the course of action with regard to the programmes and policies to ensure total relevance and participation.
• To address the special needs and problems of the youth affecting their day to day life.
• To train the youth in leadership potential to take up leadership positions in the church and in their career.
• To address the spiritual challenges of the young people through group reflection, creative reading of the gospel and to train the young people to find in their faith experience a resource for fulfillment and growth.
• To respond to the specific concerns of youth both in the church and in society by devising concrete programmes addressing specific issues such as drug dependence, employment, career counseling, HIV and other related problems.
• To provide a plat from for the youth of the church and the youth of other faiths to meet, articulate and search for common action and fellowship and help the youth to transcend from a fundamentalist reading of the gospel to an inclusive 'Kingdom' perspective of the Gospel.
• Develop Ecumenical contacts in as many levels and areas as possible, which would help the young people to interact with each other and grow with the single sense of purpose and mission.