Anglican Youthworks is an Australian

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

not-for-profit organisation A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NPO ...

based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Youthworks oversees three divisions, each of which contributes to the organisation's mission: to support the teaching of

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefi ...

in schools and churches, particularly to families. It was formed in 1998, to avoid duplication of resources, by merging the Diocese of Sydney's Anglican Youth Department with the Anglican Education Commission:(

History

The Anglican Youth Department of the Sydney Diocese was formed by Archbishop

Howard Mowll Howard West Kilvinton Mowll (2 February 1890 – 24 October 1958) was the Anglican Bishop of Western China from 1925 to 1933, and Archbishop of Sydney from 1933 until his death in 1958. Biography Mowll was born in Dover and attended Dover ...

, who appointed Graham Delbridge its first Director of Youth Work in 1942. Delbridge was responsible for significant growth in diocesan youth ministry, particularly in the purchase of sites along the

Hacking River The Hacking River is a perennial stream, watercourse located to the south of Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. For thousands of years the indigenous Tharawal people, Tharawal (or Dharwal) people called the river Deeban. British colonial s ...

for the welfare of returned servicemembers and youth camps. Delbridge resigned in 1952, and was succeeded by Neville Bathgate four years later. Bathgate, inspired by Christian camps in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, established the similar Camp Howard in 1956. Fifteen hundred children were attending the December camps by 1960; divided into boys', girls' and junior camps, they featured swimming,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

riflery Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

and

arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

. The

Port Hacking Port Hacking Estuary ( Aboriginal Tharawal language: ''Deeban''), an open youthful tide dominated, drowned valley estuary, is located in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia approximately south of Sydney central business district. Po ...

sites were developed and expanded, and new sites were opened at Springwood, in the

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

, Gerroa and

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses the norther ...

. Programs for troubled and disabled youths and mid-week school camps were introduced. By 1990, 25,000 young people attended Anglican Youth Department camps. Around the time that Bathgate was establishing the camping ministry at Port Hacking, Alan Langdon was appointed as director of education for the Anglican Education Commission. Langdon was involved in the development of the original special religious education (SRE) policy, scripture lessons for schools and churches, teacher training, and low-fee Anglican schools. As part of the Anglican Board of Education, he worked with other denominations and religious groups to produce a report which convinced the government to incorporate SRE into the 1990 NSW Education Act. During the mid-1990s, the Anglican Youth Department and the Anglican Education Commission investigated the idea of providing theological training of children's and youth ministers for local churches. In 1997, the department and commission began negotiating a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

under the Youth Department acting director Stuart Abrahams. Anglican Youthworks resulted the following year. In 1997,

Youthworks College Youthworks College is an Australian Bible college based at Moore College in Newtown, New South Wales. It offers diplomas for those interested in children's and youth ministry through the Australian College of Theology. Youthworks College is a mini ...

was formed at Camp Wanawong in Loftus; the campus was opened to students three years later. The college began offering a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

program and a Year 13 diploma in 2006, and long-distance online study in 2009. In 2017, the college was moved to the

Moore College Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney holds ''ex officio'' the presidency of t ...

campus in Newtown to enable expansion.

Divisions

Outdoor education

Youthworks runs holiday programs for primary-aged children, disabled youths, and HSC students. They provide programs for school camps and facilities which include Youthworks activities and sites.

Media

Youthworks supplies resources for children's, youth and family ministries in schools and churches. Christian Education Publications (CEP) provides primary and secondary curricula for use in Special Religious Education (SRE) classes in New South Wales, and are used by a number of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

denominations in Australia and New Zealand. Its Connect curriculum was reviewed in Queensland in 2016, when a primary-school principal became concerned that the material was

proselytizing Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...

his students and halted all religious instruction in his school. According to the state government review of the curricula, "the vast majority of Connect materials align with the Department of Education and Training's legislation, policies, procedures or frameworks". Concerns were raised about content considered inappropriate for the target audience, such as references to (or activities relating to) animal sacrifice, murder, sex roles, and keeping secrets. Some advice given to instructors was inconsistent with contemporary education practices, particularly in relation to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

students and students with disabilities. In response to the report, CEP affirmed their willingness to improve their resources and make suggested edits. CEP curricula are "Beginning with God" (ages 4–5), "Connect" (ages 5–12), "Big Questions" (ages 11–12) and "Think Faith" (school years 7-10) Anglican Press Australia (APA) primarily publish resources for Anglican church leaders, such as ''Common Prayer'' (for use in corporate worship) and ''Leadership on the Front Foot'' by Zachary Veron (Youthworks CEO from 2007 to 2017). ''Growing Faith'' (an online newsletter for Christian parents), APA and Aquila Press are part of CEP.

Training

Youthworks provide training for children's and youth ministries. They supply accreditation courses for new Anglican SRE teachers and sponsor training events and conferences for teachers.{{Cite web, url=https://youthworks.net/training, title=Coaching & consultancy, website=Youthworks, language=en-AU, access-date=2019-04-21

References

External links

Official website
Organisations based in Sydney Evangelical organizations established in the 20th century Anglican organizations established in the 20th century Anglican Diocese of Sydney