Young people are agents of change

This is the third episode from our Proximity Conference series. Abi Thomas talks with Rachel Gardner about the joys of church, youth work, and watching hope grow in urban communities. Rachel observes how young people are often already agents of change, experiencing God’s Kingdom at work in communities long forgotten in the political realm. Discover how one church is breaking barriers, supporting young people, and creating transformative spaces of love and belonging in Blackburn.

Connect with Rachel: Youthscape Instagram @rachelgardnerys

Episode quotes:

“So children and young people growing up in our immediate area are growing up in an area of high stress, of deprivation, of poverty. When we arrived we spoke to four teenage lads who were litter picking their community every Saturday morning, these boys had organised themselves to do that for ages, no adults supported them or cheered them on. I’m learning that in an area like ours it’s obvious to see at first glance the obvious need, it’s not obvious to see the people that are actually trying to make a difference are often the young people who are getting involved in God’s divine pull of making all things new.”

“One night we all went out into the yard behind the church and we found loads of plates and we thought it would be fun to write on these plates the things that women are afraid of in our community and then smash them really loudly. We began to smash these plates and out of nowhere young people from the estate who obviously love St Luke’s community but obviously had no idea what was happening were climbing over the walls shouting ‘what are you doing to our church!’ in that moment I realised the ownership they had of our church and I thought, you guys are amazing.” 

Listen to more teaching by Rachel: Proximity Conference 2025: Proximity to the Next Generation