Skateboarding Evangelist Reaches Out with New DVD & YouTube

The Bradford based "Sorted" youth project is the focus of a new DVD which has just been launched by Church Army.

The DVD which is the first of its kind features the work of skateboarding evangelist Andy Milne and the Sorted team, working on housing estates, schools and reaching out to the youths in four parishes across Bradford.

Using skateboarding as a focus Milne works with some 55 young people aged 11-17 every week in their schools, homes, in the park or on the streets, Church Army said.

Sorted project manager and evangelist Andy Milne explains: "Amongst the area where we work there are at least two socially deprived areas where many of the young people come, so many of the young people we work with come from difficult families or broken families.

"Sorted is trying to reach people where they are and we're creating a Christian community, we're being family to those that have difficult families at home. We aim to change hearts and attitudes by enabling young people to worship and serve God in a way that they can understand and relate to."

The project has very strong links in the local church secondary school and is engaged in significant detached youth work on the housing estates in North Bradford. Together with youth worker Tony Brown, Milne runs a "Rock Solid Club" at Immanuel Christian Community College in North Bradford.

Milne also uses the youth services pod (a metal porter cabin in the grounds of the local school) a couple of times a week for different groups of young people and some of the young people they work with lead four large youth groups in pairs with adult support on Friday nights. The work is seeing positive results; young people are coming into their own, and beginning to see that they matter.

"Sorted helps break down some barriers and the young people can see that we are really concerned about them and the issues they face," says Andy. "Fewer people than ever before have any meaningful links with the church and its culture so it's up to people like us to be out there meeting people where they are at rather than expecting them to come to church."

The new DVD has found a home on YouTube, a popular free video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. The DVD shows the team in action and features clips showing young people in skateboarding, in discussion groups and doing church in a way that is relevant to them.

Milne said, "Sorted is meeting a need that the traditional church hasn't met because Sorted is about meeting people where they are and not inviting them to a building at one point in the week...I'm often the only Bible that some of these young people will ever read."

Church Army's Chief Executive, Mark Russell, who was himself a youth leader for six years at the Impact Youth Ministry praised the Sorted project at the Jesus Centred Ministry held last year.

Commenting on the new DVD, Russell said, "Sorted is an exciting project that is changing the hearts and minds of Bradford youths. Church Army is about helping the church to reinvent itself in a new generation, to be more real, relevant, radical, dangerous, and fun!

"Andy Milne is changing lives and reaching out to young people in a language that they can understand and I hope that this DVD which shows only a fraction of the inspiring work being done, will be used by parishes and individuals as a youth work resource."

The Bishop of the Diocese of Bradford added; "Andy (Milne) has brought a strong sense of commitment and purpose to the work with young people in this area and has a high profile within local schools and the estates of Bradford. He has recruited a team of people who work to build relationships and lay the foundations for being able to talk about God in a way that is relevant to the lives of our young people."