Yarnfield Park. 4–7 January 2027.
Children’s and youth ministry takes place in a world shaped by hostility to God, by the persistence of sin in the human heart and by the activity of a real spiritual enemy.
These realities aren’t abstract or remote. They shape the culture our young people grow up in, the struggles they face, and the pressures placed on every family and local church. For those entrusted with discipling the next generation, clarity about these realities is essential.
Yet the Scriptures do more than expose the world, the flesh and the devil. They place every difficulty under the authority of Christ. Revelation 12 sets this plainly. Christ has already conquered. His people are kept, upheld and enabled to endure. The spiritual struggle is real, but it is not ultimate. Christ is.
The 2027 GYD conference aims to give children’s and youth minister confidence in that truth. We want to think soberly about the environment our young people inhabit. We want to understand the inner conflict of the fallen heart. We want to acknowledge the opposition of the devil without speculation or distraction. But above all, we want ministers of the gospel to walk away with assurance that Christ keeps his people, preserves his church and equips ordinary workers to stand firm.
We long to help ministers understand the biblical account of the world, the flesh and the devil. To ground their ministry in the victory of Christ. To strengthen them for faithful work in the year ahead.
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Evening Bible Expositions: Revelation 12
Across the evening Bible expositions, we’ll work through Revelation 12 and see the spiritual conflict behind the whole story of redemption. These sessions will place children’s and youth ministry within the larger biblical drama of the woman, the child and the dragon, showing Satan’s opposition to Christ, the defeat of the accuser, and the ongoing hostility faced by the church.
Revelation 12 gives us a sober and hope-filled vision of ministry. The battle is real. The opposition is fierce. The church is under pressure. Yet Christ has conquered, the accuser has been thrown down, and God sustains his people in the wilderness. These expositions will help children’s and youth ministers see their work in the light of Christ’s victory, so they can serve with steadiness, courage and confidence in the King who keeps his people.
Morning Plenary Sessions: The World, The Flesh and The Devil
The morning plenary sessions will explore the three great enemies named throughout Scripture: the world, the flesh and the devil. We’ll consider the world as the organised human order in rebellion against God, shaping the instincts, loves and loyalties of children and young people through culture, screens, schools and public narratives. We’ll examine the flesh as the fallen heart turned inward, helping children’s and youth ministers understand why surface behaviour never tells the whole story. We’ll also consider the devil as a real personal enemy who works through accusation, deception and division.
Each session will bring biblical clarity to the pressures facing the next generation, while keeping Christ’s authority, advocacy and victory at the centre. The aim is to help children’s and youth ministers understand the battle more clearly, disciple young people more wisely, and stand firm in the finished work of Christ.
Stream 1: Stand Firm: Teaching Children to Face the World, the Flesh and the Devil
Our enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, do not stop attacking God’s people. But how often do we teach children this? And how can we help them understand and face this spiritual battle biblically, wisely and without fear?
This stream will explore how to teach these themes to children in ways that are age-appropriate, faithful, imaginative and clear. We’ll consider how to develop a child’s understanding of spiritual reality, the greatness of God, the victory of Christ, and the role imagination plays in Christian formation.
We’ll look at each enemy in greater depth. We’ll explore how to help children understand what the Bible means by “the world” and grow in discernment without becoming fearful. We’ll consider how to define sin and the flesh biblically, and how to apply Scripture faithfully to children’s hearts. We’ll also think carefully about how to speak about Satan truthfully and wisely, while emphasising God’s power, protection and Christ’s ultimate victory, teaching in a way that leaves children hopeful rather than afraid.
The aim is to equip us to disciple children with gospel clarity and confidence, helping young believers stand firm in the fight against the world, the flesh and the devil. By the end of the stream, you’ll leave with practical ideas for teaching these themes along with wider principles to strengthen and shape your regular Bible teaching.
Stream 2: The Heart Factory: Understanding What Children and Young people Love, Fear and Worship
This stream will help children’s and youth ministers understand what’s happening beneath the surface in the children and young people they serve. Behaviour matters, yet behaviour never tells the whole story. A child who lies, a teenager who performs, a young person who withdraws, or someone who seems hardened against Christ is often revealing deeper questions of desire, fear, guilt, worship and hope.
Drawing on Scripture and the riches of Reformed pastoral theology, this stream will explore the fallen heart as a worshipping heart. Romans 1 shows us that human beings exchange the glory of God for created things, and Calvin’s description of the heart as a “perpetual factory of idols” gives us a searching category for children’s and youth ministry. We’ll consider how approval, comfort, control, achievement, appearance, power and peer acceptance can function as false gods in the lives of young people.
The stream will then ask how children and young people actually change. Many ministry approaches drift towards moral advice, behaviour management, emotional reassurance or self-improvement, yet Scripture gives us a deeper account of change through union with Christ. Those who belong to Jesus have died with him and been raised to new life. By the Spirit, they learn to put sin to death and grow new affections for Christ.
The final session will focus on pastoral discernment. Children and young people don’t all need the same kind of care. Some are tender, some are hardened, some are anxious, some are ashamed, some confess everything and can’t rest, while others confess nothing at all. Drawing on the wisdom of Richard Sibbes and Charles Spurgeon, this stream will help children’s and youth ministers bring the right truth, with the right tenderness, at the right time, so that young hearts are shepherded wisely towards Christ.
Stream 3: Lies They Believe: Exposing the Enemy’s Playbook for This Generation
Children and young people are being discipled by powerful lies long before they have the language to name them. These lies rarely arrive looking hostile. They often sound compassionate, liberating and deeply personal: you are what you feel, your desires define you, your experience has final authority, love means agreement, and the truest thing you can do is “be yourself.” Yet beneath these messages sits an old rebellion with modern packaging, drawing hearts away from the voice of Christ and training young people to locate identity, authority and hope in themselves.
This stream will help children’s, youth and family ministers recognise some of the most influential lies shaping this generation, and respond with biblical clarity, theological depth and pastoral wisdom. The first session will explore identity lies, including the therapeutic gospel, expressive individualism, gender confusion, achievement pressure and the cultural command to become whatever you feel yourself to be. We will consider why these messages are so persuasive, why they often feel kind, and why young people need a richer account of personhood, desire, the body and belonging in Christ.
The second session will examine power lies, especially the claim that personal experience outranks Scripture and that love requires agreement. We will think carefully about why young people deconstruct, how cultural stories about harm and authenticity shape their instincts, and how ministers can build a theological vision more beautiful, coherent and life-giving than the culture’s account of freedom.
The final session will focus on truth that sticks. Ministers will be helped to teach orthodox theology in ways that connect with distracted, visually formed and emotionally alert young people. We will consider stories, metaphors, questions and apologetic approaches that work with actual young people , so that biblical truth is clear, compelling and rooted in the glory of Christ.
Stream 4: Teaching Apocalyptic Scripture to Children and Young People
Apocalyptic Scripture can feel strange, intimidating and difficult to teach, especially when children and young people are involved. Dragons, beasts, thrones, seals, numbers, angels, judgements and visions can easily be flattened, avoided, over-explained or made unnecessarily frightening. Yet these parts of the Bible are given by God for the good of his people, including the youngest members of the church. They lift our eyes to the throne of God, expose the true nature of evil, strengthen weary saints, and show us the victory of Christ with colour, force and holy imagination.
This stream will help children’s, youth and family ministers grow in confidence as teachers of apocalyptic Scripture. The first session will introduce apocalyptic literature as a biblical genre, helping ministers understand how these passages communicate through vision, symbol, contrast, pattern and cosmic drama. We will consider how books like Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Revelation reveal reality from heaven’s perspective, giving God’s people courage to endure in a world where evil often appears powerful.
The second session will focus on handling symbols, numbers and images with care. Ministers will be helped to avoid speculative readings, anxious guesswork and over-literal interpretations, while learning how to trace biblical echoes, recognise repeated patterns, and teach images in ways that serve the main message of the passage. The aim is to handle the text with reverence, imagination and theological steadiness.
The final session will move into the practical task of teaching Revelation to actual young people. We will explore how to explain difficult imagery, answer common questions, protect children from fear, engage young people thoughtfully, and keep Christ central throughout. This stream will help ministers teach apocalyptic Scripture with clarity, wonder and confidence, so that children and young people see the Lamb on the throne and learn to stand firm in him.
Stream 5: Families Under Fire: Equipping Parents for the Front Line
Parents are often the first and most constant disciplers of children and young people, yet many feel overwhelmed by the speed, pressure and complexity of the world their children inhabit. Phones glow upstairs, schools shape moral instincts, peer culture speaks loudly, and family life is often marked by tiredness, guilt, conflict and fear. This stream will help children’s, youth and family ministers strengthen parents for faithful discipleship in the home.
Across three sessions, we will explore how the world presses into family life through ordinary habits, digital rhythms, education, entertainment and social pressure. We will consider how the flesh is at work in parents and children alike, drawing hearts towards comfort, control, approval, achievement and self-protection. We will also name the devil’s schemes of accusation, deception, division and isolation, helping ministers recognise spiritual conflict with biblical clarity and pastoral steadiness.
The stream will then move towards practical equipping. Children’s, youth and families ministers will be helped to show parents how to build sustainable habits of gospel counter-formation through Scripture, prayer, family worship, catechism, media discernment, heart-level conversations, repentance and ordinary togetherness. These practices do not need to be impressive to be deeply formative. A psalm before school, a prayer at bedtime, a conversation after a film, an apology after harsh words, a meal without phones, all may become places where Christ is named and trusted.
The final session will address families who feel they’re already losing the battle: children drifting from faith, parents burdened by guilt, marriages divided over discipleship, and homes where one parent follows Christ alone. Children’s youth and family ministers will be equipped to walk with parents through failure and the long war, helping them repent, persevere, pray and hope in the sovereign grace of God. The aim is to help parents stand firm, fight wisely, and trust the King who keeps his people.
