The Scattering – Church Host

The Scattering is a week of mission for young people to grow in their faith and put it into action. We partner with local churches so that we can reach local communities in an authentic way, and invite people to the partner church as we tell them about Jesus.

Whilst we want people to come to know Jesus, and expect it to happen, it’s the added bonus to what we do. It’s all about discipleship of the young people getting involved, exposing them to mission and seeing them grow in their faith. If you’re interested in becoming a Church Host, and helping to make this happen, please read below for an overview of responsibilities, and email [email protected] to register your interest.

What The Week Looks Like

Equipping Weekend: Held in one location, everyone gathers together for a weekend of worship, practical training, Bible teaching and ministry to equip young people for mission.

Mission week: The teams of young people will go and spend a week partnering with various churches across the region as they to go out share the good news of Jesus through word and deed and in creative ways.

Celebration: Coming back together again, the teams and people from the churches celebrate what God has done during the week and be challenged to live a missional life throughout the year.

Church Hosts will be needed through the week of mission. As young people start to put into action all they have learnt over the Equipping Weekend. The activities during the Mission Week will be shaped in partnership with The Charge and the Host Church, drawing on missional activities you already run as a church, as well as bringing in activities we have run in the past. All of this helps us to tailor a mission to your church and your community, as well as ensuring the young people are being used in the right ways. This means each mission week looks different.

Key Church Host Responsibilities

Assign a Project Host

As a Church Host, you will need someone from your church to act as a co-ordinator for the mission – this will be the Project Host. The Project Host will be the primary contact between The Charge and the church and they’ll get involved in the mission week, helping to plan and execute the week well.

Church Engagement

This means getting your leadership onboard, getting the church to pray for the mission week, and encouraging your young people to get involved.

Feed The Young People

You will need to provide the young people with breakfast, lunch and dinner. We will provide £25 per person to help cover this.

You will need a kitchen space in order to be able to do this.

We will provide young people’s dietary requirements well ahead of time.

Consider Travel For Those Connected With The Project

The Equipping Weekend will finish with a closing meeting, which anyone linked to your project can attend.

At 8.00pm your team will be ready to depart. In your planning please work out if you expect them to travel to you or if you will collect them and make sure you let us know.

Provide Sleeping Facilities

You will need to provide a space for young people to sleep, and shower and wash.

Most churches use their buildings, but you will need to ensure there are four totally separate spaces (under and over 18s, male and female). A curtain that divides the room will not be separate enough.

If you do not have a shower at your church, you could approach a local swimming pool or leisure centre and ask if they will give you permission to use their facilities for the week.

Build Worship, Teaching And Prayer Into The Rhythm of The Week

A time of worship, teaching and prayer each day to enthuse and sustain your team. We see this daily rhythm of coming to together to spend time with God as a very important aspect of the mission week. In Jesus’ life we see that he spent time with the Father and from this he knew what he needed to say and do. Please let the young people input especially in teaching each other worship songs. Similarly, these times could include elements such as reflecting on the previous day, listening to God, and in the light of what the Spirit is saying to plan in some extra activities the days ahead. These times may also bring issues to the surface so please be flexible enough to create time for prayer ministry.

Ensure Policies Are Adhered To

This includes providing us with copies of your safeguarding policy, DBS checks, fire risk assessments, building insurance, public liability insurance, by the end of April.

We will host a full training day for all team leaders and project hosts in May/June, covering team management, safeguarding, risk assessments and evangelism.

Advance Youth Responsibilities

Running the Equipping Weekend and Celebration.
We will recruit and train the young people you will host during the mission week.
We will provide at least two team leaders, who have been trained and DBS checked. They will lead the mission team you host. If you would like someone from your church to be the team leader, just let us know and we will make sure they get the training that they need.
We will help to form the programme for your mission week – this may involve a visit to the church, praying and planning activities. By the end of June we will have complied a timetable for the mission week.
Running a pre-mission meeting (date is to be confirmed, but will be no later than 3 weeks prior to the mission). During this day we will include training for team leaders and team captains and a Q&A session for Project Hosts. Your Project Host can attend all or any part of this programme.
We will give £25 for each young person, to help with catering costs.
We will provide advice, support and prayer throughout the preparation and mission week.

Other Ways To Get Involved

Even if you are unable to be a Church Host, you can still get involved with The Scattering.

Sign Up Your Young People – We would love to have your young people (aged 13-18) join us for the week of equipping and mission. If you would like to sign them up, we have two events in 2024 in London and North East.

Pray! – These events only work when we come together in prayer to believe for all God is doing. We would love if you could join us as we pray. You can do this by following our social media, signing up to The Message Trust prayer news, or by speaking to us directly about ways you can press into prayer this week.

Volunteer – We need adults to serve over the Equipping Weekend. Including caterers, kitchen hands, technicians, minibus drivers, creative people. We find that churches which get involved, come away encouraged and inspired for mission themselves. Just contact [email protected] to speak to a member of the team.