YFriday at the Kings Centre
Great Yarmouth rocked on the evening of Friday 30th May to the sound of YFriday, one of the most po pular Christian rock bands in the UK. Around 230 people, mostly teenagers, descended on the Kings Centre to enjoy an evening of modern Christian music. The evening was organised by the newly established East Norfolk Youth For Christ which goes by the name of UNITE, and was the latest of many exciting events organised in the area. Previous events have included quiz nights, alternative halloween events, and youth worship services.
Matt Gooch, the director of UNITE, worked extremely hard to ensure the night was a success, and his words at the end of the evening surely echoed the feelings of many church leaders when he said it was “Tremendous. It was great to see 230 people coming together to worship God and a significant amount of them being young people”. In a time when young people are seen in an increasingly negative light, it is good to see that there are considerable numbers of them that are willing to be different. David Sims, a trustee of UNITE said that “Many of these young people will not have been into a church before, and it is important for them to see that Christians aren’t boring, they can have fun and can enjoy good music that still has a focus on God.”
YFriday filled the brief perfectly, playing modern songs that would not sound out of place on radio 1 with beating bass lines and catchy choruses. The only difference were the lyrics, which told the Christian message simply and powerfully. Many young people responded to this old message told in a new way, with one saying “its completely different to the normal church experience”. Linda Gidney,  a youthworker, said that it was an “awesome event, and was great to see so many young people praising God.”
This first major event was hugely successful thanks to the hard work of a dedicated team of volunteers and workers, and this must mean that there will be many more events for young people in the future. UNITE is an organisation that functions for every young person, and it is obvious that the young people appreciate their efforts, with amongst many others, Chloe Wells from St Olaves saying that the evening was “immense. YFriday were awesome!” Watch this space for more good quality events for the young people of Norfolk hosted by UNITE.
| 