Patrick Symonds – Youth Worker

June 2025

Hi Patrick, What does the role of Youth Worker entail?

So that’s a great question! In short, it’s my job to oversee the responsibility of our local congregation in reaching the next generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On a theoretical level, that big responsibility translates into a few different smaller responsibilities.

I would begin with the duty of coming alongside Christian parents of our congregation as they disciple their children to Christ. Secondly, I (and we as a church) have a unique responsibility in the lives of young people who attend our Church, love the Lord Jesus, and yet come from non- believing homes.

These young people need the Church to stand with them even more intensely in their journey of discipleship as they lack the support of a Christian home. Thirdly, I am called to oversee the efforts of our Church in evangelising young people who have no connection to Christ so far. On a practical level, these 3 responsibilities are lived out in more ways than I can list, but I’ll try to give a few…meeting with parents and building relationships with their families, meeting up with young adults for discipleship (hopefully over coffee), writing rotas for our Sunday clubs and Friday night youth services, preparing sermons for Friday nights and teachings for Sunday clubs, seeking and developing potential youth leaders, organising fundraisers (to help youth get to events like camp), playing a lot of guitar and singing, and maybe lastly… getting injured in football matches (now that I am over 30).

What is your vision for the youth in our Church?

I want to help foster what I see as a movement of quiet revival amongst young people in the UK. Many young people are seeking truth in the chaos of our current times; we can rejoice that in this pursuit of truth, many of these Gen Z’ers are asking what Christianity has to say about truth.

At the same time, other segments of our culture are vocally anti-Christian and seek to silence Biblical Christianity. I want to stand behind our young people with love, truth, and grace to help them deepen their own roots in Christ and His church.

To do this, I am convicted of the necessity of challenging young people with the clear message of the Gospel and all the claims it makes. I want to help young people see that through the power of the Spirit, they are in fact capable of having a prayer life, growing in their understanding of the Bible, standing up for what they believe in, loving their enemies, overcoming temptations, and having a joyful Christian life.

For my role in this process, this translates into me becoming a facilitator of things like: tons of fun at youth group, helping teens make their deepest friendships at Church, delivering hearty Gospel-based sermons, opportunities to embrace the Holy Spirit in worship, and helping them feel confident in sharing the Gospel at school (or anywhere else for that matter)!

How long have you been doing the role of Youth Leader at BSBC and what have you been doing since you took on the role? What did you do prior to this role?

I have been here for about 5 months now and I can hardly believe it has been that long. The first months flew by as we had so much to do to get settled in this new country. I was busy with many things since we got here. With help from Paul Crispin, a team was organised to renovate the house we are now living in which took weeks to get move-in ready.

Just in the last few weeks we finished some of the last major projects like getting a shower installed. Of course, at the Church, I had much to learn about the British safeguarding system, the Church’s procedures and more. I had (and still have) many people to meet and relationships to build. Many families were visited and will continue to be, and a lot of time was spent in the office writing rotas, preparing sermons, organising youth events, etc.

Also, I have had a lot of fun in my off-time exploring the area, and trying the coffee and food! Prior to living in Bishop’s Stortford, I was a full-time school teacher of history and civics and a part-time worship pastor near Orlando, Florida. Prior to that, I was also a full -time youth pastor in Germany (plot twist) for 3 and a half years.

Which people are members of the youth team and what are their roles?

We have been blessed with some really lovely leaders. Jamie Davidson is the Elder responsible for overseeing me and it helps that he is with me quite often on Friday nights, making connections with the youth. Mandy Talbot is a massive help to me with all the technical aspects like safeguarding, admin, and the many questions I have! Then Lucy and Jack Bowie, Corrie Davidson, Solomon Kimani, Peter Massie, Beth Walford, Sunky Thomas, Graham and Priscilla Page, Robbie Jamieson, Neil and Susie Roques, Ken Cowen, and if I forgot you please forgive!

When and how did you become a Christian?

I was raised in church and always believed in Jesus, but my defining moment where I personally committed to Christ was at 11 years of age. I was at a revival service at our Assemblies of God church in Florida where I was raised.

We had a week of night services every year in which we heard God’s word preached and had some intense times of worship. I was not yet a committed Christian, and was struggling through the services feeling really bored. I just wished I could go home and play games.

But, on about the third night, the son of the preacher was given the task of giving the sermon. I had never before seen a young person preach. He was probably about 25. The sincerity, passion, and fear of God that flowed through this man was more than I could take. In fact, at some point, I felt as though I was all alone in a room with God and the weight of my sin hit me. I knew I stood guilty and condemned before God and that crushed me. Right about that moment, I heard the preacher asking people to raise their hand if they wanted to commit to Christ.

I was extremely shy and would never want to stand before a crowd of people which is what I knew he would ask me to do if I raised my hand. But it shot up anyway. So I started to pray…something like ‘God please let him not have seen my hand’. Then, I heard him call ‘you young man in the back’, so I thought I would run out of the room, but when I stood, my feet carried me to the altar of the church. I tried as hard as I could to get this all over in as little time as possible.

So I prayed the little sinner’s prayer in a rushed way and thought I would go back to life as usual. But before I got away from the altar, a man stopped me to pray for me. Before long a whole group had gathered around me to pray. Initially, I just wanted their prayer to be done. But as they prayed, I had an inward revelation not only of my sin, but of God’s love for me in Christ. When I understood that this was all about God loving me and wanting me to be His child, I crumbled and wept for a long period of time. When I came to myself, I knew I would never go back to my old life. A new life had begun and I felt love for Christ well up in me. I also felt a love for everyone around me. I never wanted to go back after that. That was about 22 years ago now.

What was your Church background before coming to BSBC?

I grew up in the Assemblies of God. My great grandfather was one of the early pastors with the AOG and most of my family on my 9 bsbc.life dad’s side were involved with the Assemblies in some way. When I was 17, I felt called to serve at a non-denominational church just down the road which I did for several years. From there, I was called to ministry training at another non- denominational church where I met my wife.

We were then involved in ministry with more non-denominational groups until I became a youth pastor at an Evangelical church in Germany. After that, I ended up being the worship pastor for several years back at the Assemblies of God where I had become a Christian. Then, we attended a Lutheran Church and a reformed independent church before coming to this Baptist church. So it feels like we know the world of Evangelicalism pretty well by now in both high and low church settings.

Tell us a few interesting things about you…hobbies? Any other volunteer roles outside the Church?

Well, I love music. I recorded a short album a few years ago that I put up on the streaming platforms. I would like to pursue more recording as a hobby in the years to come. I also love to read theology books and drink coffee. In fact, brewing coffee is something l love. Mostly I love to hang out with my wife and kids and friends.

Is there anything we can pray about for you and/or your role?

Please pray God continues to bring things together with our youth ministry here at BSBC. I would love to see a massive group of teens who are bubbling with passion for Jesus and who walk in sound doctrine no matter the cost. Of course pray for us as a family to be kept safe and dependent on God’s grace, as ministry is taxing, but rewarding work.