Two planning committee members commented on the new views of Church gained through their work on the Youth Meetings.
• I've been doing some Bible study on the book of Acts. In the preface of a little book, The Young Church in Action by J. B. Phillips, these two or three lines sum up what I think was our vision, which we may not have been quite able to put into words when we started: "The young Church, like all young creatures, is appealing in its simplicity and single-heartedness. Here we are seeing the Church in its first youth, valiant and unspoiled—a body of ordinary men and women joined in an unconquerable fellowship never before seen on this earth. ... It is vigorous and flexible. ... These men did not make 'acts of faith,' they believed; they did not 'say their prayers,' they really prayed." 1 We were searching for this purity, this youthfulness, this freshness. This is what we were about at our meeting—seeing the freshness, the true sense of Church emerge.
• This vision enabled a number of young people to take a major role in preparing the meeting and to participate in a significant way. They shared this freshness, vigor, spontaneity, and sincerity, and contributed to helping others catch the vision. I felt great humility and trust that we "older" members could learn much from this and keep this fresh sense of Church.
