What happens at a YLC conference?
Each year, the YLC hosts an international conference that brings together a group of carefully selected participants from diverse religious backgrounds and geographical locations. The YLC conference typically lasts just under a week. In the past, the conferences have been held in various locations throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. The purpose of our yearly conference is to bring together young people from across the world in order to both encourage and train them in skills relating to participation in Interfaith Dialogue. It is our deepest hope that these yearly conferences will inspire participants to take what they have learned back to their home communities.
Past participants have come from diverse regions including the UK and Ireland, the United States, Continental Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. After receiving applications, the board carefully selects participants they believe will contribute beneficially to Interfaith Dialogue both at the conference and at home. The board also aims to select a diverse selection of religious backgrounds from each of the Abrahamic faith traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The primary aim of this yearly conference is to meet, share and learn from and about each other. While we understand that religion has vast-reaching effects, especially in tense political situations, we want any potential participant to understand that the primary aim is Interfaith Dialogue rather than political affairs. We understand how interconnected politics can be to religious faith, but we ask all potential participants to agree in advance to refrain from using this conference as a means to political ends.
The conference aims to bring people together to learn more about the different faith traditions. We encourage this through programming which, includes creative activities such as music, dance and theatre; shared prayer times and services from each faith, and daily interaction with sacred texts, to name just a few. We desire that those who attend these conferences leave feeling equipped, inspired, and encouraged to engage their communities in meaningful dialogue in positive ways.