19 year old brings new perspective to his PCC

For Will Sealey, joining his church PCC felt like a natural way to support the church community he is part of. A farmer by profession, William gives his time alongside many others across the diocese who serve faithfully and generously in this way. What makes Will’s story a little different, is that, at 19, he is bringing his own perspective and experience to a role often shared by people much older than him. He says he wanted to offer a younger person’s perspective.

“The way I looked at it was, we went to the APCM, where everybody gets to have a say. We were looking at it, and there aren’t really any young people up there. You’ve got a group of people who are trying their best, but they maybe haven’t got that understanding of what it’s like to be a young person today. Another nominee slot opened up, and I put my hand up and volunteered myself because I thought, if I’ve got the chance to make a difference then it could be a good thing. It’s not too much work, and it seemed like a really good cause and worthwhile doing.”

St James’ Church, Milton Clevedon, has been part of Will’s life from the very beginning, and he is keen to help it remain a place where future generations can worship, belong and build on the good work already happening there. He says, “I’ve been going to church there since I was a new born. I was christened up there. I did my confirmation classes and my confirmation there too. I care a lot about the site.

That commitment is rooted in family history too. “My father has been on the PCC there, my grandfather and my great grandfather were all on the PCC there too, so I’m the fourth generation. There’s a lot of family history there. All the family weddings and funerals have happened up there for as long as anybody can remember.”

Will is already thinking about how the church can continue to connect with younger people and encourage them to feel that there is a place for them. He says, “Ways of encouraging younger people to get involved with the church, because a lot of young people are quite resistant to the idea. Also, different ideas for events we could do, or things that young people might want to come to, and making sure information about events is shared among younger people.”

For Will, joining the PCC has shown that there is real value in people of different ages and experiences working together for the good of their church community. Asked what he would say to other young people who may be considering joining the PCC of their local church, Will says, “I would say it’s a really good thing. You meet a lot of different people with a lot of different perspectives, and having the ability to get involved, have your say, and make suggestions and improvements is really important. At the end of the day, if people don’t take part and come to church, then unfortunately we’re going to end up losing them as a resource, because they play such an important part in people coming into church and that sense of community and looking out for each other.”