Düsseldorf. The New Apostolic Church is planning a European Youth Day on which many thousands of young people have been invited to the Düsseldorf fair grounds in May 2009. With only a few weeks to go before the big event, the atmosphere is charged with optimism and anticipation. The first press conference announcing the event took place yesterday in Düsseldorf. District Apostle Armin Brinkmann opened the conference with the statement: “Optimism in times of crisis”. He promised the guests from various churches and the media: “These young Christians will stand out and be noticed.”

District Apostle Brinkmann - who, as leader of the New Apostolic District Church of North Rhine-Westphalia, will also act as host of the European Youth Day - explained the aims and objectives the New Apostolic Church hopes to achieve by organising this large event. “With the European Youth Day we wish to show the young people: we take you seriously, you are part of this Church, and you are helping to form and shape it.” He expects many happy young people to attend, and mentioned that even the city of Düsseldorf has reason to look forward to their visit.

There are still eleven weeks to go before most of the young guests from across Europe will begin their trek to Düsseldorf on 21 May 2009. The North Rhine-Westphalian Church president described this endeavour as new territory, as a youth gathering on this order of magnitude has never been undertaken before in the New Apostolic Church.

You can download more information from the press conference as well as the press kit [in German language] on the website of the European Youth Day.