With over 700 children’s workers gathering at the recent Hand in Hand conference 2026, there was a clear buzz and excitement about what God is doing in the lives of young people across the UK, as conference delegates came together to explore the theme of “Kingdom Builders”.
Hand in Hand describes itself as "the national children and family ministry conference." Its website says: "For over 25 years the Hand in Hand conference has been strengthening children’s and family ministry in this nation working in the areas of children’s and family ministry in church, whether a professional or volunteer. It aims to provide Biblical insight, basic training, deeper insight into new thinking and practical ideas for the ministry as well as times for prayer, worship and personal refreshment. Over 50 organisations, ministries and denominations come together with some of the leading practitioners in our nation to offer sessions and exhibit their resources at each conference."
At Cross Connecting, (an organisation which is all about connecting Christians who come into contact with children and young people, particularly in the school setting), we were invited to exhibit at the conference, which gave us first-hand experience of what God is doing, not just at the conference, but across the country, as various stories emerged of young people engaging with church and the Christian community.
Cross Connecting's stand at the conference.
As our first time at this conference, we were not sure what to expect, but we can now attest wholeheartedly that God is most certainly at work through this conference, and we remain excited for what God has for the future!
Joy
In some ways, it would be easy to see the Hand in Hand conference as just another Christian conference, but the reality is quite different. If one considers for a moment what a “typical” Christian conference to be like, perhaps one would associate it with main gatherings together with guest speakers and bands, or a seminar programme, or perhaps quiet spaces for prayer and reflection. However, it would not normally be commonplace at a Christian conference to find balloons flying around in the main auditorium, or a dancing conga line through the main conference areas, or a cheering welcome when arriving each day at the conference; and yet that is exactly what was on offer at the Hand in Hand conference: it represented joy in the Lord, which resonated throughout the conference.
'Kingdom Builders'
With a conference theme in 2026 of “Kingdom Builders”, it’s perhaps unsurprising, and yet also delightful, that every element of the conference was centred around building God’s Kingdom together.
Conference delegates were given the treat of being able to access 55 different speakers from all over the UK, representing many different Christian organisations who work among children and young people. The talks were centred around enabling every child to hear the good news of Jesus, every church being equipped for discipleship, every family being empowered to be a place for faith development, all of which culminate in being Christ-centred in all that is done.
The keynote talks centred on these four key areas, which together painted a powerful picture of what God reveals in the Bible to be a rich holistic approach to ministry among young people. It is sometimes easy to think that children and youth ministry is something that happens on the side during a Sunday church service, but the reality as revealed in the Bible is quite different, and the richness of what God intends for young people was powerfully reflected at this conference.
The seminars were also helpfully categorised in such a way that those representing different spheres could quickly identify which of the 96 (yes, 96!) seminars delegates were able to go to. Whatever one’s involvement in children’s ministry, there was definitely something for everyone, with seminars specially aiming to support those involved in: family ministry; intergenerational ministry; senior leadership; mission and outreach; schools ministry; grappling with theology and research; worship and prayer ministry; and additional needs ministry.
With 46 Christian organisations exhibiting as well, it was difficult not to notice the value of collaboration and partnerships in Kingdom work.
As an exhibitor ourselves, we not only engaged with conference delegates, but it was clear that different organisations were making use of the opportunity of everyone gathered together across so many fantastic organisations to network together and to form joint partnerships as well as to share ideas.
In short, the Hand in Hand conference was a time of encouragement and joy for any and all involved in children’s ministry, and for those investing in young people who are looking for the ideal conference to find refreshment and re-energising, this is the conference for them.
