The first UK Christian denomination to employ young people in a new youth strategy has pushed the boundaries of youth participation and aims to make a wider impact on society as well as on its own culture.

Sarah Malik, the new Youth President of the Methodist Church in Britain, talks about her role, her hopes for change in church and society, the need to empower young people, and her personal sense of vocation.

Sarah Malik has been elected to a key youth role in the Methodist Church which is the first of its kind in any UK Christian denomination, say its creators - indicating a new step forward for the church and young people.

Around 150 16 to 23-year-old Methodists will celebrate the launch of a bold new £4 million Youth Participation Strategy (YPS) at their conference in Kings Park, Northampton.

The woman heading up the Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network, which enables members of churches in different parts of the world to meet together, believes such exchanges are vital to a shared global future.

Controversial new London Mayor Boris Johnson's deputy, a former Church of England minister, faces an enquiry into historic claims of inappropriate behaviour and financial misconduct, which he has dubbed "groundless".

The UK government will sponsor student trips to Auschwitz concentration camp in an effort to keep the message of the Nazi Holocaust alive and relevant to younger generations, say reports in Deutsche Welle, The Times and the BBC.

The leader of the Taize community has urged tens of thousands of young Christians from Europe who gathered in Geneva at the New Year to organize "vigils of reconciliation" for unity between churches divided from each other.

Methodism in Britain will focus its attention on Wales next month, as Cardiff hosts the annual Methodist Youth Conference from 16-18 November 2007 in the new Urdd Centre in the Bay area - where BBC TV series Doctor Who is based.

The church should take a lead in providing a vision of a better world for today’s children and young people, according to a youth work expert writing on the cover of the Baptist Times today. She says change is needed in individuals and communities.