Church Expands Global Youth Conference Program

Plans have been announced to expand a youth conference program for Latter-day Saint youth around the world. The international For the Strength of Youth (FSY) program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been operating outside the United States for more than a decade under the direction of area presidencies and area leaders.

In 2020, young men and young women in selected stakes in the United States and Canada will have an opportunity to experience the FSY program, designed to help strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ. (For a list of selected stakes, see the notice “For the Strength of Youth (FSY) Conferences in the United States and Canada,” July 19, 2019.) Congregations selected to participate in the expanded program next year are being asked to hold off on scheduling any other youth conference or trek experiences.

The Church will sponsor FSY conferences in all stakes in the U.S. and Canada every other year. The FSY conferences will include more than 200 sessions each year, starting in 2021 and 2022. Young, single adults will have an opportunity to volunteer as FSY counselors.

Beginning the year they turn 14, Latter-day Saint youth are eligible to participate in the five-day youth conferences until they graduate from high school.

The expansion is part of the Church’s new worldwide initiative for children and youth that will replace existing activity programs beginning in January 2020. Youth participating in the FSY program will experience activities, devotionals, and classes designed to provide opportunities to grow spiritually, socially, physically, and intellectually.

The FSY conferences are based on the traditional Especially For Youth (EFY) model that has been operated by Church-owned Brigham Young University for more than 40 years.

BYU will offer administrative support and training for local congregations participating in the expanded program. EFY’s Special Edition and Express sessions will not be affected. Area Church leaders outside the U.S. and Canada will continue to schedule and hold FSY conferences as they have in the past.

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will provide more details about the FSY program during a Face to Face broadcast scheduled for November 17.