EFY participants walk across the BYU campus. BYU will discontinue EFY starting in 2020 to help facilitate For the Strength of Youth Conferences for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Maddi Dayton)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday it will launch For the Strength of Youth conferences in the U.S. and Canada starting in 2020.
For the Strength of Youth conferences, known as FSY, are modeled after BYU's Especially for Youth conferences (EFY). According to the Church Newsroom, the Church has offered FSY outside the U.S. for more than a decade and will continue to do so.
Traditional EFY sessions will be discontinued so BYU can support the Church in facilitating FSY, according to efy.byu.edu. EFY Special Edition and EFY Express sessions will continue.
According to a Church-released notice, FSY lasts 5 days and consists of activities, devotionals and classes 'designed to help strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and provide opportunities for youth to grow spiritually, socially, physically and intellectually.'
All stakes will participate in FSY every other year beginning in 2021 and 2022. Youth ages 14 and older are invited to attend until they graduate high school. Only select stakes will participate in FSY in 2020 as the Church rolls out the program. The complete list of participating stakes can be found here.
According to the notice, young single adults will be called as FSY counselors and youth leaders do not attend FSY.
The Church has asked stakes hosting FSY in 2020 to not plan treks or youth conferences, but the stakes may host young women and young men's camps.
FSY is just one facet of the Church's new initiative for children and youth, which was announced in May 2018 and will begin in January 2020. The initiative will also replace the Church's scouting, Personal Progress, Faith in God and Duty to God programs.
Some Twitter users expressed disappointment about EFY ending, but others celebrated the decision.
https://twitter.com/brocrimin/status/1152286331839451137
https://twitter.com/seemomsmile/status/1152277595720830976
https://twitter.com/benbernards/status/1152276868063625216
https://twitter.com/dianaallen/status/1152251264710787072
https://twitter.com/ChrisMESA96/status/1152271010466430976