Adventist Youth Congress 2026 draws nearly 3,500 to Valencia

From August 4 to 8, 2026, Feria Valencia, the exhibition center in Valencia, Spain, hosted the Adventist Youth Congress 2026. Officially the European Adventist Youth Congress (AYC26), it gathered nearly 3,500 young people from more than 50 countries, according to the joint report by tedNEWS and EUD News, the news services of the two Seventh-day Adventist Church divisions that organized the event: the Trans-European Division (TED) and the Inter-European Division (EUD). Under the theme "Made for More," the congress ended on Saturday, August 8, with 21 baptisms, according to the EUD.

📰What was the Adventist Youth Congress 2026 in Valencia?

AYC, held every four years, brings together the young people of two Seventh-day Adventist Church divisions in Europe: the Inter-European Division (EUD), which covers 20 countries, and the Trans-European Division (TED), which spans 22. The 2026 edition was the sixth in the current format and the largest to date, according to the EUD. tedNEWS also noted delegations from outside the continent, such as those from the United States and Malawi.

Valencia, which hosted AYC in 2017, opened the 2026 edition with a showcase of Spanish culture on the evening of August 4. The EUD even used the congress as a prize: the team from Portugal, winner of the EUD Vision Song Contest 2025, earned up to five tickets to Valencia. For the Pathfinder age group, the same division runs international camporees, such as the 14th Inter-European Division Camporee in Friedensau.

💡What does the theme "Made for More" mean?

"Made for More" needs no translation in English, but the organizers spelled out what they meant by it. The registration page shared by the Adventist Church in the Netherlands describes the theme as a three-step journey: belonging (being welcomed), believing (trusting God) and becoming (growing and taking up the mission). The organizers sum it up in three verbs: Belong, Believe and Become.

Mornings belonged to Ivana Mendez, a lecturer in biblical languages and biblical studies at Newbold College of Higher Education. On August 5, she admitted the theme could fit in any advertisement: "You didn't need to come to Valencia to listen to the message that you were made for more," she said, as reported by Adventist Review. Drawing on the story of Abraham's call, Mendez argued that God offers "a long-term plan instead of immediate satisfaction" and closed with an appeal: "Never settle for anything less than this."

Evenings belonged to Pastor Damian Chandler, also a marriage and family therapist, who serves in the United States. At the opening, he started from the parable of the lost sheep to show that God does not forget any of His own, because "we are His no matter what," he said, according to the same magazine.

🗓️What was the AYC 2026 program like, and how much did it cost?

According to Adventist Review, each day combined a morning devotional, Bible study in small groups, afternoon workshops and an evening reflection. There were more than 300 groups, organized by language and led by young volunteers. Workshops covered theology, faith and science, relationships, witnessing, creativity and the use of technology for mission. New in 2026 was the Masterclass, in which, according to the organizers, "some of Europe's best theology teachers" taught "their very best class."

tedNEWS also lists sports, prayer spaces, service projects, mass choirs, a live podcast and an exhibition area for ministries. There was no children's program: children could attend only with their parents.

Final registration fees, according to the Adventist Church in the Netherlands (adventist.nl).

💧How many baptisms were there at the Valencia congress?

The EUD counted 21 baptisms; Adventist Review reports about 20. Three candidates arrived in Valencia with their minds made up and had already told the pastors of their home churches. Another 17 came forward after the appeal Damian Chandler made on the evening of Thursday, August 6, and were baptized on the morning of Saturday, August 8.

The twenty-first name was not on the list. The 20 newly baptized young people were already lining up to receive their certificates when a young Frenchman appeared backstage, overwhelmed and surrounded by friends, asking whether there was still time. The program stopped, and nearly 4,000 people, counting those registered for Saturday only, were left wondering about the pause. Right there, Pastor Stéphane Eucharis, Youth Ministries director of the Franco-Belgian Union, called the young man's parents with him and asked for permission. The answer was yes, and the baptism took place minutes later, according to the EUD account.

The EUD tied the episode to Chandler's first sermon, about the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to look for the one that is lost: the search for a single person has to be intentional. That Saturday, the sermon left the pulpit and played out on stage.

⛪Why did many young people choose to be baptized at their local church?

Not everyone who answered the appeal went down into the baptismal pool in Valencia, and Adventist Review asked why. Daniel Duda, president of the Trans-European Division, explained to the magazine: "Many young people decided not to get baptized here in Valencia because they would like to do it in front of those who have been significant in their lives, that is to say, at their local churches."

Duda said that in some home churches a baptism is a rare event, and young people want to be baptized by someone close to them, with family and friends watching. He also put the gathering in perspective for those who come from small congregations: "In some countries we do not have even 3,500 baptized church members, and very few of them are young." The choice is a reminder that baptism and the decision to be baptized also belong to the community that has walked alongside each person.

🗺️Where has AYC been held, and where will the next one be?

Adventists in Europe have been gathering their young people in congresses for decades, but AYC in its current format, a partnership between the EUD and TED, began in 2004, according to the EUD. Since then, the host has alternated between the two divisions. Because the 2026 edition was in Spain, an EUD country, the seventh, planned for 2030, will go to Poland, in TED territory.

🧭What does AYC 2026 mean for Pathfinders and Ambassadors?

University-age young people made up most of the crowd in Valencia, according to Adventist Review. That is the age group that comes after the Pathfinder Club: those who finish the classes can move on to the Ambassador Club, for young people aged 16 to 21, and later to leadership in Adventist Youth Ministries. For local background, see the history of Pathfinders in Spain.

For Marcel Ghioalda, TED Youth Ministries director, the ones who gain most from a gathering this size are young people from small churches, who may never have experienced anything like it and go home knowing their congregation belongs to an international family, he told the EUD. In the club, the Valencia story makes for a good Unit meeting: what each person brings home from a camporee, and who they would want present at their own baptism.

I assess a congress by what young people carry home with them.Marcel Ghioalda, Youth Ministries director of the Trans-European Division, in an EUD report, 2026