The Archbishop of York, the Right Reverend Dr John Sentamu, will be the keynote speaker at a Church of Eng-land conference for young people in the Bradford diocese.

Organiser the Reverend Steve Allen said about 450 people were expected to attend the event on Monday, May 1, at Bradford Grammar School.

The conference, called Yes to Young People, will feature seminars, music-led worship, interactive Bible story-telling and a puppet show.

Mr Allen said the Church of England in the Bradford Dioc-ese, which extends into the Yorkshire Dales, had seen a slight increase in the number of young worshippers attending its churches. But he warned more needed to be done to help churches communicate better with young people.

Mr Allen, the Bradford Dioc-ese training officer, said: "It will be a day of celebration, fellowship and teaching. We will be looking at the work we already do and how we can do it better - to show we really are a diocese that says 'Yes' to young people.

"But it is not just a conference for young people, it is also a conference for older people who want to grapple with this issue."

Mr Allen said churches throughout the diocese had to be more "flexible" to cater for young people. "A growing number of churches in the diocese are putting on after-school sessions during which the act of worship is radically different," he said.

"Often the worship may be led by a band rather than an organ.

"There is no doubt that varying the approach and the time of services for young people is paying dividends."

During the event 24 different seminars and workshops will examine issues including teenage spirituality, puppeteering, getting the Bible back into schools, Christian/Muslim relations, all-age worship and vocation work.

The Archbishop of York said: "In a rapidly changing culture, many feel bewildered about how to communicate with young people so I'm delighted that the Diocese of Bradford is facing this issue head-on - and it's a mark of their commitment that they're giving up their Bank Holiday to do so.

"We have a lot to learn from young people as well as responsibility for them."

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David James, said: "We are making young people our priority in 2006 and I'm delighted that we have this particular day to really focus on our work with them.

"There are some brilliant examples of imaginative youth and children's work within the diocese."