BESJ and communities

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The goal of BESJ ministries is to win young people for Jesus and the church  and to intentionally nurture them.

BESJ has auxiliary and service character

The BESJ assumes that the Jungschar belongs to the local community. This is also clear from the chosen structure of BESJ, in which the local Jungschars are passive members and autonomous from BESJ. The BESJ thus has only an auxiliary or service character. Sometimes, however, uncertainties arise about which tasks should now be performed by BESJ and which by the municipality. The following explanations would like to contribute to eliminate any uncertainties.

Such a catchphrase sounds good to the ears. But, does the BESJ actually deliver what it promises. In some cases, isn't this objective miles away from reality? Sure, there are places where the leadership team and the church leadership can sign this common goal and also act accordingly. That this is not the case everywhere, or that there are individual aspects to be improved, is proven by the present annual focus. If everything were for the best, the annual focus on the congregation would be superfluous.In the course of the past years, the BESJ has experienced a continuous expansion. One of the consequences of this is that local youth leaders increasingly refer to BESJ in their work. Through course search and personal conversation they have received some ideas about new creative forms of youth work, about new evangelistic possibilities, about new leaders, internal training, etc. Many of these impulses they want to put into practice. Many of these impulses they want to put into practice, which is desirable and gratifying. There is nothing more beautiful than when young hearts burn for Jesus and become creative as a result. Where this calling on the BESJ happens without consultation with the congregation and/or as a delimitation from it, this is not in our sense. It should be noted, however, that such demarcations are sometimes due to a lack of flexibility on both sides. Often the insight, respectively the necessary experience and maturity is not yet present in the leaders. In order for this to grow, however, the young often have to make the same mistakes and gain the same experience as the older generation. Therefore, leaders should also have a leeway for new forms, accompanied and supported by the congregation. This results in:

Heartfelt plea for more mutual understanding

The BESJ assumes that the Jungschar belongs to the local community. This is also clear from the chosen structure of BESJ, in which local Jungschars are passive members and autonomous from BESJ. The BESJ has therefore only auxiliary or service character. Sometimes, however, uncertainties arise about which tasks now the BESJ and which the congregation should perceive. The following explanations would like to contribute to eliminate any uncertainties.

The BESJ tries to:

1. equip Jungschar leaders for their task through education and training.

2. Through the involvement of Jungschar leaders in training, to develop young people specifically. The background to this is the multiplication idea of 2 Tim. 2:2.

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3. To contribute to the most effective Jungschar work by advising the local church and leadership teams. In cases of conflict, BESJ can also provide advice.

4. to offer help in the structural development of the Jungschar work, especially in the matter of the promotion of young people. The Ameisli-, Jungschar- and Teeniearbeit may not be considered isolated.

5. to offer suitable material for the local work.

6. To conduct regional and national activities and events as a complement, not a competitor, to the local program.

7. to keep pastors and preachers or congregational leaders informed of current BESJ events through written materials, verbally, or in personal conversations.

8. to agree on recommendations, concepts, structural models with the involved church federations, because he does not want to work thereby simply in own com- petency into the congregations.

The auxiliary or service character of BESJ makes the management of an association much more difficult. However, it also holds great opportunities and the chosen path of being as community-based as possible is confirmed again and again in the longer term. Ultimately, the church is to be built as God's chosen form of His kingdom on earth. That is why BESJ is fully committed to a congregation-based ministry. This does not mean, however, that the BESJ can take into account every separate wish of a congregation in its training contents and actions, since this would make training in general impossible on the one hand, and on the other hand would make it impossible to build up the contents of the training offers. What BESJ does not want and cannot do is to directly supervise the leaders on site. Of course, this happens in the training events, sometimes very intensively. But BESJ does not want to be the first point of contact in case of difficulties and thereby bind the leaders to itself. We consciously want the church to take on this task and be the first point of contact. Ensuring the spiritual direction of the youth group is a direct task of the congregation and not of BESJ. BESJ only contacts the church leadership when someone signs up for a camp leader or instructor course, or wants to take on an inter-church role (regional or district leader), as well as when serious problems arise with a leader in a training course.

The goal of a congregation-based Ameisli, Jungschar and Teenie ministry can only be achieved through joint efforts, joint agreements and cross-fertilisation between the congregation and BESJ. The BESJ tries to take into account the local conditions, while the congregations take into account the supra-congregational, national character of the BESJ and the fact that the BESJ Jungscharen from over 15 denominations are affiliated.

Source reference:

Content: Annual focus 1993 "Community", Peter Blaser, Siegfried Nüesch, Martin Bihr, Hansruedi Tanner, Ueli Obrist, Johannes Wallmeroth, Peter Schulthess

Copyright: www.besj.ch

Cover: Clipart courtesy of buch+musik ejw-service gmbh, Stuttgart - www.ejw-buch.de

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