Family Youth Group Input Articles

Jeder ist eingeladen Teil der „Familie Gottes“  zu sein. Hier fühlen sich selbst Singles, Omas, Nachbarkids, alleinerziehende Mütter ... wohl. Organisiert werden die Treffen von Familien oder kleinen Teams aus der Gemeinde. Nicht perfekte Organisation, nicht durchgestyltes Programm, sondern Gemeinschaft, Spiel, Spass, Gespräche, Spontanität, gegenseitiges Dienen, Ermutigen und Austauschen stehen im Mittelpunkt.

Fall - the parking trap

Mark (changed name), 16 years old, until recently completely inconspicuous. Talented footballer, average commercial high school student, former youth athlete, ... this image bursts like a soap bubble with the unexpected call from the police: "Your son has been caught with a stolen moped for the second time!" As if struck by lightning, this bad news slays the mother's voice. This can't be true! - Sure, Mark had been getting into more and more trouble over the past few weeks. His grades were getting worse. And then there were always those weird guys asking about him. He'd go skateboarding with them or hang out in the park for hours. He didn't want to go to church for a long time. - "I'll be right down to the station to pick him up!" the dazed mother replies. But before she leaves, she calls Juergen (name changed). Jürgen is not just a teen leader. Rather, he is: to him the teens still trust. They send him text messages. He's the one they go to when they're in trouble. He is the one who accepts them for who they are. He is the one who seeks them out where they are: in smoky bars, on the football pitch, at school or even at the police station! Many a teenager has spent a weekend with him and been able to talk out his frustrations. He is the one who mediates between teen and parents. Not in a "ladder function" - what he does, he does out of genuine love for them. The only condition: the teens have to want the relationship with him. Jürgen wants to help them formulate their wounds, disappointments, problems, etc. and not just drown or vent. His time commitment to the teen meeting is small compared to these personal counseling sessions. Jürgen is not a newly minted teen leader. Soon to be 40, he has a lot of experience. The parents appreciate his competent helpfulness as much as the kids. He even invented the "Mothers' Coffee Meeting", to which he regularly invites concerned mothers. There, many a question and worry can be exchanged and encouragement refuelled.

Jürgen is, for me, a rare example of how youth/teen ministry doesn't get stuck in program shoes. His ministry could hardly be done by an average young leader. And yet the longer the more he becomes necessary - yes downright an indispensable must for our youth work.More than ever we need not programs, but street workers, mediators (intermediaries e.g. between parents and children) and catch-all places for our kids. More than ever, we are forced to dive into the context of our young people / teens to help them along. We are forced to start a dialogue with their parents, teachers, friends, ... ... It is obvious that for this comprehensive task the team of leaders is mostly overstrained. Even Jürgen would be if he did not maintain various relationships with specialized agencies. In the following I would like to point out a kind of extension of the Jungschar work, which partly meets the above-mentioned need: the family Jungschar.

Winning whole families for the kingdom of God

For a long time the church F. has regularly made interesting meetings for the family members of the youth and teenagers. Everyone is simply invited - "family" is not seen genetically so much as "spiritually". Everyone is invited to be part of the "family of God". Even singles, grannies, neighbourhood kids, single mothers ... feel comfortable. The meetings are organized by families or small teams from the community. Not perfect organization, not a styled program, but community, play, fun, conversations, spontaneity, serving each other, encouraging and sharing are the focus.

Interestingly, the desire for an intact family has been on the rise again in Western countries in recent years. Family services are becoming in. The church of Jesus must face this demand anew. For too long it has given room to the zeitgeist of individualism. For too long it has unilaterally promoted age groups, and here and there it has unintentionally weakened the family. Too much parental responsibility has been delegated to the community.

I firmly count God's blessing as we begin to be more family oriented. Our church or community should be totally attractive to families. The Holy Spirit needs to reveal to us anew what this might look like in detail. We lack wisdom and role models. I bring some seemingly absurd ideas in the practical section with a challenge not to pick them apart but to sow them.

A family-centered Jungschar seems to me to play a crucial role here - it is the natural bridge from family to church. I firmly believe that a congregation would gain enormously by living more as a "great family" within itself. By this I mean to suggest that I am not just concerned with the welfare of individual families - I am aware that families are only one part. Central is the "family thinking" in the church. All members belong to this family!

• Where are the opportunities of the family taken advantage of?
• Where does the church program take the family into consideration?
• Where does the community practically support the family?
• Where does the congregation weaken or even burden family life? Where does it separate family members?
• What is the place of prayer for sanctified families?
• How do we bear the aftermath of the anti-family environment (single-parent families, divorces, ...)?
• Where and how are there tensions between families or between families and individuals?
• Why do we not baptize children until they are teenagers or invite them to communion until after the so-called classes?
• Where are family issues addressed in the family circle?

Families Experience Joy - Imagination - Peace

In this section I try to give a wealth of ideas for families respectively for a family oriented youth/church work. Some of it even requires collaboration beyond the local church.

Learning to think differently - addressing family

• Bible work on the theme of family and church as family
• Sharing and processing videos and books in the form of seminars, poster board, idea basket, contests, picture galleries, photo exhibits, journaling, ABC collection, ...
• Concrete intercession
• Invite guest speakers
• Formulate goals and create implementation plan

Congregation as a family network

Over-age outreach and opening up, reaching out to the neighbor (see Good Samaritan) are crucial:

• Young people offer themselves for childcare
• Experienced, older persons share from their rich life experience and pass on practical wisdom or lend a practical hand in household chores, child rearing, ...
• Reciprocal cleaning help (cleaning parties), childcare so a couple can have a marriage weekend or a marriage seminar voucher
• Material help, social fund, joint shopping (e.g. directly from the farmer), borrowing a car or other things, transportation, ...
• Sharing free time, holidays, family celebrations, ...
• Family home circles, families help with worship, make plays, music, give testimonies, do children's programs together, ...
• Families open their doors to the lonely, single parents and invite participation in their family life through their hospitality
• Community rooms as living spaces e.g. sitting area, changing table, toilet pot, highchairs, framed pictures, playground equipment that promotes movement, clothes box, ... - I see tremendous opportunities in the redesign of community spaces in particular. We should consider whether our understanding of congregational (spaces) is not Old Testament or even traditionally churchy in some ways, turning worship spaces into sacred halls. The New Testament no longer speaks of this - it speaks of the temple and thinks of us who are God's children. Our children in particular unconsciously find this restrictive, dismissive. Our children already have to be "good" in school, in most anti-family homes .... "be good" - and in church, of course, much more, otherwise they disturb and shame their pious parents.
• Lent day, soup day, workshop classes, joint evangelistic outreach, more sharing (question-answer quiz games)
• Bible reading in the family
• Married couple's afternoon parallel to Jungschar
• Mother's holiday

Family-oriented, missionary youth/parish work

• Organization of children's festivities (birthday parties), making the parish rooms available for family events, ...
• Winter children's playground in the parish rooms, crèches in large shopping centres or in the parish during special shopping times,
• Designing seminars (parenting, marriage, partnership)
• Family outings, low cost adventure/adventure family vacations where the family experiences "everything" together and is not divided back into age groups!
• Father-child or mother-child experiences
• Creative week, craft classes, hobby week, cooking classes ... and workshop, children's participatory circus for the whole family
• Puppet theatre and other theatre forms
• "Television series family live!"
• Sports week, family gymnastics, new games, ...
• Library, ev. video library, cassette library, library, ...
• Pure nature experiences, hikes, be on the road and discover, ...
• Mothers' camps
• Family Jungschar - some program examples of family fun in Uznach:
• Excursion to the waterfall and discovery of a ruin
  • Playing and bathing
  • Noah: pick-nick and crickets
  • Playing theatre
  • Scavenger hunt
  • Excursion on inline skates or bike
  • Tobogganing or skiing
  • Printing a t-shirt
  • Family post run
  • Trip to the zoo
  • Boat trip on the Linth
  • New Games
  • Rope bridge with the Jungschar
  • Visit to a dog trainer on the subject of "Folgä"
  • Family Olympics

This is how it could be

T. registered herself and her family for the family retreat for the second time. Although her husband hardly knew Jesus yet, he was happy to come along. He enjoyed the happy, sincere fellowship. Of course, her boys were happy to join in. Today, when they think of the leisure time, they remember the mighty early morning hike to the highest mountain in the valley - the sunrise on the alp and the happiness on the summit. After the leisure time, their father regularly went to church with them and soon accepted Jesus as his Saviour.

Other parents learned in the family fun afternoons how varied and exciting being on the road together can be. Even teens thawed out and switched into full action. Family youth group - a worthwhile investment for the new century!