Wish:
Our youth group is well integrated into the congregation and our work is appreciated. We are comfortable in the community!
A church without a youth group (youth group leader) is like a honey bread without honey!
That's a bit thick, isn't it? Hope you don't get stuck with it, because ...
A youth group (youth group leader) without a church is like a honey bread without bread!
Well, there you go. Honey and bread go together. Bread is the foundation .... and it tastes great with honey! If there's still butter applied in between, so the relationship is nurtured, you're in for a treat. So we want to prepare a honey bread together with the annual focus 93 and enjoy it after the work is done ... and taste it.
The Reality
It would not be good if the Ameisli, Jungschar and Teen leaders were always so central. Because: Pride comes before the fall! That this will not be the case is already taken care of in the real situation. This is made clear by some voices of youth group leaders:
We are supposed to stall for everything. If people are wanted for any task, the extra effort is expected from us. Everywhere we are stopgaps.
They're glad we're doing the work, but they don't ask for it.
The only time people ask how we are doing is when difficulties become public.
Our youth group is well integrated into the community and our work is appreciated. We are comfortable in the community!
We are often overwhelmed because superhuman demands are often placed on us. In addition to the work or school load, we are still expected to be the scapegoats for our parents' parenting mistakes. Sometimes we get a little frustrated when we have to take the rap for problems we didn't cause.
We are thankful that we have the full support of the church leadership in our not easy task. It is a great help to us to have a place where our concerns are taken seriously!
Without the support of the congregation, without the sustaining prayers, I could not do my tasks!
Yes, that is the way of the day. There are positive, joyful statements but also resigned voices. What picture did a survey conducted by BESJ reveal? About 10% of the BESJ youth groups were asked about integration in the community, information in the community, coordination in the community, funding of the youth group. We are aware that this has created a one-sided picture, because the church leadership would also have to be consulted about this. But every church and every youth group can take a closer look at their own situation. In the next article you will find the results of the survey
How the integration, information, coordination and financing can be regulated in concrete terms is presented in the following articles. The detailed information from the survey will also be included. In the detailed information, we were told the exact arrangements, so we have a wealth of options. Of course, every concern, every question, every problem can be solved and regulated differently. There is no one, absolutely good recipe.
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 image: clipart courtesy of buch+musik ejw-service gmbh, Stuttgart - www.ejw-buch.de
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