MOVING OUT>7:p1

Activities with young peopleExploration of the use of occasional activity with young people as a way to form and sustain relationships

Putting the Go back into Gospel!

Last year I had something of a summer of reunions. Jessica, the girl who lived next door until I was 8, got married. My mum turned 60 and retired from work. I celebrated with her at her party at home in Surrey as well as a trip to Aberdeen (where she’s from) where I caught up with family friends and relatives who live there. My friend Liz had her 30th birthday which gave me the chance to see people from school and my old youth group who I haven’t been in the same room as for about 10 years!

Occasions like this have a role in facilitating relationships in several different ways. At each of the events I was a part of, there were people who I met for the first time – a chance for “friends of friends” I had heard of to become my own acquaintances. With other people I was able to develop an existing acquaintance, take a step further towards friendship. I caught up with quite a few people I only get the chance to see rarely, sustaining those relationships. I made some memories of shared experiences with people who I am close to.

Birthdays, weddings and retirements are all among the key life events that we mark with some kind of occasion, doing something that we don’t do every day. As well as being the marker posts of an individual person’s journey through life, these occasions can become the memorable marker posts of the development of a relationship: the shared experiences that we reminisce over and the stories we tell. It can also work the other way. Those occasions you experience can become key life events: the wedding you went to where you met your own partner; the holiday that inspired you to live in a different country; the transcendent gig that kicked started your spiritual journey.

According to Michele Guinness, we serve a God of events. She calls God “the great party-giver”, pointing out that he built more than 1 festival per month into the Jewish calendar! Jesus, she says, is “the great party-goer”! In the gospels there are over 30 references to Jesus eating; he taught more over meals than in the temple or synagogue; and the wedding at Cana, he made about 1000 bottles of wine! Quite a few of his parables feature parties too.

Reading through the Bible, we see God creating key moments of connection with a lot of his people: when he meets Hagar in the desert, wrestles with Jacob, allows Moses to see his face, speaks to Elijah in his still small voice and shows some of the disciples Jesus’ transfiguration. God knows and meets their need for notable, memorable experiences in their relationships with him.

Does your youth work reflect your God? Michele Guinness says that we cannot give our children our faith, but we can help them to find their own faith by giving them a sense of the Hebraic way of life: a life of celebration, marking significant occasions and making new memories. So how about marking some milestones, meeting some new young people, making some memories and having some fun? After all – if it’s good enough for God…

MOVING OUT>7:p2

In the beginning…an introduction to this theme

Frontier Youth Trust recently consulted a group of young people about what youth services should offer. As a group, they felt that a whole range of different services were important, but they overwhelmingly agreed on 2 categories: “Organising trips and residentials” and “Outdoor activities (e.g. climbing, skating, canoeing)” were each highlighted by all but one of the young people. We all need some fun and excitement, a bit of adventure in our lives. In fact Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), who was a German dramatist, novelist, poet and scientist, suggested that boredom was one of the most destructive forces in life when he said, “A man can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days.”

REFLECTION: Do you agree with Goethe’s statement? What behaviours have you seen, especially in young people, that would confirm his view? What would contradict it?

So, how can we help meet this need for excitement and form relationships with new young people? One organisation I worked for ran a regular band night for years. The bands who played were all local young people, which gave them a platform to practice and perform and also meant that a lot of local young people came to see their mates from school on stage. Some of the bands played quite regularly, giving them team the opportunity to develop relationship with them over a long-term basis. Having a cool-down area outside with a prayer tent and a hot chocolate stand created space for conversation, especially with the regulars who came back month after month. Eventually there were enough relationships in place that the team were able to start a mid-week café to work more deeply with the group.

Another event that brought us into contact with a new group of young people was organised by one of our local secondary schools. They set up a challenge week to stretch their sixth-formers’ creativity by getting local employers to present a problem their organisation was facing and giving the pupils 5 days to devise a solution. The group who worked on the problem we set became the core members of a steering group for our new youth centre.

Special activities can also help you to build on relationships with young people you already know, especially if you get them involved in the planning. Social action projects, like Soul in the City, have really helped me to get to know more about the young people I work with because they create such easy opportunities to chat about values. Working with the young people to plan and run community events (e.g. a charity walk, an estate Christmas party) has helped me to learn about the young people’s gifts and then to help them see what they are capable of doing and what power they have. A lot of young people helped to run the band nights – selling tickets, running the cloakroom, setting up light and sound gear – and some of those went on to do a gap year with us. That sense of being in it together helps you to bond.

Make a list of events (weddings, birthdays, parties) you have attended and for each one write down why you went. Add to that any events you’ve organised and what motivated you to have it. Are there any recurring answers? What do your answers tell you about yourself? Your relationships?

Our attitude and choices about an event can be a statement about our relationship with the person at the centre of it. People will wear clothes and take part in activities they would never choose for themselves if it’s to be part of a special day for someone they love. People who are terrified of flying will take flights across the world to share in celebrations with loved ones. And when organising a special treat for someone they love, people will set aside their own preferences to get it right for them. Occasions can develop and sustain your relationships with the young people because they are a way of telling them how you feel about them. Day trips to theme parks or the beach, a special Christmas meal, a shopping and spa day, anything that you do for no agenda but fun is a way of blessing your group, telling them that you value them and care about them.

MOVING OUT>7:p3

Thinking it throughSome theory

PrinciplesDesigning and running an event for young people can be a lot of work, so it’s well worth getting your approach right from the beginning. Try to keep a focus on being… Prayerful: At the start and throughout, pray for wisdom, guidance and God’s big picture for your

young people and youth work. Pray as a team and with the young people too. Unique: Involve, pray with and delegate responsibility to your creative team members and young

people. Learn from other groups and projects but don’t re-invent the wheel. Focus on what God has given you to offer and offer it as well as you can.

Relevant: It is crucial to develop a good awareness of your target group or community and to respond to their actual needs and to be willing to shape or change programmes in response to current/national/local events that might impact on a group (e.g. a death in a local school). Ask what the young people want or be led by needs identified by them.

Inspiring: Help your team to keep a focus on the big picture and purpose of the event. Call people up, thank and encourage them. Make this an opportunity to show one another grace and love. Be willing to get it wrong and learn. Let the process of running the event be as inspiring as the event itself!

ACTION: Spend time in prayer and reflection, then write a 1 sentence response to each of the principles above. What is God’s big picture for your group? In what is your group unique? What will be relevant to your context? What inspiration do you want people to find through this event?

Discuss your responses with someone else involved in your group. Use your shared thoughts and discussions to help you begin defining the purpose of your event.

ProcessUsing a process like this one will help you to remember everything that needs to be done and to learn from the experience to help you with future events.

(1) Planning:

Deciding your purpose, what the event will be and

how to do it

(2) Preparation:

Doing the things you need to do to get ready for the

event

(3) Run the

event

(4) Review:How was

your event? Get feedback from team,

young people and parents

(5) Evaluate:

What strengths can you build

on? What needs improving? Use these

lessons for future planning

MOVING OUT>7:p4

PurposeThink through why you are doing the event (don’t do events for the sake of doing events!). What has God been saying to you as you have been praying? What have the young people identified as needs or opportunities? How does it relate to the bigger picture? What is needed to complement your current youth provision? Is this a helpful stepping stone as part of your youth work strategy? What’s the vision for the event? There are a whole range of purposes you might have, such as: fun celebration outreach training discipleship integration of young people/social groups/the Church etcIt doesn’t really matter what your reason for the event is. The important thing is that you have a reason for running it and you know what it is!

REFLECTION: Think about the individual young people you work with. What is going on in each of their lives at the moment? Consider the group as a whole. What are the group dynamics like? What are the needs and opportunities that you could respond to with an event?

PossibilitiesOnce you know why you’re doing it and what you’d like to achieve, it gets much easier to generate ideas of what the event should be. If you’re going for celebration, an “end of exams” party is probably more appropriate than a day litter-picking! A band night could be for fun, it could be to make contacts with new young people or it could be a vehicle for developing team-work and leadership skills among your current young people. A “wet and messy games” night might be one to avoid if your purpose is to facilitate relationships between the youth group and the over 65s in your church (not to mention the cleaners…). Don’t worry about having too many ideas - you’ll soon be able to narrow down your appropriate possibilities as you start looking at people, resources and practicalities.

PeopleWho is the event for? In all your planning and preparation, remember which young people you are aiming to serve and

check that your event is relevant, appropriate and accessible for them Being accessible means being aware of a number of different issues. For example, how are you

enabling young people who are shy to participate? What about those on the edge? Young people with disabilities?

Don’t overload the young people. Some will be busy with homework, family commitments and other responsibilities. Others just respond better to novelty value: it’s not an occasion if it happens every week! Less can be more!

Who will the event headed up by? Who will coordinate the different areas and keep an overview of the preparations? Who can take delegated responsibility for different aspects? (E.g. catering, publicity, recruiting team) What are your weaknesses and who will take on the areas that you are weak in? Who will oversee and pray for you all and/or help you with bouncing ideas around?

Who will make up the event team? What team do you need? What are the different roles that you need to cover and how many people do you need in each role?

Roles might include selling tickets, organising social action projects, carrying out risk assessments, praying before and during the event, driving a minibus, etc.

Try to find inclusive and creative ways for people to participate and serve. Could young people shape the event by being on the steering group? Could they make a video to record and evaluate the event that can be shown to the church/whoever has funded the event? How could you involve parents or members of your congregation?

MOVING OUT>7:p5

Involve the young people and the team every step of the way to get their ‘buy in’ and make sure that you’re getting the event right and making the process inspirational.

Who is the event developing? Remember that this is an opportunity to build up skills in your team and to raise up young leaders.

Look for tasks and responsibilities that will enable others to test and stretch themselves. This might be a risk and it might be tempting to give roles to those you are certain can fulfil them

easily. Don’t miss the chance to develop people – and increase your team – by making a perfect event your priority.

Give you team feedback afterwards, but be careful not to slip into law and become critical. Find ways to encourage and make constructive suggestions for development.

Pounds Identify what resources you have already and what you need (venue, transportation, speakers/leaders,

costs, catering, etc.) Is there another group you can work with? This way you could pool your resources and share the

responsibility. Work out some rough costings – what will need to be paid for? Don’t forget things that might not be

obvious parts of the event, such as speaker’s expenses, chips on the way home, transport, insurance and licences.

How are you going to cover your costs? Can they be covered by your existing budget? Can funding be accessed? Is there someone/a team who could fundraise for you? Will young people pay to come?

Give as much advanced warning as possible to parents if they are going to be asked to pay for the event. Consider whether it is possible to subsidise the cost for those who can’t afford the full price or families who have 2 or more youth, etc.

Practicalities Timings When you set a date be aware of school holidays, church calendar, etc. and consider how much

advance notice people (team, young people, parents) will need. Check the availability of your venue/activity. Work out timings for whole plan, including set up and pack down, travel, etc. Decide whether you need to set a deadline for young people booking in.

Numbers Is there a minimum number of young people you need to make it viable? What is your maximum

capacity? Do you have the right ratio of leaders to young people?

Legal/Good practice Have you carried out a risk assessment? Do you need parental consent? If so, have you organised permission slips? Are your leaders CRB checked and Child Protection trained? Do all your team members understand

clearly what their own roles and responsibilities are? Do they all know who is responsible for what? Do you have a trained first aider? If it’s a late event, have you considered how young people will be able to get home? If you are litter

picking, etc, should you be providing any protective clothing? Does the team need specific training to run this event?

Publicity and Communication Name the event and make it clear what it is! Make sure your publicity/information letter includes details of dates, times, age range, location,

anything the young people need to do or bring, booking/medical forms if required and a contact name/number if young people/parents have questions in advance or need to get in touch on the day.

MOVING OUT>7:p6

Make sure that you have communicated the full plan (travel arrangements, timings, cost) to parents/carers – and finish when you say you will!

State clearly deadlines for booking, paying deposits, final payments, etc.

Transport Trains – could you cut your costs by using family and young person railcards? Use insured and road worthy cars with drivers over 25 Bus – don’t forget to book it and check what the hire company’s insurance covers

Food If your event involves food, have a catering team who hold hygiene certificates. Make sure the

facilities you are using meet health and safety requirements. Opting to eat out or get take away food can be more straightforward, but will have a cost implication. If you’re having a tuck shop, have you got a float? Who is buying the stock? Have you designated

someone to run it at the event? Are you making a profit – make sure you’re not trading illegally?!

ACTION: Choose one of the following events and explore ideas of how you would start to plan this event, keeping in mind the core elements needed and the desire to be unique, relevant and inspiring. A community social action event A mission trip abroad An evangelistic concert

Faithing the Facts”Some theology

I think the story of Abraham (Genesis 12-25) is really interesting when you consider that it spans 100 years. We first meet Abram, as he’s called at that point, when he’s 75 years old, he dies aged 175 and in the middle there is quite a lot of waiting around! Don’t get me wrong, what happens in his life is very dramatic; it’s just that – given that we’re talking about a century – there are not all that many incidents. He has a couple of run-ins with local kings, a few issues with Lot (his nephew), one visit from 3 mysterious men, and one illegitimate child – that’s like a week in EastEnders time! Even the central storyline is quite slow moving. Abram received a promise from God that he would be the origin of a great nation and then had to wait for 25 years before his promised son, Isaac, was born. A further 60 years later Isaac’s twin sons, Esau and Jacob, are born and Abraham dies when they are 15. God had promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens; there hasn’t been much progress towards that in a hundred-year period.

The reason that I find this so interesting is that it strikes me as such and accurate example of “real life”. I am not constantly in the midst of dramatic life events (and I’m thankful for that!) or soul-altering spiritual encounters. There’s a lot of slow, gentle journeying punctuated with significant moments. One of Abram’s characteristics was that whenever God spoke, he responded outwardly as well as inwardly. He built altars and planted a tree in places where God spoke to him or where he sought God (Genesis 12:7, 12:8, 13:18, 21:33). At God’s instruction, he made sacrifices (Genesis 15), he undertook circumcision and changed his name to Abraham, meaning “father of many” (Genesis 17). These actions were all evidence of his faith, but perhaps they were also the things that sustained his faith and his relationship with God. In the same way that God created memorable moments of intimacy for Abraham, Abraham honoured God by noting, recording and remembering what God had done and was continuing to do; taking encouragement from the journey and the quality of their relationship.

REFLECTION: How do you note the progression of your relationships with your group? How do you enable them to note and remember?

MOVING OUT>7:p7

Levi took a different approach to marking his life-changing encounter (Luke 5:27-32). When he met and was called to follow Jesus, Levi threw a party for Jesus and invited all of his friends to come and meet him. How might this compare to why you have parties or how you go about sharing Jesus with others?

ACTION: Look at the festivals God sets out for his people in the Old Testament. What were they each for and how were they celebrated or marked? What can you learn from this about using special occasions?

Story from the Edge

Tales that link cricket, Jesus and the Twin Tower events of the 11h September are hard to find. This may well be the only one written!

The story starts in 1999 when 12 young Christians aged 16 to 25 arrived in inner city London to run a sport outreach week for the local community. Without any prior advertising 40 young people descended on the first afternoon to play football. By the end of the week 150 plus young people enjoyed a football tournament with trophies and medals for the junior and senior competitions. In a community notorious for racial disharmony a diverse group of people enjoyed glorious weather close to the Thames with the only hint of trouble being an argument between members of the same team about where their trophy would be displayed!

In this and subsequent weeks a group of Bangladeshi Muslims indulged their passion for cricket alongside a local church plant in the community. The sound of willow on leather was frequently heard as more and more young people took part from this close knit community.

Relationships are built up very easily if you are armed with a bag of sports gear and as a result this small church planted in 1999 soon became well known for it’s sports work in their ethnically diverse community. As sponsors of activities that regularly unite different racial groups the church realized very soon after 11th September that this hard work could be jeopardized rapidly by the tragic events of September 11th and decided to be proactive once again. Two leaders from the church felt called to offer a hand of friendship to a small local mosque that had made it’s home in a railway arch close by.

When they approached the mosque to talk with the Imam there were men waiting outside who were visibly uncomfortable about the unknown guests and the assumption was that they were there for trouble. In the midst of the discomfort one of the regular cricketers arrived for prayer at the mosque and although surprised to see his friends outside greeted them warmly. His intervention signaled a palpable relief to sweep the small crowd waiting to go in. Not only this but being bi-lingual he was able to translate for the imam who does not speak English. One by one the assembled group gravitated to the unusual conversation and soon the discrete words of solidarity became an address to the whole mosque which was warmly received.

As the instigator of the original sports outreach week, I was astounded to hear the above story, which was outside of my limited expectations when taking forward the vision for sports outreach in inner city areas. It reinforces my conviction that when followers of Jesus step outside of their comfort zone and engage with the community God can do amazing things, even to the extent of using two church leaders and a young Muslim as joint peacemakers. To paraphrase the words of Jim Punton, author of The Messiah People (available from Frontier Youth Trust) our task is to work towards Shalom or wholeness in our communities. I wonder if he envisaged cricket being used for such a purpose in Jesus name, perhaps not? Howzat for a Sovereign God.

MOVING OUT>7:p8

Are we using sport and other community activities to their full potential in our work? Are there ways in which we might use sport more consciously as a mission tool? If so what are the implications and how do you go about it? This project had young Christians working alongside people of other faith groups engaging in mission – what kind of preparation and training is needed for this? What role could/should young people play in mission? What role has your youth work got in promoting cross-cultural or inter-faith understanding and what skills and understandings do we need as youth workers to engage in such activity?

Gary Richardson

Don’t just stand there… This section contains ideas for action – methods, tools, approaches to engage with young people – based on the session subject/content

ACTION: Research some of the groups of young people you aren’t in contact with. Walk around your community and note your observations. When and where do you see young people you don’t know congregating? What clues can you gather about their interests and needs by observing what they are doing or wearing? What, if anything, do they bring with them? How would initiating some work with these young people fit in with your youth work strategy? What benefits and challenges might there be?

ACTION: Look at the event ideas listed below (you can add to this list from some of the online resources signposted in the AOB section of this session) and split them into categories – ideas that would help you meet new young people ideas that would help you bless your group ideas that would create opportunities to work alongside your group ideas that are inappropriate for your context

BowlingGigParty in the parkResidentialMission tripChocolate fountain DVD nightTalent night5-a-side competitionYouth café during the school holidays

ACTION: Try some creative consultancy with your youth group to find out what they would like to do. For example, ask them to list their top 3 ways of celebrating their birthday; look with them at websites like Red Letter Days or buyagift.com and invite them to rate the “experiences” or say what sort of person (age, gender, etc.) would go for each one; get out the art materials and old magazines and create collages showing “my dream weekend/half term/summer”.

ACTION: Make recording events part of the whole process – don’t just make the memories, but also mark those memories. If you have a Facebook group, make a video of the activity and post it on your wall. Create a photo wall in the room you meet in. Award certificates (joke or serious) each term/year to record the key contributions of each of the group members. Print team t-shirts. Compile a scrap book or year book. Give the group an item to take away that will remind them of their experience…

MOVING OUT>7:p9

Just when you thought it was all over…

ACTION: Arrange to go and visit another group who are running a special event for young people. Chat with them about what they’re doing, why, how and who for. Find out what lessons they’ve learned. If you can observe the event, reflect afterwards on the positives, any issues, what would/wouldn’t work in your context and why. Take your findings back to share with your team.

AOBContacts, resources, links that relate to the session subject/content

Training:

Christian Youth Work Training – www.cywt.org.uk provides information about Christian youth work training in the UK. The site is now run by David Howell, a freelance consultant in the fields of training, Further Education, Higher Education and Christian youth work.

Frontier Youth Trust - please contact if we can help you to look a little deeper at this theme or other youth work related topics. www.fyt.org.uk

Some Web Based Resources:

Some ideas for activities/events: http://www.funandgames.org/ http://www.studentministry.org/top-5-summer-youth-events-that-cost-under-5-total/ http://www.thesource4ym.com/events/

Health and safety guidelines: Download the Health and Safety Executive’s booklet “The Event Safety Guide”, which gives

guidance on all kinds of things, such as music events, crowd management, camping, food, events for teenagers, etc. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg195.pdf

Food hygiene: Contact your local Environmental Health Officer for advice and information about requirements

in your area. You should be able to find contact information on the local city/county/borough council website.

There are quite a few online food hygiene courses available. Check with your local Environmental Health Officer what accreditation you need, but here are a few links for information:

www.food-certificate.co.uk www.food-hygiene-certificate.co.uk www.tutorcare.co.uk/Food-Safety www.train4food.co.uk/ www.virtual-college.co.uk

Recommended Books:

'The Heavenly Party' by Michele Guinness Ideas about how to use the festivals and the Christian calendar to “recover the fun” within and beyond

the church community (and recipes to help!).

MOVING OUT>7:p10

Running a Youth event check list

See end of the session.

Amen Corner

REFLECTION: Spend some time reflecting on your spiritual journey. What have been particularly memorable or significant moments, events or encounters? Words or thoughts? Passages of scripture? Images, pictures or dreams?

ACTION: Take some Abraham-like action to mark these. Perhaps you could build a cairn, writing on each stone one of your moments, words, pictures? Or some art work that draws together your reflections? Or, like Abraham, plant a tree?

Running a Youth Event Check List page 1 of 2

Principles of running a youth event

Pray for wisdom, guidance and God’s big picture for your youth – pray with team and youth too!!!

Ask youth what want or be lead by a need identified by them- Youth Forum.

Work it into bigger picture or build the bigger picture around it? What’s the vision and purpose of the event (don’t do events for the sake of doing events!), What is needed to compliment your Youth provision/is this a helping stepping stone as part of your Youthwork strategy?

Get ‘buy in’ from team & youth by involving them every step of the way.

Once these are done you can then begin to look at the detail

Why do the event

fun

outreach

training

discipleship

Part of youth work strategy

Integration of young people/social groups/the Church etc

What is the event

Name the event

Bowling, gig, party in the park, residential, mission trip, chocolate fountain DVD night.

When is the event

Date (beware of school holidays and church calendar)

How much advance notice do people need

Check availability of where you are going

Check timings – finish when say and communicate that to parents/carers

Deadline for youth booking in & how many young people do you need to make it viable/what is your maximum capacity

Who is the event

For – remember, be accessible – shy, on the edge, y/p with disabilities

Heading it up by

Reaching out to

Who will take the areas that you are weak in

Who will oversee and pray for you and/or help you with bouncing ideas around

Team needed - Find inclusive and creative ways for others to participate and serve (i.e. Young people, Parents, Members of your congregation etc) – Great way to identify/develop potential and future volunteers

What resources

Identify what resources you have already and what you need (venue, transportation, speakers/leaders, costs, catering etc)

Consider working inter-church – greater resources, shared yoke

How much

will they pay to come

rough costings

what will need to be paid for – speaker, equipment, transport, insurance, food, venue, entertainment.

Advanced warning to parents if it is going to cost

Can funding be accessed?

Church subsidise those that can’t afford or who have 2 or more youth?

Transport

Train – family and young person railcards

insured and road worthy cars with drivers over 25

Bus – booked, checked

Legal/ Good Practice / Health & Safety and Child Protection

permission slips

leaders who are CRB and Child Protection trained

Risk Assessment

Ratio of leaders to youth

Clear roles and responsibilities

If it’s a late event how will young people get home? Etc

First Aider

Does the team need specific training to run this event?

Food

Catering team – hygiene cert, facilities, health and Safety

Take out

Cost to youth, budget

Tuck shop – float, who buying it, manning it. VAT

Review

Do it, even if its brief but keep the notes!

Use the notes when planning next event

Get feedback from youth, team and parents – formal or informal

Other

Running a Youth Event Check List page 2 of 2