Dear Jonathan: Social Action as a Youth Group

Even better than a Dear John letter is a Dear Jon/Jonathan letter, and I was asked recently for some ideas on getting a youth group involved in social action projects, perhaps starting with a simulation game.  Here's how I replied:

Simulation games are almost always good. You probably know that Stephen Hooper specialises in these things? He ran a big one on the Anglican Schools Students Network conference last year, but it needed more time. Doing a 3-4 hour (or even overnight) epic would be pretty memorable for all involved, I would think.

On my shelf is a book called "Ideas for Social Action" by Tony Campolo.  It's quite old (1983!) but many of the ideas inside are still completely applicable. For example, at St Lucia we use the idea called "Supermarket Stakeout" a couple of times a year - you get the group to stand outside a supermarket, and when people approach, you give them a slip of paper asking them to buy an extra item for the Inala pantry. If they bring back an item to you, you give them a thank-you card with your church details inside etc. (You've got permission from the supermarket manager, and of course you don't hassle the customers - not everyone will have the money or desire to buy something extra. But it's an exercise where everyone wins. The book has lots of other ideas too.

 

The Roscoe Library has several books on teens and/or parishes and social action - free to borrow, as you know.

 

I'd maybe start by asking the group (or a few of them) to name a cause they'd like to raise funds for. Then just try doing something straightforward to get them into the hang of it e.g. a carwash (if it's warm enough).  If you want to get some attention, you could have a continuous reading relay of the Bible all the way through. Reading aloud at a normal speed normally takes from Friday night to Sunday morning, just in time for church. Would people in the congregation sponsor the group to do that, so the money then goes to your cause?

 

If your group is interested in the asylum seeker debate, they could contact Anglicare SQ about the BRASS program (see attachment). Could be controversial!

 

My old youth group once doorknocked virtually our whole suburb for Freedom From Hunger: we raised over $1000 in a day (this was a long time ago) and got a framed certificate from FFH for being the biggest fundraising group in Brisbane. So if there's a doorknock coming up soon, you could do that, though many schools seem to do it too.

 

When I speak to parishes and groups on this kind of topic, often I mention the following (taken from a PPT slide):

 

What makes service projects empowering for children and youth?

 

Do the actual work and don't just observe.

 

Work with accepting adults who don't criticize their efforts.

 

Have important responsibilities.

 

Have a sense that they can make a contribution.

 

Have the freedom to explore their own interests and develop their own ideas.

Have opportunities to reflect upon the meaning of the activities.

So my point here is that even if the project isn't itself headline-grabbing (e.g. a world record attempt), if it fulfils most or all of these criteria, it will have served a very useful purpose and will probably also motivate the group to fire up for its next project.

There is a little group of us meeting up in the next fortnight to discuss how youth / Anglicare / ABM may be able to work better together. If something good eventuates out of that, I'll let you know.  I suspect it will become a topic at the next Bring It! meeting in late August!

Don't hesitate to get back in touch as often as necessary, and feel free to forward this on to others.  Thanks for the fantastic work you're doing - and this is just the beginning!

Peace in Christ,

Jonathan Kemp

Big Weeks: A Catch up!

Hi ho, well, there's never a dull moment in my travels around the Diocese! Here's a quick run through of some things I've seen recently...

Christ Church St Lucia: Bible 360

Saturday 20 April: Jonathan S and I headed to Christ Church St Lucia for our first experience of the Bible 360 course, facilitated by the Rev. Adam Lowe, usually of Noosa parish, but also now the lead project officer for Bible 360.

I enjoyed time at a table of folks from St Lucia and Indooroopilly parishes, but there were people from elsewhere too. Jonathan S and I were particularly keen to see how adaptable the course might be for a Youth audience, and I think the answer is that it's very adaptable - in fact, I don't know that there is a great deal I would change, except perhaps adding more A/V elements.  The booklets were useful, though I'm not certain I learnt a great deal of new content.  I think most of the value for me was mainly in sharing time with fellow local Anglicans, thinking about the Bible!  Admittedly, I had to miss the final afternoon input to visit St Stephen's Coorparoo for a Children's Worship recording session... but thanks to the Rev Adam and the Rev Ceri Wynne for your efforts with an appreciative group.

One memorable feature of the day was the opportunity to present a dramatic reading of the entire book of Philemon... which is not as long as it sounds. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan S and I both received roles.  JS played Paul, whose main job here was to push me through the door... while I was given the challenging role of the slave, returned to his former captor and reading out Paul's firm but fair message requesting forgiveness for a runaway slave now become Christian brother.  A very interesting experience, which would be well worth trying out as a quick activity in a youth group or other parish or school setting. 

St Stephen's Coorparoo: Children's Worship

St Stephen's is a really impressive church community in Brisbane's South / East.  Their Rector, the Rev. Josh Dinale, is definitely the only minister I know with spacers in his ears!  They employ a Children's Minister, Ms Juliet Briner, who kindly invited me to join them for an hour-long worship session where children were the focus, and which was recorded in order to become a CD - a copy of which will be generously distributed to each other parish at Synod at the end of June.

The five piece band were great, and the song leaders / choreographers were awesome. Nice to see Sarah Fowler out the front again - doing a great job with those of us who need lots of instruction on when to move hands / arms / legs / etc!

In between songs, Juliet led the children through related activities and afterwards, there was a great sausage sizzle outside, where I had a chance to catch up with Youth Ministry Intern Stephen Khu and other Coorparoo folks.

This was an excellent time of praise and worship where children were the key participants and I look forward to hearing the CD so I can relive the afternoon all over again.

 

Chinchilla and Roma: Listening to Country Voices

Not long after my fun day at St Lucia and Coorparoo, I joined eight other Anglicans from a range of different parishes and agencies on a three-day mini-bus journey, heading West to Chinchilla and then on to Roma.
The purpose of the trip was to bring to fruition a successful motion from last year's Diocesan Synod, which essentially called for city Anglicans to visit and listen to the concerns of those in the bush.  The chosen format for "listening" in a purposeful way was very interesting: "Open Space Technology" sounds like it should be concerned with satellites, but actually it means a system of running productive meetings where a range of relevant topics can be covered in ways which allow people to take turns in the discussion.  There are no white boards, no butchers' paper, no "policy outcomes", etc. Space won't allow me to go into it all here, but suffice to say, I turned from a mild sceptic into an enthusiastic convert when I saw it in practice in Chinchilla.
It was great to visit St Cecilia's Chinchilla for the first time, and catch up with the Rev. Kay Hart and husband Alan.  We broke into four groups of about twelve, and proceeded to engage in discussion for perhaps 90 minutes or so. Topics raised included the Coal Seam Gas debate, youth ministry, and the social effects of the mining boom on affordable housing in the region.  Hearing about these things at first hand was an invaluable experience.

Although Chinchilla was charming, Roma was remarkable. The Rev. Scott and Gisela Gunthorpe lead a wonderful parish at St Paul's Roma with a thriving youth and children's ministry at present, which was great to hear.
The "Open Space" session also went well; though there were fewer in attendance than in Chinchilla, we heard new stories of the ups and downs of life on the land, and similar stories of the goods and bads of the mining boom upon the township.
One of my tasks on the trip was to act as a photographer for our Diocesan Anglican Focus magazine, so hopefully you will hear more of the Roma-Chinchilla trip in the next edition.
All too soon, it seemed, we were on our way back to Brisbane, and for those who haven't travelled very far to the West recently, let me assure you that the road works are driving everyone a bit crazy, adding hours to travel time.  One of the worst spots is the Toowoomba Range crossing, which is down to one lane in each direction.  One hopes that the end results are worth the current inconvenience!

Messy Church at Sherwood

Lastly, a quick plug for the extraordinary work of the parish of St Matthew's, Sherwood and particularly their Rector, the Rev. Peter Shayler-Webb, and his awesome Messy Church team, coordinated by passionate Messy Church promoter, Sue Taylor.
I can't recommend a visit to a Sherwood Messy Church service enough!  On Good Shepherd Sunday, with the input largely based around the 23rd Psalm, I believe I experienced Messy Church worship at a world-class level.  Of course, worship is about giving the glory to God, but I must say my worship was really enhanced by the range of inter-active activities, the input from the Rev Pete, the A/V clips, the music, the care which has been taken with the physical elements within the church building, and many other aspects. It really blew me away and it reinforced my growing belief that although a Messy Church service requires a considerable amount (maybe that should be a 'huge' amount) of preparation, the results are stunning and the enthusiasm with which the congregation, particularly its younger members, become involved suggests that a parish wishing to reach out to young families should certainly be considering Messy Church as at least an option.
Sue Taylor would be extremely pleased to coach another parish in how to go about holding a Messy Church, and details on how to contact her are found on our AYCF Messy Church page.

Sue will also be offering a Messy Church elective workshop on "Everything you wanted to know about Messy Church but were afraid to ask" at our RISE training day at Milton on Saturday 1 June.  RISE is just $10 for food, a great bag with all materials, and your choice of four electives from the huge sixteen on offer.  Register now and secure your place!

Until next time, the Lord be with you!