youth insert from crosslincs 32

Youthlincswww.lincoln.anglican.org/youth

Never mind

the qualityTim Ellis

Bishop of Grantham

“The vision is for a Church that takes young

people seriously. It is a Church where young

people fully and actively participate at every

level. It is a Church that is built on good

relationships, where young people are

concerned, not only with each other, but

with those inside and outside the Church.”

It’s not a bad vision, is it? And it’s one

that’s been around for a long, long time. The

report from which the excerpt comes, Youth

a Part, was written in 1996 and set out a

wide-ranging, visionary and hopeful way

forward for the Church’s involvement with

young people.

How are we doing in Lincolnshire, North

Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire?

Sadly, for some Church communities in

the Diocese of Lincoln, the concerns of

young people are just not very high on the

agenda.

The oft-heard cry of “we don’t have any

young people in this village” gives us an easy

let out, an excuse for not sitting down and

working out what we could, and should, be

doing for the young.

Even more frequently heard is that “the

children are the Church of the future” when

we should be saying “they are the Church of

today”: why do today what you can put off

until tomorrow?

All of this looks a bit lame when we con-

sider the thousands of children who daily

attend our church schools across the

Diocese; the remarkably successful engage-

ment with children and young people in so

many parishes, including in some very small

villages.

It also ignores the work that is being done

by the Diocesan Children and Young

People’s team.

There is excellent work going on out

there, and it is often in some pretty tough

situations.

What hallmarks do these pieces of work

carry?

First: they are places where the young are

taken seriously.

Jesus said: “Let the children come to me...

for of these is the Kingdom of God” and: “I

came that they may have life, and have it all

abundance.”

Two basic truths flow from this: that chil-

dren have a lot to teach us jaded adults; and

that we, as Kingdom builders, should be

concerned about enabling young people to

flourish.

Where these two factors are present,

work with children and young people is cre-

ative and productive.

Secondly: work with the young flourishes

where adults allow change and innovation.

Much of our worship and Church life can

seem as dry as dust to the young. We need

to listen to them, and we need to learn how

these dry bones might live once again.

This might result in different ways of wor-

shipping and a change in the sense of com-

munity. Are we up for it, prepared to pay

the price and therefore ready to be sur-

prised by joy?

Thirdly: There isn’t just one way of work-

ing with the young. In some places, the tried

and tested model of the youth club will still

work, but, in other places with different

young people, different adults and a differ-

ent set of needs, then something different

will need to be tried. There are many ways

to engage with the young, remembering

that what worked last year may not work

now.

One thing is certain, that where we try to

help the young to make their own way in life

− spiritually, lovingly and materially − we

may be surprised to find that we ourselves

are renewed.

Is the Diocese of Lincoln ready to be sur-

prised by the joy the young can bring?

A crosslincs special supplement Autumn 2011

The young at heart

Once upon a time there was a television sit-

com based in a small tailoring firm entitled

Never mind the quality – feel the width.

The running gag was that quantity was

more important that quality; in terms of

work with children and young people that

would be like saying: “it doesn’t matter

what you do with them – as long as they

turn up.”

There is a form of youth or children’s

work that seem to use numbers as its sole

measure of success; the Warehouse model

of provision. Of course, numbers can be

important, but more important is the quali-

ty of work which goes on. We have a duty to

God, whom we represent and in whose

name we work, to the children and young

people who we work with, to their parents

or carers and to the Church which sanctions

our efforts to do the best which we can, to

make a high standard of provision.

To help with this we provide the Bishops’

Best Practice Awards, which are both a

recognition of, and a guide to, what is need-

ed for safe, effective work with children and

young people.

As well as an obvious concern with safe-

guarding and health and safety, proper

records being kept and permissions gained,

the best work with children and young peo-

ple should also involve them in decision-

making, in planning their programme,

deciding how budgets should be spent and

taking responsibility – at the level appropri-

ate to their age and ability – for their own

activities.

The Diocesan Participation Policy gives

some guidance on this, but for more help in

its implementation, the Youth Animateur,

or any other member of the DoLCYS central

staff is there to help.

For more information and policy docu-

ments, visit www.lincoln.anglican.org/youth

Happy band

of Pilgrims:The original Christian

get-away

Page 3

The cutting edge:Youth projects in the Diocese of Lincoln

Page 2

Meet the team:Learn more about the

staff of the Diocese of

Lincoln’s Children and

Youth Service

Page 2

The Diocese of Lincoln

Children and Youth Service

The Old Palace

Minster Yard

Lincoln

LN2 1PU

01522 50 40 67

“Enabling young people to be healthy, stay safe,

enjoy, achieve and make a positive contribution.”

2

It has been said before, and will be said again, that the important people when it comes to

children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Lincoln are the hundreds (and probably over

a thousand) of mostly volunteer workers who turn up, every week, to deliver the work on the

ground.

These people, and the work that they do, are the Children and Youth Service of the

Diocese of Lincoln. The task of those of us who are based at the Diocesan offices is to sup-

port, enable, develop and add value to that work.

Who we are:

Expertise and experience

Suzanne Starbuck

Diocesan Support and Projects Worker

Suzanne’s main responsibilities are to

provide support, assistance and advice to

parishes and projects in their work with

children and young people, which will

include training and award schemes as

appropriate; responsibility for local resource

centres; Diocesan-wide projects, such as

Green Reflections (see page 4) which

parishes, projects and schools, can opt into.

Jane Leighton

Admin Support

Jane works for a few hours each Friday, and

most of her time is spent administering the

registration process, the group insurance

scheme, and keeping the records and

sending out certificates acociated with the

Bishops’ Best Practice Awards, Church

Children’s Achievement Awards and Bishop’s

Youth Achievement Awards.

Dave Rose CA

Diocesan Children and Youth Officer

Dave’s main responsibilities are training;

award schemes (for parishes, projects and

schools); supporting, assisting and advising

parishes and projects as they consider or

develop work with children and young

people, promoting such processes as Godly

Play; encouraging pilgrimage and

explorations in Christian spirituality and

developing new initiatives.

Vacant Post

Diocesan Youth Animateur

This post is all to do with children and young

people being involved in governance, in

having a voice and making a difference.

This is to implement the Diocesan partici-

pation policy, and includes enabling a net-

work of youth synods, moderating the Get

Connected young people’s website and sup-

porting a team of Deanery Youth Enablers.

Further details of the team members can be found on the Diocesan website:

www.lincoln.anglican.org/youth

Examples of very good work

David Rowett

Barton upon Humber

One of the young people should be writing this

– but they’re all away, so it’s left to one of the

adults to do the necessary.

In a way, that just about sums up running a

Church Youth Group – picking up enough of

the pieces to hold things together without

bunging it all up.

Barton's E1W (Every One Welcome) has

been running for three or four years as an

open, Church-sponsored youth group.

Numbers are small, between ten and twen-

ty, and the degree of contact with the Church

varies widely. The dynamics of the group

change according to the dominant age group

as well – the direction appropriate to the pres-

ent group (average age about 15) isn’t the

same as it was when they were 12.

As far as we can manage it, the initiative lies

with the young people. We leaders make sug-

gestions (and, of course, have the essential role

of safeguarding and the rest), but we try and

respond to their thoughts and ideas. It’s taken

us to some unusual places – our viewing of

Frankenstein might raise some Christian eye-

brows, but the (unbidden) perceptive com-

ments of the group were instructive: “The

monster is the only moral character in the

story,” said one 14-year old.

Their spontaneous discussion of Just War

theory was more insightful than I’ve heard

from some clergy. The young people them-

selves put in a successful funding bid for an

Internet café project. They seem to repay our

trust.

If we get the balance between direction and

non-direction right on average, that’s probably

because 50% of the time we err on one side

and 50% of the time on the other. I’m sure we

make mistakes. But so far, our young folk have

been remarkably forgiving.

Jenny and her team of workers at Barton

have also enabled the young people to explore

the use of labyrinths in worship, creating sea-

son-specific examples, which were then shared

with the children in the local primary school.

E1W: Run it or ruin it – the youth group dilemma

The BiZ (Billinghay in Zone) opened in October

2008, but started long before that. Ray Smith

(leader and motivating force) noticed that

there were young people with nowhere to go

on cold and dark evenings, hanging about on

the streets of the village where he lives.

Rather than decide what the young people

were going to get, Ray consulted them, asked

them what they wanted, and so the BiZ

opened, a drop-in for young people aged

between 13 and 19.

“The BiZ starts from a point of giving the

young people a place of warmth and safety by

providing a free café for them to meet and be

around with their friends,” said Ray.

“Thereafter what happens in the drop-in is

down to them.”

The group started with just six but has

grown in size where 20 to 25 can be expected

in an evening.

“The young people are challenged to plan

and organise their own activities, and it has

been great to see their inventiveness and a

can-do attitude among the group,” said Ray.

“We started with a small planning group

made up of four of the young people to begin

the process of planning the weeks ahead.

“Now they have an elected youth council.

The young people have been guided in making

a successful application for equipment. They

chose the equipment for the activities they

wanted to do.

“We all look forward to exciting times

ahead and to what the young people will bring

to the life of our community, and maybe

beyond.”

BiZ: Youth-led activities

The Riddings Brigade is a one-night-a-week club

for the eight to 12 age band.

Based loosely on the Church Lads and Church

Girls Brigade (CLCGB), it provides a mixed activi-

ty evening in the local Municipal Youth Centre,

with the Revd Graham Lines acting as chaplain

and encouraging links to celebrations in the local

Church at Festival and other special occasions.

After consultation with local children (a ques-

tionnaire in the local schools), a summer pro-

gramme was organised, with extra sessions

offering arts and crafts, drama, dance, music

and sports.

The summer activities were funded with

grants from North Lincolnshire Homes and The

High Sheriffs’ and Humberside Police Tribune

Trust. The Riddings Brigade is happening

because of a partnership between parish, the

CLCGB, the Diocese and North Lincolnshire

Council; with the Church Community Fund,

Lincolnshire Community Foundation and

Lincolnshire Community Bank, the Tribune Trust

and North Lincolnshire Homes acting as funding

partners.

The Riddings Brigade: activities in Scunthorpe

3

Walsingham 2011

As a thunderstorm raged over Walsingham, I

wondered how I’d landed the job of cooking

Bolognese in our alfresco kitchen (two-

burners-and-a-barbeque) while the other

twelve of the Barton and Brigg contingent

from the E1W youth group at the Youth

Pilgrimage lounged cosily in our dining tent.

But the previous evening’s barefoot walk-

ing of the Holy Mile and the outdoor worship

with which it ended had been on a perfect

summer evening; the air incense-heavy, the

scene lit by our candles, as 800 (mostly)

young people grew into intense, absolute

silence in an atmosphere electric with

prayer.

And after the storm, in the small hours,

our group kept vigil (almost) alone in the

darkened, cavernous worship space, aware

that for a half-hour the awesome calling of

holding the world up to God had been

entrusted to us.

This was our second time at the

Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage: it would be

good to double the diocesan numbers for

2012.

Next time, please may I cook out of the

rain?

Pilgrimage at Home

There are ways of going on a pilgrimage while

staying at home. Medieval people attempted

to replicate the experience of the Jerusalem

Pilgrimage while staying in one place by using

Labyrinths, and many Cathedrals built at the

time have a Labyrinth marked on the floor.

Today the use of prayer and movement

has been re-discovered, and the young peo-

ple at Barton upon Humber have experi-

mented with seasonal constructions.

If you wish to find out more, contact Fr

David on 01652 632202 or at

[email protected]

In the Diocese of Lincoln, most work with

children and young people takes place at

parish, deanery or some intermediate level.

The work is mainly delivered by teams of

dedicated volunteers, who give up their time

to do this vital, but often-neglected work.

The Diocese of Lincoln Children and Youth

Service (DoLCYS) exists to enable this work to

happen; to provide advice, training and sup-

port for all of those who are involved, or who

wish to be involved in work with children and

young people.

Support is provided by a full time Diocesan

Children and Youth Officer, a part-time

Support and Projects Worker, a part-time

Youth Animator, and a few hours of admin-

strative support.

Help from DoLCYS can come at any time in

the life of a piece of work:

Service at

every level

Getting Started

Help with the visioning process of deciding

what is the way forward where you are

Advice and assistance on the building

blocks that need to be in place, including

management training

Model constitutions, documents and pro-

forma, just ready to adapt and adopt

A whole range of online help and

information sheets

Keeping Going

Training for workers and managers

A quality assurance process via the

Bishop’s Best Practice Awards

Reviews, recommendations and

resources, online and in Resource Centres

Issue-based handouts

An insurance scheme

Added value to what parishes and projects

can offer, by way of the Bishop’s Youth and

Church Children’s Achievement Awards;

special Diocesan projects such as the

Green Reflections Project or the DofE Gold

residential camp; subsidised pilgrimages to

Walsingham or Taize; something that we

have not thought of, but you have

An audit or health check – an outside pair

of eyes to help you see the next step

Someone at the end of the phone or an e-

mail, who will listen and help you to find

the solution to your issues

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

To be a pilgrim?David Rowett

Barton upon Humber

For some, pilgrimage lies somewhere

between the eccentric and the downright

antique (cue Chaucer).

But the experience of being away from

the usual environment, in company with

other fellow-travellers in the faith, ‘mucking

in together’ in a place where, as T S Eliot

puts it, “prayer has been valid for centuries”

— it’s something which you can only under-

stand by taking the plunge and experiencing

it.

There are plenty of pilgrimages on offer,

ancient and not-so-ancient: St Hugh’s

Lincoln (of course), Iona, Lindisfarne,

Walsingham, Taizé; Santiago and Assisi for

the adventurous.

Common to them all is this sense of being

in a ‘thin’ place, away from the usual land-

marks, gathered in fellowship with others to

be open to God — and returning just slight-

ly different.

Taizé 2011

Taizé is an international and ecumenical

monastic community based a small village of

the same name in Burgundy, France.

Throughout the year it welcomes young

people from around the world to come and

spend time living in community, prayer,

silence and sharing. During the summer

there are usually between 2,000 and 5,000

young people there each week.

A group of 13 young people aged 16 to 29

and two adults from Lincoln and Leicester

spent a week on pilgrimage in Taizé this

summer.

For some it was a first visit and others a

return to a much loved place of retreat. The

week has a structure to it consisting of

prayer three times a day, meeting with a

Brother of the community and meeting in

international small groups for sharing and

fun.

Taizé is a place where people can take a

break from the busyness of life and spend

time thinking, sharing and reflecting on

their life, as well as meet lots of new peo-

ple.

This was true for some of the group this

year. The time away gave them a perspec-

tive on life that they would not have been

able to get at home. Some returned excited

about the future, and some with a new

determination and sense of peace in tack-

ling those difficult things that lay ahead.

There will be a trip going from Lincoln

Diocese again next summer.

If you are interested and would like to

know more, please contact the Revd

Jonnie Parkin for more details on 01522

794275 or at [email protected]

Members of the E1W youth group relax at Walsingham

Dave Rose

Diocesan Children and Youth Officer

There are many resources to help us in our

work with children and young people. Of

course the most important resource available

to any worker is themselves, their skills, their

confidence and their knowledge.

There is help and advice from all over the

place. Anyone with a computer and a search

engine can soon find more experts than they

will know what to do with, though with many

of them a policy of ignoring would probably

be best. There is, of course, the team at the

Diocesan offices, and a plethora of books and

magazines.

There is a selection at the Diocesan offices,

a growing choice at the regional resource

centres, and of course resources can be pur-

chased from your local Christian book seller.

As well as that in the Diocesan offices,

there are presently five resource centres

located throughout the Diocese: in

Grantham, Spalding, Lincoln, Scunthorpe,

and we are seeking a volunteer to run the

Cleethorpes centre.

There is, of course, a whole selection of

processes, techniques and methodologies to

be learned and deployed.

Godly Play and Reflective Story Telling

offers a process which can enable the listen-

ers to engage afresh with Biblical truths, set-

ting the story free to take root and grow,

acquiring new meaning for the listeners.

Training is offered once a year, and it is hoped

that the material will become available at the

resource centres.

Messy Church provides a method of engag-

ing all ages with worship, and the Revd Ian

Walters, the Diocesan co-ordinator, wrote:

“Messy Church is a now increasingly popular

method of inviting young people together

with parents into a Christian environment.

“It works for toddlers to teens, and as the

rules are that young people must be accom-

panied by an adult, we find that often mums

and dads will come too. It can be advertised it

through local primary schools, and it is best

held either immediately after school hours or

at the weekend.

“Easy-to-follow course books give exam-

ples of how to operate themed craft and

activity tables which are the first hour or

more of each session, followed by a 20

minute worship session based on the theme.

The final 30 to 40 minutes are the eating ses-

sion, with simple meals suggested in the

book. The idea works as the sessions are

great fun but you do need a team of at least

ten adults.

“It’s a great way to do some basic Christian

teaching but also to build relationships

between your church and local young fami-

lies. It certainly works – try it!”

Passing on information on what works is a

vital service that we offer our fellow toilers in

the harvest field. So if it works, write it up for

us. Contacts us at [email protected]

Resourcing work with young people

4

Suzanne Starbuck

Diocesan Support and Projects Worker

A Diocesan project to inspire young people

towards higher self-esteem and confidence

through environmental activities has already

been a great success.

The Green Reflections project was

inspired by the Bishop of Grantham and his

friend Colin Izod, who took an educational

lead in the Cape Farewell project − which

brings artists, scientists and communicators

together to stimulate the production of art

founded in scientific research.

Bishop Tim’s vision was to launch a similar

project within the Diocese of Lincoln which

gave opportunities to young people who

may not otherwise encounter them.

Green Reflections is available for young

people in parishes, schools, youth groups or

other organisations and links with the

Bishop’s Youth Awards which recognise and

celebrate children and young people’s

achievements.

The Green Reflections project has impor-

tant working partnerships with Hill Holt

Wood − a 34-acre woodland near Newark

operating as an environmental social enter-

prise, the Lincolnshire Butterfly

Conservation Group, Freiston Education

Centre and Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk.

Green Reflections welcomes the voices

and choices of young people about their

environment, ecology, conservation, her-

itage and preservation of the natural ele-

ments and balance in the natural world. We

wish to know how young people want to be

involved with this project and then discuss

with partners how and where events could

take place.

Green Reflections has worked together

with Hill Holt Wood to provide a Duke of

Edinburgh residential event in April with a

focus on green woodworking skills. A group

of young people spent a week camping at

Hill Holt Wood and developed skills to cre-

ate a love seat (a bench with two seats in

opposite directions) from a tree trunk using

heritage skills. The seat is currently being

used to good effect at Hill Holt Wood as a

seat for the bride and groom at wedding

events.

Young people camping for the week were

able to claim their Duke of Edinburgh

Awards and Bishop’s Award Certificates.

The Diocese of Lincoln youth team is

working closely with rangers at Hill Holt

Wood to plan further events to support

young people to achieve new skills, certifi-

cation, self-esteem, confidence and to

become involved with community projects.

Events being planned will develop her-

itage skills in green woodworking, stone

masonry, lime-plastering and other building

skills. Camping facilities are available and a

variety of activities are being planned.

A group of young people from a rurally-

isolated area attended Hill Holt Wood for

one day and created a half lap joint with a

peg − quite an achievement in such a short

time. Two of the young people may apply to

go on the NEETS (Not in Education,

Employment or Training) programme as a

result of their experience.

Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk is running

many events through out the year and

would like to encourage more young people

to participate. Diocese of Lincoln’s youth

team is working in partnership to enable

young people to access heritage and

archaeological experiences. Ideas from

young people are welcomed to plan future

events.

Skills development through voluntary

work surveying and monitoring buildings at

risk is available to both adults and young

people. This is beneficial for those wishing

to update a CV or decide on a career.

Intergenerational working has a positive

effect on all age groups.

The Lincolnshire Butterfly Conservation is

working in partnership with the Diocese’s

youth team to support young people to

appreciate and preserve habitat for butter-

flies. There are events throughout the year

held at different venues led by experts in

their field. Monitoring forms are available

should groups wish to identify and record

butterflies in their area.

Freiston Education Centre is awarding the

Bishop’s Award certificates for special resi-

dential weeks and family days which allow

parents of children with disabilities some

respite while the young people enjoy pond-

dipping, art, music led by the Lincolnshire

Music Improvement Service, and other

activities on a Saturday.

A total of 53 Bishop’s Award Certificates

for Green Reflection modules have been

awarded so far this year to children and

young people. There will be many more

when young people take part in the exciting

activities being planned.

For further information about Green

Reflections modules, events and awards

contact Suzanne Starbuck on 01522

504068, 07850 303281 or by e-mail at

[email protected]

Environmental focus

“A group of young people

from a rurally-isolated area

attended Hill Holt Wood for

one day and created a half

lap joint with a peg − quite

an achievement in such a

short time”

Woodworking at Hill Holt Wood