Youth groups working with the national church should definitely consider some specifics
Consider Special Features
- The national church creates new access
Because of its legal and social position, the national church has access to a wide population. It has birth data and addresses of children, is represented in the school and is therefore a good advertising channel.
- The National Church "vouches for respectability"
Even if one or the other may have his doubts, for many people the national church as a carrier or the pastor as a co-responsible person is a guarantee of a certain seriousness. No inhibitions to take advantage of this and to stand as a Jungschar consciously to the lan-deskirchlichen background.
- The national church has legal boundaries
Not everything that would be desirable is allowed for the national church. Addresses, for example, are often not allowed to be given out for data protection reasons. In such cases, however, the parish office can arrange for appropriate mail to be sent. Where understanding and imagination prevail, legal boundaries are not insurmountable.
- The national church has a financial plan
Therefore, with a tolerant demeanor, the BESJ youth group should also find sufficient support in the church congregation. The claim to be blessed alone, however, will snub pastors and church care!
- The national church has traditionally had more of a connection with Cevi
Where BESJ and Cevi would compete with each other, it is imperative to seek cooperation. Competition is not only a waste of strength, but also puts the community in a delicate situation.
- The national church is democratic
Every member of age has the right to vote. The churchwardens and pastors are so elected. Individual interests are hardly enforceable. A youth group can therefore only ever be supported as one part and one kind of youth work, ideally as well as financially.
- The national church usually has a fairly good Sunday School
This is held by volunteers. They are sometimes afraid of competition. They don't want to "lose" their children to the youth group. Therefore, regular contact with the Sunday School is expedient. This can lead to mutual complementation and cross-fertilization: The Jungschar as a place of experience, the Sunday School as a service.
- The national church has hierarchies
Many authorities and responsibilities are clearly defined. Key persons are the pastors and the church care president. Good contact must be sought with both. It often takes time to make decisions because of the sometimes complicated rules of responsibility. The pastors are often not so free that they can fulfil everything that is expected of them. Timely discussions of possible requests are therefore helpful.
- The national church is not a milk cow
Where the church administration and the pastor are not only approached when one wants something from them, but are also taken seriously as interlocutors and helpers in a wide variety of problems, a climate of mutual trust is created. In such conversations one will also find an open heart for many concerns. Inquiries in writing often end up on the pastor's pending mountain and slowly but surely go down (a pastor in the canton of Zurich receives 12 kg of mail per week!).
- The national church is neither good nor evil
Rather, it is the relationships between people, including those between the youth group leader and the church leadership, that determine whether a fruitful collaboration succeeds.
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: Clipart courtesy of buch+musik ejw-service gmbh, Stuttgart - www.ejw-buch.de
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