|
How the churches in Tadley are working together to share the Good News
with young people
How's the youth work in your church? You may be a member of one of the
few churches that has the great joy and blessing of a large and thriving
group of young people who are involved in lots of the activities and
growing in faith. Or you may be in one of the many congregations with a
few young people who attend church faithfully but who never really get
the chance to experience what it's like to celebrate their faith and
experiences with others of the same age.
Three and a half years ago, the churches in Tadley were definitely in
the latter category. They all had a few young people and all felt bad
that there was nothing for them to get involved in. Until that is, Geoff
Allwright, and his wife Christine, members of Tadley United Reformed
Church, decided it was time to do something.
They visited representatives of all the different denominations in the
town - Methodist, Church of England, Roman Catholic, Community Church
and the Salvation Army - and shared their vision of a place where all
the young people could meet together and begin to develop their own
place of fellowship. To their credit, all the churches in the town were
keen to support the vision and TASTE was born - a weekly teenage event
meeting on Sunday evenings at the local Community Centre.
visiting
I visited TASTE for one of their Sunday evening meetings and walked into
a dimly lit hall with disco lighting in which about 50 young people were
standing around or dancing and clapping and worshipping to the
accompaniment of a worship band. They were all ages from 12 to 20 year
olds. When the music stopped everyone sat on the floor and I was able to
see that there were also three severely disabled young people enjoying
the evening with the help of their carers.
During the evening we heard from Ruth, a 19 year old who had just
returned from Guatamala where she'd been spending a gap year working
with the Toy Box charity who have a ministry with street children.
Showing some photos on the data projector she told some moving stories
of the children sheĦŻd met and slightly hair raising experiences she'd
had and shared how God had moved in her life while she was away. Then
Tom, also 19 who was just back from his first year at university shared
some bible teaching he'd had at a CU weekend on John 15 - 'we are the
vine'. They'd both been away for a while but were both welcomed back
with warmth and enthusiasm.
chaotic or creative
To an oldie like me the evening was chaotic - the words and pictures on
the screen didn't always work, people wandered in and out of the hall,
and chattered to one another while they waited for the next thing to
happen - but it was obvious that everyone was really enjoying themselves
and felt totally at home. There was a great sense of family and
belonging and real support for one another.
It's clear that TASTE takes a lot of organisation. Because the
leadership are keen not to appear to be linked to one specific church,
all the equipment, and there's a lot of it, has to be transported from
the church where it's stored to the Community Hall. Which means setting
up begins at 5.30pm on a Sunday afternoon for a 7pm start and Geoff and
Val Wallbank (also a member of Tadley URC) have a number of willing
adults who help them set up. The young people are encouraged to be
involved in the leadership team which itself is divided into separate
teams. So there's one adult and one young person leading each of the
teams: Worship, Teaching, Prayer, Dance, Logistics and Publicity.
and responsibility
It was clear that this sense of involvement and responsibility was
important to the leaders and young people alike. They all mentioned that
the themes covered at TASTE events are at the request of the young
people. They look at issues that they are concerned about and get
involved in community activities that interest them. So over the years
they've been involved in voluntary work in the community, including
litter picking, free barbeques for residents and house painting for the
local elderly community.
There's no predictability to a Sunday TASTE evening. Along with the
regular worship band, there's often dance and young people themselves
will share their experiences. A recent theme for a series of evening was
the 'I am' sayings of Jesus; a local farmer brought in a lamb and talked
about the concept of being a 'Good Shepherd'. Last year they had an
Alpha weekend away and are planning another fun packed weekend for July.
When I asked a group of the young people what they liked about TASTE
they were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the way they are involved in
the planning and leadership. Their motto, they told me was 'By the
youth, for the youth' and they were proud of the fact that as each
member grew up they took more responsibility for the running of TASTE.
They appreciated the fellowship - 'you can come back after a year away
and still find it thriving and welcoming' - and the fact that here they
had Christian friends with whom they could share the problems of being a
teenager.
We tend to hear a lot about the apathy and lack of motivation of young
people, but here is a group who want to be involved; they are chuffed to
be discovering and using their gifts and talents, whether it is in
music, dance, preaching or sharing their faith.
confidence
And it was clear that the result is young adults who have developed an
attractive confidence and sense of responsibility for themselves and
others which will stand them in good stead for the future. 'Where else,'
asked Geoff Allwright, 'do young people get the opportunity to sing and
play instruments to a live audience every week or learn to speak in
public and be accepted for who they are, whether they do it well or
badly? We encourage them to take responsibility but they know that it
doesn't matter if they fail, we'll still be there for them and the other
young people won't judge them harshly.'
They have managed to get grants to buy most of their sound and light
equipment although TASTE is supported both financially and prayerfully
by all the local churches, with a regular grant from Tadley URC and
contributions from other churches in Tadley as and when they are needed.
The local Council contributes to operating costs and cover half of the
rent for the hire of the Community Hall, which means that local
councillors are regularly welcomed to their meetings.
spending £2000
There are great plans for how they will spend the £2000 from the
Congregational and General Insurance 'Community Project Award 2007'.
Some of the money will go on a dance workshop, some will subsidise a few
of the young people for the weekend away in July, some will be spent on
training and equipment for the band and 10% will go to Heather House,
the local residence for severely handicapped young people.
I sense that some local churches are hesitant to engage in this sort of
ecumenical youth work because they think that they might 'lose their
young people'. I was interested to know how the young people and
leadership saw TASTE in relation to the traditional church - was this a
Fresh Expression? Or was it an add on? The answer was mixed. Some of the
young people were clear that they enjoyed going to their 'own' church in
the mornings but others, if asked what church they go to would quite
definite say it was TASTE. Whatever they may feel, it's most definitely
a place where God is worshipped and glorified and where young people are
challenged to respond to him.
For Geoff and Christine one of the most encouraging aspects of TASTE is
seeing how the young people develop and go onto take leadership roles in
their own churches. One thing's for certain, the Spirit is alive and
moving among young people in Tadley.
Juli Wills is Education & Communication Specialist for the United
Church in Winchester
|
