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Full steam ahead for Pilots!
Is this the face to launch a thousand Pilots Companies? A lot of people around the country are hoping so - the same people who have been clamouring for the appointment of someone to help give Pilots a fresh push-start. And if your reaction to that is to say 'Pilots? Haven't I heard of that somewhere?' then you are one of the people who perhaps don't know that with many existing Pilots companies growing strongly and more and more churches enquiring how they can get started, Pilots is one of the success stories of recent years.
Karen Bulley, the new Pilots Development Officer has good reason to know. She became a Pilot 28 years ago at the age of six and became a Pilots Captain at the age of sixteen. In recent years she has helped to lead the Pilots company at Chesham URC, where her husband is the minister, and a string of appearances in Reform's People and Places pages testify to the success of her efforts. Why a Pilots Development Officer now? Because, Karen is very clear, Pilots is not only growing, it could be the Christian youth organisation of the future. 'The signs are that families who are not necessarily churchgoers want a Christian foundation for their children that's not rammed down their throats - and they feel they're getting that from Pilots. Pilots is a church-based organisation and its ethos is to respect children as individuals and by doing that, to show children a Christian way of life without saying "you must be Christian".' Her aim is to provide better support to the volunteers who run Pilots companies around the country and to ensure they know what's available in the form of help and materials. She's even bought a huge supply of 'ship halfpennies' so beloved of previous generations of Pilots and about to be introduced to today's children and young people.
Pilots materials are being redesigned in a new, brighter format more in line with the expectations young people have. Alongside that is the need for a structure that makes sure that the help available filters down to local Pilots leaders. 'At the moment, things vary so much from place to place. If you were, say, a pilot from Paignton and you were to move to Chesham, you'd find things run completely differently. That's often because resources filter out to people unevenly so they simply don't know what's available.'The other aim is to make Pilots a 'listening' organisation 'so that the children and the leaders can say how they want the organisation to be together. There's never been a way to do that before so we're opening lines of communication through the Provincial Officers and enabling each Provincial Officer to feel supported through my office in a way that they've never been before.
We're also having a programme of getting everywhere we can. I'm going to four synods myself next year and the Provincial Officers are getting into as many as they can.'To churches without a Pilots company, Karen's message is simple: 'Make sure you're looking at all the choices available to you when you look at children's organisations. We know Pilots is not the only organisation but it seems that many churches somehow feel that Pilots isn't comparable with other, bigger, names. That's ironic because, at the national level, I've had five denominations in touch with me in the short time since I started. What they're saying is that they see uniformed organisations in crisis and they're looking for a non uniformed organisation with a national structure. The choice seems to be take the uniformed organisations or do it yourself.
'Local Pilots leaders who have met Karen have responded well to her appointment. She is, they say, someone who really knows the organisation and someone who listens to the views of people at the grass roots. She's also not short of confidence for what the future holds: 'We're stepping up a gear, which is the right thing to do. In the past Pilots has survived for many years and it's done a good job. Now it's time to move forwards and if we're going move, we're going to do it in a big way.'
A few facts: + Pilots is a Christian Organisation for children and young people from the age of 5, it is based in churches but every child is welcome.
+ Pilots
is ecumenical, sponsored by the United Reformed Church
+ Pilots is non-uniformed. Pilots wear a badge and work for year badges through a programme of exciting activities and projects called crests and seals.
+ Pilots was born out of a great historical 'story' which is so exciting every child wants to hear about it. It's because of this story that Pilots has such a great tradition of affiliation with the world church. This is one of the aspects that make it unique.
+ Pilots is supported by the Pilots Development Officer, a Management Group and a Publications Group who are constantly working on new material. Each Province has a Provincial Pilots Officer.
+ All Pilots leaders and provincial Pilots Officers have the opportunity for regular training, self-assessment and support.
Some frequently asked questions about Pilots.
How it all began:
John Williams was a missionary and with his wife Mary went out to the islands in the South Pacific to take the Christian message. They had a very interesting time and their mission was fraught with danger. John was eventually murdered. In 1936 the London Missionary Society invited children all over the country to save their ship halfpennies and contribute to buying a ship in John's memory so that his work could continue. Several ships were bought in this way and PILOTS came into being.
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