Implementing the Diocesan
Youth Strategy

A number of questions have been received recently about implementing the recently agreed strategy to promote work among young people in the diocese, and below is a FAQ sheet by way of response and to keep people in the picture.

What is happening now?
The strategy is being taken forward by advertising, interviewing and (hopefully) appointing a Director of Youth Ministry in July 2007, with a view to that person taking up the post in the early autumn.

What will the Director do?
The Director’s role is multi-faceted, but in particular s/he will work with an operations group to encourage partnerships to make proposals for youth work which will be part-funded by a Youth 4 Life fund set aside by Diocesan Synod to encourage youth work around the diocese. Other roles include raising the levels of participation of young people in the life of the diocese, and the training and networking of voluntary and paid youth workers.

How much funding for youth work will there be?
The diocese has committed resources to pay for the equivalent of seven full-time youth workers for five years. The expectation is that partnerships will receive up to 2/3 of the funding of a youth worker, and provide the remainder themselves or via other grants. In this way not only will there be local ownership but there will be the possibility of more posts for more partnerships.

Will every partnership be able to receive funding?
In the first instance no, as it is anticipated that there will be greater demand for youth worker posts than there are resources allocated. There will be some difficult decisions about which proposals to sponsor.

Who will decide who gets funding?
An operations group will work on this and other matters to progress the strategy, and this group will include young people as well as the new Director of Youth Ministry, Archdeacons and representatives of other key constituencies.

What do we need to do if we want a youth worker?
You do not need to apply yet! Now is the time to be considering how your partnership might develop its youth work and whether a paid youth worker might be a key part of those developments. If so, you will need to think about putting together a proposal for funding, paying attention to the criteria the Youth 4 Life Report suggests for prioritising funding.

What are these criteria?
Quoting from the report Youth 4 Life, Section 10, Proposal 1;

Given the absence of youth work focused on sharing the Gospel in ways that make sense to young people and allow for possibilities of Christian formation the Working Party recommend that priority be given to those projects which:
Enable young people to connect with the Gospel at their own pace and in their own way
Encourage evangelism in areas where the Church is weakest in its outreach to young people (for example in deeply rural or inner urban areas, or in small and struggling churches, or among those marginalized within society)
Seek to engage with distinctive youth cultures or groupings
Promote greater participation in the life of the Church, either within the existing Christian community or through a Fresh Expression of church.
Through service to marginalized and vulnerable young people demonstrate their value, dignity and beauty in the sight of God and in the sight of those who call themselves followers of Jesus; laying foundations that may lead young people to engage more deeply with the Christian faith 

A little further on the report goes on;

Projects and proposals should:
fit well with the wider Diocesan strategy of Shaped by God (e.g. the nine marks of mission) and the mission strategy of the Church locally
demonstrate God’s love and justice practically
have a specific focus ‘locally’, be it young people in a specific community, area or network
be culturally appropriate to young people
involve young people in the planning and development where possible
build on partnerships between churches (including ecumenical) and with other organizations (such as schools) and agencies
start something new (or build on what exists in a new way)
be well-researched, drawing on examples of good practice
reflect and incorporate good child protection procedures
 
Crucially the report stresses that;

Clearly there are examples of good youth work practice which promote Kingdom values and build up young people which might not lie entirely within these parameters but which are not only commendable endeavours in Christian service and witness in their own right but sometimes ‘pre-evangelistic’ and indeed evangelistic in effect. Such examples need careful consideration in being weighed up against other possible projects and may well be resourced, but it is the recommendation of the Working Party that the priority for field work in the near future be given to those examples which have a dimension of Christian nurture, formation or evangelism within their proposals.

Obviously these guidelines will need further detail in terms of criteria for applications but they give some indication of the kinds of projects the strategy is looking to promote.

When will we be able to apply for funding?
Once the Director of Youth Ministry is in post and the operations group is up and running, invitations to receive proposals for funding will be well-advertised through the usual channels of communication, and a timetable laid out for the process. The Youth 4 Life report recommended a two stage process in term of appointing youth workers, looking to appoint the equivalent of three full-time workers in the first year and four more in the second year (though it should be recognized that this will mean more than 3 actual workers in the first year given the Youth 4 Life fund would expect to fund up to 2/3 of any given post normally).