This is the first Connect online training of 2021. In this session we spend the first hour looking at what we can do to set up our ministry to thrive in this uncertain time.During the last half hour there will be time for group discussions.
We encourage leaders from the same church to sit together in the same room, perhaps have a meal beforehand, and during the group discussion segment chat amongst themselves.For leaders participating alone, we will use Zoom breakout rooms during the group discussion.
After registering you will be emailed information on how to attend the training.
Future Connect Online dates for your calendar:
10 May, Young Adults
12 July, Intermediates
13 Sept, Transitioning well, moving on from Intermediate and High School.
8 Nov, Helping parents win
These are our provisional topics, we may change topics if circumstances require us to tackle another topic urgently.
We would love to put on the Connect conference as a national gathering once again this year but we have to acknowledge that New Zealand isn’t out of the woods yet in regards to potential future lockdowns and travel and gathering restrictions related to Covid 19. We appreciate that this uncertainty can cause a lot of stress particularly for those travelling from different parts of the country.
We know that there is so much fruit that comes out from the national conference. There is much benefit from youth leaders connecting with others from around the country, from worship together, and from the quality training and resourcing. While we can’t replace a national conference, we will do our best to deliver on the same goals.
With your safety as the first priority here are our plans for 2021
Multiple Regional Connects.
We want to bring some of the fantastic learning, worship and fellowship opportunities that our national Connect conference is so well known for to each of our five regions. These day-long local events will provide a wonderful opportunity for whole leadership teams, ministers and elders to learn and grow together at a very low cost and with very little travel time. These events are also far less susceptible to the cancellations and limitations that may again plague larger events due to Covid 19. We will be sending communications out about the location and dates for these Regional Connect dates in the next couple of weeks.
Six Connect Online trainings
As already promoted we have six 90 minute long zoom based training times. It’s our hope that Church leadership teams will gather together in someone’s home or the church, share a meal and participate in any of the relevant training sessions together.
15 March, Setting up your ministry to thrive
10 May, Young Adults Ministry
12 July, Intermediates Ministry
13 Sept, Transitioning well, moving on from Intermediate and High School.
8 Nov, Helping parents win
Next week we will send registration info for our first Online Connect
Queenstown Key leaders retreat – 26-30 November
We want to give our key leaders the opportunity to connect the network with each other around the country. As the government is planning to issue Covid 19 vaccines to anyone who wants them by the end of the year we think that a key leaders retreat later in the year will provide the best and safest opportunity for national networking to happen. The aim of this retreat to reconnect, acknowledge, refresh and equip key leaders from across the PCANZ.
The Andrew Norton Young Leaders Scholarship was established in 2019 in the loving memory of Very Rev Andrew Norton, past Moderator, and a creative and innovative leader in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. This fund supports young people in the Alpine Presbytery in formal leadership formation
Eligibility
For leaders under 40 years of age who Alpine Presbytery recognise as being:
Innovative
Influencers
Risk takers
Theological thinkers
In, or likely to be in leadership roles in a ministry of Alpine Presbytery
Areas of Use
Study (undergraduate, post graduate) in areas of innovation, leadership, or theology, that have potential to inform church and faith formation
Research project expenses in areas of innovation in local church life
Approved conferences, including conference fees and travel expenses exploring innovation in local church life
Details
Up to $3000 per annum
Applications to be received by the Presbytery in December and granted in February the following year.
PYM is currently working on making some Tips and Tricks videos which will be used when coaching youth leaders. We need your help!
We are wanting youth leaders to film little 30s clips of themselves answering questions, Below are the questions we would love you to answer.
You can film 1 video answering 1 question or film multiple for each topic whatever feels manageable. The best way to film is to just film facing a camera and be somewhere quiet so we don’t pick up too much background noise! Just remember that 30 seconds is a great length and over a minute is probably a bit long (unless it’s a really epic story that needs slightly longer) Video parameters:
Send as many video’s in as you like but keep it around 30s-1 minute long.
Film in landscape view
Be yourself and have fun with it
Reduce background noise.
Use a good camera if possible.
feel free to answer the question or share any stories you might have about a win that’s happened on that topic: e.g. a time discipline led to a young person gaining confidence
Please send your videos to jasmin@pym.org.nz
The Questions
We love to hear your stories and ideas and maybe even something that didn’t work well….
1.Dealing with unacceptable Behaviour
How you have provided discipline in a way that’s both loving and effective?
What is the best rule you have put into place in your ministry?
2.Teaching and Communication
What is the best tip you have to communicate what you want effectively with teens.
How do you get students talking during small groups?
3.Discipling young people
What does discipleship look like in your context?
4. Adolescent development
How has your teens adolescent development shaped what you do or how you do ministry?
What do you do differently for your year 9 vs year 13 students?
5. Engaging and Supporting Parents
What’s the best way you have found to support and engage with parents?
How has engaging with parents changed your ministry for the better?
6. Pastoral care
What is one practical way that you have shown care to your young people?
7. Intergenerational Ministry
What is the best way you have found for building intergenerational relationships?
Do you have a story of young and old forming connections?
Applications invited for ecumenical formation and leadership development through virtual training: Asian Ecumenical Institute–2020
The Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI), an annual ecumenical training programme of CCA, will be conducted this year through a virtual (online) platform.
AEI has been providing opportunities for students throughout Asia since 2016 to learn about emerging trends in ecumenism and the ecumenical movement under the guidance of internationally acclaimed teaching faculty from diverse disciplines. More than 100 prospective ecclesial and ecumenical leaders have been trained during the last four annual sessions.
The theme of AEI–2020 is ‘We are Called to be Stewards of Renewal and Restoration for God’s Creation’.
Beginning on 2 November 2020 (Monday), this year’s AEI sessions will be conducted through the online mode every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday till 30 November 2020 (Monday). Two sessions of 60 minutes each will be held on each working day (Mon., Wed., Fri.) of AEI–2020.
The AEI is an ideal programme for those who want to study ecumenism through an intensive course and to participate in an international network of students and scholars of ecumenism to hone their leadership skills and ecumenical vision.
The programme also aims to extend the frontiers of the participants’ knowledge of Asia’s socioeconomic and geopolitical realities through in-depth explorations of the emerging issues and concerns in Asia.
Participants will be equipped with the necessary tools of biblical-theological analyses to formulate developmental and ecumenical responses to contemporary Asian issues.
Admissions to AEI–2020 will be limited to 25 students between the ages of 25 and 35. Applications will be screened based on competence, prior ecumenical and ecclesial experience, gender and confessional balances, national and sub-regional representation, and the ability to effectively communicate in English.
Internationally acclaimed ecumenists, theologians, biblical scholars, and social scientists will be resource persons of AEI–2020.
Ten of AEI–2020’s best-performing students will be selected to attend the 15th General Assembly of the CCA, which will be held in 2021. CCA will cover the international travel, board and lodging, and Assembly registration fee of each of the ten outstanding students from AEI–2020.
The deadline for receiving applications for AEI–2020 is 10 September 2020.
For more details and the Application Form of AEI–2020, please click here:
This could have big implications for youth ministry in our churches.
One of the great things about the Presbyterian Church is that we believe in the Priesthood of all believers. It means that everyone in our church can have their say. A team of people got asked last year to review the way our church does theological and leadership training. They have recently presented their report to Presbyteries and are currently asking for feedback so they can prepare their final report for General Assembly next year.
The team is recommending a number of things, including making changes to the way ministers are trained, what happens when a minister comes from a Presbyterian Church overseas or from another denomination, there are also some changes to the Presbyterian Research Centre, all of which you can give feedback on.
We wanted to highlight a couple of the recommendations as they may affect you as a youth leader. They are proposing to create a second tier of ordination below the minister. They would call such people deacons, and would have titles such as Youth Pastor. To become a Deacon there would be a lower entry level than for ministers, there would also be a shorter internship, and there would be a graduated training scheme if the deacon then decided to become a minister later on.
We are sure the team will receive much feedback from ministers and elders, but we think it is important for youth leaders to give feedback to this proposal as well because it affects youth workers and youth leaders. Whether you support it or not, it will be helpful for the team to hear your opinions
Video
In the video below the team present an overview of the report, we have set the video to start with the 2 minutes related to the proposal about deacons, but you can go back to the start and watch the entire video.
Text in Red is directly from the report. In the Executive Summary it names 5 major streams coming out of the recommendations. Here are the two affecting youth workers.
2. We are suggesting the establishment for a new Diaconate which will replace LOM as a flexible second tier of ordained ministry. The Diaconate will have lower entry barriers and will be open to youth and other recognised ministries. We expect that a number of Deacons will also go on to become Ministers through a graduated training scheme.
4. We are suggesting retaining the core of the internship as an excellent model, but also making some simplifications and changes in delivery so as to provide for the incorporation of Deacons into a mini- internship and Ministers from other churches into a micro-internship.
Findings
The report then has 30 pages or findings from the teams research which are worth looking at. In their general survey, the themes that related to youth are:.
4. Youth: There was a real concern about the aging of the PCANZ, and a loss of youth. There was a repeated emphasis on ministry to children and youth. There were comments about reducing the average age of leaders and making our calling attractive and accessible to younger leaders. “All our leaders need ongoing training to be able to relate to children and youth.” We heard that “if we recognize there are different age cultures in our church, we need to recognize that all our Ministers need to be able to connect with those different age cultures and especially youth and children, not segmenting that work to someone else.” There was a call for ordaining youth pastors, and with some extra training seeing them transform into our current ordained role. We also heard a cry to improve the pay-scale and terms of employment for youth workers. There was feedback to recognize other specialist roles also. “We need to inspire and mentor young people to become Ministers.”
-Page 15
From the Presbyteries they heard:
We need ordained pathways for Children’s and Youth ministries in order to resource our churches better.
We need ways to train and recognise lay leaders and lay ministry and consider ordained children’s and youth leaders.
When the group looked at the current practice in regards to Youth and other recognised ministries they said:
We have heard a cry for a better career structure for youth workers, and a pathway for progressive vocational growth. This call for training youth and other recognised ministries has been heard for many years now and was reflected in the 2008 review of the school of ministry. In Dr Rae’s report streams of training for youth workers were envisaged. The church currently provides specific youth work training through PYM and we hear a call for further coherence of training and a clearer pathway through training.
-Page 27
Conclusions
So taking into account what they heard, the group had the following conclusions:
Youth and other Recognised Ministries 13. There is a need to mark-out, but not necessarily provide pathways for career development for those individuals who feel a call to specialised ministries such as youth, children and families, music and worship, and pastoral care. 14. People who work in specialised ministries for 3 to 5 years could benefit from ordination by their Presbytery to a diaconate with the title of Pastor. 15. The LOM pathway would incorporate into the diaconate pathway. 16. A deaconate pathway could incorporate a discernment phase, a training phase, and a miniinternship.
Ministers (National & Local) 17. LOM should be replaced with a second tier of ordination (Deacon) with a reduced scope and a reduced expectation of pre-ordination study. 18. We value an educated clergy, but we need to be more nimble and able to quickly deploy new workers with lower academic qualifications. 19. Ordination to a diaconate with the title of ‘Pastor’, could enable the replacement of LOM with a more functional and theologically coherent alternative. 20. A Deacon might oversee one ministry and a Minister with a higher level of training should oversee a wider range of ministries. Deacons would be able to preach and administer both sacraments. 21. A simplification of internship could be beneficial to the NOM pathway, some Deacons may go on to become Ministers.
Feedback
You may read the report and think “this is awesome, it would be great for my sense of calling to be recognised through ordination”. Or perhaps you have some concerns about the proposals. Either way, we encourage you to give feedback.
Each Presbytery has a different format for giving feedback. We suggest your contact your Presbytery to find out how. The time frame is short also, probably by 12 August
