Winter is with us, the weather keeps getting colder, the nights draw in, and thoughts turn to Christmas. All of which means its time for another bumper e-Bulletin from Norwich Youth For Christ!
The New Year is fast approaching, so its perhaps appropriate that we annouce some comings and goings. Coming in this month is our new Schools Worker, and in Paul's Thoughts From The Director's Chair you can read about the staff member going out.
This month we have a report from our Annual Thanksgiving Meeting in November, and details of how you could help us make next year's ATM one of the bext ever! Tracey has found time to give us a club work update, and there's some exciting details of Church Resource too.
As ever there are some miscellaneous bits and bobs, like the now perennial Youth Leaders Breakfast advert, a little snippet on our Annual Review and Accounts, a small advert for possibly the best year-out scheme in the country, and the fabulous innovation which is the Virtual Back Page (TM).
But wait, there's more: we would love to hear your feedback on the e-Bulletin, whether positive praise or constructive criticism! Is it too long, too short, to confusing, hard to read, not enough pictures, too big in your inbox? We want this to be a useful and informative piece of communication, and your comments can help us improve it. Let us know what you think by emailing Mark.
Yep, it's true, I'm the new schools worker, and man am I excited about it!!!
I've been told to let you know a bit more about me so here it is:
Name: Bex. (Short for Rebecca) Alexander.
Age: 23
Weight: As if!
Where do you live?: In a village called Mattishall, but will be moving to Norwich in February.
Hobbies: Making funky clothes (I've never actually made any that fit properly, but I'm working on it!), Driving my car and eating my mums caramel short breads.
Favourite music: Most music especially R&B, rock, garage, pop, acid jazz but excluding Opera and Country!
Favourite T.V/Film Genre: Comedy.
Marital status: Engaged, getting married in February. (Wahoooo!)
Most embarrassing moment: Being walked in on whilst on the loo. (I think that this is something that all of us experience at one time!)
Most stupid thing you have ever asked: When I was in year 9 I asked my math teacher for a Kilometre ruler!?
What are your thoughts on your job as schools worker?: When I finished university I was thinking about what I would like to do as a career. I enjoyed doing loads of things, especially working with T.V cameras and vision mixing. These were things I enjoyed doing but didn't feel a real passion for doing them.
I think that sometimes God just gives you a heart and passion for a certain work. I see it as an absolute necessity for young people to know Christ. It goes against what T.V says, what the world says and what most of the young peoples parents say. This is why it can seem so unrealistic to expect young people to come to faith.
What we forget is that this faith is truth, not an opinion! It is not by works or by power but by Gods Spirit that young people will come to faith! My job is to speak this truth and do what God wants me to do! So please pray that I am obedient!
What are you most looking forward to when working for NYFC?: God said that he is able to do considerably more than we ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). I am so excited about seeing this word in action!
Bex started with us on the 16th December. Pray for her that her induction
goes smoothly, CRB checks come through quickly and money comes in as we increase
our staff base.
I am fascinated by the Christmas Story. It blows my mind that God sought us out by coming Himself in the form of a human. It astounds me that our salvation depended on the fragility of a new born baby, the courage of a carpenter not to divorce his wife and faith to be obedient to dreams.
There already is a hint of how our Christmas story connects with the world of young people. They often feel fragile, misunderstood, vulnerable and by definition are dependant on others. So was Jesus. He more than understands.
I was recently talking to a young person about the stresses and strains of their story. They were struggling to cope with home, school and a stuttering faith. Behind it was not surprisingly a self esteem so low that it could hardly be called esteem at all! We talked in a round about way of the Christmas story. A God who loved them as they were and not as they could or should be, a God who loved them to such an extent that sought them out and embodied their fragility.
It was a story they found too hard to comprehend. Surely what I'd said couldn't be true. The tear in their eye suggested they wanted to know it was.
My prayer for all of us and the young people we work with is that this Christmas we get a fresh experience that this story is true, is available and is life changing.
I am pleased to say that further to our last bulletin cashflow in the short term has improved slightly. This has been in part due to a reasonable sized grant and some annual gifts we get during the first part of the year. It has also been helped by the fact that we haven't had to pay a schoolsworker for a few months. You will have read elsewhere how that is all about to change!
Since the last bulletin another church has agreed to support us on a monthly basis, taking the number of churches who do so to eleven. We have also had some new individual givers but due to changes in circumstances have also lost some.
in the report on our Annual Thanksgiving Meeting David Adeney speaks about our finances from a trustees perspective at our annual thanksgiving meeting.
You will have seen from the news how the Fire Brigade Union is negotiating with the government about payrises. We are committed in our core values to treating our people well and as a result give staff payrises to keep up with inflation. Perhaps you might consider increasing your giving in the same way if you haven't for a while.
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You'll know that Holly has recently got married and this new start has led her to consider her future. Next spring she is starting a degree and is leaving us to do some agency work which will give her the opportunity to get more money behind her and offer her greater flexibility. Holly has been with us for just over a year. She has certainly made an impact and we are grateful for all that she has done. I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her and Dave well. |
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If you would like to help our financial aim, please write to us at the NYFC Office, 3 Brigg Street, NORWICH NR2 1QN, or ring either Paul or Karen, the Office Manager, on 01603-620678.
Paul Cracknell
This year's annual thanksgiving was held at the Salvation Army Citadel in Norwich. The evening was made up of a variety of activities. Mark and the excellent Fridays band (young people who lead the singing at Fridays) led us in some worship. The Fridays connection continued with several young people doing three thought provoking sketches on young people and church.
David Adeney, representing our trustees announced the publication of our annual review and reflected on our current needs from a trustee's perspective. He explains what a trustee is and gives a clue to why he is one:
'The role of a trustee is to guard and guide the vision of Norwich Youth for Christ. This requires a variety of skills and experiences. For those of you like me, who recognise the world of young people is a complex and rapidly changing world, but one that requires specialist skills and language that I do not have, then being a trustee is an important and valuable role. One through which I can contribute to the work of Norwich Youth for Christ with out having to work in the nightclub with Tracey!'
You will know from previous bulletins that we are currently looking for new trustees:
'We are looking first and foremost for people who are passionate about young people encountering the gospel. We are looking for people who will join with us in guarding and guiding the vision of Norwich Youth for Christ. In part this includes ensuring that the organisation complies with relevant legislation and so the position is one of responsibility. But it is also a role where different perspectives, experiences and a walk with God are necessary to help the team and Paul continually discern what God is saying to us and ensure we continually communicate the good news of the gospel relevantly to young people in Norwich and the surrounding area.
We are looking for people from all walks of life, age and gender. So if you are interested please contact the office for more information. We are in particular looking for some individuals who might come from a legal, accounting or education background but by no means exclusively.'
Since he was also announcing the publication of our Annual Review and accounts he also commented on our finances:
'It has been a challenging year for us financially for a variety of reasons. We have been encouraged by the continued improvement in the amount of regular monthly giving but that increase, though positive, is not happening as fast as we would like. The reality is that for an organisation of our size we are unhealthily dependant on one-off and unpredictable giving.'
Our main speaker for the night was Bishop Gavin Reid, OBE. His talk can be found on the website.
Gavin based his talk around the beginning of Marks gospel and the calling of the disciples. He said that for the disciples and for us Jesus' call is often Bad Timing, contains a Big Challenge and demands a Bold Response.
Three quotes from Gavin on our Bold Response were particularly challenging.
1) If we are serious about reaching young people today, the churches have got to leave their comfort zones because the young people aren't in them.
2) Today we are here to celebrate Norwich Youth for Christ. I am convinced that YFC is more important today than it's ever been because we need groups of people who will leave the safe ways of doing things that churches have, in their endeavours to get somewhere close to young people.
3) Doing that can be dangerous territory - sometimes physical, moral and spiritual; in danger of being misunderstood by the 'safe-ies' in their churches. BUT unless there are people doing that there is not much hope of reaching the young people of our society.
As a team and members of the church we found this particularly challenging and inspiring for what we've been called today. It also reminded us of the importance of working in partnership with local churches. Elsewhere in this bulletin is further information on ways we seek to do that.
As with everything we do volunteers played a key role. We've already mentioned the band and our talented drama group. Thanks to them. We also had volunteers from Fridays welcoming people and doing practical things such as changing overheads. Again thanks to you.
This year part of how we told our story was through the eyes of volunteers.
Fliss Scofield describe what life was like in the clubs with Tracey and Angela
Fox (pictured) spoke about her passion for seeing young people come to know
Christ and how in her role as our Rock Solid co-ordinator she sees this happen.
For more information about Rock Solid clubs you can contact Angela on rocksolid@norwichyfc.co.uk.
This years Annual Thanksgiving Meeting has only just passed us, but already we are working on next year's. It's been a while since we put together a musical production (the last time was for the very well received 'Blood of The Lamb'), so the time seems about right to launch into another mammoth stage show effort!
Next year we would like to look at how the experience of being a young person has changed over the last 30 or 40 years. Once again we will be recruiting young acting talent from churches all over the city and beyond, but that's a couple of months off yet. Right now we are working on choosing the songs and plotting the stories which will feature in our musical, and this is where you can help.
We would love to hear your tales of life as a youth in the last 40 years, so if you were a teenager between 1960 and now, and have interesting, funny, poignant or emotional stories which we might be able to use as inspiration then please get in touch. We are also interested to hear what songs you particularly remember from your youth, and which you would particularly like to hear in next years ATM.
If you have a story to tell, or a song to suggest, or want to get involved
then please get in touch: either write to us at the office, or email atm@norwichyfc.co.uk
“William Temple once caricatured theologians as 'men who spend blameless lives giving entirely orthodox answers to questions no-one is asking.' When today's generation dismisses the Church for being remote and irrelevant, we cannot ignore what Temple was trying to say. Christ has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation, and this demands keeping very closely in touch both with the world and with God.”
(David Watson - I believe in Evangelism)
Tracey writes - One of the aims of the work we do in the nightclubs is to present Christianity as a viable and relevant option for Young people today. For this to happen it's not good enough for it to BE relevant (which of course we know is true), it has to be SEEN to be relevant before they're willing to even begin to look.
A lot of the young people we meet have had no contact with Christians or Church at all which actually is nice as we're given a clean sheet to begin to make a mark on.
However, for some (and this is quite a few ) they have had an experience of Christianity /Church / God that is not altogether positive. In fact for some - rather than being advocates of good news, grace forgiveness and reconciliation - Christians and the church have been agents of destruction and condemnation.
W was a young Christian guy - he'd not been a Christian long - but he knew he loved God with all his heart and wanted to live for Him. One night he got a call from a friend of his who was in a desperate state - W was worried he was going to do something stupid - so he arranged to meet him in a pub. There he sat - with a pint that his friend had already got in for him - when 2 Christians W respected walked by and spotted him. The next day these 2 had a word with W and told him that he'd let God down big time - that he had totally mucked it all up and that God had washed his hands of Him - He was a grave disappointment to God. W left that day believing that was it - He'd tried at being Christian and failed - not only that - but also there was not way back.
Z is a young lady. One night in the club we were talking about God and she told me she really hoped he didn't exist. Upon further investigation it came to light that throughout her years at high school Z was bullied horrifically. She also told me that every night during that time she cried out to God - that if He existed would he please make it stop. In her opinion He did nothing. So now the thought of him not existing is easier to cope with than the alternative - which is, in her opinion, that God must be very cruel and hate her.
With Christmas approaching we have an exciting time. Many people who normally
never consider God seem to ponder during this season - please pray that we
make the most of these opportunities, that God would use us to leave marks
of grace in people lives - and that we would see some of the negative experiences
turned around.
Christmas is approaching, but its not too early to start thinking about the future. praxis is our year out scheme for young people between 18 and 25, giving them loads of practical experience, challenging teaching and life-changing situations.
We would love to hear from anyone who might be interested in praxis, so contact us at the office, or email us on praxis@norwichyfc.co.uk
If you want more information first, go to the website and click on praxis,
or follow this link.
If the answer to any of these is yes keep reading!
We have a possible answer!! It's RS2 a national resource designed by Youth For Christ. It is a fully prepared program that is packed full of resources aimed helping you disciple young people.
Topics includes
RS2 is particularly suitable for Sunday mornings, but would equally be at home as part of a weekday meeting or cell group.
It is designed with the following people in mind
By registering for RS2 not only will you get the superb resource with all the work done for you but you will also become linked with NYFC. This means you will receive support from our RS2 co-ordinator Ang Fox, training from experienced youth workers and access to events with other groups using RS2.
Obviously something this good will never be free but it does come at the bargain price of £15 per month, much cheaper than hair replacement treatment for that bald spot you keep scratching!!
For more details contact the Church Resource department at the office or email rocksolid@norwichyfc.co.uk
As part of Norwich Youth For Christ ongoing commitment to serve and work with churches we have designed a training catalogue crammed full of essential topics for all Christian youth workers. Download the leaflet here!.
This is not the complete list of all we can offer, if training that your church requires is not listed, give us a call and we will see if we can help.
Training sessions can be on a one off basis or a series of sessions, and can be moulded to your particular needs and tailored for young people or for the more experienced leader.
We would love to hear from your church as to how we can offer training to you, to find out more or to arrange some specific training call the office.
Call soon to avoid disappointment, available dates are limited and are filling up quickly.
Early next year we plan to launch an exciting initiative aimed at resourcing local churches. We have the idea of employing youth workers who work as part of a local church and where appropriate sharing a worker between churches.
We are pleased to say that our annual review and accounts are now available. If you are a regular financial supporter we will automatically send you a copy of our annual review. If you are not a regular financial supporter but would still like a copy then contact the office or for those of you who are internet minded a version of it can be found on our website.
Our annual review is a glossy leaflet that we use for publicity and grant applications. Thanks again to Felton Fundraising for their help in it's production and Nigel Wordingham for his role in the preparation of our accounts. If you have any questions or comments about the accounts or the annual review please contact Paul or the trustees via the office.
You've seen the adverts now imagine the scene….
It's Saturday morning. It's early (well 8:30!). There are more croissants than can be found in the whole of France and after food Paul will be talking about youth culture using Ben Elton as a starting point. Welcome to the Youth Leaders Breakfast held in November!
There have been two breakfasts so far. They are hosted by ourselves, Crusaders, the Diocesan Youth Service and Norfolk YMCA. We are aiming at anyone involved in youthwork but especially volunteers.
The aims of these times together are quite simple. Firstly an opportunity to get together! To pray, share and laugh together as well as in the jargon terminology to 'network'! The idea being that we want to see volunteers encouraged and equipped to do what God has called them to in their context to the best of their ability and realise they are not alone. We also hope to see these mornings as a resource - whether through physical resources being available, through mini-training sessions on the morning or even acting as a place of information to point volunteers towards training opportunities.
So far the mornings have included food (obviously!), some sung worship led by Mark, a look at the importance of keeping close to God, an introduction to Youth Culture and postmodernism as well as a brief look at worship in that context. At the moment the breakfasts are held at the YMCA in Trowse. The next date is 11th January when we will be looking at vision. Future dates can be found on the back page.
Some things punters have said…….
Things they've valued: 'networking', 'meeting other youth leaders', 'the breakfast', the speaky bits!
Least appreciated: - 'none of it', 'the time'.
Go on, get out of bed - you know it's worth it!
For more information/directions and for an indication of numbers please contact Nick Jeffery at the YMCA on 01603 630049 or nick-ymca@lineone.net
Gift AidIf you give to NYFC, either regularly or occasionally, and you pay income tax, then you could make your donation go further by filling out a Gift Aid form. You only have to complete the form once for us, and then on every donation you make we can claim around 28% extra from the government! You can find a Gift Aid form in PDF format here. If you haven't already got it, you will need to install Abode Acrobat Reader on your computer to print the form, Acrobat Reader is available for free download at www.adode.comIf you have already completed a Gift Aid form for us, thankyou very much, and you don't need to do it again! Work For Us!Wanted! Administrative AssistantThis is a real engine room position. The NYFC office team work to serve the NYFC Evangelists, our aim is to free them to carry out their more public ministry. If you feel called to serve in an administrative role and have a commitment to enabling others to fulfil their call then please contact the office or look on the website for more information and application details. Pray For Us!If you are interested in praying for specific requests and/or would like more regular prayer updates please contact the office.
Be assured of our prayers for you. Christmas ListIf you prefer to give things rather than money here are some things we need at the moment:
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DatesDec 16th Bex Starts!Dec 20th Fridays Dec 22nd SNAP Dec 25th Christmas Day! Jan 3rd Fridays Feb 14th Fridays Soul SurvivorNext Summer NYFC and the Diocesan Youth Service are organising a trip to Festival Manchester. We have enclosed a booking form with some information about our trip. We hope to take 200 people to the Mission. This is a popular event and will book up quickly - especially as it is cheaper to book earlier in the year (see the booking form).We are also looking for over 18's who would like to come and act as 'responsible adults' for the group, if you are interested in this or would like further details, please call the office or email office@norwichyfc.co.uk Volunteer Opportunities - Get Involved!We are looking for:
For more info on any of these opportunities contact the office. Contacting UsIf you want to email us our addresses are: office@norwichyfc.co.uk If you prefer the more traditional approach, then our postal address is: Norwich Youth For Christ, 3 Brigg Street, Norwich, NR2 1QN Our telephone number is 01603 620678 |
Any Questions?Q. Who are
you people? Q. Why have
you sent me this? Q. This is
a great piece of communication, but why do I get this as well as a paper
copy? Q. I don't
want anymore of these sent to me? Q. Actually
I've changed my mind, I don't want to stop receiving this, in fact I
want all my friends to get it! How do I do this? If you prefer the more traditional approach, then our postal address is: Norwich Youth For Christ, 3 Brigg Street, Norwich, NR2 1QN Our telephone number is 01603 620678 Check out our website – www.norwichyfc.co.uk, including our brand new feature, the forum, your chance to interact with NYFC staff and volunteers. |
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