A ‘win-win’

Thomas Baldwin reports on a unique partnership which is helping to get young people into churches in Tayside

IS THIS a familiar scenario? Your church has little or no involvement with young people. You wish to set up a project working with children and/or teenagers, and while you might have enthusiastic volunteers in the congregation, there is no-one with any experience or expertise in youth work.

In Tayside, a unique partnership between the YMCA and local churches is helping to bridge that gap, and bringing children and young people into the life of the church. Alyxs Dellaquaglia is a senior youth worker for YMCA Tayside, overseeing the operations of the Church and Community Partnerships. “We started about 11 years ago at Craigie and Moncreiffe Parish Church,” she says. “Essentially the church realised there was a bit of a gap: they had a desire and heart to work with young people, but youth work is a bit of a specialism. They got in touch with YMCA and we thought maybe we could work together.”

The partnership involves the YMCA matching a youth worker with the church. Working 16 hours a week, they will set up a junior youth club for P6 and 7 children (aged about 10-12), and later a drop-in for high school age children. The charity oversees and manages the worker, and helps the church source funding; while the church provides volunteers to help run the groups.

The project has now expanded to six churches (five from the Church of Scotland) throughout Tayside, each of which has, on average, more than 30 young people involved at any time. The junior youth clubs offer a programme of activities such as baking and sports; for the slightly older age groups the drop-in offers a space to relax and spend time with friends, but also the youth worker may offer opportunities to develop employability skills and prepare for college or first jobs.

And these spaces also give the church a chance to introduce the young people to faith, whether that’s a ‘God slot’ as part of the junior activities, or running the Youth Alpha course with the teenagers. And by demystifying the church and its people, children and their families are more likely to get involved in other activities and events there.

Alyxs says: “The aim is not necessarily to get them into church on Sunday mornings, because that can be quite a jump for young people, but they might come and share something about what they do, or maybe come at Easter and Christmas. And there will be opportunities to come and see, maybe try a café church or youth church with the young people helping to choose the music and the readings.

“The idea is that they are involved in the life of the church and they see it as a safe, supportive space.

“I think as well it shows that faith and worship and discipleship don’t have to be the traditional ‘go to church on a Sunday’.”

As Alyxs describes it, the partnership is a ‘win-win’, with the church gaining young people and also helping to build the skills of its volunteers, which in the long term will help the project remain sustainable even if the youth worker departs. It is also a great training ground for the youth workers themselves. “It’s an amazing way for the youth workers to learn,” she says. “They have got their own project to manage, with budgets, risk assessments and activities to plan. But because they’re with the YMCA they can support each other, bounce ideas off each other, work on plans together.”

Testimonies from some of the churches involved in the partnerships are glowing. The Rev Graham Crawford, minister of Kinnoull Parish Church, says: “The YMCA/Church partnerships are a real blessing to the local church which struggles to find folk with the skills and training to carry out an effective youth programme. It therefore also provides encouragement for the local church.”

Christine Alexander, chair of the management committee at Chalmers Adler Parish Church in Dundee, says: “The YMCA run two youth clubs in the church, one for P6 / P7 and a teen group. Several volunteers from the church and community help at the clubs. It is good to see the young people about the church and relationships are building, allowing our faith to be shared. Liam, our YMCA Youth Worker, is also involved with the local Primary Schools and has many contacts with the young people in the area.”

“ In Tayside, a unique partnership between the YMCA and local churches is helping to bridge that gap, and bringing children and young people into the life of the church.

And the Rev Gordon Campbell, minister of Perth Congregational Church, says: “We wanted to do something to reach out to young people – but as a small, ageing congregation, it was hard to know where to start. YMCA Tayside had the experience to turn aspirations into reality – and partnership working means that staff have supportive managers and peers, and young people have access to a far wider range of opportunities than we as a church could possibly manage alone.”

The project is set to spread further, with ‘a few other’ churches enquiring about the possibility of their own partnership. YMCA Tayside only responds on a needs-led basis and never go seeking partners. “Each partnership is unique,” says Alyxs. “We trust God, that if something is for us it won’t go past us.”