Friends are important! Friendships and connections are a vital factor in a young person’s life. Our friends often have influence on our values and actions. As our young people transition from childhood into being positive, faith-filled adults, parents and mentors can take an active role in helping them to make confident choices. Creating positive peer environments is an important step in ensuring our young people stay close and connected to their church, families and God.

Why are POSITIVE PEER RELATIONSHIPS so important in the faith-formation process?

“Three strands together are strong” Ecclesiastes 4:12 (Me + Friend + God)Reduction in negative behaviour and an increase in well-beingAs humans we gravitate to people of like-minded passion

(here2stay.org.au)

TOP 5 REASONS WHY PEER RELATIONSHIPS ARE VALUABLE

• A safe place to try new things with others.

• Opportunities to see how our responses affect others.

G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E

#5 Children and young people

are encouraged by spiritual

relationships with Christian friends through quality, age-specific

ministry. (Camping and peer

relationships.)

LC A C H I L D Y O U T H & FA M I LY M I N I S T R Y

Guiding Principles for Effective Child, Youth &

Family Ministry

PEER RELAT IONSHIPS

Fact Sheet

A question we are often asked is: “Do we have to do away with age-specific ministry and just focus on intergenerational ministry?” The answer is a resounding “No”, but it is imperative that the ministry offered is of a high quality!

John Roberto of Vibrant Faith sums it up well:“The 20th century approach to faith formation focused on chi ldren and teens with developmental ly-appropriate bib l ical and doctrinal content . Curricu lum was reduced to the se lection of a textbook series or a program from a rel ig ious publ isher, and focused on instruction in the content of the Christian faith.”

In the 21st century, a faith-formation curriculum needs to be seen as a lifelong journey of discipleship—a process of experiencing, learning, and practising the Christian faith as we seek to follow Jesus and his Way in today’s world. If we imagine a faith-formation curriculum as a lifelong journey of growing in faith and discipleship, then we can think of curriculum as the subject matter and processes that engage people in learning, experiencing, and practising the Christian faith along this journey.”

Part of this experience is in the sharing of peak experiences (camping) and peer relationships…

PEER RELATIONSHIPS

The human being is designed for many things . Lonel iness is not one of them. We are not meant to go through this l ife alone . Liz Tucillo

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It’s a place where the presence of God can be felt in a real and tangible way through others. Young people often report a camping experience as a turning point for them in the formation of their faith.

Why are CAMPING (PEAK) EXPERIENCES so important in the faith formation process?

They create mountain top experiences.They create memories.They create shared experiences.

(here2stay.org.au)

MORE REASONS WHY CAMPING EXPERIENCES ARE IMPORTANT

• Time away from the pressure of day-to-day life to focus on God.

• It is often away from the ordinary and God can sometimes speak more clearly.

• Opportunities to have times of quiet and silence.

• Seeing God in the everyday experiences.• Exposure to nature, where God is

revealed in a significant way.• Young adults are given an opportunity to

lead camps according to their gifts.

PLEASE NOTEIt is important that young people are prepared for the ‘coming down from the mountain’. It might be helpful for camp leaders to make young people aware that they might experience a bit of a ‘downer’ on their arrival home from camp as they enter back into their normal routine following their intense camping experience.

Parents and mentors can help by planning follow-up events after the peak experience of camping. Organise events where the young people can reconnect with each other to share how they are feeling and coping. Parents, you might like to say something like this when your young person arrives home, “It sounds like you guys had a really great time. Whenever you’re ready to talk about what you experienced, I’d love to hear about it.”

PRAY! Pray for our young people and those running our camps. Pray that their experiences will be life-changing and that their faith will deepen. Pray for protection and safety while they are away and as they settle back into ‘normal’ life.

References:www.here2stay.org.auwww.vibrantfaith.org

• An encouragement for people in not so positive groups to see an alternative.

• A shared history of a long-term friendship over time is precious.

• Peers that reflect similar family values can be a strong influence as is the values are reinforced from another perspective.

SOME PRACTICAL IDEAS TO TRY

• Provide a space to talk with young people about wise choices, actions and consequences.

• Encourage young people to bring their best friends to be part of the Church community.

• Sport – get involved in local sport or create a Christian team where young people can be mentored.

• Create spaces with the same gender, so they can feel supported in what they are going through and realise they are not alone.

• Encourage families to open up their home so their kids can have their peers over and create a safe place for them to connect and bond in positive ways.

CampingA PLACE WHERE GOD MEETS YOU, STRETCHES AND INSPIRES YOU… AND TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS.

“ In terms of faith, I always remember bel ieving. I do remember, at the age of 17 at a Christian camp, having a strong, spir itual experience of God, of transcendence, of, ‘ I am not here by accident; I ’m not just a bio logical freak in a cosmic zoo . There’s a purpose to my l ife’ , and it was quite an overwhelming experience of awe. I remember actual ly physical ly trembl ing.” Tim Costello, CEO, World Vision Australia

Camping, traditionally seen in the LCA through Christian Life Weeks (CLW), provides peak experiences for young people and can have a lasting impact on their faith formation. A week-long journey, often through a specific topic such as identity, provides an opportunity for young people to ‘go deeper’ than they can at a one-off or once a week event.

Faith is deepened through the mixture of meeting new people with a real faith, hanging out with inspiring leaders who have a vibrant faith and living in community.

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