Getting Started
How to get started with the idea of a MYC – what should be considered?
1. Partnerships/Support
‘A Local Partners Group (LPG) – might include the secondary school or college, several local churches, the Bishop, the diocese, and other church leaders in an ecumenical context. It might also include various mission agencies and institutions…’
As a group of partners, it's good to consider how you can best support and provide oversight for the new MYC. Finance expertise, oversight of policies, someone with experience of pioneering work, someone with experience of youth work, church leadership and a connection with the local secondary school are all desirable qualities for a Local Partners Group even if it’s unlikely every group will possess all these things. If your LPG doesn’t have some or many of these things, the important thing is being able to find people who do and get advice as you need it.
Working out the priorities in your situation and then providing appropriate support and accountability are always important.
Another question is – where does the youth leader get supervision and mentoring support? The local partners should make sure this is in place without necessarily having to provide it themselves.
2. Team
‘Do we need a paid youth worker, or can we do this as volunteers? How many volunteer team members will be needed? What about other local Christians – can they help too?’
Love for young people is spelt T.I.M.E so if you can fund a paid youth worker OR if an existing youth worker role can be reassigned then s/he will be able to get alongside far more young people than someone is likely to be able to do using only their spare time. However, when this isn’t possible, two experienced volunteer youth workers can make a difference.
A volunteer team of 6 to 8 members would be a great way to begin but don’t worry if there are only 3 or 4 of you. The number of team members will influence the number of young people you can work with safely. Start with who you’ve got and then seek to grow.
We’re producing a 10 session Resource aimed to help youth leaders and their volunteer teams. You will be able to access this resource via our Teams Community. For more information on this visit our Learning Communities tab
One way other local Christians can support and feel a level of involvement, is by getting together to pray for an hour or so on a regular basis. We need local Christians meeting to pray because as we pioneer, it’s important that our work to further God's kingdom is rooted in regular, ongoing prayer.
3. Funding
‘What will it cost to get started? What are the different costs involved?’
It’s important to consider the cost of starting a missional youth church and how to sustain it in its growth and development. One MYC could see hundreds of young lives transformed through the love of God after a few years so what might seem expensive initially is well worth the cost in the long term.
It’s likely that a MYC will cost in the region of £10k per year, £5k for equipment and resources plus another £5k towards the cost of taking groups of young people on residentials.
Should you employ a full time or part time youth worker, then there is the cost of salary etc.
It’s important to work out a plan to raise such funds as a local partners group. Are there diocesan, deanery or local church funds that can be accessed? What about SDF? What about applications to trust funds? Some charitable trusts will give money specifically aimed at Christian youth work; other trust funds will fund work with young people in the community. A MYC combines youth work that is both community based, and Christ centred.
Community based youth work - schools work and youth work sessions that gather unchurched young people to do activities chosen by the young people themselves involve a lot of support work, social action and community development. You might be able to access funding specifically for community-based youth work for these things.
Christian centred youth work – as a MYC explores the Christian faith in small groups, via a Christians Basics course and/or in youth worship, then these sessions have much more distinctive Christian content and you may access funding from trusts that give specifically to Christian youth work.
4. Location/s
‘Where will a missional youth church meet up?’
Each MYC will need places to meet its young people. This will be for weekly after-school and evening sessions, weekend, and holiday events. Whilst the venues could be almost anywhere, if several local churches are partnering, then church buildings could be the obvious place to begin.
E.g. If there are several local churches as part of the Local Partners Group, perhaps if a MYC has 3 evening sessions, they could be spread out across different church halls. If each church funded the MYCs use of their premises for one night per week, paying for heating/lighting etc, then this is much cheaper than a single church funding 3 evening sessions in their church hall.
A MYC may also use other venues in the local community such as cafes and sports clubs, a redesigned bus for youth work, local library or somewhere else.
However, working with significant numbers of young people will lead to wear and tear OR accidental damage from time to time. It's better to be realistic about this at the start and have a plan for dealing with these issues. You might decide to find funding for use of a building, including wear and tear etc. Young people by their age and nature will spill coke on a carpet or lean back their chair on two legs and break a chair. We have all done the same thing ourselves as teenagers. It's better to be both patient with young people, recognising this is just part of the journey and their lives are worth infinitely more than our carpets or furniture. However, some adults will get frustrated when damage occurs so plan how you're going to deal with this at the start by raising funds or finding a ‘handy man’ who is willing and able to fix damage soon after it happens. Having a plan is more likely to prevent relationship problems between the adults and the young people.