5. Definition...
• Empowerment is a social-action process that
promotes participation of people,
organizations, and communities towards the
goals of increased individual and community
control, political efficacy, improved quality of
community life, and social justice.
• (Wallerstein, 1992: 1, in Innovation in Youth Work by YMCA
George Williams College, available on the Portal)
6. Empowerment
• Kerry Young: ‘For empowerment lies not only
in the establishment of power-sharing
structures or processes but importantly in the
reclaiming of oneself as fully intelligent, fully
powerful and fully human.’ (p4)
7. ‘Fully intelligent, powerful & human’
• Made in the image of God – Gen 1:27
• Given authority and power to reign over
creation – Gen 1:28-31; John 19:11
• Having appropriate boundaries & structures
Gen 2:15-17
8. ‘Fully intelligent, powerful & human’
• Made in the image of God – Gen 1:27
What impact does this have on how we view young people in
our communities?
• Given authority and power to reign over creation – Gen
1:28-31; John 19:11
Where and how can we give young people power and
authority within our local Churches? (‘Everywhere’ might be
true, but isn’t an acceptable answer at this Aurora session…)
• Having appropriate boundaries & structures Gen 2:15-
17
What does this look like in your context?
9. 1) Create opportunities for young people to
speak of their theological ideas concerning
worship and other areas of Christian life and
to give their voices power.
2) Providing them with the language and
experience from which they are enabled to
speak.
But how?
Steven Emery-Wright Empowering Young People in Church
www.grovebooks.co.uk
10. Group Activity
1) As a group, design a mind-map with ways you’ve
been empowered – when, how, impact on you.
2) Identify a young person you would like to empower.
As a group, brainstorm ways of how you could
empower them over the next 6-12 months.
Empowerment
13. Rachael Evans
• From St Alban’s Church,
Wickersley
• Committed Christian family
• Attended Unite aged 14 in July
2009
• Became Unite young leader in
March 2011
• Active member of PCC
Empowerment
14. • Took over CU at Wickersley Secondary School
• CU organised shoebox appeal in school
• Wickersley collected (and filled!) more
shoeboxes than any other school in
Rotherham
Empowerment
Editor's Notes
As Christians, we believe that every person has potential for good – no matter what you see in front of them. Our job as youth workers is to try and dig some of that out. It doesn’t mean it’ll be easy; doesn’t mean we’ll succeed; but that value should be at the heart of our youth work.
As Christians, we believe that every person has potential for good – no matter what you see in front of them. Our job as youth workers is to try and dig some of that out. It doesn’t mean it’ll be easy; doesn’t mean we’ll succeed; but that value should be at the heart of our youth work.
It’s about giving people a voice into their local community.
i.e. Young argues that empowerment is the same definition as mine but from a secular more academic point of view
If we’re made in the image of God...we’ve got to be intelligent, because God had to be intelligent to create me...and Mike...and you! As we’ll discover this year, being intelligent is much wider than what grades we get in our exams. You could be the most intelligent and creative artist in the world and yet get straight F’s in your GCSE’s. Or you could get straight A* in your A-Levels, yet when it comes to having ability to be form long term relationships, you can’t. I can’t draw to save my life...yet Mike and I, I like to think, have been quite intelligent and creative in designing Aurora from scratch. And there’s no drawings anywhere in sight! And yet – do we fully understand what it means to be made in the image of God? Do our young people realise what it means?
If we’re made in the image of God...we’ve got to be intelligent, because God had to be intelligent to create me...and Mike...and you! As we’ll discover this year, being intelligent is much wider than what grades we get in our exams. You could be the most intelligent and creative artist in the world and yet get straight F’s in your GCSE’s. Or you could get straight A* in your A-Levels, yet when it comes to having ability to be form long term relationships, you can’t. I can’t draw to save my life...yet Mike and I, I like to think, have been quite intelligent and creative in designing Aurora from scratch. And there’s no drawings anywhere in sight! And yet – do we fully understand what it means to be made in the image of God? Do our young people realise what it means?
So my question is...do we give young people the opportunity to do that? Not just we as youth workers, but we as a whole Church community. What theological messages do our songs give out? Are they accessible to young people? Do we understand some of the words that we sing?
So my question is...do we give young people the opportunity to do that? Not just we as youth workers, but we as a whole Church community.
