Youth work is a profession - I am a professional youth worker
Youth work is a calling - I am called by God to be a youth worker
Youth work is a service - I am here to serve
Youth work is about building relationships - I am paid to be a friend type figure
Youth work is about trust - I am paid to trust the sometimes untrustable and to be trustworthy
Youth work is a ministry - I am part of a ministry, despite being outside the church
I believe all the statements above which is why I studied my degree which gave me the right to call myself a professional. But this naturally leads to some problematic questions.
How can it be a profession and a calling when a profession is traditionally about the money and a calling is not - surely they are at very opposite ends of the line.
Are relationships false if you are paid to make them? does this make youth work prostitution without the sex?
Is it fair to build relationships and become trusted when at some point you will move on to another job?
What makes a profession a ministry?
There's obviously answers to all these questions, but for now I'm not going to give them as Id like to know your thoughts on them, and maybe even make you think a bit more for yourselves.
The reason I ask these is because recently Ive had a spark of interest in one or two jobs which I have seen advertised and I have sent of for information.
no big deal you may think, and certainly the none christian's i have spoken to have asked me a few times when i'm aiming to move onto bigger and better things, the common question youth workers are asked by christian's is "when are you going to move up to ministry".
so people expect you to move on
BUT what about the relationships, the trust, the ministry, the calling which i'm involved in now. I owe the people who employ me a lot for what they've done to me over the past 2 years but that's just one thing to consider.
Is it fair in general for you to build a relationship with a young person (who may never have trusted anyone before) only to say, sorry I've been offered more money elsewhere?
do youth workers actually cause more harm than good by giving the false hope that they will always be there and then run off to a new job etc?
What I don't want to really get into is my future, I will discuss this with people who I trust in person and pray and decide if its right to apply etc or not.
I want this to spark an open discussion about paid professional youth work. the questions Ive asked are just some of them, and again id say I know what I believe the answers are but what about you?
Youth work - whats your views?
Friday, 28 September 2007
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Monday, 24 September 2007
decisions
The future is something most people are scared off at some point in their lives, mainly because you can never know what its going to hold. Star signs, Tarot cards, fortune cookies etc are all used by many people in the hope of getting the slightest hint of what might happen, and in some cases people wont make decision without checking what the stars say just in case they are making the wrong decision.
The Christian response to fearing the future is dont worry about tomorow, trust in God etc etc. This is true, obviously, BUT it doesnt mean we shouldnt think about the future. Sometimes we are given 3 or 4 options to decide between and sometimes its really tough to know which way to go. Prayer is part of the decision process, an important part, but for some it becomes an excuse not to do anything or make any changes etc.
The fact is in many decisions there is no wrong choice in spiritual terms, each path would be doing Gods work, no matter how hard you want and pray for a big arrow saying "This way now!" it doesnt come. You search the Bible and theres nothing against any of the routes, and may be plenty of things going for each route. what do you do?
My answer would be you do what you think youd be happiest doing. If God doesnt want you doing something he will block the pathway somehow, the Bible says he opens and closes doors so thats easy then isnt it?
hmmm I doubt anythings that easy.
whats your thoughts on decisions?
how do you make them?
I have a few tought choices to make soon, mainly about my future, wont say too much on here because some people read these who I dont want to know about those choices yet.
so join the debate people, decisions.... how do you make yours?
The Christian response to fearing the future is dont worry about tomorow, trust in God etc etc. This is true, obviously, BUT it doesnt mean we shouldnt think about the future. Sometimes we are given 3 or 4 options to decide between and sometimes its really tough to know which way to go. Prayer is part of the decision process, an important part, but for some it becomes an excuse not to do anything or make any changes etc.
The fact is in many decisions there is no wrong choice in spiritual terms, each path would be doing Gods work, no matter how hard you want and pray for a big arrow saying "This way now!" it doesnt come. You search the Bible and theres nothing against any of the routes, and may be plenty of things going for each route. what do you do?
My answer would be you do what you think youd be happiest doing. If God doesnt want you doing something he will block the pathway somehow, the Bible says he opens and closes doors so thats easy then isnt it?
hmmm I doubt anythings that easy.
whats your thoughts on decisions?
how do you make them?
I have a few tought choices to make soon, mainly about my future, wont say too much on here because some people read these who I dont want to know about those choices yet.
so join the debate people, decisions.... how do you make yours?
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