1. The survival and revival of our church is dependent on how we
approach our youth.
2. We need to create a people-oriented action program.
3. Individual programs are
necessary that cultivate youth involvement but require ongoing active spiritual development at the level of the
parish to be effective on a long term basis.
4. To attract and sustain a youth
presence in the church, we must be cognizant of the specific needs of each age group that we are trying to
target.
5. Whatever we do for the youth (as
well as other groups) must be relevant
to the issues they face daily.
6. We need to find unique points of contact to
establish this local network of interested and engaged youth to build on.
7. Quality is what matters, not quantity. We do not need to engage huge numbers of the
youth initially. We need to seriously engage some that are interested in a
meaningful way and the rest will follow. These individuals will serve as role
models for their peers who will then develop interest.
8. We are under utilizing our human
resources.
9. Accountability and need to
measure results.
1. We recommend the continuation
of the Prelacy programs that are presently in place (or in development) that
are directed toward the youth including:
Datev
Linked In
National Youth
Program
Shnorali Program
Armenian Church
presence at Camp Haiasdan
2. We recommend that the Prelacy
further develop the Mini-Datev program (which is a regional form of Datev that
takes place over a weekend) to include all regions and to span the 25-40 age
group.
3. We recommend that each parish
try to create a local list of Armenian college students and youth involved in
local Armenian organizations. The purpose of this is both to try to find points
of access to the youth, and develop communication with them through venues like
Facebook, Twitter, etc., and to attempt to reach out to them in informal ways on
their own turf.
4. We recommend that AREC publishes
a primer for parents of children who are newly entering Sunday School. The
primer or handbook would review the responsibility of parents and also serve as
a unique point of spiritual contact with them.
5. We suggest that the Religious
Council recommend all parishes have two distinct bible studies, one for adults
and one for the youth. The age cutoffs would be determined by the specific demographics
of each parish.
6. We recommend that AREC set up
a committee to explore spiritual
education opportunities for the youth to be delivered at local
parishes. This can include formats like open
forums, broad based or topic-focused educational series targeted to various age groups, etc.
7. We recommend that AREC set up regional bible camps during the
summer.
8. We recommend that parish
priests formally identify and
spiritually cultivate a focused group of people on an
intimate level. This group will assist the parish priest in carrying the torch of ministry and spiritual
leadership. Initially, this can be members of the deaconate or choir, and can
eventually extend to include other groups once the process has matured.
9. We recommend that AREC develops
clergy guidelines for administering formal teaching/counseling sessions in two
key areas of contact with the youth: pre-marriage
and pre-baptism. Home blessing is another access point
where formalized guidelines for the clergy would help them to
introduce families to key elements of the Christian faith. For example, each church
could provide each home with a copy of the Divine Liturgy or vespers book at
the time of the home blessing).
10. We recommend that each parish
set up a specific local outreach
ministry for the youth of the church which they (or designates)
will supervise. The priest may determine this, or a group can gather to come up
with its own ideas. Examples include visitations, hospital volunteerism, soup kitchens, etc. The idea here is to foster "faith in action."
11. We recommend that AREC
appoint a specific person or group of individuals who will exclusively be in
charge of ministering to the spiritual needs of Armenian college students (i.e.
formal college ministry program.)
12. We recommend that AREC
publishes a pre-college primer to
cover basic Christian principles and issues, that students going to college can
be given as a guide.
13. We recommend that the
Religious Council explores the possibility of a direct mentorship program.
14. We recommend that the
Religious Council set up a yearly marriage
enrichment program to be presented at local parishes for recent (<15yrs)
recipients of the marriage sacrament.
15. We recommend that AREC picks specific
contemporary topics on faith and spirituality that are relevant to the youth,
and arrange for traveling lecturers to
present these topics at parishes. Such lectures should have ample opportunity
for participants to interact informally with the lecturer on the subject
matter.
