What's the Point of PYP?
Why is PYP relevant?
Our young people are growing up in a diverse and divided society. They are faced daily with circumstances, situations and people where they have to make choices about standing up for who they are and what they believe. They must learn to balance that with loving and accepting others who think, behave and 'do life' differently to them. Their faith is challenged and confronted as they respond to these issues, and try to live out Jesus' call to be 'peacemakers'.
We can see division and diversity amongst our young people in something as simple as supporting a different football team or X-factor contestant to something as complex and longstanding as issues of race, ethnicity, faith or religious experience. In all these situations young people are faced with the question -
'How should I respond when someone doesn't think, act or believe the way I do?'
How does it work?
The course is primarily a discipleship programme which can be used with young people age 14+. It runs for 6 weeks and includes a weekend residential. The PYP manual includes all the material that you need for each session - games, ice breakers, activities, bible study, discussion questions and audio-visuals. Each session is planned but how you use the material is up to you and what best suits the needs and abilities of the group. All you need is right in front of you - simply prepare and facilitate.
It's an ideal course for many different groups - Youth Fellowships, Bible Classes, small groups, mid-week discipleship and S.Us. In the past, it has also been successfully used (with a little adaption) in 'non-church' enviroments - for example in Youth Clubs, Drop-ins and community centres
Next Step...
Hopefully this has encouraged you that we have a role and responsibility to educate our young people on how to handle division and diversity. Because of this, we are holding Facilitator Training in February and March. This is a programme to develop your training and facilitation skills, using PYP as a model, over 3 Wednesday evenings an a residential overnight.
Dates for Facilitator Training
- Wednesday 23rd February
- 4th-5th March - residential
- Wednesday 16th March
- Wednesday 23rd March
Wednesday evening sessions will take place in Youth Link (New Building - Springfield Road) from 7:30pm-9:30pm and the residential will be held in Drumalis, Larne. The total cost for course and residential is £30.
I want facilitator training
Just download the form below, complete your details and include a cheque for £30 made payable to PCI.
Why not download this PDF file to get an idea for what the material will look like.
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If you have any questions about PYP, please contact Lindsay at the Youth and Children's Office either by email (lwitherow@pciyac.org) or telephone 02890 32 2284
