Ways to shape the Church

Children organise the service

Putting up hymn numbers, handing out hymnals, greeting fellow believers—there is quite a bit to do before a divine service. On 2 June 2024, it was not the Deacons of the congregation of Valencia in Spain who saw to all these tasks, but the children. With a little help from the ministers, they also set up the altar for the service, which was conducted by the district rector in a child-friendly manner. He, in turn, was glad for a little help from the children: a large box stood in front of the altar, from which the children took out various objects one by one. Each object represented a reason to be grateful to God. A picture of the congregation stood for being part of the congregation. There were also some pills to represent the idea that a spiritual cure is offered. And there were sweets because there is always something to eat at church. Of course, the children also provided the musical accompaniment to the service. And the children were also happy to say goodbye in front of the altar after church.

An open dialogue

Apostle Gert Opdenplatz wanted to give the young people in his working area the opportunity to offer suggestions and constructive criticism and help shape the Church in the process. He and the young people from the Saar-Palatinate district in Germany met on 11 June 2024. The questions took centre stage.

• How do you imagine the Church of the future?
• What do you wish for the Church in the future?
• What bothers you about your Church?
• How can we contribute to the development of the Church?

The Apostle was happy to take on board the many suggestions from the young people.

Shaping the young people’s future

This was the declared goal of the young people leaders’ conference in Gauteng in South Africa during three days of intensive discussions. The annual strategy meeting took place from 21 to 23 June 2024. A key takeaway from the weekend was that all youth leaders were encouraged to start building a future for the young people in their charge with a focus on such aspects as healthy relationships within the youth groups and establishing a successful ecosystem between young people, their parents, and the ministers. The youth leaders took on the implementation as a homework assignment. The conference ended with a youth service for the entire Apostle Area in Dinwiddie. Everyone went home with lasting memories.

Enabling the future

In the afternoons, they come together at the church to play, study, or go on excursions. Up to forty children can take part in the afternoon childcare option provided by NAK-karitativ and its partner organisation Drejt se Ardhmes on the premises of the New Apostolic Church in Elbasan in Albania. In addition to helping the parents, the programme also improves the children’s performance at school and teaches them important skills. The programme has been running since October 2023 and besides offering excursions to historical or cultural sites and English and maths lessons, there are also computer programming courses for the young pupils. This is an important step towards the future. NAK-karitativ reports, for example, about a girl who loves to draw and paint and learned to work with geometric shapes and colour combinations thanks to the computer course. “Thanks to the support I received, I am able to paint simple pictures and colour them in,” she says proudly. “My computer skills are improving. I will be a great architect or designer.”

A small step towards the future

The young people and Sunday School children from the Cape Boland Apostle Area in South Africa joined forces on their Together we CAN outreach project. They collected over a thousand canned food items, other non-perishable foods, as well as blankets and clothing which they donated to the Masakhe Foundation, which supports local communities.

Contributing to our public image

Communicating the Mission and Vision of the Church and its activities both internally and externally: this was the subject of a communication training course on 29 June 2024. The course, which took place in Las Catonas in Argentina, was mainly aimed at ministers in leadership positions in Buenos Aires. The approximately 160 participants arrived at the venue at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, where they were welcomed by District Apostle Enrique Minio, Apostle Pedro Ramis, and Bishop Leonardo Berardo. The latter gave a rundown of the day’s programme. The participants then learned how best to communicate and by what means. During the course, everyone made use of the opportunity to exchange ideas. After the obligatory group photo, District Apostle Enrique Minio closed the event with a prayer.

The future of the Church

The members of the so-called Future Group met from 20 to 23 June 2024 in Sighișoara, Romania. The Future Group is made up of young ministers from Romania and the Republic of Moldova as well as interested young people without a ministry who want to support the work of the Church. Together with Apostle Vasile Cone, the participants discussed various topics relating to the New Apostolic faith, the work of the ministers, and the care of the members in the congregations. The seminar was concluded with a divine service by the Apostle, during which he added two young sisters to the circle of ministers.