Cesky

Basic YMCA's Principles

1. The whole human being - In YMCA/Tensing it is important to use the whole human being. By using the whole human being, we mean that the spirit, the body and the soul are equal. In reality, this means that we should use our body as much as our soul and spirit. For YMCA/Tensing this means that we should try to care of each single person talents. This is important because the Bible says that the whole human being is valuable. We should not only meet God with our soul, but also with our body and mind.

2. The Tensing-work is made by youth and for youth - In YMCA/Tensing it is important to take youth culture seriously. By doing this, we can meet the youth on their own premises. This is important because the youth communicates with other youth - and this makes it easier to get a good quality of the work.

   Tensing/YMCA gives the youth responsibility, because this makes the youth growing. By giving the youth responsibility, we also make them feel their work is their own. But there must also be some adults in the background to help the youth. This is a sort of leader training, and can also become democracy-training.

3. Open membership - YMCA/Tensing has got an open membership for everyone. This point is important to make the youth understand, because many of them don't feel that they fit in any fellowship. In YMCA/Tensing everyone is welcome! For example it's OK to be in Tensing without being a Christian. But it's of course important that a member respects Christianity. YMCA/Tensing is a place for everyone, without regards to thoughts, interests or what church you belong to. And maybe the most important is that in YMCA/Tensing you don't need to be an expert in everything you do.

   Why is this important? The open membership is an ideal the Bible. Jesus always met every body, and when God created us, he made us equal. That's why it's necessary for us no to let anybody out of our Tensing group. Another point is that the open membership gives us a richer community, and by being with different people, we can develop.

4. Christian leadership - In YMCA/Tensing we demand that the leaders shall have a loyalty toward YMCAs goals and work. In YMCA all leaders have to be Christian. This is necessary because Tensing wouldn't be Tensing without leaders living their faith together with young people, and having a certain responsibility that the "spiritual aspect" is being followed up.

Special ideas for the work in Tensing

1. The three C's
   • The first C,"Culture", is about taking the youngsters culture, daily life and lifestyle seriously, and to use it in our work. We want to let the members use their own thoughts, concerns, ideas and interests. Practical results of this C is for example not only to be using Christian music, to choose the theme for a concert after what concerns the members at the time, and to be preaching in a way that is natural for the young people. But the culture shouldn't be in conflict with Christian values.

     Why culture? We want Tensing to be the member's own work. Tensing is a work done by and for youths. Teenagers are specialists in communicating with other teenagers, so that's why it's necessary to use the youngsters own language. Another reason is that the next C, the Creativity, would be impossible to realize without taking the Culture seriously.

   • The second C,"Creativity", is about using our talents to create something for ourselves and for each other. Creativity in Tensing is not about making "the perfect thing", but to make something that's real. Creativity is to express passion of life.

     Why Creativity ? This C is grounded in values from the Bible. The Bible teaches that we are created to create. We are created to be God's colleagues !

   • The third C,"Christ", is the basic motive for all out work. The entire basis is grounded on fundamental Christian ideas. It's a goal to focus on Christian values. The preaching in Tensing is meant to be more that only the devotions. The preaching should be a part of everything we're doling.

     Why Christ ? The belief in Christ and the desire to let young people get to know him, was the ground-motive for establishing of Tensing. If we don't preach the Gospel, the main idea behind our work would disappear, and then Tensing would just become a normal social work for youngsters instead.

   

2. The double radicality - The double radicality is a way to express the method of our work. The vertical axe is meant to represent our relationship with God. As you can see, the arrow points both up and down. When it's upward, it show us worshipping God, and when it's pointing downward, it's about letting God be a part of our fellowship, and to let God's power affect all our work.

   The horizontal axe is meant to show the radical openness toward the youth-culture. Through this openness, we're practising the first C, Culture. This axe is about trying to leave our safe, Christian ghettoes, and to try going out to the youngsters instead.

   The two axes are not supposed to be in conflict, but to cooperate. In out practical work, this means that the songs we're using both should worship God and be a part of the youth-culture at the same time. Some other Christian organizations have been accusing Tensing for not taking the gospel seriously. It has been said that our work is like an ordinary social work for youngsters. This is not our goal, because we want to be radical in both ways. Therefore it's important to remember both axes.

   Why "The double radicality" ? The vertical axe is ideal from the Bible; Jesus met people in their homes and at their worknig-places. The horizontal axe is the main reason for the establishment of Tensing, and the reason why we're still running it today. These two axes reach out to new groups of young people. Through our work we're bringing the gospel out to people who would never have been even affected of Christian work. And by reaching new people, our Christian society gets new impulses as well.

3. Created to create - In Tensing, we use to say that we're created to create. This motto has got lot's of the same in it as the three C's. We believe that we are crated in God's image, with the possibility of creating and believing, and with the ability of expressing ourselves in different ways. As we mentioned earlier, God created us to be his colleagues. This means that Tensing has a positive view on creative work, as long as the creative abilities are being used in a good way.

   Why "Created to create" ? This motto is based on the positive view on creativity we find in the Bible.

4. Process and product - In our part of the world, it has become usual to focus on the result of a work instead of the process in making it. In Tensing we want to avoid this thought. To us, the process, or the work itself, is more important than the result, in our case this means what the audience can see. Our goal is, that the product should have a developing effect on the members. Therefore, it's impossible to evaluate how a Tensing-group works by looking at the product (f.ex. the concert). It's much important to look at the process.

   Why is the process more important than the result ? Tensing is a youth work not for audience on the concert, not for the parents, not for the church, but for the members participating in it. In Tensing, we want the members to meet God through their fellowship. Therefore, the most important point is not the quality of the concert, but what possibilities are being given to the members through the work (both process and result). Through a good process, the youngsters will get an opportunity to be creative, to learn to be cooperative, and to develop.

This information were obtained from Tensing Norway in Krabcice,Czech republic, 28-30.10.1995.

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