Info for Churches
The YES Encounter scheme began in the 1990s as a way of providing a gap year experience of church to a small group of young adults. Since then it has evolved into a discipleship and leadership training scheme which is both rewarding and intensive. Testimony to the success of the scheme over the years is that, having had a young person involved, parishes return year after year for more.
The scheme is overseen by the Diocese on the principle of 'guidance not interference'. The scheme believes that the vast majority of parishes would enjoy giving a young person an intensive experience of ministry, but for many parishes the resources are simply not available to do this. The Diocese invests a great deal of time and money into the scheme to ensure it delivers high quality training, mentoring and supportive supervision. It is for each parish to define exactly what the young person will do. The young person deliberately spends the vast majority of the time in the parish.
Aims of the Scheme
The Scheme seeks to:
- Equip young people for a life of service to God
- Enable them to experience different areas of church life
- encourage them to discover who they are and the gifting that God has given them
- empower them to use their gifting for the benefit of themselves, the placement and the wider church
Ethos and cost of the Scheme
Why involve this parish? There are enormous possibilities in having a scheme member for eleven months (Sept to July each year). It is both a chance to offer something to a young person, and receive from a young person who will have enthusiasm for God's work.
There are two costs for a parish. Initially, one is inevitably time ñ time for training, settling in, checking the young person is comfortable, finding accommodation and setting up a line manager system. Once this is accepted, the enormous potential of an extra pair of hands working in the parish is rewarding, offering possibilities of the parish to try new things or extend existing activity.
The other cost is financial. It has been estimated that a church developing its own 'associate-apprentice scheme' (being aware that such a development could incur employment, tax and housing requirements as it implies contracted employment) with adequate training and supervision will cost around £10,000 a year. The cost of Yes Encounter is subsidised by the Diocese.
A rough guide to the cost of having an Encounter member is to budget for around £4,000 - £5,000. Most parishes find it has cost them maybe just over £3,000. Full figures are amended annually so are on a separate sheet.
The essential element of any parish contribution is to cover housing, expenses, the person's African placement and their pocket money. These costs are supported by grants from external to the parish. Parishes are currently asked to directly contribute £3,000 towards the full cost through two installments paid through the YES Encounter scheme.
