Leaven – Youth community builder and leader trainer
Training content
Divinity, methods of community building and leading, game conducting, music knowledge, summer camps and program organizing knowledge, economic and tender-related knowledge, Internet tool (drive, Facebook) media knowledge. During the training the Leaven volunteers will be able to experience the phases of the community development between themselves.
Training information
We are considering to launch a Leaven training in Autumn 2018 that would go down to the level of regions. It won’t last for two years, only for one, thus it’ll realize a dual target: it’ll serve as the nurturing of new blood on the one hand, and on the other each and every parish of the region can bring along some young participants.
Training target group
We’d like to engage every “able-bodied” young person from the age group of 13-25. And we don’t want to train them separately; we’re planning to invite their priests and catechets too, so that they could take part in the training for a couple of times. If they wish to do so they can be with us at the weekends during the entire year, but the goal is to have them at least 3 times to implement a real team-like training by the end. Because this way these people can come together and form a team even during the training, meaning that later they can really count on each other. Based on our plans the first Leaven program to be realized this way will be organized in the Tisza region. Hopefully this would give a really significant momentum to that region. And watch for the next region to follow suit where you can join the training. The maximum number of our participants is 20 youth and 20 adult (25+ is priest or catechet).
Our goal
Our goal is that following the completion of the Leaven program our young participants start to lend a helping hand and contribute to the operation of a children or youth community at their own parishes, i.e. start to act as leaven. If it’s possible by the time they complete the Leaven program they should be able to start a new group or entrusted with an already existing one by the local parish priest or catechet.
The beginnings and our results
In March 2011 Reverend László Farkas organized a professional event about youth pastor care service. At that professional event we discussed what could be done for the youth and a socilogist summarized these thoughts, i.e. the things most needed in the Vác Diocese. The result was clear-cut; it was written in almost every single sheet of paper that some kind of youth leader training would be needed, because that could be the starting point of communities. After the permission of our Bishop, we invited Sister Angela, Tereza Worowska, and Sister Kati from the Salesians (and from Hajszoló) and Fecó Zlinszky from Regnum Marianum. And we started to put together this dream of the leader training program customized to the diocese together with these people. The first class started in January 2012. They completed their studies two years later in November. In November 2013 44 participants completed the training and since then many of them are already community leaders. Then we started our second two-year long class, where between January 2015 and November 2016 43 young people completed the Leaven training. The training lasted for two years, and priests as well as representatives of spiritual movements and religious orders also participated in the implementation thereof. It consisted of a part of intensive studying, a very spiritual one with lots of praying, spirituality and contemplation, as well as a practical part. Our Leaven members lead 50 communities and approximately 26 new ones were born in the 3 years between 2014 and 2016 by our Leaven volunteers, the majority of whom are volunteers from our regions.
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Mt 13,33)
You can find the related episode of our „About us” series here.