Christian Education Looking Ahead In Christian Ed ed ited b y M a rga r e t da eob sen . Pioneer Girls (P a r t two: Relation to
the Local Church)
A n d e r s o n
church in the east which had a monthly missionary. club of only eight members two years ago. Today, they have a Pioneer Girls meeting three times monthly and the mission ary club once a month, and by this combination 60 to 80 girls are being reached with a well-rounded pro gram. A Practical Program Prepared by Specialists But could not these same results be obtained by a church developing its own club program? Obviously, this would mean endless duplication of effort by churches across the coun try. Here is a ready-prepared pro gram, developed by specialists over a period of years. Materials such as training manuals, handbooks, pro gram ideas, badges, uniforms, pins, etc., are all available from a central supply. It is cheaper and simpler for a church to use a prepared program than to develop its own. Also, the assistance of trained staff workers is invaluable to local leaders. To this may be added the appeal of belong ing to a national organization, and the fact that an interdenominational club is more effective in reaching out siders. The steps in organizing Pioneer Girls are: 1. A sponsoring committee of three or more is appointed by pastor and church board. 2. One or two guides are appointed by •the committee for each age di vision. (Pilgrims—3rd through 6th grades, Colonists— 7th through 9th grades, Explorers— 10th through 12th grades). 3. The guide instructional packet is ordered from headquarters for $1.50. 4. The guide studies the material and takes a test; then, she advertises and begins her club. (T o be contin ued.) END-
plaint. Pioneer Girls’ answer is, “ Give us Christians who are willing to learn and we will train them.’ Each guide takes a brief correspond ence training course. Each month she receives a packet of program helps from headquarters. She is visited reg ularly by field staff members who also conduct guide workshops in var ious areas. Spiritual growth takes place in the lives of leaders as well as girls. One guide confessed, “ I’ve been a nominal Christian for years but it took Pioneer Girls to make me really dig into the Word. You can’t face those girls week after week un less you have something to offer them and unless your life is right with the Lord.” Another guide said, after a successful year with a problem Sun day school class, “ My success with this class is directly due to the train ing and spiritual growth I received as a Pioneer Girl guide.” Pioneer Girls also contributes to a unified church by helping to bridge the gulf between the older women 'and the young girls. This is accom plished through the pal program, a system whereby a Christian woman “ adopts” a Pioneer Girl in her church. A pal prays for her girl regu larly and befriends her in various ways. Pals also contribute regularly to national headquarters, thus sup plying the necessary funds to carry on the work. For women beyond the age of active service in the church, the pal program offers a real oppor tunity to serve the Lord. Still another contribution of Pio neer Girls is its missionary vision. Today there are four missionaries on the foreign field who are totally sup ported by clubs’ monthly missionary offerings. As the girls pray and give for these specific missionaries, their interest in their own church mission aries is stimulated. Pioneer Girls also cooperates with denominational mis sionary clubs. An example of this is
S everal years ago a small church in Massachusetts was about ready to close its doors when a new pas tor arrived. The pastor’s wife started Pioneer Girls, an in te rn a t io n a l Christ-centered club program with headquarters in Chicago. Soon she had a thriving group from various religious backgrounds—Catholic, lib eral, churchless. Some of these girls were saved, many were drawn into the Sunday school, and a young peo ple’s group was formed with them as a nucleus. Today, the church is flour ishing and several of the girls have grown up to be active church work ers. Pioneer Girls was able to strength en this church because it became an integral part of the church. The or ganization does not supply club lead ers, but does train and assist poten tial leaders from within the church. Each club is under the supervision of a sponsoring committee appointed by the church. The committee in turn appoints the guides or leaders. The program is available to any group which is in agreement with the standards of faith. Although the task of attracting girls and training them for service in the church is all-important, Pio neer Girls contributes to the church in many other ways. Digging Into the Word “ But we have no trained leader ship for club work,” is a usual com-
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