God and the Girlguiding Promise: A Study of the Extent to which the Spiritual Dimension of the Girlguiding Promise could Provide a Suitable Vehicle for Mission and Ministry for Churches Seeking to Engage with Local Girlguiding Units.

Although, not religious, Girlguiding is a spiritual organisation, which has a commitment to helping each girl ‘develop her beliefs’ through the Promise, which all members make. This thesis explores how the Guiding Promise provides an opportunity for churches to be involved with local Units of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers. As part of a church’s mission and ministry it recommends approaches they can use to build up relationships with Units and opportunities they could take to help the girls on their spiritual journey. This thesis uses a Convergent Parallel mixed methods approach to explore the relationship between one Anglican church and a local Guide Unit. The findings are put into a wider context through an Online Survey answered by leaders from all Girlguiding UK regions and countries. The results show that while many churches are looking at ways of addressing the decline of children in their congregations, they are unaware of the potential of 50,000 girls who may be meeting weekly on their premises. Moreover, 77% of Guiding leaders would welcome further opportunities to engage with their local church, yet too often they are made to feel unwanted and ignored. We live in a society where the happiness of girls has decreased from 41% to 25% in the last 10 years and 59% say social media is a main cause of stress. This study concludes that creating partnerships with Guiding Units is not just about churches helping girls fulfil the spiritual dimension of the Promise. It is an opportunity to equip girls with the spiritual tools and resources to help them as they grow up as part of ‘Generation Z’ and to show them the difference, that having a faith makes to your life.