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February 28, 2007
Half Vicar Half Social Worker
I had to get a quote from a Building Society today BUT my profession was not listed. There was no Youth Minister (or Youth Worker) so how does half vicar, half social worker sound?
Posted by ian at 04:06 PM | Comments (4)
Can blogging serve Youth Ministry?
I'm gearing up for my seminar-thingy at the MATRIX conference (of the above title) and although I've not heard anything from MATRIX I assume I've not been scratched from the line up! I want to cover Bebo, MySpace et al in the process as well, exploring the opportunity AND the Child Protection issues that arise!
SO (can't you just feel that request for help coming), If you have set up a site for your group I'd LOVE to hear from you.
Thanks :-)
Captains Log Supplemental: Now have all the details of MATRIX (they were sent on Feb 12th but didn't arrive). So the low down is thus: There are now 117 peeps booked in. (Three people have booked in this morning ........ It must be a nightmare organising things for us Yoof Wurkas).
I'm doing my Workshop twice, so I'd recommend coming to the one on Wednesday morning when I'll have got the hang of it and beside which, How popular is the one at 19:30 on Monday going to be?
Posted by ian at 11:06 AM | Comments (13)
February 27, 2007
Saddened to read this
I was saddened to read this report that Church Schools are taking fewer pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. I would have thought that it should be the opposite.
Filed under: Discouraging
Posted by ian at 05:42 PM | Comments (1)
February 26, 2007
Church Survey UK
Anyone know anything about this Church Survey UK? I got a flyer for it this morning in an envelope claiming to be "personal mail" and looking hand written. On checking, several other people in the office have one too. Checking the web, the report seems to be genuine although the citations on the web site from a "Church of england Bishop" and a "Clergy wife" don't ring of authenticity.
Also, looking at the questions asked, one of them seems very loaded, (What purpose does the 'Maxim' in the question serve other than influencing the answer)
"The traditional custom of ‘clergy visiting’ has steadily declined in spite of the maxim ‘a house going minister makes a chuch going people’. Do you think the demise of the customary visiting role is significant?"
I may be a bit biased because I'm reacting to the dishonest way it got onto my desk BUT I'm happy to hear that it does contain some useful information and data if anyone can tell me more?
Posted by ian at 03:33 PM | Comments (3)
Woody's (Youth Ministry) Round Up
Rootin Tootin type greetings Blogdonia. Here's a whole load of stuff that I've lassoed and penned here in case it's a) Useful, b) Funny or c) Stops people getting cross with me for not mentioning it :-)
Last night I preached at a sung Evensong! Some Churches up in Buckinghamshire have Deanery services and hence the country church was filled and actually, I enjoyed the service (even if I didn't understand some of the words AND my attempts to sing the Magnificat were surreal at best, criminally horrible at worst.)
The congregation (age wise) was, for the main, at least 50 plus BUT I wanted to record my thanks to the small posse of young people who came along .... It was great to see you :-)
Anyway, here's the round up:
Looking for games? John e-mailed me to flag up a new Games Site they are working on, well worth bookmarking I think as I reckon it'll grow!
Want a web page? The Captain of My Small Boat has been testing Google's facility to rapidly create a simple but elegant web-site and rates it highly! Lay out, hosting et al All sorted! Fab!
Campaigns: Couple of things that you/your group should check out. This Oxfam campaign against Predatory debt collection from Zambia. The 'Flush out' Campaign from Christian Aid is a fab campaign that should spark the imagination of youth groups, check it out here.
Video Stuff: Some people who read the, How to rip YouTube videos piece pointed out that they weren't actually allowed to download any software (I.T control) so here's a neat online solution! It's called Vixy and although it has a limited number of Outputs, it works well and is online so free of I.T restriction, Job Done!
Thinky Bit: Brian on remembering what it was like to be young!
Posted by ian at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2007
Today's feel good tune
For a fun breakfast vibe, check out Herman Dune and play 'I wish I could see you'. A funky feel good ditty that seems to fuse a gazillion different styles of music* but gets away with it. A smiley sing along!
Relevence to Youth Ministry: er .............. none!
*Ok a Gazillion is a slight exageration but I love the mixture which includes a Jonathan Richman type talk dialogue in the singing.
Posted by ian at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2007
Transport to Matrix
The transport co-operation post for MATRIX is still going strong, including one person who has managed to offer themself a lift! Do have a look and see if you can be useful.
I'm now bringing Simo(n) from Farringdon.
(Please let me know who else has blagged or succesfully offered transport)
Shalom
Posted by ian at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
Mistakes for Church based Youth Workers #1
A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece on mistakes Churches make that undermine an employed youth worker project. This has been quite useful to send to Churches who are exploring the employment of a Youth worker.
I reckon I should perhaps give some thought to things that youth workers do (or fail to do) that undermine a project too.
Drawing from experience (ouch) and observation I reckon one of the key ones is:
Failing to communicate with the Church!
Parish based Youth Work becomes a very busy world and a world that happens, for the main, away from the majority of the congregation. The congregation are paying for the project and hold all sorts of realistic and unrealistic , conscious and subconscious expectations of what the youth work will look like and what it will achieve! It doesn't take much for muttering concerns (valid or invalid) to really damage the support for the youth work.
Now this doesn't normally happen until the end of the first year BUT if you've not worked hard at communication in the first year then you are left 'fire fighting!' and there is a huge danger of resentment in the congregation and in the youth worker.
My theory is that communication with/to the church and key members (parents, funders, people in different congregations) is a priority. Communicating what you are doing (what you are not doing) and why, the challenges and the successes, the frustrations and the difficulties and the way that you spend your time is vital.
One of the real dangers is that quite a few members of the congregation will be expecting the results to be BUMS ON SEATS in the Sunday morning service*, which isn't likely to happen without the church changing significantly. We need to be communicating what is realistic to expect and what is not, helping Church to understand the young people, and young people the Church.
So, getting practical I reckon:
1. Spend time with key people in the Church, tell stories, share vision, listen and where appropriate respond. Make communicating what you are doing and how you spend your time a priority.
2. Work at getting young people more involved in the life of the Church, and the Church in the life of the young people
3. Avoid the numbers game BUT DO collect (and keep collecting) data. That is, make sure the work is not assessed on BUMS on SEATS (either in Church or youth group) but do present hard data. e.g "Last year we didn't have anyone involved in Camp ministry but this year we have 4 young people putting their faith into action on Camps and mission trips" or "The youth group has moved from being just social to seeing lots of the young people praying, exploring and putting their faith into action" or "For the last few years we've had no one under 30 coming forward to use their gifts in Church but now we have 5 young people actively involved in the life of the Church!"
4. Invest time in being present at Prayer group, House group BBQ etc and where appropriate take a couple of the young people with you. Conversely take a member of the congregation along to some of the 'youth things'
5. Share Vision with the congregation and the leadership team.
6. Don't assume that because you've written stuff, people know or understand. The written stuff has a use but is no substitute for the upfront spiel and more importantly the conversations. (Thanks for inspiring number 6, Simo)
I'm not sure this list is definitive BUT I am convinced the principal is vital, YOU are part of the Church and the Church want to know, understand and share in that ministry (even if it doesn't always appear that way!).
(*BTW I am not a huge fan of the Youth work being divorced from the body of the church but it takes this communication and understanding to begin a process of greater integration).
Posted by ian at 08:12 AM | Comments (11)
February 21, 2007
Instant German
I've been working through my well thumbed copy of "German in Three Months" for about 15 years now (nearly half way through!) but this relies on a goodly chunk of time to sit down and actually study the book (hence the limited progress). However when I was helping a friend move some furniture yesterday I stumbled across a Free CD that had dropped out of a copy of the Independent (Newspaper) many moons ago, it's called "Instant German" and I have salvaged it.
Now this is even more optimistically titled than my book but I figured as it was CD based I could at least 'instantly' learn while washing up or the like.
So .... tonight while tackling Mt Washing Up I fired up the CD player for some 'Instant' Learning. It turns out there should be a booklet (presumably this is in the long since lost copy of the newspaper) but I gave it a go anyway. I particularly liked the very practical advice in the introduction to chapter one.
"Please open the book at 'week one' so you can follow along; but if you are currently behind the wheel of a car or jogging I wouldn't advise you to do this!"
I also enjoyed their suggestion of pronouncing a certain vowel combination (and I quote) "like the letter 'i' in the english word 'fly' " ?????
Anyway I've learned a bit more vocab (as well as a new way to spell 'fly!')
It was also today that I spotted an advert for a Youth work job in Germany! Very tempting BUT I may need another three months of Instant learning yet.
Posted by ian at 06:54 PM | Comments (5)
Giving up, embracing and exploring
We did the Shrove Tuesday Pancake fest last night which was fab, I went for the very orthodox Lemon and Sugar approach. A tad' unadventurous perhaps but hey, it tasted GOOD!
Anyway, to LENT! I find myself wanting to keep in the rhythm of Lent more than ever before. And this year for me Lent will also contain a fantastic ministry opportunity because I speak on a Ski trip in the week leading up to Easter.
Anyway I want Lent to consist of a giving up, an embracing and an exploring! So, Chocolate and biscuits are out of the window for the next 40 days (no Mars Bars!!!!!) , I want to spend more time in Silence and reflection, I also want to be more open to listening to the people I encounter and opportunities to make a difference that then open up. This is my hope and prayer for the next few weeks! I'm recording this here as otherwise it is in danger of remaining more in the realms of diet than discipleship.
LENT LINKS: (please add more via comments)
I see that Andy Goodliff will also be going Cold Turkey on the Mars Bar front and has included some useful Lentan links (including the story of a woman who is giving up supermarkets which I thought was fab). There's the Love Life, Live Lent campaign that the Church of England have put together (This is a great thing that you can get your young people involved with). Some good links on the Dave de la Cartoon site and on Tim Abbotts site.
Along the lines of the text messages, Andy Goodliff has a fab one-a-day challenge resource!
Posted by ian at 08:10 AM | Comments (3)
February 20, 2007
Youth workers in Schools
Useful overview from YPN of potential roles and misconceptions for youth workers in schools. Read here.
Posted by ian at 12:33 PM | Comments (4)
From Modernity to Post Modernity by car
Mark Berry, Emerging church Sensei and Vespa straddled Prophet blogs over at Way out West, and I always enjoy his musings! I thought this piece using Top Gear (anarchic, laddish Motoring programme) as a reflection on Post Modern paradigm shift was brilliant (and useful).
"1. TG was once a typical/standard car programme... reviewing cars on the usual criteria, value for money, handling, economy, horsepower etc. but in the end it proved way to structured and repetitive for the British public... so, it changed its critical model from a process to immediacy ... "what does it feel like to drive?", one flaw in a cars "feeling" will negate all the stats and figures etc. that make it good on paper ... echoing the shift from rationalism to experimentalism and indeed experientialism!
2. TG was once a format show for people who wanted to know more about cars... car geeks and potential buyers... yawn! So it changed itself from boring reviews to anarchic play... see this weeks fun for example... as the "Prodigal Project" says... One of the defining characteristics of the emerging culture is a light-handed playfulness... the motive is one of frolicking in forbidden fields... New technology is regarded by many in the emerging culture not so much as instrumental to scientific or industrial progress, but more as helpful in playing better games.
3.TG has changed from the culture of "driving gloves" and whether boot (trunk) capacity is big enough for a suitcase or a set of golf clubs to one where celebrities thrash a "reasonably priced car" to destruction around a race track... again "The Prodigal Project" says... Postmodern culture is very much in-your-face; loud, fast and aggressive. It doesn't allow withdrawal to some secure buffer zone of reflection or analysis.
4. TG has abandoned a "points out of 100" evaluation model to an audience vote on whether a particular car is "Cool" or not... based on entirely subjective criteria... evidencing the abandonment of the "myth of objectivity"... reinforced by the light hearted arguments between presenters over the respective merits of a car, which in turn shows a rejection of linearity and propositional truth in favour of a plurality of truths based on personal experience/opinion ......... "
read the rest here
Posted by ian at 08:34 AM | Comments (11)
February 19, 2007
Weird technical Problem
I've found the missing comments :-) I'm enduring a MAJOR spam attack at the moment which is causing no end of problems. The blog therefore decided (can they do that?) to arrange for some comments to be moderated BUT not actually notify me despite the fact I should get e-mails every time a comment is made.
Apologies for inconvenience and PLEASE do comment!
Posted by ian at 07:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Music and Lyrics "Pop"
I wrote a couple of days ago about how much I enjoyed the film, 'Music and Lyrics!' One of the reasons I loved it so much was the adroit observations that made their 00's creation of a perfect 80's stylee song and video absolutely spot on and HILARIOUS. I've just found that their fictional band "Pop" and the, looking back mock up video for "Pop goes my heart!" is on YouTube (and hence posted below). If you weren't a teen in the 80's you won't get this, if you were they here is an official laughter warning!
Posted by ian at 02:16 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
I'm a bit green on this one
Eeeeeek. For reasons that I assume made sense at the time, I had agreed to do a talk next Sunday on Young People's attitude to Climate change and the environment! It's entitled, "The World for Young People?" and that is about as far as I've got ........ hence this blog plea! Anyone got any research, conversations or stories that would contribute to a picture of how young people react and respond to environmental concern!
I chatted to some of the young people yesterday morning which was fun BUT I still lack a LOT of material!
Any information donations to the "Get Ian out of another silly hole that he has created for himself" knowledge fund would be gratefully received :-)
Probably won't use this cartoon in the talk
Posted by ian at 08:45 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 15, 2007
Music and Lyrics
I got to check out Music and Lyrics on the big screen last night and thought I'd rattle off a review-ette in case it's helpful!
The film is very definitely housed in Rom-Com city close to the border with Chick-Flick, having said that though I should point out that I enjoyed the film and experienced some wonderful 'laugh like a drain' moments. The premise is that Alex Fletcher (Hugh) is a has-been musician. His band 'Pop' (an affectionate mockery of Wham) were massive in the 80's and his former band mate now enjoys a great Solo career while Alex survives by playing the nostalgia circuit, the gigs however are drying up.
He is offered a big break when teen pop sensation Cora Corman (the Britney figure) invites him to write a song and guest sing with her. Two problems though, a tight time scale and the fact that Alex Fletcher writes music not lyrics! However this is his big chance and he has to deliver the goods. Fortunately Sophie Fisher (Drew) enters his life when she subs for his normal Plant person! It turns out she has a way with words and the film meanders nicely from this meeting on a fairly predictable journey through to a romantic happy ending.
It may be a little syrupy in places but it's great fun. The thing that makes it so fabulous is the accurate re-creation of the cheesy 80's pop with original tunes and words that could so easily have been hits in that decade. It also nicely contrasts the cheeky cheesy suggestiveness of the 80's with the scantily clad crotch gyrating led pop of Britney et al. (it's also a fun critique of pop flirting with spirituality)
At one level, this is a good Rom-Com that Hugh and Drew play well, nothing remarkable but it is enjoyable. What really lifts it though is that if you experienced the 80's then this has so much to connect with, smile about and tap your feet to. I loved it ...... February Feel Fine Film Finesse!
Posted by ian at 08:53 AM
February 14, 2007
Forty and Famous
I'm 40 today (which I find surprising)! It's been quite a laugh at work as there is much teasing going on relating to my demi-octogenarian status, and if that wasn't enough to tease me about there is much mirth about my mugshot in the Oxford Mail plugging the LOVE LIFE LIVE LENT campaign. LOL. (Piccy shows off the grey hairs well eh?)
For the last couple of years I've done a '38' and '39' things about me list as a piece of self indulgent reflection. I've updated and increased it to '40!'
1. I was told by the teacher I didn't have 'a snowball's chance in hell' of passing my physics A-Level! (he was right)
2. I don't have a TV
3. I wanted to be a Pilot for most of my teenage years
4. My oldest boy has Cerebral Palsy and I consider him one of my heroes
5. I once crashed a car by skidding on gravel, Ironically I was listening to 'Going out in a Blaze of Glory' and crashed into the 'Caution loose surface' sign
6. I can ride a unicycle and juggle (not however at the same time)
7. I've been learning German from a book called 'German in Three Months' for the last 14 years
8. I played 'Bottom' in 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'
9. If there was a group of teenagers and a group of adults I'd most likely be talking to the teenagers
10. I have three Children
11. I laugh often and loudly
12. I have about 1000 books including a great CS Lewis and GK Chesterton Collection
13. I REALLY wanted a skateboard when I was a boy, I got my first one at 34
14. I can't read 'I'll love you forever' to my children because I end up crying
15. I like listening to Meatloaf LOUD
16. I was very immature as a teenager, a late developer
17. Joanna and I have been married for 16 years
18. I love long distance cycle challenges and have completed the 'Salisbury 100 (miles)' three times, always in less than eight hours (I did crack (and bail out) on a TOUGH 115 mile Cyclo sportif event in 2006)
19. I can't iron shirts (they end up with more creases in afterwards)
20. I love single malt whisky (and of those I love Talisker the most)
21. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of pain in the world
22. Joanna and I went to a Bible School in Austria
23. I am a passionate skier and am going in 2007 for the first time in years, YAY
24. I broke my arm when I was six by jumping off the top of a climbing frame (but for some reason I told people I fell)
25. Christianity is my life and my hope, my struggle and my meaning
26. I have been knocked off my bike by cars 5 times, twice by hit and run drivers
27. I can't sing! (At least not without other people complaining)
28. Bruce Cockburn's lyrics and music have had a huge impact on me
29. I am an extrovert most of the time
30. My Spiritual journey has also involved un-learning a lot of what I was taught
31. I haven't really had a nickname. A teacher as school called me 'McDafty' which I hated, a bunch of teenagers on a camp once affectionately called me 'Preacherman' which I loved. I was also reminded by a dear friend that I was referred to as Dangermouse for a while!
32. My biggest regret is how poorly I lived out my faith during my teenage years
33. I feel closer to God in the mountains, for me that's a 'thin place'
34. I am still friends with my previous girlfriends (these pre-date my marriage!)
35. I don't like films with sad endings, I like films with a feel-good factor (eg Cool Runnings)
36. I get really wound up by able bodied people parking in 'disabled bays'
37. My favourite place in the world is Ramsau in Austria
38. Greenbelt Festival is one of the highlights of my year. The creativity, music, discussion and Christian community is for me a slice of heaven.
39. I'm a professionally qualified Youth Worker
40. I'm 40 years Old!
Posted by ian at 12:21 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Burnout Lookout
I liked this really honest and challenging post from Tim Schmoyer about Burnout, well worth a read ........ in fact, well worth pinning on the wall:
" ........ Burning out in ministry is not a sudden event in time that will take me by surprise, like a bursting firecracker on the 4th of July. Instead, it’s a slow process over time, like holding a burning match. If I’m not careful these things will eventually creep up on me, burn me, and render my leadership useless.
I doubt I’m alone in this. Here’s how you and I will crash and burn-out in ministry:
1. Ignore spending time in the Word and in prayer. Ministry is easy — you can do it all in your own strength. It shouldn’t be based on God anyway. Spend all your time teaching others how to develop their relationship with God instead.
2. Accept responsibility for everything. Say “yes” to whatever is asked of you and your time. It doesn’t matter if it could easily be handled by a volunteer, take it on anyway because you’re the guy they pay to do it. Besides, there may be no one else willing or available to do it besides you, which obviously indicates how important it is to everyone else.
3. Become emotionally attached to every situation. Whenever someone has a need, be the first to jump in, provide all the emotional support they need and rescue them from the problem. After all, everyone needs a savior.
4. Always serve God in ministry. This is so important that you must sacrifice all personal down-time and fill it with good things like meetings, events, Bible studies, evangelism, mission trips, prayer groups, small groups, and knitting groups.
5. Attempt to control everything. Control all the planning, the results, the future, the people, the workplace, the weather and God. You are the sustainer of the ministry on whom it is all built. If you take your eyes off of any of anything it will collapse and fail miserably.
6. Base your self-worth on the “success” of your ministry. You’re investing your life into this ministry thing! How it grows and flourishes indicates how important you are and how pleased God is with your labor. If your ministry is struggling, there must be something wrong with you.
click through to read numbers 7 - 11
(BTW, thanks Tim and every blessing for the new ministry in Minessota)
Posted by ian at 09:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 13, 2007
Lift sharing to Matrix
I'm still keen for the blog to hook up Matrix conference goers so do have a look here and see if there's anyone you can share transport with. Oh and leave further requests.
Only 20 days to GO, Yay :-)
Posted by ian at 04:27 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Theology of Youth Ministry
Foundations for a theology of Youth Ministry by Chap Clark
1. There is a creator God who is on the move to find those who are lost (Luke 15)
2. God's heart is decisively compassionate towards children and young people (Mark 10:13ff)
3. God loves people enough to invade human history via the incarnation (Phil. 2:5-11)
4. Followers of Jesus Christ are likewise called to love and pursue those whom God loves, and are therefore called to "go" into the world of the young (John 17:8)
5. The message of the Gospel, focussed on the Incarnate Word brings hope and healing to every person regardless of race, culture, ethnicity or age (Romans 10:12-13)
Posted by ian at 07:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2007
Making me laugh
ht to the legendary John Allan via Youthwork mag for the link
Posted by ian at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Theological conundrum
"There is a remote tribe that worships the number zero!
..... which begs the question, Is nothing sacred?"
Les Dawson
Posted by ian at 07:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fork Handles on the Birthday cake
Saturday night was party night! This was a bit of a surprise as I thought Jo was taking me out for a meal to celebrate my impending birthday. However I nipped out to pick up the babysitter and arrived back to find an unfolding party at Macdonald Towers, Awesome! Friends turned up from all over with the necessary components of a party, sadly my friend G never made it as his car went Kaput in Cheltenham and he and ALL the curry had to be rescued by the AA.
Great evening and I had a blast BUT you know you are getting older when there is one candle per decade rather than the more traditional 1 candle = 1 year approach :-)
Funniest moment:
The Rector and his good lady wife rang the doorbell and my 6 year old answered the door. He took one look at them and then shouted with great happiness and at several hundred decibels, "IT'S JESUS!"
Presents:
Well chuffed with various presents including the 'Lycra fund' to get some new cycling kit (thanks). Most intriguing present? Well being *a bit* of a Scrabble addict I was delighted to get a new UBER Scrabble set. It's called Super Scrabble and has a board with twice the number of squares that extends out to Quadruple word score. Kind of Scrabble on steroids ....... anyone fancy a game?
Posted by ian at 07:09 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 09, 2007
Youthwork interview questions
I'm trying to compile a set of questions for interviewing Christian youth workers for Parish jobs! If you've got some stuff written I'd love a copy or feel free to suggest a question! ...... and please, some serious ones too ;-)
Posted by ian at 11:20 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
How to capture YouTube clips
My Friend the Mizmeister has sent me this 'how to' for capturing YouTube clips, I haven't had chance to try it yet as I.T do not allow us any administrative rights on our Laptops so downloading programmes is a no-no. However if you're anything like me then being able to borrow clips from YouTube would be infinitely useful and so here's a copy of the Top Secret Mission Impossible instuctions:
Use firefox as a browser with the videodownloader add on.
When you are on the youtube movie clip you want in firefox, click the videodownloader icon on the bottom right of the browser.
Another window will open and give you a download option. Click that and let it download, normally to the desktop. When it is done make sure you change the file extension to .flv (Right click and select 'rename' change the name as you would like then complete the name with .flv)
Now you have the clip as an flv file on your pc. If you are happy to view flv's then that's it. However... They're not too useful. You can convert the file to a much more usable mpeg with the free riva encoder
See instructions here
(the convertor is a bit confusing as it doesn't give you an option panel. However its very simple, all you do is name the outputfile and end it with .mpg and it is then converted to an mpeg)
You can then play the resulting mpeg in most media players!
These instruction will, obviously, self destruct in 10 seconds!
Posted by ian at 09:43 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 08, 2007
10 commandments
Don't know what to make of this but thanks to Randy for putting me onto this weird, brilliant and quirky vid'
Posted by ian at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Snnnnnooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww
Awesome morning as it snowed BIG TIME (well big time for Berkshire) with a couple of inches of sublimely slidable and throwable snow :-) Our estate was pretty much a no-go or at least a no-leave for a while as the roads were struggling to provide any kind of friction. It was fun on our walk to watch a bus gracefully sliding backwards past us (thankfully it didn't hit anything). I'm on a 'Time off in Lieu' day today which had been booked since last week :-) Not that I could have got to the office anyway!
Have fun eh!
Posted by ian at 10:53 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 07, 2007
Matrix Transport collective
OK, this is a new direction for the blog! Not so much social networking more, transportational networking :-)
It's less than a month to the MATRIX conference and this site could be the portal for pooling, the conduit for car sharing, and the gathering for greener travel!
SO: I've had an e-mail from someone traveling from the Aylesbury area who is happy to offer or receive a lift. Anyone?
Personally I'll be rattling East in the Youthblogmobile along the M4 corridor and then in an act of wild optimism swinging onto the M25 and hoping it's in Motorway mode rather than car park mode. I'm happy to pick anyone up on the way!
Please leave any other potential routes to High Leigh and pleas for lifts here ............
"The advantages of having a pool car were not immediately clear"
Posted by ian at 07:37 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
February 06, 2007
Absurd games
I saw this picture which made me laugh. I reckon one of my old youth groups would have invented a great game that used this pitch to it's maximum fun and comedic potential.
This got me thinking about youth group games! I love the way that groups embrace certain games, how they often morph the rules to extract the maximum fun and how groups invent entirely new games. Here's to absurdity and shared laughter :-)
Posted by ian at 08:36 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 05, 2007
Weekend round up
I preached Sunday morning and was amused by the brief!
Title given: 'Asbo, the only hope?'
All well and good but my brief was to talk about my work AND expound Luke 18:15-25 all in the context of an all age talk to a family service that included a Baptism party OH and all within 10 minutes (plus the young people had been doing a sleepover as part of the 24 hour famine and were likely to fall asleep). LOL.
It was a FAB church community though and a fantastic welcome. I really enjoyed chatting to the young people :-)
Oh and on Saturday ....
VERTIGO went well with 100's of teenagers turning up! Enormous thanks to the Cafe team (Chris, Chris, Richard, Dan and Zac). The worship was led by Team West and the St Laurence band, sensational. Krish Kandiah spoke on mission, the cafe area was full of mission agencies sharing possibilities and opportunities, Oxford Youth Works chatted to everyone and the bandstand was LOUD! Nuff said
This entry is filed under 'Slightly boring news round up' but I though you might want to know and I wanted to be able to record my THANKS to everyone who made VERTIGO happen :-)
Posted by ian at 07:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Budgetry constraints
The Military admit that spending cuts are starting to affect the realism of training and the procurement of suitable battlefield vehicles!
Posted by ian at 07:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 02, 2007
Vertigo
Vertigo is tomorrow night (yay) but I've just found out my cafe team is a LOT smaller than I thought (sob) but maybe you could help? (yay)
Posted by ian at 10:32 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 01, 2007
Always check the fire exit
The residential centre shall remain nameless but it's a true story, one that had me becoming my Basil Fawlty alter-ego for a moment.
One of the buildings we were using was long and narrow in design with a large door at the far end and a side door towards the opposite end. I was asked if we'd always use the large door as it minimised the dirt and debris being brought into the building. I was very happy to comply with this and having set up everything I (in my youthworky mode) checked how easy it would be to open the side door (clearly marked "FIRE EXIT") in an emergency, It was at this point I discovered it was locked and set off to find the key.
Me: "Please can we have the key to the side door as it appears to be locked?"
"Yes we normally keep that one locked!"
Me: "But it's the Fire Exit"
"Yes, but we prefer to keep it locked"
Me: (slightly more incredulous) "Ok, but IT IS the fire exit!"
"I suppose we could open it if it really is a problem"
Me: "That would be good as IT IS ACTUALLY the Fire Exit"
"Well I'll get it opened for you but I'd prefer you not to use it"
Me: "We'll only use it if it's an emergency!"
I'm happy to say that the door was unlocked and there was no emergency that necessitated its use. I did however feel slightly better knowing we could actually evacuate the building if there was a problem :-)
Posted by ian at 07:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack