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November 30, 2007
Participation, Youthwork and Social Networking
Tim Davies is into particpation work in a BIG way and his blog (with some useful posts/links) is here. Further to this though he is doing a survey into "Youth Work and Social Networking" and is interested in how SN is being used (with a further interest in whether Faith-based and Statutory workers use of these sites vary). So, be useful. Be an information donor here. Thanks
ALSO: The Church of England are launching a Facebook Christmas card App' this weekend that if the media pick up on the press-release I may get asked about. Any facebookies that can check it out for me today? (e-mail for details)
Posted by ian at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
An online Advent
Although most Church youth workers I know do not consider an "Advent Calender" to be spiritually and theologically correct unless it contains chocolate, here are some online ones anyway:
BRF have produced a Calender with a daily video, it's about resourcing your spiritual journey in Advent.
Beliefnet have been producing an Advent Calender since back in the day, it's a real mix of stuff.
Episcopal Diocese of Washington, meditations, carols, podcast and pictures from nativity scenes.
image from BBC Cornwall's advent page and calender
Posted by ian at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2007
Yes but what's the question?
Reading the Guardian today ( I read the Guardian on a Thursday* as they publish the technology supplement) I picked up a story involving a rather complex 40 page proof (I read the story, NOT the proof) that suggests a simpler model of computer processing is possible. The computer scientist, Alex Smith aged 20 is to be awarded a hefty prize for his breakthrough work.
Very boring post so far Ian!
Ok, stay with me.
As the article continues, it turns out that this proof is not without controversy and charges have been levelled that it contains 'a fundamental fallacy.' Smith argues thus:
"The proof itself is fine; I'm pretty certain of that. The problem is determining exactly what it is that I've proved"
I loved this, got me thinking about theology and how when we try and make theology tidy and tidily packaged we may (note 'may') have a proof of something but at the same time it remains uncertain of what it is we've actually proved. This got me thinking about Douglas Adams and his postulate from his trilogy in five parts, that knowing the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything precluded knowing/understanding the question!
I heard a quote recently that described theology as "nonsense on stilts!"
This is a 'think' in process as a sit in a coffee shop in Burford on my way to a meeting in Moreton-in-the-Marsh (don't we have great place names?) but I'm left reflecting on paralells with theology:
Whether sometimes our theology is a re-assuring proof or attempt at certainty but fundamentally we don't know what we've proved.
Wondering how often our theology is framed from the point of view of not really knowing the question, or artificially framing a question that we can theologically answer.
Don't know where this is going (or even has gone) but here's to a changing, exploring theology that embraces mystery, that constantly questions and is a dialogue, rooted in our communities and experiences. Here's to a journey of theological exploration with young people.
(* I guess that statment kind of begs the question what I do with the Guardian on other days?)
Posted by ian at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2007
The Next time
The next time you feel like God can never use you, just remember... Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Joseph was abused, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Samson had long hair and was a womaniser, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied Christ, The Disciples fell asleep while praying, Martha worried about everything, The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once, Zaccheus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer, AND Lazarus was dead! no more excuses now."
Source unknown
Posted by ian at 09:15 AM | Comments (5)
At Vertigo we are having a ball
On the 15th December it's the Vertigo ball, it's a BIG party and should be more fun than a fun thing that's a lot of fun.
As per usual I am heading up the beverage team and as per usual I will, therefore, need a team to head up! So ...... How about it? Please form an orderly queue in the comments section below!
Person Spec:
Required: You will need to have a sense of humour, think that spending the evening with 300 teenagers is fun and be able to add-up (a bit).
Posted by ian at 08:52 AM | Comments (2)
November 27, 2007
Have you got an ac.uk address?
For any Youthblogerites who are students or are pursuing part time studies, then have I got an offer for you! The FULL version of MS Office (yep everything including publisher) for £38.95! You will have to have an e-mail address ending in ac.uk to qualify!
Posted by ian at 03:20 PM | Comments (2)
Facebook concerns
Facebook (et al) has been hitting the news quite a bit recently, here's a summary of the latest three concerns to have emerged over security and privacy on the site.
1. Banks have said that they may not pay out in identity fraud cases where the victim has posted the information on a SN site, which was used by the fraudster! The Times article.
2. Warnings have been posted that once something is 'out there,' it is always out there and may harm future employment prospects. This is a key issue to help young people with as thy see their social selves as being entirely seperate from their career. US News on the Subject.
3. Facebook Beacon is a new application that is creating a storm. In a nutshell your purchasing or ordering can appear as infomation on your site without your permission. In the example here, a guy went onto the Blockbusters website to reserve some hire videos then discovered that list of videos appeared on his Facebook site. ht to Richard for the pointer. Times article here.
I still think that Social Networking is great BUT requires considerable wisdom in how you use it and what you upload. We should be exploring this with teenagers!
Posted by ian at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
Time to revolt
Posted by ian at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2007
Training in the Diocese 2008
Greetings fellow Diocesan dwellers:
I'm setting up the training dates in my diary for 2008. If you would like to host a training eve (or Saturday morning) then please be in touch. Topics available from the menu below or by negotiation. Other subjects/trainers also available if you give sufficient notice!
All that's needed from you is a venue and a willingness for the invitation to be extended to Youth Leaders in your local area (oh and some tea and coffee).
a la Carte Menu
Running a residential
Discipline and Young people
How to discuss Sexuality
Ministry with Tweenagers
The basics of youth work
Should we have a God Slot
Starting from Scratch
Sharing your faith with young people
Contemplative Youth Ministry
Developing your Youthwork
Unpacking and challenging worldviews
The Bible in our programme
Posted by ian at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)
A mondegreen moment
Last night at Macdonald towers my wife and I were eating cheese and biscuits and enjoying a mellow Sunday evening. We were streaming some self-selectable internet radio and had, to go with the snack, selected a cheesy batch of music. The selection being all stuff in the stylee of the Carpenters! As well as The Carpenters the channel selected, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Carly Simon and the like. All good sing-a-long stuff and we were having a blast, even more so when a bit of Bee Gees came on. We were singing along heartily but decided the line,
"and you come to me on a submarine!" was a bit odd even though "deep" was part of the metaphor of the song?
So a quick google later and it turns out the submarine is in fact, a summer breeze! Cue much hilarity and probably the inability to ever sing the song correctly again.
"And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love and then softly leave
And its me you need to show
How deep is your love?"
Before I get too much grief about the musical selection I need to say that I am not the only post-Radio-1 Youth worker out there who has succesfully embraced his inner-Radio-2! I'm not! am I?
Posted by ian at 10:48 AM | Comments (6)
November 25, 2007
Film Font Fun
I was messing around with 'Paint Shop' yesterday making some invitations to my son's birthday bash in keeping with the requested 'Shrek' theme. I needed the Shrek font and so I went a googling and found this site WHICH totally rocks. Every film font you could want!! So if you want to do a theme'd invitation, film night or programme .... check it out!
(I can't believe I have written, 'check it out' .... if I ever sound as cheesily local radio as that again you have to throw something at me!)
Posted by ian at 07:22 PM | Comments (7)
November 23, 2007
The Sophia Network
The Sophia Network has launched, huzzah. If you are a woman and are in 'youth ministry' then you should check them out:
"THE SOPHIA NETWORK aims to celebrate women in youth work and ministry, what we have achieved and what we are contributing to the kingdom of God. We want to increase the visibility of women in youth work, making the wider church aware of the fantastic work that women are doing. The Sophia Network will enable women in youth work to connect with each other, share skills and experiences and offer encouragement and support"
This question forming in my mind though. If there were to be a mens network for Youth Ministry, what greek word would be appropriate? If the women are summarised by "wisdom/knowledge" then what about a suggestion for the men?
Posted by ian at 08:40 AM | Comments (3)
November 22, 2007
Can't fault the analysis!
Those who remember the 80's will know that the ratio between these two sectors of the chart change constantly as the Pacman, chomps (I write this as I KNOW someone will question the data otherwise!!!!!). For further research see this page!
Posted by ian at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)
November 21, 2007
The Media view
Thought this was fab, thanks Asbo :-)
Posted by ian at 11:25 AM | Comments (5)
If you knew then what you know now ......
I was at a meeting yesterday that formed the final review and close-down of a four year project. One of the questions that was considered was, 'If we were starting this project from scratch (knowing what we now know), what would we do differently?"
I was thinking about this this morning and reckoned that this could be a useful piece of shared learning. So, if you are in Parish based Youth Ministry:
If you were starting from scratch (knowing what you now know), what would you do/not do differently?
Do post your reflections and I'll chew on this one too with a view to posting something.
Shalom
Posted by ian at 10:03 AM | Comments (3)
November 20, 2007
Blah Oxford
Matt Rees from hOME and Ian from Maybe are organising a Blah! in Oxford. They've asked Jonny Baker to faciliatate a conversation around 'what is emerging church?'. It's on Tuesday 20 November 8pm (today) @the Phoenix cinema bar. More details.
Posted by ian at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2007
Les apprentis champions
'Woosh' went the weekend! (I think, I REALLY need to do a creative writing course! By, 'woosh' I was trying to convey the speed with which it passed rather than any strange acoustic quality that it posessed).
Anyway it's Monday morning (you knew that, right?) and I'm sitting (sat?) at the services on the M4 dodging a traffic jam on the way to a couple of meetings that have invaded my diary! but lets back-track a little eh .....
On Friday night I was at a great youth group where they had a kind of jam night (I mean musically, I have not yet found a Fruit Preserve themed evening on my travels). The scratch (and varied) band put together one complete number with my phone acted as a one-track recording studio. I haven't got the lead to
transfer the data on me BUT look out for the "Ghetto Penguin Massive!" they could be HUGE!
My friend is having his driveway re-done SO has 205 old paving slabs he doesn't need (yay) BUT they are in Birmingham (drat). I spent most of Saturday on the road with my offspring visiting friends and family on the way to Birmingham and back in order to bring back some slabs! FAB day, even if I only retrieved 15 of them (they are REALLY heavy and the trailer suspension was very compressed).
Sunday was Church, lunch and then a swim ..... oh and then (for reasons that made perfect sense at the time) watching "Cool Runnings" in French!?
And so, Monday arriveth!
I hope you'll forgive the show and tell type blog post (go on, please?)
Oh and in other news: As a youth worker and the parent of a disabled child I love this campaign by 'Leonard Cheshire' to promote viewing disability in a different light. Oh and Youth Work makes an appearance on Asbo, fab!
Posted by ian at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2007
Vertigo Christmas Ball
Shed loads of fun, details here
Posted by ian at 01:22 PM | Comments (2)
Welcome to the third sector
Does anyone know when we became part of "The third Sector?" One moment there was the voluntary sector and we as the church were part of that BUT now the voluntary sector has morphed into "The third sector?" (Government and then the for-profit private companies being the first and second sectors) and that's where we reside!
So if you want to tune into the blog of an informal educator who's firmly in the faith based strata of the third sector, then you are in the right place :-)
Posted by ian at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2007
Go MAD day
I'd encourage you to get behind the MAD day, more details here. Over to you to find the stories!
Posted by ian at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2007
Unless
"Unless you become like a teenager it is very difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Without possessing dreams,
without going against the grain,
without a taste for rebellion, and a craving for something better,
there is little hope of ever leaving this world to enter the next.
So don’t let your dreams be crushed.
Don’t be conformed to the world around you.
Rebel against the mediocre, the bland and the lukewarm
and always set your hopes high.
Then, with the currency of justice, mercy and humility you will walk with your head held high into a brave new world.
And nothing will stop you."
Dave Hopwood
Posted by ian at 08:14 AM | Comments (1)
November 13, 2007
Holy Hogwarts
I'm away for a couple of days on an MA study retreat at Ripon college Cuddesdon. It's known affectionately as 'Holy Hogwarts.' Looking at the picture you'll get a clue why and that's before you even start exploring the myriad of twisting staircases and corridors (I have found the common room though with no need for a cryptic password).
So, I'll either be hardly blogging at all as I'll be spellbound (Hogwarts metaphor intentional) by the 30,000 theological tomes in the Library, or I'll be blogging lots and avoiding study :-) Watch this space!
In the meantime a conundrum: Is reading this article Procrastination or an attempt to not procrastinate?
Posted by ian at 02:36 PM | Comments (1)
Missional Wisdom
“it’s not the Church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world”
Tim Dearborn (via Simo)
(I have since been sent variations of this quote, see below)
'There is church because there is mission, not vice versa.' David Bosch
‘The Church of God does not have a mission, but the God of mission has a church.’ Robin Greenwood
'It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfil in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church.' Jurgen Moltmann
Posted by ian at 10:01 AM | Comments (1)
If I were a Baptist Pastor
If I were a Baptist pastor I would so like to be able to pull off this trick! In my ministerial-Walter-Mitty mental scenario I'd be preaching on 'becoming more like Jesus' then walk across the surface of the Baptistry to fetch a visual aid I'd left on the chair, walk back across and carry on preaching. Now that would be fun, eh?
(Come to think of it, it'd be also very cool when the Youth group were out on the lake Kayaking, you could walk out and remind the group what time they need to be back for lunch!)
ht to Bish Alan for finding this video
Posted by ian at 09:38 AM | Comments (1)
November 12, 2007
The parable of the B&Q lightbulbs
Why do my local B&Q advocate the efficiency, eco-friendliness and cost saving of energy saving bulbs yet light up their entire display of 50 or so lamp shades with conventional inefficient, eco-hating, cost-increasing light bulbs?
And the moral of this story is?
(to be fair though they were saving a shed load of electricity by only having one checkout open despite the gargantuan number of DIYers battling queuefully to buy DIY-ey things)
Posted by ian at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
The more we receive
"The More we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within. Words which do not give the Light of Christ increase the darkness"
Mother Teresa
(quoted in 'Contemplative Youth Ministry')
Posted by ian at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2007
Asbo again
I know I'm always linking to these but Jon is a great communicator. Check out the rest of his Matrix trilogy.
Posted by ian at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)
Funding Opportunity
Church and Community Fund (England)
The next application deadline for applications to the Church and Community Fund (CCF) is the 29th November 2007. Under the Church and Community Fund grants of up to £15,000 are available to community projects run by parish
This is a FANTASTIC opportunity if you get moving as closing is 29th November. Details below
Church and Community Fund (England)
The next application deadline for applications to the Church and Community Fund (CCF) is the 29th November 2007. Under the Church and Community Fund grants of up to £15,000 are available to community projects run by parish churches, deaneries, dioceses and other bodies connected to or working in partnership with the Church of England. The fund supports activities that address four themes. These are engaging with social issues; equipping to evangelise; welcoming and encouraging children and young people; developing the ministry of all. Typical projects supported by the CCF might include employing a youth worker, renovating an old church hall for use as a community centre or providing hot meals for the homeless in a church room.
more information can be found on the website:
www.centralchurchfund.org.uk/index.html
or email: ccf@c-of-e.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7898 1767 or 7898 1541 or 7898 1564
Posted by ian at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
Marcham Job Advert
Details below ........
village parish with commuters – Oxford 8 miles
YOUTH and CHILDREN’S MINISTER
(28 hours/week)
opportunity to serve in a socially mixed, strong community
we are looking for a person to work with the church family,
in the community and local schools
are you?
- passionate to see young people and children grow in faith
do you have the ability to?
- plan, organise & lead events & programmes
- work on your own initiative
- enjoy being part of a team, developing existing ministry
salary £12,000 plus expenses, housing negotiable
three year appointment
closing date: 29 February 2008
further information from the Rev Pamela Shirras
1 All Saints Close, Marcham, Abingdon OX13 6PE
epshirras@aol.com 01865 391319
www.marcham-with-garford.org.uk
Posted by ian at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)
The Birch Admonition
Interestingly (or not) the Staddon Postulate has produced the most amount of comments and debate for some time. This was (unusually??) a rather silly post in honour of my friends visit to Norway and subsequent zeal for the science of Herrings.
With this in mind though I thought I'd post one of my favourite ill-thought-out statements that I've heard declared during the heat of a meeting. I call it the Birch Admonition:
"Yes but the trouble with sticking your neck out is your liable to get your fingers burned!"
I think 'quotes from colleagues' could be a GREAT vein of wisdom, mirth and profundidty, so ......... let me know the pearls that you have encountered.
Posted by ian at 10:55 AM | Comments (2)
November 08, 2007
Engage Course, Oxford
Dates and details of Engage in Oxford. Download file
10th Nov 07 UNDERSTANDING YOUNG PEOPLE
19th Jan 08 WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
23rd Feb 08 GOOD YOUTH WORK PRACTICE
5th Apr 08 CORE VALUES
17th May 08 UNDERSTANDING LEARNING
28th Jun 08 MANAGEMENT OF THE WORK AND OF SELF
2nd Aug 08 MODELS OF CHRISTIAN YOUTH WORK
Posted by ian at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
West Wing
Last night marked the closing chapter in a great saga that we've journied with over most of this year! We watched (with delight) as Matt Santos took office and Jed Bartlett's presidency came to a close, not a dry eye in the lounge!
Not having a TV, it's been bizarre for Jo and I to have taken in an entire series of something but having been lent series 1 of West Wing early in the year, we were hooked. Whenever we had a free evening then we'd watch an episode on the Laptop, fab! The writing and characterization is genius and the weaving together of individual stories against a well developed fictional political backdrop was totally engaging. If there was more TV as good as this we might actually get one :-)
"If we're going to walk into walls I want us running into them full speed. We're going to lose some of these battles, and we might even lose the White House, but we're not going to be threatened by issues. We're going to bring 'em front and center. We're going to raise the level of public debate in this country, and let that be our legacy." Bartlett
Posted by ian at 08:30 AM | Comments (4)
November 07, 2007
Sunday School
Asbo Jesus, too brilliant not to post
Posted by ian at 04:04 PM | Comments (1)
November 06, 2007
Tweenagers the next step
I had an awesome day at Baptist House Oxford yesterday, not just 'cos they serve a fantastic meal at lunchtime(sausage and mash with a choice of 5 different types of sausage, oh yes!) and that there is a wi-fi signal, but because the consultation on Tweenagers was useful, informative and interesting!
The group represented (more or less) the Anglicans, The Baptists, FYT and CYM and gave a great opportunity for sharing good practice, reflecting on the questions that arise and looking at the learning and equipping that still needs to happen. (Wow, that was a bit management speak, bleeeuuugghgh). In more concrete terms, some of the questions that emerged:
> Can an effective ministry to Tweenagers happen ONLY on a Sunday?
> Do Tweenagers get overlooked/lost somewhere in the childrens work/youth work divide?
> Are Tweenagers catered for (or missed) in current youth and children's governmnetal strategy?
> How do we develop models and practice of Discipleship for Tweenagers? (Real gap in resourcing and writing?)
> What impact should work with Tweenagers have on our ecclesiology?
> How do we hekp churches to engage with the fact that so many Tweens leave Church because they 'grow out of it!'?
(I was also reflecting that there needs to be some distinction between early Tween' and Late Tween,' both group still 'between' Childhood and teenage but expressing that and experiencing that in a different way)
Peter Brierely has done a great job over the last 4-5 years highlighting the issue from a statistical presntation and implication standpoint. Is there a need for a 'Tweenagers 2' training tour that is much more about equipping?
I guess that's a lot of questions rather than answers but this is a good thing BECAUSE I can now draw on your considerable wisdom and experience (yes, YOU) and I'll have to go back to Baptist House again and work further over a thoroughly good lunch* :-)
* and a great dessert
Posted by ian at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
The Staddon Postulate
"To understand the Orca one must first understand the herring"
Posted by ian at 11:24 AM | Comments (18)
November 05, 2007
No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society
The No Fear report
"We all want to keep children safe – but are we going the right way about it? By over protecting children we stop them developing the skills and resilience they need to protect themselves – while those working with children can become so anxious about risk prevention they lose confidence in their own good judgement"
Posted by ian at 01:23 PM | Comments (2)
November 5th
Have a good one :-)
Thought this animation was fun. You'll find it here if you are sending an e-mail to your group today and want to include your groups name in the same way, Nice!
Posted by ian at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)
The Tween Scene
I'm off to a consultation today on 'Tweenagers' at Baptist House which should be, a) fun and b) useful. The book has led to some interesting discussions and invitations ..... and even sold a few copies (I'm planning to buy a Mars Bar with the royalty cheque). Funniest thing last week though was an e-mail from the British Library who wanted to clarify some details as there is more than one author called Ian Macdonald apparently. I ended up reading the e-mail several times to see which Youthblog reader was trying to pull off a grade 1 wind-up, it did however appear to be genuine.
I'm still doing more work on the 'Tween' phenomena and implications towards an MA so if you come across any research or material, I'm very VERY happy to have the relevant links or titles.
The other great thing about studying Tweenagers is that my home is currently an effective laboratory where they can be observed in their natural environment :-) We had a great laugh yesterday when my daughter had some friends over and we got an old military parachute to turn the ENTIRE lounge into a labyrinthine den!
Posted by ian at 07:53 AM | Comments (2)
November 02, 2007
An outside seat
Eazy-Flyan-Bee Air having successfully charged extra for luggage, wheelchairs or food, begin levying a supplement to sit inside the plane!
Posted by ian at 01:11 PM | Comments (2)
Consumerism
Posted by ian at 09:08 AM | Comments (1)
November 01, 2007
So that was Halloween
Well the tribe called Macdonald had a good All Hallows Eve last night with much fun being had by all. We'd agreed as a family that our three wouldn't be going trick or treating but we wanted to do something that was fun, something positive with the evening. So we put a table out in our drive way, put some music on an lit loads of candles. We carved happy pumpkins and chatted with/gave cake/sweets to the young people who called and served Mulled wine and Pumpkin pie to any parents who were tagging along. In-between time we just enjoyed time as a family sitting around chatting and eating in the driveway. Nice!
Can you believe it's November already?
Posted by ian at 08:33 AM | Comments (2)