April 2009 Archives

I've been invited to contribute to a book in the Grove youth series on 'things I wish I'd known!' a guide for new volunteers and employed youth workers!

Thoughts?

I liked switzerland ..... how could you not like a country that takes its' sheds so seriously? The Alpine meadows were strewn with fantastical wooden shackery that looked awesome, and were larger than the depressingly functional 8x6's of middle England. They had sheds for animals, sheds for wood, sheds you could live in, Nice!
I loved the language, I was in a German speaking bit where they mostly understood my German and talked with a lovely sing-song tone that made even the train announcments a joy! Talking of which the trains ran EXACTLY to time with no deviation EVER, this confused me muchly coming from England where the timetable is broadly aspirational but, mostly fictional.

I didn't get the idea of Cuckoo clocks? Why did they start making them? Why do they continue making them? Oh and the other thing I didn't get was entire shops dedicated to the Swiss army knife!!!! There must be a limit to the amount of knives you can usefully use? more so as some of them were pushing the boundaries of usefulness, I ACTUALLY saw this in a shop that specialised in Cuckoo Clocks and Knives (to be consistent they should also have had a clock that a full size Emu popped out of on the hour methinks!)

But, needless to say, I loved the mountains completely, utterly and hopelessly, they were geological poetry and gargantuan pieces of worship installation .... in a Rock genre (literally!)

It's the season for Annual church meetings in my denominational sector at the moment. Dave walker had me cracked up with his live reporting from theirs via Twitter and Facebook. Like all flavours of church, committees are both the red blood cells and potentially the cholestral in the living organism of mission we are.

Oh, give me a pity, I'm on a committee
Which means that from morning to night
We attend and amend and contend and defend
Without a conclusion in sight.

We resolve and absolve, but never dissolve
Since it's out of the question for us.
What a shattering pity to end our committee
Where else could we make such a fuss?

Copyright (c) Phong Ngo

(I have been trying to track down the author to get permission to use this but can't find a site to point to. This piece seems to be readily available in lots of places but none are the original. I'm very happy to attribute or remove.)

I meant to write up the ski trip stuff but *woosh* time flies! However due to the most humungous diary cock-up EVER (not entirely my fault) I have a few minutes free to scribble:

One of the aspects of the ski talks that I really enjoyed was that the ideas that formed them were collabrative and as such felt more grounded and more creative. Being able to have a 'conversation' via the blog was/is for me a really important thing.

On the first night i introduced myself and expressed some discomfort with the idea of being THE 'speaker,' asking instead to be thought of more as the resident minister and the 'listener!' I did however say that I would be leading some input but I really wanted that to be part of a conversation that happened in (and more importantly) beyond the evening meetings.

I then talked about the week being a Lenten reflection on whole life spirituality and then using the image of me failing to learn the counter-intuitive art of kayak rolling, talked about the challenges of living out our faith, embracing and living a counter-intuitive lifestyle, exploring being authentic as disciples of Jesus.

Using five different books of the Bible we then explored some of the dynamics of whole life spirituality:

Spirituality of: Life to be FULLY lived (the book of John). Asking what is the "life to the full" that Jesus offers and what gets in the way. We talked about the idea of Acedia (spiritual lethargy) and how that takes hold allowing stuff to get in the way of Life.

Spirituality of: Questions to be grappled with (the book of Psalms). This was the session that seemed to resonate the most and generate the most conversation. Looking at how God meets us more in the question that the answer. What does it mean to be in dailogue with God, learning from the Psalmist, being real in the struggles of faith.

Spirituality of: Discipline to be embraced (the book of James). The call to discipline and obediance, the struggle with what does it mean to be 'religious,' to have faith. Freedom that exists in obedience.

Spirituality of: Wisdom to be gained (the book of Proverbs). This was a fun session looking at how culturally there was a lot emphasis on knowing, doctrine, faith, certainty etc. We explored the idea of Wisdom being deeper and maybe messier, a 'knowing' that was whole life and whole person. We also taked about Wisdom as a preventative to being shaped entirly by our culture or churchmanship.

Spirituality of: Suffering to be wrestled with (The book of Job). This was the talk on Good Friday so fiited well. Looked at the reality of suffering, of a fallen world, of Jesus weeping by Lazarus's grave. This session dovetailed with the one one Psalms, living with the questions not having all the answers. Living with both the reality of suffering, of a hurting world BUT the presence and promise of HOPE.

The group on the trip were fantastic and really up for a messier approach to the evening sessions where it wasn't aliterated three points and tidy sermons. This was the first time I have been so utterly post-modern-youth-minister with an adult group and the response was great. I loved the fact that conversations flowed out of the sessions, I loved the fact that people were happy to be part of the questioning.

Enormous thanks to the wonderful crew at Gold Hill holidays for inviting me!

So, a couple of weeks ago I finally got round to watching the film Juno! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reviewing it is complex though as it will really depend on what angle you are looking at it from, e.g screenplay, handling of issues involved, accuracy etc etc. I also think it's quite annoying when a reviewer reveiws a film from a standpoint which the director never intended to take. (A bit like attacking a coffee cake recipe on the grounds it couldn't be eaten with Spinach or wasn't on-message with healthy eating)

So, I enjoyed Juno as a piece of entertainment. I liked Ellen Page (Juno) and Michael Cera (Bleeker) enormously and thought this film was a great offering in the 'teen movie' genre. It was actually an interesting story and explored a range of relational dynamics. Like most movies though, the values running through it and its coherence with reality need some reflection.

Anyway, the best thing about the movie has been that it has led to some important/fun/useful/interesting conversations with young people about sexuality and relationships. Conversations that may well not have happened without the fact we arrived at them via discussing films and in partcular Juno.

This week on the blog could have been sponsored by youtube BUT couldn't resist this.
Ht to Weird Hippy.

(If any of the teenage readers see this one: Annoying or funny? (or both)

The more I watch this video the more I love it. The juxtaposition of the two characters is brilliant, the music is such fun and the humour is wonderful. I love the fact that the teen' winks at the end. Fab ;-)

The Sophia network continues to grow and develop and there is good news on the Sophia front for women and for men!

Good News for women = It's now free to join!
Good news for men = All the Sophia stuff is available online and free to read.

BTW, has anyone done any work on the percentages of female/male Church based youth workers?

Captains Log Supplemental: I have just done a tally up of employed workers in the Diocese of Oxford (including students) and arrived at 28 male and 23 female!

I read in the paper this morning that the government would like to make it compulsory for young people to volunteer!

Is it me?

"David Blunkett, the former home ­secretary, is to draw up plans for the prime minister to make all teenagers take part in voluntary work ....."

(Steve Tilley flags up more anomolous reporting from the news today)

My son has been listening to this track by Bruce Cockburn, repeatedly recently, meaning that I have to as well! This however is not a problem as it is a truly great lyric.

I love the imagery Cockburn weaves of what he sees, feels and hears as the darkness falls, but even more I love the concluding observation, so easily overlooked, "From the first to the last, we are all one in the gift of grace!"

In the Falling Dark

and the lights lie tumbled out like gems
the moon is nothing but a toothless grin
floating out on the evening wind
the smell of sweat and lube oil pervades the night
and the rush of life in flight at the speed of light

a million footsteps whispering
a guitar sounds -- some voices sing
smoke on the breeze -- eyes that sting
far in the east a yellow cloud bank climbs
stretching away to be part of tomorrow's time.

earthbound while everything expands
so many grains of sand
slipping from hand to hand
catching the light and falling into dark
the world fades out like an overheard remark
in the falling dark.

light pours from a million radiant lives
off of kids and dogs and the hard-shelled husbands and wives
all that glory shining around and we're all caught taking a dive
and all the beasts of the hills around shout, "such a waste!
don't you know that from the first to the last we're all one in the gift of Grace!"

You can hear the track here if you are not familiar with Bruce Cockburn

Next VERTIGO: May 17th, an afternoon in the Park. Be there :-)
Any blog readers who want to snag a lift from Newbury VERY welcome!

My friend Mark has been having a bit of fun putting together a satirical look at the Worship Industry, enjoy!

There is another Taize service this weekend at Dorchester Abbey, it's at 7pm and I think I'll be heading up to it. See you there?

The Abbey website is here
(Oh and Dorchester Abbey is in Oxfordshire, its not in Dorchester aka Casterbridge in Dorset! )

I am really bad at flagging up/reviewing books that I've read on the blog, it's something I mean to do BUT I read a book, then time passes and the writing never quite happens. Really Really wanted to flag up "Journeying in Faith" (subtitle, "in and beyond the tough places") by Alan Jamieson.

It's a book that I related-to, found-useful and thought-important in equal measures. The text is a follow up to "A Churchless faith" and reflects on (and with) those who find themselves no longer at home in 'institutional churchianity' but nevertheless find themselves on a journey toward "unknown horizons of Christian Faith".

Anyone who finds themselves in a post-christendom, post-modern and/or post-evangelical paradigm will find something of themselves in this book. Importantly too, there is much wisdom in here for ministers in general, both in helping those who are on the edge, and reflecting on what this conversation might mean for our ecclesiology.
(It's also interesting from a youth ministry perspective as it begs the question of what sort of faith are we helping young people to be equipped with).

I particularly appreciated Jamiesons reflection on faith development stages, not just of the individual but of churches.

WELL worth a read!

Obviously I would have loved to have taken all the Youthblog readers with me on the ski trip but it just wasn't practical to squeeze all four of you into my luggage. So, by virtue of the technological marvels of t'internet ........... I'm bringing the ski trip to you. Here is a ski run for you to virtually enjoy! This involved me skiing while attempting to retain my poles, camera and balance!
Enjoy!

And of course, despite the erratic skiing and chaotic camera work ................. THIS is the tune that was playing in my head :-)

Funny moment on the Ski trip! I had a migraine (that bit wasn't funny) and hence was not at the evening meeting. During the course of the service somewhere prayed for. "the speaker to get better!" There was some humour as people variously understood or misunderstood this to mean, either .....

a) Recovery to full health (or)
b) Get better at preaching

I was telling this story to a friend last night who then related another such misinterpretation at a prayer meeting. The question, "What should we pray about?" had been posed.
The first respondent had, with passionate concern, said, "well we should pray for people who have nothing to eat ...... for starters!"

If you are involved in Youthwork in Oxfordshire I'd recommend downloading the OCVYS news update which contains a valuable guide to the £800,000 available in grants over the next three years! ocvys flyer.pdf

In the words of a great youth leader I was away with at the weekend, "Ave it!"

As regular reader(s) of the blog will know, leadership theory and practice is something that both interests and motivates me. I'm therefore always looking around for good practice examples or stories of, what great leadership looks like in different fields.

The Guardian on Saturday had a really interesting piece on Ross Brawn. It's well worth a read as he demonstrates many of the traits, values and skills that are talked about in servant leadership. I'm making a note of this article for my own benefit, but it's here if it's useful.

"But the challenge of turning around the Honda team proved difficult to resist. "When Ross arrived, some of us feared the worst," a team insider says. "We thought he would throw out half the workforce and bring in Ferrari people, but he did nothing of the sort. He left everything as it was and sized up everyone's strengths and weaknesses, bringing out the best in everyone"

How do a devout silent order meaningfully deliver an act of sung worship? Not all-together seriously, here is the answer!

You are never too old for youth work!

(But it does take longer to recover from a residential)

I'm back! I had a fantastic time on the Ski trip and then had a couple of days off before heading out on a youthy residential (that I'd mistakingly thought was the weekend after, doh!).

Feeling a bit sleepy today but it's good to be back in the blogosphere!
I'll write some stuff over the next few days relating to the ski trip and residential but here's a pic I took (with the phone) of the North face of the Eiger to look at while I go and fetch a tankard (or two) of coffee!

but more importantly, how are you?

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so"
Douglas Adams

This is the last post on this blog until April 20th. I'm serving on team for a Ski holiday as the resident minister and am heading out tomorrow (I am actually going by coach, not hitching but the idea of the photo amused me). After that I'm investing in some quality family-time and allowing the laptop a short vaccation too. To my Scrabble nemesises (is that the plural?) this also means that I won't be competing much, please don't void the outstanding games.
I'd really appreciate your prayers for the ministry/talks on the Ski trip!

I wish you a reflective and renewing Holy week, and a Joy (and chocolate) filled Easter!

With thanks, as ever, for your company, wishing you Shalom in your life and your relationships

Ian

Hey, how did it go on Saturday in Winchester? I would have liked to have been there! Anyone written up any notes at all?

I have the privilige of being a trustee of an awesome residential centre in the wilds of Herefordshire. It's a place I love, the bizarrely named but correspondingly wonderful Woolhope Cockshoot!

I'm flagging it up again here to add some weight to the search links, and to give it a plug. Bookings from youth groups are much lighter this year and there is some prime time availabilty if you would like to take a group of up to 20 away. The place is great for relational work and creating community, you can download a flyer from here and if you search via the sidebar of the blog you'll find links to activity opportunities.

If you are interested in a tour of Woolhope and learning more about how it could work for your group, please send me an e-mail.

For the seach engines: Woolhope Cockshoot is a great venue for youth group weekends away, as a youth centre for residential trips it is quite superb. It is a low cost self catering option for church youth groups to enjoy a holiday experience together. It has dormitory accomodation, stunning views, a dedicated dinning room and benefits from underground table tennis capabilities.

My new phone has among its' considerable aresenal of obscure gadgetry, a step counter. When the app' is running is it records the number of steps you take each day, then displays them in graph form with a week's worth of data being visible and comparable on the screen. Furthermore, if you succesfully step the 'recomended' 10,000 paces for the day, the graph for the day becomes bright green, in a very pleasing way!

This application has gone from being on my "ha ha what a silly gimmick" list, to becoming an intergral part of my life. Achieving the 10,000 step threshold rewards me with a bright green graph column and more importantly reveals there has been balance within my day.

I'm also looking forward to trying out the GPS tracking system next week when I'm skiing and finding out how far I actually travel in a days skiing!

At last, it might be coming together! Talks that are about the challenges of counter-intuitive hollistic Christian life and community in a post modern matrix (incorporating quotes from the Marx brothers).

I was reflecting with a colleague this morning on some sort of framework for all this stuff going on in my head, heart and spirit. He wondered about framing each of the sessions on "The Spirituality of .... " and then using six books of the Bible? This feels quite exciting to me! Your thoughts please?

So far I've been thinking about:

• The Spirituality of Job: Suffering to be wrestled with
• The Spirituality of James: Discipline to be embraced
• The spirituality of Ecclesiastes: Wisdom to be gained
• The Spirituality of John: Life to be lived
• The Spirituality of the Psalms: Questions to be grappled with

What do you reckon? What books would you add in? (especially as the more observant of you will notice I only have five so far). Do these themes work? What would be key for you if your were hearing/engaging with these talks?

Delving into the box where I keep my ski kit I discovered that I don't have any ski socks, a situation that could be very bad for the sole (groan). I thus ventured forth to buy some.

All very simple you might think given that the ski season in Europe easily lasts until the end of April and that the Easter holidays sees folks heading out to the Alps in large numbers. However, the reality is that shops that sell ski gear pretty much stop restocking in February and ski kit can only be obtained in obscure, really obscure, sizes. Even a shop that boldly proclaimed, "Snow, Street and Surf" couldn't supply me with the correct foot-boot interface software!

So, the web it was and I hopefully have some socks arriving on Friday (the day that I leave).

I forget why I started this post, but I am wondering whether, given the presesnce of the worldwide-interweb thing. shops should work on a different model whereby one of their key sales opportunities is for people who need stuff NOW, rather than those who are thinking months ahead.

Great idea from "Rethinking Youth Ministry" ............. Allowing mobile phones to disrupt the session before focussing in on distractions and what it means to embarce silence. I thought this could be a great reflection as part of an Easter vigil. Details here

I came across another great mobile phone idea from "Critical Mass" where the confession is based around the idea of 'missed calls' .... that is that when we fail to live Gods way we, in that moment, are missing our call. People were encouraged to scribble on a picture of a mobile phone 'calls' that they had missed and wanted to say sorry for.