September 2009 Archives

I forgot to announce the winner of the 'Leading on Empty" guessathon, oops. The number that I wrote in whilst in the Little Chef restaurant was (*drum roll*) ...... SEVENTEEN.
So, Laura please e-mail your address and It'll be with you when/if the postal service at Swindon feel like doing some work.

I'm up to London in 2 weeks time (14th Oct) to the LICC and specifically this session with Nick Shepherd on young people and spiritual maturity. Leave a comment if you'll be there OR fancy a grand day out from Oxford.

and making me laugh:

A new middle east crisis erupted last night as Dubai Television was refused permission to broadcast 'The Flintstones'.
A spokesman for the channel said....
'A claim was made that people in Dubai would not understand the humour, but we have heard that people in - Abu Dhabi Do

If you are applying for a job as a youth minister / youth worker or similar where an Anglican church is the employer, it would be useful to give the relevant Diocesan Youth Adviser a ring. They may well know some useful stuff!

Nuff said

This is a re-posting of an article I wrote way way back, it may be useful

The last six weeks has seen a steady stream of emergency type calls to the Youth Adviser hot desk. One of the recurring "emergencies" has been "Help, we need to get hold of a minibus to get to ........." Sadly I have no minibuses in my youth-work arsenal (although I've always wanted one I could trick up into an A Team type stylee).

Getting a minibus at the last minute is extremely difficult short of a commercial hire (TVR are my recommendation) but in preparation for next year here's the Youthblog Minibus Scrounging Algorithm:

1. Minibuses are expensive so owners only lend them out to people they know/trust.
2. Build a relationship with the local School, Voluntary Youth Service or Community group that has a minibus.
3. Ensure that you have a driver that has a D1 on their licence and has completed whatever the local authority certification is. (and that you have a "small bus permit)
4. When you ask to borrow a bus be professional about it! Either write or ask (but if you ask follow it up with a letter). You need to detail your organisation, the event that you are taking a group to and why you are asking. Communicate that you have a suitably qualified driver who also has X years of experience at working with young people. Be very specific about when it will be collected and returned. Enquire as to what they'd charge so that you can build the figure into your budget. It's also worth mentioning that "You appreciate them looking at this request for help from a community group"
5. If you get the bus then you now have a chance to shine. Do everything as stated in your letter AND return the BUS shinier, cleaner, tidier than its been since new to show your gratitude. (I was so embarrassed once on reading the log book of a minibus belonging to a local school that a local 'christian' group had written in the condition column, "Returned filthy as found!)
6. Write and thank the lending body!

I've been quiet about sheds for a while (ok, at least on the blog) but it's time to revisit them.

Just before the summer I was contacted by a Marketing company who pointed out that I had flagged up one shed company BUT failed to mention their client, Tiger Sheds
In an attempt to maintain a BBC like impartiality in my wooden building coverage I am now saying, check out Tiger Sheds!*

I'm really liking the 16x8 for £750 but have neither the readies .... or the energy to level 128 square feet of garden :-)

In terms of the national outbuilding museum** I have two urgent projects. One is to build a store for the Kayaks, which I am rather grandly called the 'Boathouse Project!' The other (and more pressing) is to build a winter shelter for the Guinea pigs.

Bring on the shiplap, nails and creosote, oh yes!

* Other shed suppliers are available
** Otherwise known as my garden

The Church in Twyford are looking to add to their youth work/ministry team and want to appoint a Youth Discipleship worker. Details:Youth Discipleship Worker Ad 18 09 09a.doc

Both the long term readers of the blog will know of my off-on attempts to learn German and in particular my 18 year battle to complete the informative tome (unhelpfully titled) "German in Three Months!"

Recently I discovered a new resource called simply "German" by Michel Thomas which was enormously helpful and at last given me a handle on the future (my German 'til then could pretty much deal only with the past and present). It's not yet got me to the stage yet where Stu P (regular reader) doesn't laugh when I speak German, but there's definitely progress.

BUT, I now have an even more dynamic learning resource in that we have a German lady living with us and we have become a falteringly bi-lingual (and sometimes bi-confused) household. Although last night I was trying to talk about the elections that had happened in Germany that day and found I could not pronounce 'Angela Merkel' in a way that our guest had the slightest clue who I was talking about, so more work needed yet.

(I'm also learning a bit more German slang from the Pukka German site)

So, maybe (just maybe) I am getting a bit closer to being able to speak a language in a way that my school predicted I never would ..... and that would be uber cool, nicht wahr?

The National Council for Voluntary Youth Organisations has set up a rather useful web resource called Funding Central, I reckon it's well worth a look.

The consultation yesterday went extremely well and proved to be a productive time (I will write the notes up on Monday).

I also thoroughly enjoyed welcoming practitioners from across the country to Christ Church and it was nice to be able to provide lunch at the top of the Harry Potter Stairs, next to the now famous dining hall. (Minus floating candles despite attempts to spot them).

Lunch wise, my Blackburn colleague was especially impressed with the clip on plastic holders attached to the plate, calling me over to congratulate me on finding a place that provided Samosa holders?!

I'm hosting a consultation this week on Churches engagement with the 14+ age range. Whilst there are great things happening in youth ministry I'm also concerned that many churches that had a volunteer led group that engaged with adolescents in the past, no longer have. I'm seeing a number of factors such as:

• Fear of adolescents


• Lack of volunteers


• An emphasis on work with children and tweens' (easier to achieve a critical mass)


• No change of methodologies despite the inherited attractional one no longer working


• A difficulty in communicating and exploring faith with post christendom young people.

The gathering is to look at whether there is a trend here ... and if so what help and support churches need.

If anyone has any stats' from any denomination that I could have that would be fab. Any evidence that agrees or disagrees would be useful, and any questions that arise in your mind.

Sadly the training for the 26th has had to be cancelled due to LOW bookings. The plan is to try and run this later in the Autumn but as an evening) Watch this space.

As a family we were at a pub in the summer that claimed that it's "menu literally sizzled!" This turned out not to be true

(and boy didn't I look silly using an oven glove to choose our dinner!!!)

Saturday night was 'film night' in the home of 'the tribe called Macdonald' and this weeks' fayre was Camp Rock.

Camp Rock was a predictable colourful romp into the fictional world of 'Rock Camp' where a young talented teen, Mitchie, finds herself trying to fit in. Attempting to be cool in order to be accepted, she paints a picture rather at odds with the truth. Meanwhile a a former success of 'Camp Rock,' the young, now famous, Shane is sent back to the camp as an instructor by his frustrated band mates who are tired of his self centred tantrums. Young Shane we learn though is living out his frustration at the 'record' label making him perform music that is not where his heart and talents lie.

So will Shane re-discover his passion, and learn to be true to himself? Will Mitchie learn that she needs to be who she really is? Will this dual journey of self-discovery lead to them discovering each other?

Duh!

So a film that's firmly aimed at the aspirational dreams of tweenagers, a film that is formulaic, predictable and saccharinly cool, colourful and wonderful. Yep! But hey that's rather the point .... and EXACTLY what Disney pitches at.

It lacks the sing a long quality of HSM but nevertheless a great family film evening.

Suitability for an evening with 10-13 year olds: Way cool
Suitability for a 13+ youth group: Destruction of any cool cred' you may have had

Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro is a great book on stress, burnout and recovery in ministry. It's an important piece of writing as it's not the usual theoretical offering of danger signs and remedies, it is a survivors account. The narrative of Waynes' breakdown leads to a thoughtful and reflective approach to the issues, the experience; and then a journey to recovery. It's further enhanced by the stories and quotes of other ministers and holding these against a medical and psychological understanding of the breakdown and recovery process. Theological themes and reflection are also integral to the writing.

This feels like a VERY important book for anyone in ministry to read but especially those in the highly visible and demanding role of minister/vicar/pastor. I found it useful not only for my own learning and 'health check' but as a useful insight into the huge pressures involved in leading a church.

It's also surprisingly readable given the subject matter

I'm flagging this up here as I think this is a key piece of reading for Youth Ministers. It's also highly useful for understanding the sphere that your employing ministers operates in ... and some of the stress symptoms they may well be exhibiting.

(As I got the copy free from the UK distributor I'm quite happy to pass it on (within the UK only I'm afraid). I've written a number between 1 and 20 in the front cover, guess correctly and it's yours)

I love this track by Kendel Carson. OK so it's the lowest budget EVER for a video but I like that fact too. Foot stomping, sing-along, life affirming, smile-inducing country music, nice!

Kendel Carson - I Like Trucks
Music Videos at www.yallwire.com

I have been musing for sometime about how to build a one person caravan trailer that could be pulled by a bicycle. This, however is EVEN better .... A cycle camper van.
This would be the prefect vehicle for Greenbelt, Genius!

One day Schools work conference in London on the 23rd of October. Looks good
Schools work day conference.pdf

My colleague was looking for a Godly Play resource of some kind or another and typed "Godly Play" into the web site of a christian book supplier. Among the suggestions were a Christian Sex manual.

What does begat mean?
"I wonder?"

Here's a pdf of the 'Stand UP' campaign which would be GREAT for your youth group or church to get involved with. Final Stand Up leaflet.pdf

The teenagers at the church I attend are having quite an impact at the moment. They arrived back from 'Soul Survivor' so committed to their faith, their church and their community; the outworking of which has been fabulous. Among the mad-brilliant blessing they are being is in the way they are relating to the WHOLE church. They decided that they ought to try and ensure that at least some of them were at every service ..... which they have duly achieved. So you'll find teens at the 08:00 (I repeat, 8am for youth workers who are struggling to compute this), the 09:15, the all age service, the 6pm (Choral 1662 evensong) and the informal 6:30 pm in the hall. Cool huh!

This having quite a huge impact not just in the fact they are doing it (respect) but in hearing them talking about how much they are getting out of the various services.

Check this out, the first youth worker office not to feature a coffee cup AND the first that hasn't registered on the Hamilton Scale. Inspirational, aspirational and ever so slighty unattainable for the rest of us. BUT, way to go Andy!

Being a bit of a word lover I was over the moon to find the Compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in a charity shop for £10, a hardback book about the size and thickness of two encylopedia Britanicas glued together. The colleague I was with was rendered incredulous by the word 'compact' on such a large volume. "Compact," he said, "Compact!" "There is nothing compact about that!"

I then opened it to show him what the compact referred to. It is the ENTIRE and complete (at the time of publishing) English vocabulary in one book. The print is hence somewhat compacted ...... it comes with a magnifying glass.

Scrabble nemesi beware :-)

OK, here's a LOAD of stuff that has appeared on my radar! There is probably more information here than you need, but each piece is like a different blade on a swiss army knife* ..... not all of them have an obvious immediate use, but somehow somewhere it may be perfect for someone to be able to do something with. Message reads:

Young People & Youth Work in a Digital Age: Conference & Open Space event - Thursday 24 September 09, 10 - 4pm at the Catrin Finch Centre, Glyndwr University, Wrexham

Churches engagement with 14+ young people consultation in Oxford (also on 24th September) national discussion being hosted by Oxford. More details from me

Network meeting for employed Youth Workers in the Diocese: September 25th at Oakwood Challenge near Wokingham, book in through Carolyn

Youthwork The Conference November 20-22 Eastbourne 'Transform- Knowing the word knowing the world'
Youth Alpha Conference 2010 18-19th February London

Buckinghamshire

Free "Protective Behaviours" Training Protective Behaviours.pdf
Free Sign language training for those working with young people, 10 week course from October through to December.

Oxford

Growing Leaders Youth Edition Training: Abingdon on September 26th
Next VERTIGO event is on October 17th

Berkshire

Fusion Studentlinkup DAY Saturday 19th September 11am - 5pm @ Greyfriars, Friars Street, Reading, RG1 1EH "This day is designed to equip, encourage and inspire students" details here

*small device that Boy Scouts used to carry

Another in the blog series, "Youth worker offices!" I'd like to claim this is a piece of dedicated social anthropology exploring the commonality and diversities of youth ministry administrative practices, but it's not ... it just amuses me.

This is the office of Paul Reisbach (who is a great youth worker*). In keeping with other offices there is a bin bag in the process of being filled. In terms of tidiness it's average (a five on the Hamilton scale) but I am sure it's the first desk that is equipped with toilet roll and a single red rose!

(I've yet to find a youth worker office without a coffee cup in a prominent position!)

*Paul asked me to say this

Long term readers of the blog may recall a story from about eighteen months ago when my disabled (driving obsessed) son had a real battle to be allowed to drive the Gokarts at Butlins. The supervisor of the track issued a point-blank "NO," initially claiming it was because of age, then when I pointed out there were significantly younger children on the track, he said it was about 'health and safety.' and refused to discuss it further. It was so important to my son though that we came back when someone else was on duty and he got his drive (the story is here), he drove it brilliantly and although I got a lecture from the supervisor when he turned up, my son and I were over the moon with his achievement.

Ever since then I've been trying to get him a drive on Karts with a little more oomph than the Butlins ones.

Over the summer we found out there was an outdoor track at Oxford. An initial phone call was really positive and they were very much of a 'lets find a way' mindset! So we headed up to Cowley and got kitted out for a drive. The crew at the track were phenomenally welcoming and helpful. They checked he could control the pedals ok then sensibly limited the throttle before allowing him to do a couple of laps. He drove these well and the throttle was returned to its normal settings.

Despite it being a quite a demanding track (there's one sequence of 3 hairpins) he really got into the rhythm of driving it and his lap times steadily came down. My fastest lap time was 26 seconds and I was greatly impressed that he was putting in 34 second laps, fab! We went back again later in the summer and I only managed to knock four 100ths of a second of my best time while he turned in a 32.00. Given the considerable challenges that cerebral palsy presents him, this is phenomenally good and it's such a joy to see him doing something on a level with 'normal' children. Big Grin city for both of us.

My enormous thanks to Karting Oxford for the welcome and the opportunity. If you fancy a drive I highly recommend a visit, they are a great team there. (It would be a great place for a youth group outing me thinks)

The trip this summer to Taize was extraordinary and made a deep impression on me.

I've been trying to write something about it since my return but have struggled to adequately express the experience(s) I had living and worshipping as part of the community. I read something that Archbishop Rowan* said though and I think he may have captured the essence of what Taize evoked in me. Rowan is quoted** as saying that Taize is a place where a christian can say "I have seen the church for the first time"

It sounds crazy to have found silence, worship, deep community and such a powerful expression and experience of the church, when there were over 4000 of us as guests of the brothers, but that's what is was like.

A Taize day involves being up in time to be in church ready for the morning service at 08:15. Like all the services there is silence ahead of entering the church and this is maintained until the simple worship chants in different languages begin. There is prayer, the word, and a length of silence and more chants. The morning service also involves communion.

From there it's into the queue for breakfast (thankfully being a long term Greenbelter meant a queue of 4000 didn't phase me). From breakfast it was off to Bible Study with the brothers, always humbling, inspiring and exciting in equal measure. Midday prayers then a simple lunch. The afternoon is for work duties (everyone who visits Taize is involved in the practical life of the extended community) and small groups. These international small groups that meet to pray and discuss the Bible study are a great place of sharing, learning, understanding and often, laughter.

There is afternoon tea and cake then some free time before the evening meal.

Evening worship is an especially beautiful time in the church and although the actual service only lasts an hour or so the worship often continues on until Midnight with people either singing or sitting in silence, others head towards the back to talk with the Brothers. For those not still in church, the cafe bar is open ('Oyak') and there is a real buzz from the music, laughter and conversation.

Reflecting though on the elements that make it so significant in terms of faith and faith-experience though, this is my attempt at prising apart the various components into some sort of list.

The worship: Profound, beautiful and accessible, services which both drew you in and took seriously your responsibility in worship and prayer. The inclusion always of an extended time of silence was central, a chance to listen, pray, be and encounter God.
Simplicity: A rhythm of living and worshipping which was refreshing to be part of. The joy of a simple meal in the company of people from all over the world.
Ecumenism: At Taize the different traditions and denominations are somehow honoured in a very real way but at the same time the differences seem to fade into the background.
Young People: The vast majority of people visiting Taize are between 15 and 30 years old. Their energy, passion and joy is quite something to be part of. The group from Oxford Diocese were a joy to be at Taize with..
The Brothers: The example, teaching, wisdom and Godliness of the brothers was just a delight. They live what they teach and they embody what they believe. (As a community, as well as their normal giving and work on projects among the worlds poor, if they have any money left at the end of the year ... they give that away too).
Internationalism: There is a real Kingdom experience and outworking when there are people from around 80 different nationalities living and sharing together.

There's more that I could write but these are I think the main elements that jump to mind. For me it was a remarkable retreat and has had a deep impact on me; in my prayer life, on my ability to embrace stillness and in seeking a rhythm in life.

I'm hoping that we'll take a party from the Diocese again in 2010
I therefore have a whole year to sell the idea that going to church 3 times a day, basic food, and working hard is a REALLY great thing to do. Fortunately the young people on the trip can testify to the fact that absurd as the description sounds ........ that's IT, and it is extraordinary!

*He was there the week after the Oxford group
** Church Times p5 14th August

T'internet is awash with crazy things but this is unbelievably insanely pscho crazy, oh .... and very cool! ht to Chris

I'm on a major trawl to find what resources people are using, and would appreciate your list (and the age range you use them with). I'm especially curious about material people are using with tweenagers?

Thank you :-)

This is a bit specific but a GREAT opportunity. A group of people in Aylesbury are trying to encourage and enable greater participation in youth work for young people who are deaf. There is a FREE sign-language course happening in October through December for youth leaders. INTRODUCTORY COURSE BSL.doc

At Church house we subscribe to Grove Books and regularly receive the latest editions. Initially the are placed on the filing cabinet which also holds the communal snack arsenal. This allows people to see what's arrived while grazing (or to Browse while they Browse*)

The top of the pile at the moment is Mission Shaped Hermit which looks at the life and teaching of Thomas Merton. In an idle moment over my lunchtime though I could not resist customising it [slightly]. I'm waiting to see when anyone will notice we now have, in effect, a muppets guide to mission.

(* recently discovered that browsing could refer to eating or looking, weird huh?)

'We dream of a church that empowers rather than disempowers, that allows young people to share their views, that really listens to them and gives them a voice, we dream of leadership that is participative and collaborative. We dream of church that supports absurd causes, fights unwinnable battles, prays impossible prayers; a church that resonantes with the laughter of Jesus we see in the gospels - the Jesus who swings children above his head, tickles them and plays games with them during the service, the Jesus who upsets the religious, surprises the respectable, welcomes the sinner and the sinned-against.'

Youth Work After Christendom p159, Nigel and Jo Pimlott

Greenbelt 2009 'Standing in the long Now'

'tent up
kettle on
music plays
happy days!!'

The above is the slightly cheesy poetry that could be seen on various T' shirts and mugs at the festival this year. Cheesy as it is though it captures Greenbelt well as although there is a VAST amount of art, music, theatre, worship, talks etc etc avaliable, just being there in the vibe is awesome; arriving feels like a kind of home-coming. Happy Days!

As ever, I invested a good chunk of time in the 'Tiny Tea Tent' and the 'Chai Chapel!' In the queue one time I was chatting to a bunch of teenagers who were loving the festival. It was great to find that the festival was so accessible to them (they'd chosen not to be involved in the youth programme but were instead taking in a wide range of options) and to be chatting to a bunch of teens who were being impacted by the faith, art and debate in the way that I was back in the day. (That was the funniest part of our chat when they asked me when I'd first come to Greenbelt, they clearly struggled to relate to the answer "1985" as anything other than medieval history).

Highlights this year:

Alex Horne 'Wordwatching,' which was an hilarious multi media account of his attempt to get new words into the Oxford English Dictionary. Subversively brilliant fun for word-lovers.

Sunday morning service: Loved the idea of the Olive Tree as the thread that both themed and wove the whole service together.

'Duke Special' with his quirkily wonderful stage presence and band, with a feel good headlining act at Mainstage on Sunday.

Hearing 'Rob Bell' speak! Great stuff to say and a great way of communicating it.

As ever it was the spontaneous moments too that will live long in the memory: One of which was sitting down for a drink and finding a couple of jugglers about to do their street act on the grass area where we were, one of whom claimed to be the worlds only "tent manipulation artist" and proceeded to pack up a pop up tent using only his legs!!! Hilarious.

I was saddened by some of the external criticism of Greenbelt (again), this time regarding Gene Robinson. I thank God though for somewhere where there is a chance to listen to the voices on the margins, to question, listen and debate.

Enormous thanks to ALL the organisers and volunteers for a Kingdom weekend, awesome!

Made me laugh, thanks to BabyGuys

Greetings! I'm back and attempting the return to blogging.

It's a bit weird though after a month of non-posting, I'm wondering if I can still do it. It feels a bit like having been thrown off a horse (but obviously without the associated pain and the four and a half hours in Accident & Emergency) and I'm now staring at the thing again trying to recall not only how to remount ... but why it seemed like a good idea in the first place.

So this is just a tentative trot to see if the software of the computer (and my brain) still works. If it does, I hope to have the blog galloping along again by this afternoon.

Shalom