Recently in Emerging Church Category

I enjoyed reading this review of a Grace service by Theo Hobson in the Spectator, I've no doubt that ageing youth, young (non vicarish) Johnny Baker has had enough teasing about the description so I'll not add to it :-) But the article has some interesting things to say and I quote the concluding lines ........

"What groups like Grace grasp is that though some people are turned off by organised religion, they still feel basically Christian: what they want is a new, disorganised style of religion, a postmodern shook-up version, full of irreverence and irony, and arty events. They want a new style of sacramentalism, that isn't steeped in authority. Now that the internet's here to stay, it's difficult to accept hierarchy any more -- religion must become open-source.

For the moment, the pioneers tread carefully -- the stylistic reinvention of an ancient religion is a slow and difficult process, with huge pitfalls -- but my hunch is that we should watch this space. God reconfigures his church in mysterious ways"

"Youth ministry doesn't have to spend a fortune or put on a rock concert to be effective in reaching junior high and high schoolers for Christ. Personal relationships, adult mentors, honest conversation, and opportunities to help others create an atmosphere where students feel they belong, and eventually are able to believe"

Trawling the web this morning I came across this article about transformational youth ministry It usefully reduces and demystifies faith based work with teens to five key points. Article is here, thanks to Chuck Warnock.

Jonny Baker has reviewed Tom Sines new book and on the basis of the review I will be ordering a copy methinks. Jonny flagged up this quote and I love it, a little adrenalin for faith, soul and discipleship anyone ........

"when jesus began teaching he made it clear that his new empire would be unlike any empire the world had ever seen. it came on a donkey's back. it's imperial council was comprised of a handful of unemployed fishermen, a couple of IRS agents, a prostitute and some hangers on. jesus demonstrated how to wield his imperial power by washing feet, telling stories and playing with kids. jesus' empire is based on the absurd values that the last should be first, losers are winners, and the most influential in the empire should clean the toilets. members of the empire are instructed to love their enemies, forgive their friends, always give twice as much as people ask of them and never pursue power or position. jesus insisted that those who are part of his empire shouldn't worry about finances, but simply trust god. the resources to run this empire were basins, towels, and leftover lunches. this empire also developed a reputation for constant partying - almost always with the wrong kind of people"

I really like the idea of "Conspirators" .... Working with young people, I think it's great word for framing and exploring what discipleship might mean.

Captains log Supplemental: You can download some of the talks, conversations and discussions from The New Conspirators conference here, ht to Darren

The work of Asbo