funky doo

St Mellitus Year 3 session

Welcome to the blog if you're here after the session last Saturday 11th June.

 

Powerpoint from the Youth Focused session is Download St Melitus Training Day 12th June 2010

The Key - Did you know DVD is available from Diocese of Bristol as part of their Key training programme - contact danielj@bristoldiocese.org 

Other bits I mentioned - Pip Wilson and Ian Long do the Blob Questions and Blob Pictures - www.blobtree.com is the website

Millenials by Amy Orr Ewing http://www.amazon.co.uk/Millennials-Reaching-Releasing-Rising-Generation/dp/1844268608/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308148295&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Real God Life Finding Spirituality - Jo Saxton http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-God-Life-Finding-Spirituality/dp/0340995270/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308148324&sr=1-1

Falcon Camps - more info on my camp and the others available this summer and beyond on http://www.ventures.org.uk/falcon-camps

Anything else I've missed off - let me know! youthadviseralice@yahoo.co.uk

 

It was great to be with you and every blessing in your future ministries!

Christmas Greetings from the Diocesan Youth Team!

Advent and Christmas blog links

Continuing through my list of starred posts and I have reached November and December 2009!! So thought I'd compile a final post for today with some seasonal links and ideas for you to have a go with!

Enjoy

Christine Sine http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/celebrating-advent-with-kids/

Steve Taylor prayer station ideas http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/advent-blessings-creative-prayer-stations/

Christine Sine again with a meditation for first week of Advent, you can also find a link to her 2010 video which is always great http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/first-monday-of-advent-what-are-we-waiting-for-this-advent/

Christmas dramatised reading http://www.nailscars.com/journal/2009/11/30/creative-christmas-idea-manger-or-cross-reading.html

More Advent ideas for prayer http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/advent-blessings-as-spirituality-to-go/

Reflections for the 2nd week of Advent - I'm ahead of myself now!! http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/the-first-tuesday-of-advent-waiting-for-a-job-during-advent/

Links here to a set of Advent images from Ben Bell http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2009/12/ben-bell-does-it-again-no-not-the-swimming-pool-leap.html

Alternative Advent resources - from last year so links may not all be active http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/2009/11/alternative-advent-top-10.html

A reflection for TODAY!! http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/first-wednesday-of-advent-waiting-a-reflection-by-julie-clawson/

Free resources from Barefoot - hope this is still valid http://www.anewkindofyouthministry.com/2009/12/06/ho-ho-ho-barefoot-is-giving-away-free-stuff/

hilarious post on the most gruesome nativity sets! http://whyismarko.com/2009/re-posted-the-worst-nativity-sets/

Advent monologue scripts courtesy of Rob, OPM in Gillingham http://theshinyheadedprophet.blogspot.com/2009/12/advent-monolgues.html

UCCF video for Christmas shared by Phil Ritchie http://philipstreehouse.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-tale.html

Advent 3 reflection - My God is so small....http://www.sundaypapers.org.uk/?p=2509

Christine Sine again - Litany for the Homecoming of God http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/waiting-for-the-homecoming-of-god/

An amazing Biblical 'poem' from Rachel Marszalek http://hrht-revisingreform.blogspot.com/2009/12/wow-jesus.html

Silent Monks singing Hallelujah http://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/some-christmas-cheer-hallelujah/

The Christmas Narrative in Chocolate http://www.youthblog.org/2009/12/the-christmas-narrative-in-cho.html

3 session Resource guide on the Nativity http://interlinc-online.com/news/article_657.html

Jonny Baker links to advent prayers and liturgy http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2009/12/embryo-of-hope.html

Links to a variety of readings for Christmas and Epiphany celebrations http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/scripture-readings-for-christmas-and-epiphany-seasons/

Christine Sine's entire series on 'What are we waiting for' from 2009 http://godspace.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/what-are-we-waiting-for-this-advent-the-entire-series/

There you go - hope something inspires and creates creativity within you!

I'll be back soon with the random list, probably starting from January this year!!

some more links to my **starred** blog posts

continuing the post from last week of the various starred blog posts that I have wanted to keep but now have forgotten why...so I'm filtering them and posting the best and most longlastingly relevant (!) here so they are easier to find and you can use them too! Scroll down and see if there's anything to tickle your fancy! Thanks for stopping by!

In no particular order:

service outline and communion prayer from craig mitchell via http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2010/04/hoping-in-darkness.html

Mike Breen on finances in a de-centralised church structure http://mikebreen.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/part-1/

Ten Commandments from YP's perspective - via youthblog's Ian MacDonald http://www.youthblog.org/2010/03/10-commandments-re-visited.html

Resurrection Eggs - a great Easter activity http://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/resurrection-eggs-a-new-vicarage-tradition/

Singles in the Church http://mikebreen.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/singles-and-older-part-2/

Notes from MarkO about adolescent brain development http://whyismarko.com/2010/youth-ministry-in-light-of-adolescent-brain-development/

Using the Quaker Clearness Committee as a process for discernment http://whyismarko.com/2010/quaker-clearness-committee/

Some helpful stuff from Phil Bell about Vision in Ministry http://youthworktalk.com/2010/03/18/the-best-kind-of-vision/

Vetting and Barring info - some of this is still current http://www.youthblog.org/2010/03/vetting-and-barring-2.html

Archbishops Address on Fresh Expressions at Lincoln Conference http://theshinyheadedprophet.blogspot.com/2010/03/archbishops-fx-address.html

Links and discussion on Blokes in Church http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archive/blokes-in-church-growing-petrol-heads-and-art-lovers/

Love will conquer all! video link http://banksyboy.blogspot.com/2010/03/and-greatest-of-these-is-love.html

Links to Hidden Herstories documentary made by young people about influential women http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2010/03/hidden-herstories.html

Book from CMS with 40 days of devotions http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2010/03/reflecting-on-mission.html

Discussion on social media and missions http://whyismarko.com/2010/social-media-and-missions/

Bryony writes about over-sexualisation of young people with some helpful headings and links http://vahva.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/children-over-exposed-to-sexual-imagery/ This Sophia Network blog discusses the same report http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2010/02/too-much-too-young.html

Reflection on Elizabeth and Mary - and giving thanks http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2010/03/reflection-say-thank-you-and-well-done.html

Sophia Network article on Working with Girls http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2010/03/article-working-with-girls-by-jenny-baker.html

Lenten reflections using Ignatian prayers http://godspace.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/the-prayer-of-st-ignatius-of-loyola-a-reflection-for-lent/

Coping with Criticism http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2010/03/coping-with-criticism.html

Phil Ritchie highlights the new film based resource from Bible Society http://philipstreehouse.blogspot.com/2010/03/reel-issues.html

Educating Adolescents on Technology and Pornography http://rhettsmith.com/2010/02/are-you-doing-enough-to-educate-adolescents-on-technology-and-pornography/

Worship trick using scrabble animation http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2010/02/scrabble-animation-worship-trick-81.html

And to finish for now - Ricky Gervais sings a lullaby to Elmo...hilarious!

http://whyismarko.com/2010/ricky-gervais-sings-a-lullaby-to-elmo/

purging Google Reader

I star a lot of posts that I read on blogs through Google Reader - intending to go back and use the resources or follow up on the ideas or share elsewhere. I have failed miserably to do that since September 2009, so there will follow a series of posts of links to blog posts I have liked/starred so that I can find the links and remind myself why I kept them in the first place!

Here I'll post youthwork related posts and links and I'll do other personal, parenting and scrapbooking ones over on the family blog at www.funkydoofamily.blogspot.com so join me there, or on twitter @funkydoofamily...

http://www.thejourneysproject.com/ images exploring the modern day relevance of Jesus message.

http://www.stopthetraffik.org/startfreedom/ for schools and youth groups to engage with issues of human trafficking

http://www.studentministry.org/why-volunteers-wont-show-up-for-your-training-2-of-3/this is a 3 part series on improving your training methods with some great ideas ad pdf download

http://davemale.typepad.com/churchunplugged/  Dave Male's blog on Church Unplugged...good stuff

http://holdthisspace.org.au/christmas-spirit/

http://holdthisspace.org.au/whimsy/

http://holdthisspace.org.au/44-days-to-go/

above 3 links for advent/Christmas litugy which is a good find for this time of year!!

Phil Ritchie recommends the film 'Once'

NT Wright on social media and blogging http://churchmousepublishing.blogspot.com/2009/11/nt-wright-on-cultural-masturbation.html

Links from Jenny Baker's sessions at YW The Conference 2009 http://blog.sophianetwork.org.uk/2009/11/links-from-youthwork-the-conference.html

Armstrong and Miller Return to Church sketch with some links to reflection/discussion material http://www.youthblog.org/2009/11/return-to-church.html

Link to Guardian article about alternative communities http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2009/11/anyone-for-the-deep-end-community.html

Phil Ritchie on cyber bullying http://philipstreehouse.blogspot.com/2009/11/cyber-bullies.html

Meditation on Committing to the Journey http://markjberry.blogs.com/way_out_west/2009/11/committing-to-the-journey.html

Youth and the Internet survey reflections http://churchmousepublishing.blogspot.com/2009/11/youth-and-internet-they-just-cant-live.html

That will do for now - I'll continue later! Hope some of this is useful!

weekend links to browse

Both these links and suggestions come via Mark Oestricher's blog over these last few days and as I've browsed them, I've been struck by how potentially game changing both these websites could be, with their mix of sound youth ministry experience, theological thinking and excellent (free!) resources.

So if you have a few minutes, check these out!

http://www.echothestory.com/ - The blurb says: "Echo desires to recapture this sacred art of biblical storytelling, inspiring new generations to find themselves in God's Story.

Echo uses a process called Storying (short for Chronological Bible Storying) - a sequential telling of Bible stories followed by a time of review and dialogue. Derived from the ancient Hebrew way of learning through careful observation and discussion, Storying was rediscovered a few decades ago by missionaries who are now using this method extensively around the world. Recently, Storying is also proving to be effective with youth and adults in our media-literate, story-oriented context."

http://www.ritesofpassageproject.com/ - the blurb says: "The Rites of Passage Project is a strategic approach that helps parents (and youth workers, my addition) acknowledge and celebrate key physical and spiritual growth stages with meaningful life-markers that their students will never forget."

This church have graciously made these resources available free online so I encourage you to take a look and download for future use. As many of you will know, one of my areas of research and concern in these past few years in this role have been the lack of genuine rites of passage in the Church, other than Confirmation and that is confusing in itself because of it's ill thought out theology. So I welcome this resource and look forward to using it myself soon!

Hope these get your juices flowing...have a great Sunday!

using Prezi...

I'm just at home, preparing a session for a small youth group tonight down on the Dengie Peninsula that I visit regularly.

I'm teaching and reflecting on some stuff with them about calling, vocation, work and how God wants us to develop and use our skills and called us to work productively. Tough stuff for some teenagers.

The Scripture Union material in the Substance series on 'Calling' has come in really useful and some of the feedback we get from tonight will be fed into upcoming discussion at Diocesan Synod about increasing vocations.

In doing the preparation, I'm also using a form of Lectio Divina to still the group a little and get them to engage with God's word. Prezi is a great presentation tool, mix of powerpoint and keynote but much more fluid in form and creative. 

 

lectio divina on Prezi

I'd encourage you to sign up and have a play with Prezi - it might just change the way you teach, preach, lead and think!

Luke 5 for youthworkers...

Great encouraging post for this morning from Marko...read on, youthworkers!

http://whyismarko.com/2010/luke-5-for-youth-workers/

 

Could this be your Church/Vicar??

BBC Songs of Praise have joined forces with Children in Need for a special programme to be presented by Sir Terry Wogan on Sunday 17 October 2010. A 'Vicar Challenge' is to be launched, in which vicars and ministers across the country are encouraged to raise money for Children in Need by participating in weird and wonderful fundraising events. The organisers are looking for good ideas from early adopters that can be featured on the programme. A leaflet with further information is below.

HT Church Times Blog

This week, I will mostly....

be hanging out with my daughter and working in the quiet moments (and evenings, and early mornings!) It's amazing how you can work your 37 hours around times when no-one else is awake!!

 

I've blogged over at www.funkydoofamily.blogspot.com about some of what we've been up to for fun this weekend...take a look!

Andy has some cycling trips planned this week: a full day today up Colchester way and an overnighter on Wednesday to Lowestoft. 

So, I'm working around Matilda and I have arranged a few playdates for her so I can get my teeth into a couple of other 'start of term' projects that require less distraction!

As well as just being at home, playing and chilling and doing crafts and watching TV, we're going to make the most of our Barleylands season ticket on Thursday and towards the end of the week, doing some baking for my dad's 60th this weekend.

I'm feeling pretty on top of things work-wise having had some good stints in the office last week, although I had a few 'desirable' projects like collating my Youthwork magazine back-catalogue so I could find things a bit easier - but that might not happen!

I also have a new boss, as Basildon Deanery, which is half of my job, has a new Area Dean. So one of my afternoons this week will be spent with Margaret who I know well already. It will be good to chat and pray and set some priorities for the start of the new academic year.

So, that's my week - what about you?? How's it looking? Any exciting things happening? Work or fun - or both??