Saturation Saturday

9 November: About 90 Anglican friends, families and followers converged on Wet'n'Wild Waterpark at Oxenford for a big day at group discount prices. For the 2012 price, we splashed around and socialised for hours on end.  It was great to see people from all of our camps during the year (Emmaus, Primary Ichthus, Junior Ichthus and Senior Ichthus) as well as from the Anglican Schools Students Network Conference in August. After 2.30pm, our tickets also gave access to Movieworld - bonus! We had visitors from as far as Highfields, Nambour and Oakey, so thanks for coming everyone, and we'll see you next year!

Junior Ichthus 2013 report from two campers!

Dear Jonathan & Nathan,

Thank you very much for the photos from the camp. 

They gave me VERY nice memories of the camp. Can't wait to go back. 

I just wanted to send you this article from my Parish, written by me about the camp.

I hope you enjoy the article 

Have a nice week

Cevrine Coralie from Camp Ichthus 2013. 

Junior Ichthus Report by Cevrine and Celine Coralie

Junior Ichthus is a five night camp during the September school holidays. It is an exciting holiday experience that challenges young people to step outside their comfort zones through participation in group and individual activities. Junior Ichthus also gives us opportunities to form and strengthen new and existing friendships and to spend time in group discussion. All of this takes place in a safe Christian community that encourages us to meet God, who challenges us to step out and live a life of faith in Jesus.

The camp started like this… When my sister and I arrived on Sunday morning, we were given name tags with a particular colour, symbolising our dorm group/colour. I was in Pink, and Celine was in Purple dorm. We first played GTKY (Getting to Know You Games) and introduced ourselves to our dorm group. We also thought of Negotiable (government laws) and Non-Negotiable rules that we should follow at camp that we would be comfortable following those rules. As the day went by, we settled in, and played an awesome but wild game at night, called the amazing race against all the other groups. This included variety of dares to complete the race. After a long race, we then did dorm wrap. Dorm wrap is a final activity that took place at night to wrap up the day before bed. All the girls/ boys come together to ask any questions to our leaders of the camp. We started by writing any questions on a piece of paper, leading the leaders to answer them. This was an opportunity to ask ANY questions, that we would feel uncomfortable to ask our parents, teachers’ etc. e.g. Like topics on boyfriends, troubles at home etc.

The next day, on Monday, we started the day by listening to the camp radio- two of the leaders would have a conversation giving a flashback on what we did yesterday. After breakfast, we would do worship - singing hymns, praying, and praising the Lord. We focused on the "Prayer of Preparation." After worshipping we were put together into our dorm groups, filling in our Junior Ichthus booklet. The idea of the booklet was to answer the questions provided about yourself and to get to know others in your group. This formed great friendships. After that we participated through Puzzle Fuzzle. This was an activity where we would gather together as a camp and ask any deep religious questions to religious experts. After lunch, we were split into two big groups, doing two different rotations. The first rotation was depending on team work with dorm groups. We did activities like building a tent blind folded, with only one person instructing. We also played different games that involved strong strategy.

The other rotation was servicing - A botanist who took us to a field and we as a team cleared out weeds in the ground. After the servicing, we got ready for the camp out. Each dorm group had to build a tent out of tarps. We had dinner at the bon fire, sang songs, talked and had a really relaxing nice time together as a community. After that we had dorm wrap in one of the tents, and slept in the tent of your dorm group that we built. The next day, on Tuesday we had the same morning routine as Monday => camp radio, breakfast, worship – (topic: "Confession and Absolution,") small groups and then lunch. After lunch and dinner we had small group challenges and competitive individual indoor games. => E.g. rob the nest. And then dorm wrap.

On Wednesday, after our normal routine, we went to, Dream World! After a day at dream world, we had challenge night. Challenge night is a time to reflect on your emotions to your dorm group. Everyone had a story, depending on their struggles of life. And it was VERY emotional, which did bring tears. On Thursday, we had our normal routine, but for worship we focused on the "Lord’s Prayer." After lunch we had mega free time. Where we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. => Swim in the pool, play fun games, a walk to the creek and waterfall Etc.

But the main idea of the mega free time was to get ready for THEME NIGHT. The theme was ONE, so we had to wear a costume that symbolises ONE. For example a lot of people wore onesies or One Direction costumes. At theme night, we had a nice dinner prepared by our leaders. After dinner we had a disco night. And then our last dorm wrap.

On Friday, the last day of camp, we had breakfast, and then packed up ready to go home. We did our final worship/mass. Reflecting on everything we did on the camp. We thanked everyone, and said our goodbyes. Leaving in sorrow… Thank you Father Graheme for putting your hard dedication and love into us. Participating through this camp, made us learn the high spirit of the Christian faith; and being around a community to share our feelings through God’s presence, and to always do the right thing. This exciting opportunity will now remain part of our memories forever.

God Bless you and our Parish.

Cevrine and Celine Coralie (Redcliffe)

[Thanks Girls! - JK]

Useful websites

Grow Ministries www.lcacyfm.org.au

·         For information about Taking Faith Home, Milestones Ministry and GIFT

·         Training information

·         Newsletter On Your Hearts download link

 

Faith Inkubators Australia: www.faithink.com.au

·         For information about BibleSong, Head to Heart, Faith Stepping Stones & Seasonals

·         Order FaithInk resources

 

The First Third: http://www.firstthird.org/eym/default.aspx?m=3926

·         For information on the Exemplary Youth Ministry Study

 

Vibrant Faith www.vibrantfaith.org

·         Great resources

·         Faith Formation Learning exchange

·         Vibrant Faith at Home

 

Sticky Faith http://stickyfaith.org/

 

Parenting Resources

·         Parent Further (US) http://www.parentfurther.com/

·         Parenting Ideas Michael Grose (AUS) http://www.parentingideas.com.au/Home

·         The Search Institute http://www.search-institute.org/

·         The Parenting Place NZ http://www.theparentingplace.com/

 

Australian Church Resources: http://www.acresources.com.au/products/list-all-products.html

·         To order the book: The Spirit and Culture of Youth Ministry

 

These books are available at Koorong:

·         Sticky Faith (Powell/Clark)

·         The Family Bible Adventure kit (children’s ministry DVD & CD ROM The Good News)

·         Parenting Beyond Your Capacity (Reggie Jonier)

·         Think Orange (Reggie Joiner)

Back on track...

It's been quite a while between posts here, but that's not because nothing's happened!

My thinking is to use Mailchimp to distribute a summary of the news and resources that are gathered here and see how that works - whether the various systems can talk to each other etc.

Anyway, in the meantime, here is a nice set of dot points on "Creative Connections to Schools", thanks to the Ven Helen Phillips from Howrah, Tasmania, who I met at Y-NET / C-NET earlier this year.

Some of our smaller [church] communities connect with their school communities in creative ways:
1. Work with children to plant and maintain a section of garden at the school.
2. Provide a special morning / afternoon tea for the staff once a term.
3. Be willing to be interviewed in class time about special interests or talents you may have.
4. Provide a breaakfast club for your school one day a week.
5. Support the school chaplain in your local school.
6. Allocate a month a year to vist the school as Parent or Grandparent help for the month.
7. Form a prayer group to pray for your school.
8. Ensure your school is included in your prayers at church on Sunday.
9. Support special programs for children at risk in your local community.
10. If needed, provide cut lunches to the school office for children without lunch.
11. Organise a working group to plan special school assemblies at Easter and Christmas.
12. Include examples of children's work in your church bulletin.
13. Invite the school principal to contribute an article for the church bulletin once a year.
14. Run a stall or activity at the school fair and contruibute the funds to the school. Help bake cakes.
15. Assist on the roster of the school canteen or reading program.
16. Help keep outdoor equipment in good order for the children.
17. Run a holiday fun day or day-camp.
18. Invite the school choir to a special children's or Christmas service.
19. Sponsor an award for Grade 7 students who have made a special effort.
10. Talk to your school principal about how you could be of assistance in your school community.

Telling Youth the Gospel: For our Sake or Theirs?

Very recently, my parish priest, the Rev Dr Cathy Thomson, preached a sermon that really made me sit up and take notice.  Themes: what should our parish be on about? What is the Gospel? How should we present it to young people? What are we trying to achieve through presenting the Gospel to youth?

From time to time, I find myself wondering whether "liberal-catholic" youth ministry is capable of achieving growth in the same way as "evangelical" youth ministry seems to be.  Perhaps this sermon points us towards an answer to that.

I wasn't the only one who found it instructive and thought-provoking; so many of us did, that it was 'published' through the pew bulletin the next week.  And here it is: 

 

Dear Friends,

So many of you have commented on my sermon of last week, and have asked for a note of the five dot points which I suggested "summed up the gospel." Thank you for your feedback.  I have replicated the whole sermon below, and hope that reading it is something you will find helpful.

 

Today I have decided not to preach on the day’s Scriptures, because I would like to pursue one of the issues that came up at last week’s planning day.  It was suggested that if we want to attract young people to our Church, we have a prior responsibility to be clear in our own minds about the positive message that we think we can offer them: one that that they would understand and be attracted by.  I think our challenge is to be clear about what we understand by “the Gospel” before we attempt to offer it to anyone else.  So what do we mean by saying that we have the Gospel or “Good news”? Please take a moment to think about that...

One way to find out what “the Gospel” is is to go onto the internet where we find a whole range of ways of teaching the gospel through Youtube. Last night on YouTube I watched a young American man with long “dreadlocks” who sure enough “rapped” the gospel in four minutes.  Then there was the Pentecostal pastor wearing a tee-shirt with Jesus as the risen and ascended lamb upon the throne of God complete with halo, who provided an animated spoken rendition of the gospel in five minutes.  I have to say I liked their clarity about what they believed;  I liked their conviction and energy.  I didn’t like their particular slant on the gospel which emphasised human sinfulness to an excessive and guilt-inducing extent.  But to be fair, they did also emphasise albeit in a rather unorthodox way the immeasurable grace of God that overcomes the aforesaid all-pervasive sinfulness and guilt.  I decided that although Youtube is a medium very accessible to the young people to whom we wish to communicate the gospel, it is probably not the best starting point for developing our own clear stance about what we believe the Christian gospel to be.  I turned as you might expect to the Scriptures, if not today’s selection.   I discovered that there are exactly one hundred references to the word “Gospel”, otherwise known as the “Good News” in the New Testament.

[Interjection: I laughed during the paragraph above, because I knew exactly which clips the Rev Cathy was describing.]

Leaving out the fact that the four evangelists wrote their “gospels” which are essentially biographies of Jesus, the other ways of speaking about the Gospel are to call it:

·         the gospel (good news) of God,

·         the gospel (good news) of Christ

·         the gospel (good news) of the kingdom

·         the gospel (good news) of salvation. 

Jesus himself spoke of the gospel of the kingdom, by which he meant that his own existence heralded the fulfilment of God’s reign on earth, and that this would bring liberation from the power of sin and death, and that all people could be united with God into eternity. 

The other three: the gospel of God, of Christ or of salvation,  seem to have the same basic content.  Paul sums it up in I Corinthians 15:1-4 where he writes about what the Gospel is:

3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

 I think churches like ours that are of a liberal –catholic persuasion are frightened to own that gospel because we have heard many reductionist versions of it over the years.  Yet surely we can affirm that Christ died for our sins.  We don’t have to say Christ paid the penalty or took the punishment for our sins, because we know that punishment notion of Jesus’ crucifixion says that we have a God who requires punishment (a punitive God).   And that is problematic when we hear this God referred to as in I John where it says that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”  We also don’t have to say that we are saved by the (precious) blood of the lamb, because we don’t necessarily find that bloody sacrificial imagery very helpful.  But we can still say Christ died for our sins.  The rest of the Gospel, according to Paul, namely that Christ was buried and that he was raised on the third day, is something that we affirm weekly when we say the creed aloud.

This leads to some rather uncomfortable questions:

·         The first is: have we fully appropriated the gospel of liberation for ourselves?  Do we live out of the joy and gratitude of knowing that Jesus died to bear away all our sin and suffering, and have we allowed that to transform us into people with God-focussed lives?  I ask this question because if we haven’t done that, we will have nothing to offer to the young people, or anyone, who might come among us.

·         The second question is why do we want to encourage young people?  Is it because we truly want to offer them the liberating power of the gospel which we know and can demonstrate in our own lives, or is it that we are afraid that if we don’t, our church will die?  In other words, do we want to have more young people among us for their sake or for our sake?  Because if it’s the latter, we’re never going to be able to convince them, and quite rightly, that there’s anything worthwhile in it for them.

 
Let me offer a summary of the gospel that is something of an expansion of Paul’s but which contains the same basic elements, and is consistent with the way parishes like ours think theologically:

·         The gospel tells us that God gave creation life, and human beings as part of it;

·         In working out its destiny, the world is sometimes marked with sin and suffering and human beings contribute to that;

·         God sent his Son Jesus to live and work among human beings on this earth, to teach them God’s way of love and to live a life of integrity and courage;

·         Jesus offered himself as bearer of all the sin and suffering of the created world so that these could be done to death on the cross;

·         God raised Jesus up on the third day as the hope of the salvation of all.  This resurrection is the mark of our transformation as well as Christ’s, leading to our having a life full of meaning now, and ultimately, life with God into eternity.

Is this an attractive gospel to us?  Can it be an attractive gospel to the young people?   Well it seems to me that this apparently amorphous generation of “young people” are really not too different from the rest of us.  They live fairly pressured lives through work and study and competing for success in their careers; they often are beleaguered by financial pressures, a big mortgage, they’re concerned about finding a partner, and when they do about when to get married, whether they can afford to have children, and when is the best time to start trying.  And once they have children they struggle to provide for them all the opportunities they need to grow and thrive and make their own contributions to the world of which they are global citizens.  Statistics suggest also that they are a generation more prone to marital failure, homelessness, depression, mental illness and suicide than any before them.

The gospel is a dynamic meeting point for joy and sorrow, sin and righteousness, violence and peace, and it is the overcoming of life’s vagaries and challenges as well as the fulfilment of its promise.  Let us pray God that we as a congregation may have the privilege of sharing this wonderful gospel with all who are drawn to Christ both young and old, and that we may know how to articulate God’s saving power in our lives whenever such a testimony is required of us.  Amen

I am encouraged and quite excited at the very positive response I have had from the parish as we continue to plan our life of ministry and mission into the future.

With my love and with God's blessing,

Rev'd Cathy.

How about that?  What do you think?

In the Media: our "Parenting in the Digital Age" forum at Bribie Island this week

Community forum helps parents figure out 'tween speak'

Caboolture News, 18 July 2013

 

ARE you ready to Instagram a selfie and tag your bestie while having a LOL?

 

Did you catch all that?

 

The world of social media and the buzz words surrounding the phenomenon will be revealed at a community forum at St Peters Anglican Church, Bribie Island on Monday from 9.30am until noon.

 

The annual forum, hosted conjointly with the Mother's Union, has turned the topic this year to tween culture.

 

The sometimes awkward and unknown territory of children who are not quite teenagers and not quite young children is often ignored.

 

Ministry for the Anglican Church youth, children's and families director Jonathan Kemp hopes to arm parents and grandparents with tools to communicating and understanding their tweens for the betterment of the family.

 

Mr Kemp said the forum should show parents how to maintain relationships in a technology-driven world when a pre-teen has their head bowed in their iPad or mobile phone.

 

"There is a real sense that a lot of parents are unsure about this area of tweens so we will look at how technology shapes us and reflects an identity for young people and how families need to set boundaries in terms of how young people and parents are using technology and how often," Mr Kemp said.

 

"Every family needs to find that balance.

 

"We hope to help parents adopt a common sense approach to technology, because while it is something that is inescapable, it is something parents needs to handle in an intentional way."

 

Mr Kemp will also provide parents with a translation guide to tween speak.

 

Smart phone applications such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook will be explored.

 

"I hope parents come away with a sense of responsibility but with far less fear they may have come with of the world of technology," Mr Kemp said.

 

The seminar is free, register your interest to help with catering purposes, phone the church on 3408 3191.

Dear Jonathan: Social Action as a Youth Group

Even better than a Dear John letter is a Dear Jon/Jonathan letter, and I was asked recently for some ideas on getting a youth group involved in social action projects, perhaps starting with a simulation game.  Here's how I replied:

Simulation games are almost always good. You probably know that Stephen Hooper specialises in these things? He ran a big one on the Anglican Schools Students Network conference last year, but it needed more time. Doing a 3-4 hour (or even overnight) epic would be pretty memorable for all involved, I would think.

On my shelf is a book called "Ideas for Social Action" by Tony Campolo.  It's quite old (1983!) but many of the ideas inside are still completely applicable. For example, at St Lucia we use the idea called "Supermarket Stakeout" a couple of times a year - you get the group to stand outside a supermarket, and when people approach, you give them a slip of paper asking them to buy an extra item for the Inala pantry. If they bring back an item to you, you give them a thank-you card with your church details inside etc. (You've got permission from the supermarket manager, and of course you don't hassle the customers - not everyone will have the money or desire to buy something extra. But it's an exercise where everyone wins. The book has lots of other ideas too.

 

The Roscoe Library has several books on teens and/or parishes and social action - free to borrow, as you know.

 

I'd maybe start by asking the group (or a few of them) to name a cause they'd like to raise funds for. Then just try doing something straightforward to get them into the hang of it e.g. a carwash (if it's warm enough).  If you want to get some attention, you could have a continuous reading relay of the Bible all the way through. Reading aloud at a normal speed normally takes from Friday night to Sunday morning, just in time for church. Would people in the congregation sponsor the group to do that, so the money then goes to your cause?

 

If your group is interested in the asylum seeker debate, they could contact Anglicare SQ about the BRASS program (see attachment). Could be controversial!

 

My old youth group once doorknocked virtually our whole suburb for Freedom From Hunger: we raised over $1000 in a day (this was a long time ago) and got a framed certificate from FFH for being the biggest fundraising group in Brisbane. So if there's a doorknock coming up soon, you could do that, though many schools seem to do it too.

 

When I speak to parishes and groups on this kind of topic, often I mention the following (taken from a PPT slide):

 

What makes service projects empowering for children and youth?

 

Do the actual work and don't just observe.

 

Work with accepting adults who don't criticize their efforts.

 

Have important responsibilities.

 

Have a sense that they can make a contribution.

 

Have the freedom to explore their own interests and develop their own ideas.

Have opportunities to reflect upon the meaning of the activities.

So my point here is that even if the project isn't itself headline-grabbing (e.g. a world record attempt), if it fulfils most or all of these criteria, it will have served a very useful purpose and will probably also motivate the group to fire up for its next project.

There is a little group of us meeting up in the next fortnight to discuss how youth / Anglicare / ABM may be able to work better together. If something good eventuates out of that, I'll let you know.  I suspect it will become a topic at the next Bring It! meeting in late August!

Don't hesitate to get back in touch as often as necessary, and feel free to forward this on to others.  Thanks for the fantastic work you're doing - and this is just the beginning!

Peace in Christ,

Jonathan Kemp

Senior Ichthus camp feedback

Always nice to get positive feedback from one of our camps and Senior Ichthus in June/July gave us a couple of pieces of the unsolicited kind:

From a Parish Priest:
"They both said they had an amazing time and M.... has been coming to church every week since the camp.
She was one of our 'come to youth group only' girls, it is great to see the change in  her, pass on my thanks to all involved on doing a great job."

 From a parent:

 

"From [her] verbal reports she really did have a great time, raved about the leaders she spent time with – she related to them very well age wise, made some very nice friends whom she has kept in contact with and I believe planning to meet up with a the reunion.

Oh and she tells me she’s definitely going again next year! She attended the camp with some girls that had attended in 2012, 2011 I believe.

Thanks so much for providing a fun and thought provoking week in a safe environment for her - it was most appreciated!"

 

Feedback like this is always great to hear, and we get our fair share.  Looking forward to Junior in September already!

Conferences!

Every so often we receive invitations to conferences and similar events, and we're asked to pass them on - so here are a few which may be worth considering...

A conference entitled, "Loving, Living and Working with People on the Autism Spectrum" which will be held on Oct 26 at the Citipointe Christian College, Mansfield.

• This conference will include a range of speakers including well known Christian doctor and counsellor, Dr Carolyn Russell. It will also feature workshop streams aimed at helping teachers, families, counsellors, pastors, chaplains and church leaders better understand and work with people with Autism Spectrum Disorders including Asperger's Syndrome.
• If you could please distribute the attached brochure, or following website address (http://autismconferenceoct26-com.webs.com), to people in your congregation or organisation who may be interested that would be greatly appreciated. 

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'Growing Youth Spirituality Conference'

19th and 20th July 2013

REGISTRATIONS CLOSING SOON

The Christian Research Association has combined with Tabor College to host a conference on youth spirituality.

The conference will be held at East Alliance, 44-60 Jacksons Road , Mulgrave, Victoria on the 19th and 20th of July 2013.
There will be a range of speakers including Dr Rachael Kohn (ABC presenter of 'The Spirit of Things') and speakers representing the practical ways in which Catholic, mainstream, and Christian schools and chaplains in the government sector are seeking to grow youth spirituality. Dr Philip Hughes will be bringing the findings from the 53 schools that have been surveyed in the past year or so. Stephen Reid, another member of the CRA staff, will be reporting on a project he has been doing on sports chaplaincy.
Please see a full list of speakers and the conference program at http://www.cra.org.au/growing_youth_spirituality.pdf or http://www.tabor.vic.edu.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=42
This conference will look at how we can best encourage the growth of a mature spirituality in the children growing up in our midst. It will look at the research and explore practical solutions for parents, youth workers, pastors, teachers, chaplains and RE teachers. And there will plenty of time for discussion amongst colleagues.
You can register via our website at https://www.cra.org.au/products-page/conference-registrations/
Full Conference (Incl Dinner) $230.0
Full Conference (No Dinner) $210.00
Dinner only (Fri night) $45.00
Friday Sessions only (No Dinner) $90.00
Saturday Sessions only $140.00
We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Yours sincerely,

Dr Philip Hughes               Peg Fraser                           

Senior Researcher              Administration

Christian Research Association

03 88190123

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 NATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY CONVENTION (NYMC.ORG.AU)

With the recent release of our website and online registration we wanted to touch base so you can take full advantage of our Early Bird Discount.

The Early Bird rate has been extended to 15th June, however with a one month extension as part of our Partnership Program you can take advantage of the Early Bird rate until 15th July!

In addition if you have a group you can also take advantage of Group Discounts:

$40 per ticket for 5 or more Full registrations

$20 per ticket for 10 or more Day Registrations

 So, the full rate for an individual to attend NYMC 2013 is $319. With the Early Bird discount the registration price is reduced to $279; and with the group discount the price becomes $239.

If you are interested in the Group Discount please let me know and we’ll issue a code for your Group. Please note you can use the code to register everyone at the same time … or pass the code on to each person to purchase their own registration.

It’s wonderful to have you on board as an NYMC 2013 Partner! Thank you for your support!

Diary Notes

There's never a dull moment in youth and children's ministry around the Diocese! Here are some quick bites of what's been happening lately...

11 May: SN@P Night at Bardon Parish!

The Larks in full flight

Highlights for me included the techno duo 'Three Point' and the band called 'The Larks': both very impressive! Well done to Youth Minister Nathan Haywood and Rector the Rev Colin Nicholson for making it happen.

12 May: SN@P Night at Hendra-Clayfield Parish!

24 Hours later and there's Chris Richards again setting up sound and lighting for another SN@P night. This was a more intimate setting with a different feel from the night before. I enjoyed a father-son vocal/guitar duo and also Hannah and Brenton singing together. Well done to the Rev Iain Moore for supporting this initiative, and to Chris for all of the technical work behind the scenes.

The Rev Iain Moore at the first Hendra-Clayfield SN@P night.

What is SN@P?  The SN@P Collective Facebook page is probably the best place to start. SN@P is designed as a first-level activity of engaging with the community and having people come to their local Anglican church when they wouldn't ordinarily do so.

19 May: Pentecost

Loved our Pentecost service at St Lucia which is always colourful and usually has lots of participation from young people. Helium balloons and a big cake were the go, as four children were admitted to Communion.

Christ Church St Lucia Pentecost 2012

In the afternoon, I visited Kenmore parish for their Pentecost Messy Church.  Unfortunately they were up against some very attractive events for kids (like the nearby Brookfield Show!) so numbers were modest, but I enjoyed meeting the participants and volunteer helpers who were there: it is very true that Messy Church is for all ages, not just for kids.

I was very happy to jump on to a table alongside Youth and Children's Minister Brittany Leam, where we were constructing windchimes.
 

After that, it was on to the yummiest table: "Edible Apostles" - yay! See Recipe instructions in the picture below.

The Ven. Bev Bell was all smiles: a) because Messy Church is fun and b) because she was leaving for a well-deserved and lengthy period of Long Service Leave the next day!  Have a great break, Bev!

On 21 May, I met with Bishop Alison Taylor for the first time, and it was great to have the opportunity to outline some of the strategies we are carrying out at AYCF.  I felt +Alison was rather impressed by how much is happening, so thank YOU for your part in that, whatever it may be.

22 May: Went to a great seminar run by Terry Williams and the Queensland Children's Ministry Network (QCMN), of which we are proud members.
The seminar at New Farm highlighted a cross-denominational project called Here2Stay (www.here2stay.org.au) which seeks to address the problem of people leaving the Church in their early teens.  This 'drop-out' is seen across denominations and across national borders, so the broader the response, the better. Check out the website for the first steps in our response.

Speaking of cross-denominational activity, it was good to then have a coffee with my friend and colleague Aaron Glover, the Director of Lutheran Youth of Queensland (www.lyq.org.au), a group I've admired for a long time. They run very professional, efficient youth ministry and I've learnt a lot from observing them.  Aaron and I discussed a range of topics of mutual interest including campsites and appeal projects.  More to come on those...

23 May: Time for another little road-trip which I usually enjoy.  This time it was a Sunshine Coast Area Deanery meeting at Pomona (Cooroora parish, named after the striking peak which dominates the area, and where they hold an annual 'King of the Mountain' run up and down each year. I know from past experience it's a tough, steep walk with a chain as a handrail at certain points. We had a nice lunch and meeting where I could outline what we're doing in AYCF ministry and how we may be able to assist the parishes represented. Many thanks to the Rev. Gillian Moses for her hospitality, and to Area Dean the Rev Ken Goodger for his kind invitation to appear.
(I might add that Pomona also has some renowned geocaches in the area, so I'll be back for sure, one way or another.)

25 May: Fiona Hammond and I presented a seminar on "Cybertweens: understanding child culture and offering authenticity" to the GFS Leaders Weekend.  The venue (Toc-H House at Bongaree) seemed like a great choice and we were very happy to be spending more time with this great group of people, gathered from as far away as Bundaberg.  Well done Chris Rooney for organising this weekend, and it was great to catch up with our friends from GFS / Kidsplus+ who do excellent work with their program of kids' clubs and sponsorship of many different projects.

So after all that, at the time of writing, we are just a few days away from the RISE day at St Francis College, Milton, which we hope and pray will be as successful as it was last year. Praying for presenters and attendees at RISE - that all may be blessed by what is said and heard.

Until next time - the Lord be with you!

9 Questions Everyone Should Ask Themselves About Social Media | ChurchMag

9 Questions Everyone Should Ask Themselves About Social Media | ChurchMag

Big Weeks: A Catch up!

Hi ho, well, there's never a dull moment in my travels around the Diocese! Here's a quick run through of some things I've seen recently...

Christ Church St Lucia: Bible 360

Saturday 20 April: Jonathan S and I headed to Christ Church St Lucia for our first experience of the Bible 360 course, facilitated by the Rev. Adam Lowe, usually of Noosa parish, but also now the lead project officer for Bible 360.

I enjoyed time at a table of folks from St Lucia and Indooroopilly parishes, but there were people from elsewhere too. Jonathan S and I were particularly keen to see how adaptable the course might be for a Youth audience, and I think the answer is that it's very adaptable - in fact, I don't know that there is a great deal I would change, except perhaps adding more A/V elements.  The booklets were useful, though I'm not certain I learnt a great deal of new content.  I think most of the value for me was mainly in sharing time with fellow local Anglicans, thinking about the Bible!  Admittedly, I had to miss the final afternoon input to visit St Stephen's Coorparoo for a Children's Worship recording session... but thanks to the Rev Adam and the Rev Ceri Wynne for your efforts with an appreciative group.

One memorable feature of the day was the opportunity to present a dramatic reading of the entire book of Philemon... which is not as long as it sounds. Unsurprisingly, Jonathan S and I both received roles.  JS played Paul, whose main job here was to push me through the door... while I was given the challenging role of the slave, returned to his former captor and reading out Paul's firm but fair message requesting forgiveness for a runaway slave now become Christian brother.  A very interesting experience, which would be well worth trying out as a quick activity in a youth group or other parish or school setting. 

St Stephen's Coorparoo: Children's Worship

St Stephen's is a really impressive church community in Brisbane's South / East.  Their Rector, the Rev. Josh Dinale, is definitely the only minister I know with spacers in his ears!  They employ a Children's Minister, Ms Juliet Briner, who kindly invited me to join them for an hour-long worship session where children were the focus, and which was recorded in order to become a CD - a copy of which will be generously distributed to each other parish at Synod at the end of June.

The five piece band were great, and the song leaders / choreographers were awesome. Nice to see Sarah Fowler out the front again - doing a great job with those of us who need lots of instruction on when to move hands / arms / legs / etc!

In between songs, Juliet led the children through related activities and afterwards, there was a great sausage sizzle outside, where I had a chance to catch up with Youth Ministry Intern Stephen Khu and other Coorparoo folks.

This was an excellent time of praise and worship where children were the key participants and I look forward to hearing the CD so I can relive the afternoon all over again.

 

Chinchilla and Roma: Listening to Country Voices

Not long after my fun day at St Lucia and Coorparoo, I joined eight other Anglicans from a range of different parishes and agencies on a three-day mini-bus journey, heading West to Chinchilla and then on to Roma.
The purpose of the trip was to bring to fruition a successful motion from last year's Diocesan Synod, which essentially called for city Anglicans to visit and listen to the concerns of those in the bush.  The chosen format for "listening" in a purposeful way was very interesting: "Open Space Technology" sounds like it should be concerned with satellites, but actually it means a system of running productive meetings where a range of relevant topics can be covered in ways which allow people to take turns in the discussion.  There are no white boards, no butchers' paper, no "policy outcomes", etc. Space won't allow me to go into it all here, but suffice to say, I turned from a mild sceptic into an enthusiastic convert when I saw it in practice in Chinchilla.
It was great to visit St Cecilia's Chinchilla for the first time, and catch up with the Rev. Kay Hart and husband Alan.  We broke into four groups of about twelve, and proceeded to engage in discussion for perhaps 90 minutes or so. Topics raised included the Coal Seam Gas debate, youth ministry, and the social effects of the mining boom on affordable housing in the region.  Hearing about these things at first hand was an invaluable experience.

Although Chinchilla was charming, Roma was remarkable. The Rev. Scott and Gisela Gunthorpe lead a wonderful parish at St Paul's Roma with a thriving youth and children's ministry at present, which was great to hear.
The "Open Space" session also went well; though there were fewer in attendance than in Chinchilla, we heard new stories of the ups and downs of life on the land, and similar stories of the goods and bads of the mining boom upon the township.
One of my tasks on the trip was to act as a photographer for our Diocesan Anglican Focus magazine, so hopefully you will hear more of the Roma-Chinchilla trip in the next edition.
All too soon, it seemed, we were on our way back to Brisbane, and for those who haven't travelled very far to the West recently, let me assure you that the road works are driving everyone a bit crazy, adding hours to travel time.  One of the worst spots is the Toowoomba Range crossing, which is down to one lane in each direction.  One hopes that the end results are worth the current inconvenience!

Messy Church at Sherwood

Lastly, a quick plug for the extraordinary work of the parish of St Matthew's, Sherwood and particularly their Rector, the Rev. Peter Shayler-Webb, and his awesome Messy Church team, coordinated by passionate Messy Church promoter, Sue Taylor.
I can't recommend a visit to a Sherwood Messy Church service enough!  On Good Shepherd Sunday, with the input largely based around the 23rd Psalm, I believe I experienced Messy Church worship at a world-class level.  Of course, worship is about giving the glory to God, but I must say my worship was really enhanced by the range of inter-active activities, the input from the Rev Pete, the A/V clips, the music, the care which has been taken with the physical elements within the church building, and many other aspects. It really blew me away and it reinforced my growing belief that although a Messy Church service requires a considerable amount (maybe that should be a 'huge' amount) of preparation, the results are stunning and the enthusiasm with which the congregation, particularly its younger members, become involved suggests that a parish wishing to reach out to young families should certainly be considering Messy Church as at least an option.
Sue Taylor would be extremely pleased to coach another parish in how to go about holding a Messy Church, and details on how to contact her are found on our AYCF Messy Church page.

Sue will also be offering a Messy Church elective workshop on "Everything you wanted to know about Messy Church but were afraid to ask" at our RISE training day at Milton on Saturday 1 June.  RISE is just $10 for food, a great bag with all materials, and your choice of four electives from the huge sixteen on offer.  Register now and secure your place!

Until next time, the Lord be with you!