headwayyouth- phil smith's blog

Go to church it's great... hmm!

There have been a couple of things in the news recently about clever, glossy adverts that are designed to tempt people in to church (check out here and especially here). I have to say I have a bit of a problem with this. Not so much because of the whole consumerism thing but primarily because I'm not sure it's a wise thing to encourage everyone in the countr y to go to their local church.

It is pretty much accepted that the population of Britain is increasingly interested in all things spiritual. In this context some opportunist parachurch organisations have invested thousands, maybe even millions of pounds, in telling the 'people-of-peace' (as we used to call them at St. Tom's) to get to a church, any church because here is where true spirituality can be discovered; a relationship with God.

The thing is I'm not sure that this is always true. I'm not sure we should be encouraging those who are on a spiritual journey to go to church because contrary to this poster, actually church generally is as churchy as people think and therefore encouraging people to go to church might actually be counter-productive. An encounter with a hymn sandwich and the book of common prayer may very well throw people off the scent; someone could feasibly walk into a church open to God and leave having had all belief in the spiritual realm sucked out of them. So is this blanket advertising really a good idea? Thoughts anyone...

Sanctus1 and Nexus

Been trying to catch up on emerging church news and smiled a lot when I saw this on the BBC website. I guess many of you have heard about Sanctus1's new project but due to my little excursion with Highways I'm a little out of touch.

For those that aren't familiar with the northern quarter in Manchester, in the midst of the record shops, bars, clubs and particularly trendy fashion outlets, there lies Methodist Central Hall. In days gone by, when I regularly visited Sankey's and Eastern Bloc, I always thought that this church had the most amazing opportunity, they just needed someone with a bit of vision to do the work. It looked like that was not going to happen when I left Manchester as the place was put up for sale, but seemingly things have moved on since then and the guys at Sanctus have got involved.

Nexus sounds incredible; a really authentic expression of church within a very specific environment.

Books, books, books!

I don't know about other bloggers but for me the books typelist thing (see right) is more a reflection on books i've recently purchased than books I'm reading. The two tend to be very different.

As zoe is always quick to point out everytime we pass waterstones, i tend to buy twice as many books as i read, so two five hour plane journeys (to and from Jordan) have been very handy in trying to catch up a little.

First of all was Wounded Healer, by Henri Nouwen. I'm a bit of a fan of the late Mr. Nouwen, I find he talks about loneliness and pain like few other christian authors dare. Wounded Healer particularly looks at the pain of the world and how we can relate to that through our own hurts... well worth a read!

Secondly, I've been reading Elanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. Like most of Coupland's publications it's a novel which makes some strong statements about our culture. Elanor Rigby, as you may have guessed by the title, is about the loneliness of individuals in the western world- particularly that of Liz a spinster with McJob and no social life...

If you're a Coupland fan or vaguely intrested, this article and this groupies website has plenty of good stuff!

Things that make me smile...

A few things that have made me smile since my return to England...

1. Listening to house music again
2. The new format of the Guardian
3. Sainsburys now has special pointers in each aisle highlighting where the Organic products are, so now it's easier than ever for me to find those things i'd love to buy but can't afford
4. Yasmin Finch has started blogging.
   Yaz is an ex-cliffite and is now begining a Phd in feminist studies of the fourth gospel. She's ridiculously clever and has a wonderful ability to apply he brain to almost anything
5. Reminiscing with zoe's photos from Jordan... more to come
6. My new house

Back to mine!

Back in England and have just arrived at my new house for the first time... it's very yellow and the garden requires some attention. I'm also frustrated by a random gap in the kitchen which looks suitable for some kind of utensil but has no plug... suggestions for its usage would be gratefully received.

I had a great time in Jordan with Highways particularly because 1) i had the opportunity to meet the same guys i met when i went out last year 2) withdrawing from the hubub of all that happens in britain it gave chance to ask those big questions who am i? where am i going? what am i doing? there is still plenty of thinking to be done but the trip certainly helped.

Better get unpacking!

Two days left

Today is our last day in school and it's gone so well. We've led so many lessons so it's sad to be leaving- especially because when i get back to england i will have moved house and need to unpack everything :-(

Tonight we're off for manasaf- a  Jordanian dish of rice and lamb, where traditionally the most esteemed guest (which as team leader is theoretically me) eats the eyes of the sheep... I think i might pass!

Off to dead sea tomorrow for a debreif and sun-bathe and then back to england, where regular blogging will resume.

One week down, one to go!

Things are still going well here in Amman. The schools work is progressing well and myself and the team continue to meet some amazing people.

Earlier this week we shared a meal with Malcolm and Veronica, an english  couple here working with CMS. It was a pleasure not just because they supplied a fine chinese meal- a nice change when you've had humous or falafel for one week- but because they knew so much about Jordan and also about Christianity. I saw a book by Sugitharajah in Malcolm office and so we got round to talking about post-colonialism. He really believes that one of the problems with the church out here is that it many ways it is not indigenous- for example on Sunday the liturgy was in classic arabic and lifted from the Church of England's book of common prayer.

Malcolm is out here for a few years and so his hope is that he might be able to develop a more modern and less western model of church... let's hope he succeeds!

Amman- Day 5

Well we fnally arrived in Jordan and the trip is going really well. As team leader i have the responsibility of getting our evening meal sorted so tonight i cadged a lift to some dodgy back street in Amman and ordered some pizzas in my best Arabic. So there in the oven and i'm in an internet cafe opposite...

Returning to Jordan has again reminded me how nice the Arab people are. One man in particular continues to amaze me. Rev. Hanna Dalleh is a priest in Amman but he is unique in his ministry. Most ordained ministers maintain the status quo. They do the pastoral visits, lead the services on Sunday and just keep on going while young people leave the church, middle aged people leave Jordan for the west and old people die. But Hanna is different. On top of his official workload, with no support at all, he spends hours each week with the young people (shabibi in arabic) and continues to train leaders for the day his dream comes true, when the church in the middle-east is revived!

Got to go pizzas are ready and my team are getting hungry