headwayyouth- phil smith's blog

...and relax

Just got back from the second leg of Youthwork the Conference. This weekend Rob Bell of Nooma fame was speaking. He was very impressive and came out with this peach of a line;
"Your calling in life is where your greatest passion meets the world's greatest need."
I like that. It made me think a lot.
Much to say, but after two weekends of working it's time to rest...

One down...

Great weekend in Southport at Youthwork the Conference. Really good to see some old friends from St Tom's and Spring Harvest. Looking forward to Eastbourne this weekend- though not to working two weeks on the trot!

Flip goes live!

I've just popped the first See the Flipside mailing in the letterbox and now the boss and I are off to Southport to promote our cause at Youthwork, the Conference- much fun!
If anyone is going do pop over and say hello!

Hear ye, Hear ye!!

Clergy, PCC and the like listen up; Church Action on Poverty have today produced an statement calling on churches to pay their workers a decent salary. This is one of those subjects that I've grown to feel frustrated by as more an more of my friends continue to be underpaid by silly churchmen (and typically, it is men!) with silly theology. Niall Cooper, National Coordinator of CAP said,

“Churches and other employers have a duty to pay their employees a living wage, at a level that enables workers to enjoy life in all its fullness. We call on all churches, charities and other major employers to raise the pay level of their lowest paid staff. We are sending out a clear message that the Church cannot tolerate low pay and poverty. In paying our employees a living wage we are making a clear stand against poverty.”

Soul Survivor- Day four & five

Sorry I haven't updated for the last couple of days, the phone battery died so moblogging wasn't possible. The last two days of Soul Survivor were great my youth group really began to engage with the whole thing. One of them went forward on the last night and according to one of the guys in my group he was "blessed" three times... not quite sure what that entails but it sounds good to me!  Coach back yesterday was good but it was a long journey!

The humourous event of the last couple of days was Mike Pilivachi's talk  on the last day. He spoke of the beloved disciple and the life he led walking alongside Jesus (incidentally Mike didn't mention the thought that the beloved disciple might be Lazarus or even Mary Magdeline, i get the impression it would have confused the situation and been particularly inconvinient). "At the end of John's life" said mike toward the end of his talk, "John found himself in prison in patmos, and he had this amazing vision, which we have recorded in the last book of the bible." ARHHHH! I think i can probably count on one hand the number of biblical scholars in the world who think revelation is wrote by the author of the forth gospel and what made it worse was that this was an integral part of Mike's talk and all week he'd been going on about the importance of studying the scriptures... nevermind we all make mistakes I guess- I foolishly talked about David's brother Absalom last week before someone gently pointed out he was David's son!

Anyway, irrespective of that little faux pas it was a great week. My youth group loved it and can't wait to go back!

Soul Survivor- day two

Now admittedly this is a late entry for yesterday but better late than never as they say! I was a bit cynical yesterday, which was probably due to the fact that my youth group weren't really engaging and some were misbehaving. things are getting better now though, so I feel a bit guilty about being so down about the whole thing. The evening meeting last night was interesting delirious led 'worship' but it was a bit more like a gig- not that I'm saying that is a bad thing, in fact I quite enjoyed it. Dave westlake delivered the message (Luke 10-good Samaritan) and it was good what was interesting is that in the midst of the talk the next branch of the Soul Survivor corporation was unveiled... Soul action. The aim is to reach the "last, lost and least" through developing and resourcing a new generation of disciples. as you would imagine with soul survivor this isn't just an abstract concept they have a cunning plan to do soul in the city 2009 in Durban, south Africa. They want to get 4,000 kids out there to help out and 'meet Jesus' in those they help...hmm Its a big plan and it was great in Manchester and apparently good in London but I think this is getting a bit dodgy. At the iasym conference nick shepherd presented a paper comparing soul in the city to a package holiday. The similarities were numerous but I think they increase greatly when you do the whole thing in Africa... The customer pays, flies in, sees the foreigners, dabbles in a bit of a cross cultural experimentation and then goes home, leaving behind those he/she met. In London it seems somewhat excusable, But with this I'm not quite so sure. The west already lives off the back of Africa, surely the church shouldn't be doing the same?

JRF Report- Children's perspectives on believing and belonging

Those working with kids aged 9-11, might be interested in this research into the role of religion in the lives of children. It was carried out by the wonderful Joseph Rowntree Foundation and although the quota wasn't massive it looks really good. There is more detail on the website but in brief the research found that:

• Children are more likely to reflect a more complex pattern of religious identity which involves kinship, ethnicity, age and gender.
• Children display different levels and patterns of understanding, observance and personal commitment to religion, irrespective of their particular religious affiliation.
• School is one of the few places where children from different religions and ethnic backgrounds get to meet on a regular basis.
• The majority of children were not aware of any particular religious ethos in their schools and were largely indifferent to faith-based schooling.
• The opinions of children differ as to whether learning about others' religions in school is a positive experience.
• Lunch-times and assemblies at school are seen as events which reinforce religious difference and promote grouping together.
• Religious and ethnic labels are used interchangeably by children as markers of racial difference, underlining how the categories of ethnicity and religion overlap.
• Friendships develop across, and between, religious and ethnic groups in primary school although this experience changes outside school, where children's choice of friends is often shaped by family circumstance and religious affiliation.
• The amount of time spent by the more observant children on their religion impacts on their relationships outside of school, with more devout children having less social interaction with other children.
• Outside school, friendships are often shaped by power relationships between adults and children, with some adults actively discouraging children from mixing across religions.

Questionnaire

As a youthworker in a local church, with plenty of friends in similar positions, it's obvious that the church isn't the best employer. Suspecting there might be some people out there who share this view, and maybe some people who feel the opposite, this post from YouthBlog should be of interest. Basically, John Baxter Brown is doing some research into the employment practice of youthworkers by local churches. I heard him present his proposal at the IASYM conference last January and look forward to hearing the results!

How very humourous

Finding these money saving tips for youthworkers very useful

The youth of today!

Read this in the guardian today about the culture of teenagers and twenty somethings. In case you hadn't noticed the lager swilling yob culture is apparently dying out and trips to the restuarant and art gallery are on the rise...

The claims of a new mood of maturity, sophistication and even abstinence among today's 15- to 24-year-olds are made in a report of a 10-year study of the lifestyles and attitudes of young people in Britain.

Most young adults, the research claims, far from binge drinking their way through the nation's town centres, are swapping lager for wine or spirits, eating out more often, acknowledging the risks of drugs and - in the case of almost half - scorning smoking as "stupid".

I guess this is interesting for those of us who feel passionate about reaching out to this generation and doing church planting to the twenty somethings... not quite sure this statistic is true of darlington though!