taking a break

Just thought I'd let anyone who happens to be reading this know that I'll be taking a break from blogging for the next couple of weeks, as I'll be at Taize....

possibly the first thing i've ever won at sport

Humorously the 5-a-side team I play in were runners up in our league. Thus I won quite possibly my first ever sporting medal - tis made of such high quality plastic.


Note that a number of our squad weren't playing on the final match of the season after which the presentation was made, and another couldn't be bothered to wait around for the photo and medal-giving.

There's an enthralling article here. The evening was made even more funny by the fact the team we were playing were rather poor, so much so that me, not having scored all season, managed to net a hat-trick. There were some utterly comical moments which would not have looked out of place on Danny Baker's Own Goals and Gaffs.

We're gonna get slaughtered in the next division up.

plans

So summer (as in the '6 week holidays') are almost upon us now. I've got just a couple of weeks - not even that - of 'work' left, and then I'll be off to Taize. Am looking forward to going very much. I'm going for two weeks, the first week I'm going with a group of people from Leicester Diocese, some of whom were in Taize at the same time as me last summer. The second week I'm there, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing. I'm currently contemplating doing a week in silence, though that might be a bit hard core.....we'll have to wait and see.

Then I'm back in Sheffield for a bit. Got a week of working on my disseration, as well as doing some prep for the autumn, then I'll be in our local secondary school for a week, helping out at their summer school. I did this last year as well - it was really good fun actually, as I get to spend a week hanging out with young people, while playing with digital video cameras and computers.

Then I'll be off to Greenbelt, about which I am also quite excited. Last year was my first time going, and the lesson I learned was not to try and do so much. I went to a few too many seminars and stuff, and think this year I need to chill out a bit more. If anybody reading this is also going to Greenbelt, do comment, it would be good to put faces to commenters, and lurkers. I know there are some of you out there, cos you've been searching for my name in Google.....who are you?

Anyway, thats about it from me for now.....nine days till I go to Taize!!!!

i know, i know, it's been ages since i last blogged.........again

Sorry. Life has just been too busy.

Dissertation is going ok so far. Had a good tutorial down in Birmingham last week. Just need to get a bit more done before I GO TO TAIZE NEXT SATURDAY!!!! (yes, I am quite excited)

On Saturday I did another days training for Engage. Engage is run by the Centre for Youth Ministry, and if you want a good year long course for a year out person, or a volunteer youth leader, you could do a lot worse than looking at Engage.

Yesterday morning I went into town (ok, so Sheffield is a city, but you know what I mean), and ended up parking on the very top floor of the multi-storey car-park, from where I took this photo on my fone:



It seems hard to believe that we're still in England at the moment - this weather is really bizarre. I do like it, don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't feel like England.

Anyway, I went into SPCK (cartoon from Dave Walker's wonderful site), and while I was perusing the second hand books section I cam across a book that I found really helpful while doing my first degree - Let's Do Theology - by Laurie Green. It's a really easy introduction to the pastoral cycle (Experience, Exploration, Reflection, Response).

Reading this book got me into exploring more about Liberation Theology, and thinking about the way in which practical theology - actually doing theology in a community, reflecting on our current experiences, reflecting theologically, and then responding appropriately - really can make a difference.

Unfortunately the book is out of print now (I think), but if you should happen to see a copy languishing somewhere, have a look at it.

dissertation..........

Well so far its gone ok. I've done a chunk of work and emailed it off to my tutor in advance of our meeting next week. We'll see how it goes.....

I'm writing about youth work and youth ministry, the actual terms themselves, what they mean, whether there is a difference between the two, whether its ok to use them interchangeably of not, etc. etc.

I'm currently not sure what I think, which is kind of the reason for me doing this piece of work. I've always thought of myself as a youth worker, but every so often other people refer to me as a youth minister.

The section of my dissertation I've done so far has just been about trying to establish what youth work is, in all contexts not just a Christian context. I'm not wholly satisfied with what I've written, I think there are some more things I ought to have covered, but perhaps they'll fit in later on the dissertation. Suppose I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm helping to clear out the church cellar......

smile back at me

Recently purhcased the debut album from a rather fine Sheffield band - The Gentlemen. Its good. You should get it.

The members of The Gentlemen are all Christians, and the band have grown out of Nail The Truth, which is a kind of citywide youth work/ministry network in Sheffield.

You can listen to some clips from the album here and order it as well.

34 days to go.....

.....until Chesterfield's first competetive match of the new season.

Well we have to focus on the positives in life, and to be fair, those of us who watch a fair bit of lower league football are quite used to inconsistent refereeing. grrr.