how come i'm posting at this time again?

So it's really time I was going to bed, but strangely I find myself blogging again. Oh well.

In short, the films I have been to see of late are The Last King of Scotland, Rocky Balboa and Black Book. All three very good in their own different ways. Some more detailed reviews will follow, but now I'm just planning on going to bed.

Tomorrow I'm going down to St. John's Nottingham, to share some thoughts on the field of youth work with the Under-Graduate Course Committee of the Centre for Youth Ministry. I was a year-rep on this committee throughout my time at CYM, so going back as a field-rep is all a little it bizarre.

I shall post some of what I share once I have shared it, and once it has been fully committed to paper.

in the middle of the night.....

Annoyingly my car alarm is being rubbish at the moment, so I'm awake in the middle(ish) of the night. Oh well. At least it works.

I know it's been ages since I've been on here. Sorry. To those who have been concerned about my well-being, I am able to report that I am well. Just been a bit busy, and not massively motivated to post on here.

The last month has been pretty good. I'm slowly getting better at giving myself time off - I've been on a retreat for a weekend, and been to the cinema three times this month. If I were feeling particularly motivated I'd post some reviews, but I don't want to push it.

A guy has just been out to sort out the alarm, as best as he can do. So now I'm going to go and hopefully enjoy an alarm free night....until the morning, at which point my alarm clock will be very annoying.

a christmas baptismal hymn

Last Sunday (the 31st December), we had a baptism at church. During the service we sang a really nice song, to the tune of Infant lowly, infanf holy - it was a Christmas baptismal hymn:


Lord, we meet you,
Christ, we greet you,
born a child and yet a King.
Round your cradle,
in the stable,
we would each our praises bring.
From above us, you come near us,
show you love us, ever hear us.
Now to you we glory sing.
Now to you we glory sing.

Saviour Jesus,
now be near us
as we bring our lives to you.
In our children
may your love sing.
May they know your promise true.
Water flowing, Spririt sending,
faith a-growing, Love unending.
Take their lives and make them new.
Take their lives and make them new.

In their growing
keep them knowing
of the wonder of your love.
Root their living
in the giving
of the Saviour from above.
Living Jesus, stand among us;
ever with us, go before us.
In our lives your Spirit move.
Let us all your loving prove.

(Leith Fisher)


Now I know this is meant to be a Christmas baptismal hymn, but I just thought is really sums up my thoughts on what I hope for the young people with whom I work.

Happy New Year

Well I guess this post really does what it says on the tin. Thought I'd wish you a Happy New Year. So there you go....

mmmm chocolate log

Ok apologies for the poor quality of the picture - my phone isn't the best piece of photgraphic equipment known to mankind - but I thought I ought to post this picture of a chocolate log I made for youth group last Sunday night.

The piece of guttering (new) it is in was 2m long. It consists of 6 Tesco chocolate logs, a triple pack of chocolate fingers, lots of white maltersers, ready-to-roll icing carefully crafted into holly leaves and berries, and 2 bowlfuls of homemade chocolate icing. mmmmmm. unhealthy.

ooooops

It's been far too long since I last posted, and I know that these sort of posts are really annoying, but....

sorry for not blogging in ages.

In brief, life is going well, but busy. I'm looking forward to Christmas, especially the time off that will allow me. I assure you that I will endeavour to keep blogging, perhaps with a little regularity, but it would be a little too predictable to make that some kind of resolution in three weeks time wouldn't it?

wireless woes

The wireless broadband seems to be playing up. Which is tres annoying.

The connection seems ok so long as it is actually wired up, but thats not great cos the phone line only comes into the house upstairs (not sure why), and my office is downstairs.

Yes I've got a laptop, but it's still annoying to have to take it upstairs just to check email. grrr

dissertation

Got my final MA results earlier this week. I passed which is good. And I got my best mark of the whole course for my dissertation. Which is also good.

I seemed to follow this exact same pattern with my first degree, coincidently getting the same mark for both dissertations.

Should anybody wish to read my dissertation then let me know.

to tolerate or not to tolerate, that is the question

When I was writing my MA dissertation, one of the things I became aware of, was the way in which whether you call the activity I do 'youth work' or 'youth ministry', it's really all concerned with the same thing - the passing on of a set of values from one generation to the next.

Whether those values are passed on explicitly, through what we say, or implicitly, through the way we act and relate to people, (one of)the aim(s) is undoubtedly to pass on a certain set of values.

In recent weeks, this notion of different sets of values has come back into the forefront of my mind. With so much talk in the media about those groups in society who we feel threatened by, and the alledged negative influence of religion, it seems to be the case that secularism is being promoted as a more healthy, inoffensive, all-round-nice way of thinking. But surely, or is it just me, secularism is equally a fixed worldview, with it's own set of values, just as is Christianity or Islam. Isn't it?

It seems to me, to be a worldview which says, other worldviews and other sets of values, are not as good as this one. I just don't get it. It seems hypocritical.

What also seems hypocritical, is those who promote tolerance, but in reality mean, we are tolerant of anybody so long as they themselves are tolerant. One issue which I found myself questioning at Greenbelt was the view which seemed to be saying 'we're inclusive of anybody, so long as they're not evangelicals'. This is just like saying, 'we're inclusive of anybody, so long as they themselves conform to our view of inclusivity'. This seems odd.

Surely we have to recognise, do we not, that we are all affected by values, we cannot escape them. None of us is value free. We are all shaped by the societies, cultures, and experiences in which, and through which, we have journeyed. Similarly, the worldviews to which we subscribe, and the sets of values we adopt, they too are not value neutral, they have been formed, shaped and influenced over time.

Surely, if we acknowledge the role of values in our lives, and the way in which those sets of values have been formed, it is a more helpful approach to consider 'how then do i relate to someone who holds different values to me' rather than saying 'that set of values is not as good as mine'.

Does what I have written make sense to anybody outside of my head?

youth work conference

On Friday I'm off to the Youthwork Conference in Southport.

I've actually never been to the conference before, despite having been involved in Christian youthwork for over seven years.

I'm not quite sure what I'll make of it. If I'm honest, I've heard mixed reviews, and for that reason I'm a bit apprehensive. Not in terms of a 'worried' sense, rather, a 'what will I actually get out of it' sense.

I'm looking forward to going as I'll be able to hang out with some other youthworkers from Sheffield, and some of my volunteers, and hopefully that will be fun. It's also an opportunity to get out of Sheffield, to get away from everything that is going on here, and just have a bit of time away. I'm certainly not expecting it to be relaxing, though I'm hoping it will be fun......we shall wait and see.