palm sunday

Yesterday we had our first Reflective Service for Holy Week. The first installation used one plank of wood, which was set up to help us reflect about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.

During the service we considered Jesus' passivity during the events of Palm Sunday, and the feelings and expectations of the crowd who welcomes Jesus to Jerusalem. We were challenged to consider our own passivity, both to God and to the events going on around us in the world, and thought about our own expectations for Holy Week this year.

holy week

Throughout Holy Week our church is running a series of Reflective Services. During the services we will be using a series of 'installations' initially designed by a guy called Mark James, who is a friend of a friend. On Palm Sunday the installation uses one plank of wood, and each day throughout Holy Week another plank is added, creating a different image each day.

the weekend

Last weekend was pretty manic, but all in all it was pretty cool.

I decided to have Friday off (well most of it) because I knew I would be working the rest of the weekend. I went to see Hotel Rwanda. If you haven't seen it I strongly recommend that you try to see it. I found it to be a fantastically emotive film. Set during the Rwandan civil war during the 1990s, it tells the true story of a hotel manageer who uses his hotel and his relationships with the Rwandan ruling classes to save the lives of hundreds of refugees. Go see it.

On Friday night we re-started the detached youth work. It's been a while since I've been out on detached, mainly because I've had nobody to work with. But it was really good to go out. I really feel that this is a key part of what I'm called to do during my time in Millhouses.

On Saturday I went to a day conference run by Nail the Truth . I have to admit that I was a litte sceptical beforehand. Nail the Truth is the youth ministry of one of our neighbouring parish churches. It's big. And its kind of on the more evangelical side than I'm currently used to. They're looking to launch a kind of citywide network/movement. This has got some people's backs up. Words such as 'empire building' have been used to describe it.

I still have questions (as ever) about some of the things that they're looking to do, but I have to admit I really enjoyed the conference. It was great to be able to hang out with people that I see every so often, but don't get to spend a lot of time with. I felt a real sense of unity and purpose (which I recognise can sometimes be hyped up at big events), but I was really challenged to be positive, and to trust God. Ultimately, if this is of Him, it will succeed, and I kind of want to be involved in God's plans.

Chesterfield beat Huddersfield 2-1 today. It was the first home match I hadn't been to in ages and we finally managed to win at home again. Grrrr.

On Sunday we had Sunday School (crazy I know). We had a really open discussion about 'Other Religions' and why different people beleive different things. It was cool. I really enjoyed it, I think the young people did too. What was really encouraging was hearing some of the young people say what they do believe in, I know that a number of them know quite a lot, but to hear some of them articulate it in the way that they did was encouraging.

On Sunday evening we had our Informal Evening Service at Carterknowle Methodist Church (we run these informal services every couple of months between Holy Trinity and the two local Methodist Churches). It was pretty good I think. We were thinking about Freedom, which follows on from what we've been talking about with the youth group.

All in all, last weekend was good. It'll be Easter soon, which will be pretty busy. But generally, work is going well. I'm enjoying it. Reflecting on recent times, it's been a while since I've been able to say this. :-)

not the best weekend ever

So when we consider what really matters in life (sport), this weekend was hardly very good. Like a fool I went to watch Chesterfield lose 3-1 against Peterborough, who were next to bottom of Div 2/3/Coco League 1. That merely compounded the pain of last week's football viewing at 'Fortress Saltergate'.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Liverpool lost to Chelsea, and England lost to Ireland (at rugby). :-(

However, I have a funny feeling that the tragic events of this weekend will not stop me wasting more money watching abismal football in the future.

utterly dismal

So it turns out I was hoping for too much. Chesterfield never looked like putting up any real resistance to Sheffield Wednesday. Disappointingly we lost 3-1. Ah well, you can't win them all.

reading week

This last week has been a reading week for university. While I have done quite a bit of reading this week, I have to confess that none of it has had a particular academic focus. Well it might have some impact later, I just haven't realised it yet.

I picked up a copy of The Da Vinci Code in Sainsbury's. I couldn't put it down, finished it in two days. Whatever you make of the historical accuracy (or lack thereof) it is a well written book, that really draws you in.

Over the last few weeks I've been reading a couple of books by the Linn's. The who's you may ask. They were described to be as charismatic Catholics. They've written quite a lot of books from what I gather. The first book I read by them is called Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life. In the book the Linn's describe the Examen - a process by which we think about what gives us life, and what takes it away.

I'm currently in the middle of another book by the Linn's - Healing the Purpose of Your Life. I'm not very far through it yet, but I imagine I will blog on it in due course.

I'm also in the middle of The Motorcycle Diaries. Now I know that it is/was cool to like Che Guevara, or at least have a t-shirt with his face on it. But I went to see the film when it came out a few months ago, and really enjoyed it. Not only is it an entertaining film, depicting his journey (with a friend and a motorbike) around South America, but it also gives an insight into the background of the guy who we all now know about and instantly recognise. The thing that struck me about him, was his compassion for the marginalised and the oppressed - something that is quite close to my own heart as well. Well worth a look/read in my opinion.

the last seven days

It's been quite a good week really. Last Sunday's licencing service went off without any major hitches. In the end I really enjoyed the service, and it was great to see church so full.

My computer has been pretty poorly of late. Had to go away to computer hospital a couple of weeks ago. I thankfully got it back on Wednesday. Annoyingly I lost the contents of the hard disk (I had backed up some stuff thank goodness), and it now has a new DVD/CD drive. Seems to be working ok for the moment.

Anyway, more importantly, this afternoon I'm off to watch Chesterfield take on Sheffield Wednesday at Saltergate. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous (though not as nervous as before the licencing service), but hopefully it should be an entertaining afternoon. Lets hope we pick up at least one point - is it too much to hope for all three???

feb 13

For the last couple of weeks now my inbox has been buzzing with emails whose subject line reads 'Feb 13' or word to that effect. On Sunday, the Bishop of Doncaster (Cyril) is coming to licence me to do youth work. I know I've already been doing youth work here for a nearly 5 months, but we eventually managed to find a slot in his diary where he could come along on a Sunday morning, and licence/commission me. Should be a good time, I'm just getting fed up of sorting things for it.

While I recognise that it will be good for the church to see me being officially recognised by the diocese, I've had to spend hours sorting things out, which when you're only part time anyway, really eats up 'proper' youth work hours.

Ah well. It shoudln't be too bad. As ever I'm a tad nervous about speaking in front of the whole church (+ bishop, friends, various visitors inc. my Mum and Dad). But in all honesty, I will be very relieved when it's all done and I can get on with my youth work.

book of uncommon prayer

When I was searching the internet looking for youth work resources to help 'celebrate' Halloween, I found an order of service especially for All Hallows Eve, from a book called The Book of Uncommon Prayer. I stuck this book on my wishlist for Christmas, and fortunatly I received it.

A couple of weeks ago we were starting to plan a service where we would be looking at the effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami. In the book, was the outline for A Service for a National Tragedy .

We're doing the service this coming Sunday evening, so I may well post about how it went. But if you're reading this, and you have an interest in prayer, youth work, or both, then can i strongly suggest you check out this book. It looks to be a really useful resource.

what should we be campaigning against?

It's been hard to miss the coverage of one of the biggest tragedies of recent times. But at least we've got a sense of perspective and are all
campainging for the things that really matter in life.

Ok. I'm sorry, but I can't help feeling that there are a few mixed up priorities here. First, lets deal with Jerry Springer: The Opera. Are people entitled to free speech? Or can they only say what they want as long as it doesn't offend others. In which case, are there certain people, including some in Christian circles, who need to be censored? I don't particularly like Jesus being presented as one who approves of greed and self-centeredness. Maybe we should get ourselves a dictator, who will force us to share the same opinion on everything?

If we're going to talk about declining morals in the world, ought we not direct a little more criticism in other directions? $1.5million. Are they having a laugh?

So what ought we be campainging against then? Is this TV show really the most important thing that needs campainging against at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I approve of the opera, I think it may (and I say 'may' because I haven't seen it yet - obviously all the other campaingers have) be pretty tastless. But surely there are other things that matter just a little bit more.

One thing that has struck me, and others I have spoken to, in the aftermath of the Indian ocean disaster, is that as horrendous as the devastation has been, and as preventable as many of the deaths have been, as great as it is that people are giving loads of money, we could be preventing that many people dying every week, if only we would be so active about Third World debt and the ludicrously unfair trade rules. If you're wondering how to go about campaigning, may I suggest you start here.