I’ve recently taken on the role of managing the Youth Leader Mail list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Youth_Leader_Mail/ , the email list has been going for a number of years (since 2001) and has a history of providing resources, encouragement, prayers and “dad jokes” to people in ministry with young people. It’s more a newsletter than a discussion forum and emails are sent out almost every fortnight to it’s members (currently over 350 members).
I’m adding the first emailing to this blog here for people to check out and in the hope that some of you may think about joining it and perhaps even contributing to it somehow via email: digitalorthodoxy@gmail.com or phone/post.
People can subscribe to the list by sending a blank email to Youth_Leader_Mail-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and I’d love it if you were to promote this list to your networks, co-leaders, ministers and friends so that it can grow during the year, currently there are over 350 members on the list!!
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Bruce Mullan started this email list way back in 2001 with the idea that it would be a resource for people in ministry with young people that is both informative and practical, and, apart from his penchant for rather “dad-like” jokes I always found this list to be one of the more useful lists that I participated in. I found regular support, encouragement and inspiration from his thoughts, resources and contact knowing that there are others out there who are willing to put into the community of youth leaders and workers who are regularly in ministry with young people. For the last couple of years it’s been managed by YACMU and Andrew Bell has been sending out the emails, but it’s remained dormant for a year, I’ve put my hand up to take on the list as I really believe in it’s ability to support, research and encourage
This email list runs more like a newsletter than a discussion forum, every fortnight I’ll be able to send out an email with movie discussions, book reviews, game ideas, resources, quotes, thoughts, links to websites, bible studies, prayers and news articles that I hope will feed into your ministry. Some of the resources will be very practical and others may be a bit of a stretch, but whatever goes out I pray will be something that speaks to as many of you out there as possible. I’ll keep it to fortnightly emails so that it doesn’t become one of those email lists that suck up a lot of your time.
This email list is for youth leaders, youth workers, children’s workers, pastors, ministers, sunday school teachers, educators and anyone who would like to receive support in any way.
The Yahoo Group website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Youth_Leader_Mail/ will host resource files, occasional polls and the entire backlist of Youth Leader Mails (including every joke that made it onto the list!!!) if you don’t have a Yahoo ID you can still be a part of the group, but if you do have one you’ll be able to participate even more with the list (including participating with polls and surveys)
I’m in ministry in the Riverina Presbytery of the Uniting Church as the Youth and Children’s ministry worker resourcing and encouraging ministry with young people in the region. I’m 33 years old and have been in ministry for more years than I can remember, my passions include movies, music, popular culture, reading, writing, golf, AFL, Television, Theology, Faith, Justice, Youth Ministry, Mission, Camping and chocolate (FairTrade of course). I run a website and suit of blogs over at www.digitalorthodoxy.com that I update irregularly (hopefully more regularly this year) with resources and ideas for youth ministry and I’ll be your host on this email list for the year (and perhaps beyond)
People can subscribe to the list by sending a blank email to Youth_Leader_Mail-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and I’d love it if you were to promote this list to your networks, co-leaders, ministers and friends so that it can grow during the year, currently there are over 350 members on the list!!
If you find yourself on this list and want to leave the list for any reason, if you’re no longer in youth or children’s ministry or if it’s one email too many you can unsubscribe by sending a blank email to Youth_Leader_Mail-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
But for now, here’s the first email for 2009, I hope it’s useful and helpful in your ministry.
Quote:
The vision that Jesus gives us is this: That I am unconditionally loved, that I belong to God, and that I am a person who can really trust that. When I meet another person who also is rooted in the heart of God, then the spirit of God in me can recognize the spirit of God in the other person, and then wew can start building a new space, a new home, a house, a community. Whether we speak about friendship, community, family, marriage, in the spiritual world we are talking about spirit recognizing Spirit, solitude embracing Solitude, heart speaking to Heart. And where this happens, there is an immense space.
- Henri Nouwen
Lecture at Scarritt-Bennett Center
Joke:
Bruce Mullan used to post a joke per email, I may not be able to keep up with that kind of routine, so don’t expect too many jokes on this list from here on in, but just in case you wanted one here’s a repeat from the very first Youth Leader Mail ever back in 2001, perhaps it may make you laugh, or it may inspire you to send your own in, or it may just create a world wide petition to cease and desist all jokes on this email list for good…
A five-dollar note met a fifty-dollar note and said, “Hey, where have you been? I haven’t seen you around here much.”
The fifty answered, “I’ve been hanging out at the casinos, went on a cruise and did the rounds on the ship, back to the United States for a while, went to a couple of football games, to the shopping centre, that kind of stuff. How about you?”
The five dollar note said, “You know, same old stuff – church, church, church.”
Participate:
I’ll run occasional competitions (yes, competitions with prizes) and surveys on the list, allowing for people to participate, engage and interact, and the website is there (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Youth_Leader_Mail/) if you’d like to access past emails and files.
I’d really love it if people on this list were able to contribute to it by sending in their youth group ideas, devotions, book reviews, picture book suggestions, music reviews, film discussions, thoughts, reflections, problems for inclusion in the newsletter. The more people that get involved the better as it means that we can begin to build up a network of people in ministry supporting one another and re-creating a culture of ministry that is supportive and generous.
If you’ve got events, job vacancies and resources that you’d like to promote please get in contact with me on email: digitalorthodoxy@gmail.com .
Next fortnight I’ll run a competition with a dvd prize, keep your eyes open!
From The Alternative Hymnal – How The Day Sounds by Greg Laswell:
Have you ever heard a song on the radio, or in a store that just sticks in your head? Have you ever heard a song on a television show or movie that strikes you as remarkable and immediately makes you want to figure out who sang the song, or just to simply figure out the name of the track? Have you ever contemplated phoning up a radio station (say for example triplej radio) and requesting a song that “I don’t remember all the words, or the name of the song but it goes something like la la la boom boom backachoo bing bing, you know the song, it was played once this morning around 8.20am, argh, it’s got a bit of a quick backbeat and reminds me of this other band that I can’t remember the name to?” (believe it or not too many people do exactly that)? Have you ever heard a song that’s so annoyingly catchy that you find yourself humming it, walking to it’s timing, singing the lyrics when you’re alone, using lines of it in conversation accidently or, perhaps using it as your mobile phone ring tone?
Song’s do this type of thing, they capture us, they inspire us, they haunt us, and if you’re the type of person who gets hooked onto music easily there’s nothing quite as annoying as not knowing who sang that song and, what the correct lyrics are or where you can get your hands on it NOW because it’s suddenly captured you.
On the side my iphone’s got that great application Shazam just for the occasion of my hearing a new song and needing to know who sang it and what it’s name is NOW. The program records a small section of a song using the phone’s microphone and then checks the internet to see if it can match it with anything on it’s database. Yes, that’s scary, but extremely handy if you’re a little like me and always listening to new and old music…
These songs are sometimes infectious, you start to whistle to it and others around you start to whistle it, your humming at work or school becomes a chorus of hummers, you add it to your phone’s ringtone and others ask you to share it as well, your marching to it’s tune inspires others to walk with the same timing. A song that is REALLY infectious can hit the top ten for a day or two, but a song that is truly great sneaks into our being, it never really leaves us, causing us to sing it at the drop of a hat in times where we may have thought that the song had been forgotten. A really great song gets respected, it gets covered, other artists pick it up and make it their own, suddenly you find that U2, Radiohead, Jonny Cash, Coldplay, Ani Difranco, Paul Kelly, Sarah Mclachlan or The Dixie Chicks are all covering the song and artists like Moby and Fourtet find themselves remixing the song for people to dance to the same song with a different beat and with different dance movements.
Much of the time I’ll understand my faith in similar terms, it’s a song that I once heard that is so great that it haunts me, so inspiring that it causes me to dance, so thoughtful that it makes me hum, so catchy that I whistle it wherever I go. It’s a song I once heard my parents sing, it’s a song that I’ve heard many others cover and remix as they themselves sing, play, whistle, dance and hum. It’s a song that so many people I know sing that it’s become a part of who I am, always with it playing in the back of my head and infecting everything about me so that sometimes I burst out into complete dance and singing as I cover the song in my own way with my own voice.
And sometimes I hope it’s a song that others find infectious as well, a song that perhaps others may hear me humming and see me dancing to and suddenly find themselves asking “what the heck am I listening to” as they begin to realise just how haunting the melody is.
Continue reading the devotion at: http://alternativehymnal.digitalorthodoxy.com/?p=300
“When Jesus and Justice Kiss” by Shane Claiborne:
Shane Claiborne was in Australia recently speaking at the National Christian Youth Convention in Melbourne, he’s recently written a blog post on sojo.net on his experiences in Australia…
It seems that much of our conversation as a Church is in a perpetual cycle of reaction. We are tempted to exaggerate the neglected truth, and end up making incomplete disciples, either social justice disciples without Jesus or Jesus disciples without social justice. Then there are those special moments where Jesus and Justice kiss. I recently had a moment of that kind of romance, in Australia.
I just got back from a trip to Australia where I was saw folks fall in love with Jesus, the real Jesus, for the first time… and with the innocence of a kid at the altar in a big tent revival, fell on their knees with tears going down there cheeks for they found had found their Lover. It was a revival.
First off, I’ll have to say that the Uniting Church and National Christian Youth Conference have raised the bar on what you can do with a few thousand Christians gathered in a city together. They sent hundreds of folks out in small affinity groups all over the city of Melbourne to infiltrate the city with grace and holy mischief. Here are a few of the things the groups did:
- Perform street theater where a hundred or so folks stood in place, every seven seconds a drum would resound, and one of them would fall to the ground to represent the death rate from poverty around the world
- Set up a shanty-town, cardboard slum on the steps of Parliament to bring attention to the folks being displaced around the world
- Went out with sidewalk chalk to decorate the city with messages of hope
- Cleaned up random yards and vacant lots of people they did not know
- Played cricket in an alley with some homeless folks
- Held a peace witness outside the BAE, the large weapons manufacturer in Australia
- Went to an old folks home and played board games with the elderly
Read the rest of the piece on the National Christian Youth Convention here: http://blog.sojo.net/2009/01/29/when-jesus-and-justice-kiss/
Resources – Throw & Tell Balls:
Throw & Tell ™ balls are inflatable resources that wire absolutely fantastic that are not only good for “get to know you” activities, but also for worship, camps, bible study, building trust and more. The balls have become a resource that I use regularly in my ministry and it’s about time others started using them as well.
One might think that the balls are only for children and youth, but you’d be wrong, the questions are good enough and the throwing around of the ball is a lot of fun, even for those in the older age bracket (they just need to be able to catch). Simply inflate, gather and throw the ball around when someone calls out “stop” or “time” whoever has the ball will need to check their right or left thumb and answer the question at hand…
Use the balls regularly and people will get used to the concept and answering the questions, they can seem a little frightening at first, but over time people find them to be a lot of fun, I regularly use them at work and ministry at camps, meetings, SRE teachers gatherings, youth groups…
People can purchase from Throw & Tell Balls from:
Group Publishing (US) http://store.grouppublishing.com
Mediacom (Au) http://www.mediacom.org.au
Being White Doug Schaupp on “Race Relations in Life and Ministry”:
Recently Doug Schaupp, co-author of Being White: Finding our Place in a Multiethnic World and regional director for InterVarsity, spoke for FYI at our local Los Angeles Youth Ministry Network. His insights on race relationships can help your ministry move beyond talk of “reconciliation” to actively building justice.
Link: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2009/01/being-white/
Around The Net In 5 Links:
- Blog Post:Youth Ministry Resource: 101 Things I Wish I’d Known
- Blog Post: Mission in a world of destabilised meaning
- Book Review: A review of Pete Ward’s new book “Participation and Meditation”
- Article: Obama and Gen Y. When the Honeymoon ends
- Amusing Article: Advice for theological students: ten steps to a brilliant career
Movie Discussion – Seven Pounds (Spoiler Alert!):
Grace / “This is my body… that is, if you deserve it.”
“Grace is the incomprehensible fact that God is well pleased with a man, and that a man can rejoice in God. Only when grace is recognized to be incomprehensible is it grace. Grace exists, therefore, only where the Resurrection is reflected. Grace is the gift of Christ, who exposes the gulf which separates God and man, and, by exposing it, bridges it. . . . Where the grace of God is, the very existence of the world and the very existence of God become a question and a hope with which and for which men must wrestle. For we are not now concerned with the propaganda of a conviction or with its imposition on others; grace means bearing witness to the faithfulness of God which a man has encountered and recognized, and which requires a corresponding fidelity towards God. The fidelity of a man to the faithfulness of God–the faith, that is, which accepts grace–is itself the demand for obedience and itself demands obedience from others. Hence the demand is a call which enlightens and rouses to action; it carries with it mission, beside which no other mission is possible. For the name of Him in whom the two worlds meet and are separated must be honoured, and for this mission grace provides full authority, since men are shattered by it.”
– Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans 6th Edition. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968), 31.
Ben Thomas, the main character in the movie seven pounds (played by Will Smith) has decided that he has a gift that he wishes to distribute to seven worthy people, this gift will drastically change their lives and potentially be a huge blessing. To one he’ll give sight to the blind, to another a heart, to another he’ll move them from danger to safety and poverty to wealth, but this gift is too big to give to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
The movie Seven Pounds follows Ben’s search for atonement from something that he did in his past, it’s his search to make good, to undo something that he still feels a deep shame, loss and regret for. It’s also a movie that follows his search for people that are worthy for this gift, and his angst as he finds that not everyone he has in mind are worthy of what he has to offer.
I use the word atonement as it’s a theological term that we use to describe how we as humans seek reconciliation with our creator and with the creation in which we live. Ben’s search is one that i think we all can relate to in one way or another, in that we all seek reconciliation, we all seek forgiveness, and that perhaps to forgive ourselves is one of the hardest things to do.
The story also brings up another theological term, that of “Grace.” I’ve written before that many of us seem to confuse the idea of “Karma” with the idea of “Grace,” that perhaps, like Jonah after Nineveh was spared by God we believe that those who are wicked need to be punished somehow, that good things will inevitably happen to good people. We sometimes will be speaking of the Kingdom of God (Heaven) as some place that good people go to and that bad people will be barred from entering, and, depending on who is talking our definition of what good and bad is will differ. Karma is easy to understand and it’s easier to explain than Grace. We speak of Jesus’ redemptive work as something that is only for certain people and completely forget the idea of “Grace” that Jesus spoke of.
The Grace that Jesus spoke of is for everyone, it’s much bigger than we give credit too, it’s an all embracing, surprising, non oppressive, radical grace that stood in radical opposition to the religious rulers of the time who preached a God of shame and punishment. Jesus’ body was broken for all, he didn’t go around asking if you deserved it or not before being broken, he didn’t ask you if you were a good person or not before he loved you. In this movie Ben Thomas’ act is only for people who he thinks deserves it, and he spends a lot of time searching for those people. One of the differences between the message of Ben and of Jesus is that Jesus says “This is my body, broken for you” while Ben whispers “This is my body, that I’ll break for you if you deserve it.” No matter how much you want to sugar coat his message Ben’s message is still one of Karma while Jesus’ is one that is much larger than that, because his is of an all encompassing, all embracing, all loving, all inclusive Grace that none of us can really understand.
In the end of the story Ben doesn’t ask for forgiveness, instead he seeks redemption in his not-so-random acts of (kindness?). We see his redemption in the end not in his death, but in his relationship with Emily Posa that changes him from a person who cannot find reconciliation to a person who can finally see the hope of reconciliation and love. In the end we’re left asking a lot of uncomfortable questions, like, is Ben a hero, what is atonement, where is the place of forgiveness in this story and finally the question of “what now?”
This is a good movie for older groups, scenes can possibly be picked out for younger groups when the dvd comes out. Be aware that there is a possibility that suicide will be a topic on the table for discussion if you do choose to watch the entire movie with a group, as may be grief and donating organs, so if you do watch the entire movie with a group of people make sure that they are of an appropriate age (15+) and that you’ve got appropriate people on hand to help with discussion, debriefing and pastoral care.
Questions for discussion:
- Is there anything that is unforgivable?
- Do you find it hard to forgive others?
- What helps you forgive others?
- Do you find it hard to forgive yourself?
- How would you define forgiveness?
- How would you define Grace?
- How hard is it for you to ask for forgiveness?
Article: The Essential Role of “Cultural Intelligence” in Youth Ministry:
As a youth worker, your average day likely includes some or all of these kinds of interactions:
- Responding to a senior adult who thinks the youth group’s music is too loud.
- Revising your spring break mission trip plans after the pastor of the church you’re going to serve sends an email with a different agenda for your team’s work there.
- Meeting a parent of a student over lunch and attempting to understand that parent’s frustration over the different vision of life your ministry has been casting for his daughter.
- Talking by phone with a customer service representative from India to investigate why your cell phone has been acting up.
While these might seem like disjointed fragments of a random day in youth ministry, they actually are pieces of a puzzle that mystifies many of us: cross-cultural relationships.
In the past, cross-cultural communication was primarily relegated to the realm of interacting with people outside of your own country. But now, given an increasingly multicultural United States and the globalization of nearly every technology, industry and service—not to mention ministry—our ability to bridge language and other divides has become critically important. So important, in fact, that some argue that youth workers must develop new skills for encountering the multicultural realities of ministry today.
Continue Reading this article at: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2008/01/no-longer-an-option/
NCYC Bible Studies by Craig Mitchell:
The National Christian Youth Convention for 2009 is now over, people can access photos and other information from the website over at http://ncyc.org.au
Craig Mitchell, Youth Worker, Christian Educator, Blogger, Mac Enthusiast, Father, Musician and Tech head from South Australia was one of the bible study leaders at NCYC, leading a couple hundred young people in a study of the book of Mark. Craig’s recently uploaded his study notes for people who may be interested up on his blog. The notes explain his process and resources used in the process of running the studies and are uploaded there for others to use, steal, be inspired by or to throw into their resources basket for a rainy day.
You can access his study notes here:
- Bible Study #1 http://craigmitchell.typepad.com/mountain_masala/2009/01/i-havent-blogged-all-year.html
- Bible Study #2 http://craigmitchell.typepad.com/mountain_masala/2009/01/bible-study-2.html
- Bible Study #3 http://craigmitchell.typepad.com/mountain_masala/2009/01/bible-study-3.html
While you’re there check out his blog http://craigmitchell.typepad.com/mountain_masala
Training – Generation Next Seminars:
Generation Next is an exciting new national seminar series exploring the unique pressures, needs and healthcare and sociological challenges facing Australian teenagers, adolescents, parents and anyone working with young people.
Generation Next is unique, not only in the relevance of its topics and quality of its presenters, but in its advocating practical solutions. By attending attending a Generation Next you seminar will walk away armed not only with expert insights into issues confronting young people, but workable answers to problems.
- Saturday May 23 Sydney
- Saturday June 13 Melbourne
- Saturday June 27 Adelaide
- Saturday September 5 Brisbane
- Saturday November 9 Perth
Link: http://www.gennextseminars.com
Event – About Face 2009
Young adults between 18 – 30 will choose to be placed in either an Aboriginal Australian community or with one of our Partner Churches in the Asia-Pacific region. Communities will arrange programs that include sharing stories and experiences, and fostering relationships and understanding. The 3-week program includes time in communities, as well as formal briefing and debriefing with other participants.
The program will raise awareness of what it means to live in a global community, and to share resources and opportunities responsibly and with justice. It aims to create an ‘about face’ in the attitudes and lifestyles of participants, and to build relationships and bridges of understanding. About FACE 09 is not simply an event for an individual, but is a shared experience with congregations and communities.
Applications close on Friday 13th February, 2009 Information, application forms and stories from past participants are all available on the website at www.aboutface.org.au
About FACE (Faith and Culture Exchange) is an exciting opportunity for young adults to build relationships with people from another culture, share faith, and grow in Christian discipleship.
For more information contact Jill Ruzbacky or Tess Keam on (03) 9251 5271 or email: info@aboutface.org.au
Web link: http://aboutface.unitingchurch.org.au/
Training – About National Youth Worker In-Service:
National In-Service is a bi-annual event for workers with Children, Young people and Families. The event is hosted by the Uniting Church and in 2009 by the Mission Resourcing Network in South Australia. People of all denominations are welcome to attend. National In-Service aims to bring people working with Children, Young people and Families together to learn about the latest practises in this field, share ideas and resources as well as to spiritually and physically recharge.
Keynote speaker:
Rev Dr Steve Taylor was church-planter pastor at Graceway Baptist Church and is currently pastor at Opawa Baptist Church in Christchurch, New Zealand, leading a staff team of seven and transitioning a 95 year old conservative church into some new emerging congregations. This has included new congregations such as espresso – resourcing spirituality in cafes. He is the author of “The Out of Bounds Church?” (Zondervan, 2005).
Steve is also Lecturer in Practical Theology at the Bible College of New Zealand and teaches in areas including Missional Church Leadership, Reel Spirituality, Emerging Church, Context for Ministry, Leadership, Contemporary Preaching, Gospel in a post-Christian Society.
The details:
When: August 2-7 2009
Where: Nunyara Conference Centre
Cost: $550 full time
$100 per day
$200 full time for children 2+, including accomodation, food & childcare
$ 65 full time for children under 2, including accomodation & childcare (cots & highchairs will be provided)
$10.50 for linen if required
Free transfers from airport
Contact: Ernest Sorensen E: esorenson@sa.uca.org.au P: (08) 8236 4261 or Heidi Harding E: hharding@sa.uca.org.au P: (08) 8236 4281
About djwright
