Flying Visit

Ok,

Next week, me and Mr C, daan saaarf.

On Weds i will mostly be in cafes in Reading. Come and find me and have coffee with me if you're around!

A few things

Blogger is still a pain to get into, but I have persevered!

I'm back, baby!!

OK. I said I would post my questions for the postmodern none-apologetic approach thing. It will also help me, cos I need to get around to writing something soon, so you can tell me off via comments if i don't!

"What is the pont of different denominations?"

and

"Why does God let people suffer?"


My ponderings so far for denominations:
Churches are like families - there might be a brother who prefers to sit and read a book, a sister who'd rather have her music up full volume and a wacky uncle that people get embarrased by. In a postive vein; there may be differences - but we're glad they are all part of the family.

Ponderings on suffering. The short answer which needs considerable development is:
I don't know - but I do believe that where there is suffering God is right in there along side. There would be a personal illustration too. I want to eschew the whole, " well, sin, you see..." as that may be theologically correct - but i've never known it to comfort anyone going through real pain. And besides, there are plenty of more trad apologetic sites that people could get that from anyway.

Boo!

Ha! Bet you weren't expecting that! Two blogs in the same month, must be some kind of miracle!

Anyhow, I've got a wee bit more motivation to blog now, as I will be needing some feedback from my lovely fellow bloggers. Grin :D
SU Scotland will be launching a swanky new website in July called "Ignite," about which more in a later blog (told you i had a new incentive). I'm part of a group that is responding to FAQ's about Christianity- however we are keen to eschew the traditional apologetic style of banging people over the head with impeccable logic until they submit to agreeing with you even though the arguments are less than convincing! (Actually, does that make the logic just 'peccable?!) Instead, we're hoping to be a bit more post modern in approach - being honest where we don't know, inviting young people to respond with their own thoughts and questions, and living in the tension of loving God, but not necessarily needing to know the answers. It will be an interesting experiment, as we're not really sure how it's going to go, and there don't seem to be many resources around about looking at questions people ask in a post modern manner! (Any suggestions?) We are pretty much making it up as we go.
What I'd like to do is pop the questions I've got up for folks to think about, then a couple of days later pop up my thoughts about it. I'd really appreciate feedback around what I write - does it hit the PM button, or does it fall into more trad apologetics? Would the tone/content relate to young people and most likely most importantly for me - how can I make it shorter! All constructive criticism welcome.

This of course assumes i will continue to blog - but if it ever takes AN HOUR to log into blogger (which ended up being more of an act of subterfuge than a straightforward log in) EVER AGAIN, then I may end up throwing the blessed machine out of the window/ blogging somewhere else!

Looking sheepish

Oh the irony of the last post and the dates between the two! I have been shamed into blogging again by my pals from Matrix. My problem is still that in my head, I blog, and get a lot out of it - i just never actually get around to posting them!!

Right, enough about me.

MATRIX. Fantastic. Really thought provoking, and I got a lot out of it.

Things it's left me thinking about:

Developing the West end team(s). James Lawrence's keynote talk about the youth worker as leader was universally acknowleged to be the buisness. Very challenging, but also very equipping and very encouraging. His book 'growing leaders,' is likely to join the pile of books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. It tied in well for me with the session on training volunteers, as I'm currently looking at what we can do with our fab volunteers to invest in them.

Anne Holt's 'Youth worker as Theologian was GOOD - but I now can't make sense of my notes as I've got a series of half written quotes!! I've checked the amaze website, but i've not found any posting of presentations yet as was promised. Still, it has only been 2 days!!

The session about emerging Church was REALLY good. It was mostly based on the fellas reflection on his own experiences, and a few sage words for those of us who are looking at the subject. I went not cos it's a latest bandwagon - but because there will be young people here who aren't shaped like the churches are, (pointy steeple heads?) and if they are going to be Christian they need to have some expression of Christ centred community where they can grow, and be accountable. So who is responsible for that? Is it a church plant? If so is it a youth Church, and how do i deal with the theological recoil that happens in my gut at that phrase? So I still have lot of questions, if anything more that before the session BUT I'm also clearer on other things - the gordian knot has unravelled a teeny weeny bit.

Other highlights were all the people there. It was great to have stimulating conversation, open exchange of ideas and a really good giggle. Oxford Dioscese posse, I salute you. Phil, you are Holy. Alice - you seem less little and shy - more like you have grown in confidence. Lev - I hope the withdrawal from5 alive doesn't give you the shakes!

Overall, it was better than the 'Deep impact,' conference that i went to - myabe because it was smaller, maybe because it was more focussed around equipping full timers to equip their leaders. My final thought it that i need to focus more on God. I think I've fallen into the trap of making the work the focus - but it needs to be a response to God's grace, not something that works out because of God's grace!

Bloggus intterruptus

I've decided to give blogging another go. I've ummed and aahd, but all in all I still want to do it. I've still got misgivings about it, but it's probaly a useful discipine for me. It won't always be great, but I will give it my best shot.

I've now been in post for a couple of months, and it has been a really positive start. There is so much potential, a lot of great people, and quite a lot of coffee!

For anyone who might be interestd in what I'm up to, my role seems to be panning into 3 main areas;

- schools work - co-ordinating, developing and delivering accross the West End.
- Church work - working with volunteers and young leaders to support, equip and
help make the youth work integrated and sustinable accross the West End.
- 'fresh expressions,' - this is the fuzziest bit! The thinking is that there are likely to be young people who want to explore and develop their faith - but who woud struggle to identify with the expression of Church currently available. It seems that a 'youth church,' has been tried and not worked, so that whole area is one big question mark - but currently all the more interesting for it!!

I'm still very aware of how life used to be - settling into a new place hasn't always been easy, but slowly roots are pushing in, and new bonds are being made.

P.S. if i used to link to you, but the links have disappeared, they will go up again soon - once i remember how to do it!

Two things you needed know (and one thing you didn't)

Firstly, you need to know we have a new addition to the family - no not that, silly!

After various misadventures with old computors, and 3 knackered computors and just over 6 weeks later, we have finally bitten the bullet and bought a new one, so I now have no excuse for not posting. Well, no good excuses anyway!

Second, I received a complaint from Mr Youthblog that I had him linked inncorrectly by his html. It's less painful than it sounds. The fault is now amended, so the multiplicitous THOUSANDS of you who have been unable to link to him through this blog may now do so. If you haven't popped by yet, it is DEFINITELY worth a look. Mr Youthlog, expect your sitemeter to be swamped. Don't say I didn't warn you!

And finally a giraffe has seven bones in its neck - which is exactly the same as a human.

I know, I know. Sometimes I just give you so much it's hard to take in.

Ringing the Changes

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted - life got hectic, (ending job, move to Glasgow, etc!) then I was net less for the best part of a month. Scary how depenent I'd become on this interweb thing.

News to date:

I've heard from the uni chaplaincy job I applied for - they've still not shortlisted!
Meantime, I've not seen anything else I'd really like to do, so I'm applying for jobs that make me feel a bit ho-hum rather than hurrah-hurrumph-and-hooray, and am temping at the DSS to keep things ticking over. I'm currently trying to work out how to reform the whole benfits system (strictly unasked, and in the quiet spots!) because the whole thing seems like a complete mess.

The move went really well, Glagow is really cool, the flat still has lots of boxes that need unpacking, and it is so, so good to be back with my husband again, the only really pants bit is that I miss old friends and collegues so much. It's also VERY weird not being an established part of a Church community - we're visiting Churches, trying to work out where we could 'fit'. Four visits, two of which we'd possibly go back to. Maybe.

Anhow that is the potted history of the last few months, bare details! Getting the computor to work is still a bit wobbly, but I'll try and be more faithful in updating again!

Blessings!