In and Out

My time with the youth workers/schools workers, both full-time and volunteer and Bishop David was amazing. I'm slowly getting to know all the people in the area. We now are very fortunate to have 3 full time area workers, all of whom are brilliant at what they do and are very encouraging as a team.

We're also blessed with having a Bishop who is passionate about young people and their leaders, asking us what he can do to support us, to grow our ministries and make them sustainable.

From these kind of meetings, the youth strategy was created and there are various other things that have come from time together in a forum, particularly a strong feeling that what we are doing is growing church in so many different ways. We're pulled together to help each other, to share ideas, and to be empowered to go out and develop those ideas. Rachel (DYO Colchester) was saying that sometimes we can feel like we're in a dead end, but coming to others in a similar work situation (this is a C of E setting and we're all youth workers) helps us to figure out a solution and opportunity for growing church.

Opportunities not problems.
Once I've digested it a bit more, I'll write out the day in full!

I decided that as we were in Chelmsford I'd take the opportunity to jump on a bus and see what the journey is like, now I've spent almost a year away from that sort of commute. It hasn't changed, other than I clearly got on one of the newer buses on the way home, there still wasn't much space for me to sit comfortably, despite my rather short legs. Still the journey, not having to wonder about where I was heading until after I got off the bus, gave me time to start re-reading my favourite novel



If you've never read this book and you're a fan of a complex endearing love story, I'd suggest that you either click on the photo (and hope it takes you to Amazon) or pop to W H Smiths - or any decent bookstore and buy it soon. The two main characters are well written and draw you in immediately. The author has a way with words that has left me wanting more, she's releasing another novel in October, so I may buy that. IMDb.com tells me the movie is to be released in August, so we'll see how well that does, I had no expectations when I first picked up the book, but I've read it so many times that I can't help but wonder what the movie will focus on, how they will deal with the time traveling and what the characters will be like.

Still haven't seen Star Trek or Wolverine... I may spend my day off in the cinema if the weather is awful!

The Modern and Post-modern way of doing things.

The Modern - The joys of HTML/Javascript

If you've ever tired to edit a blog you'll know exactly what I'm going to complain about, if you haven't...well, I'll explain as I go along.

Karen has a tracker on her blog, its a nifty one with a lot of information on it about the readers of her blog, it gives her an idea of who's reading, where they are from and how often they visit(nothing that means she can sell their personal details on to other companies you understand!). I was thrown into this a couple of years ago (sat in Karen's room in Cardiff) and added it to my blog. Then one day, for no reason, it just stopped working...so for at least 24 months I've had no idea who's keeping up with me and who's around regularly. Now though, things are different...I've got my tracker back...the little black and blue box lets me be just one click away from finding out all about you dear reader!

It's taken a whole week for me to figure the thing out and get it working though! Blogger decided, in its wisdom, that changing a copy and pasted HTML code (lots of lines and letters, numbers and symbols) is a regular thing to do. Extreme (the company who provide the tracker) assured me that the code was correct, and there was nothing they could help me with...I was to go back to Blogger and ask them what was wrong. As always, whenever I need help, my request becomes rare or unusual, and I can't find anything other than a description of how to get HTML on to a page. GREAT. So I came to my senses and just re-wrote the code, letter for letter into the box. I spotted the problem...Blogger had just 'forgotten' to add some lines in the HTML!

Writing HTML isn't the most exciting thing ever, but when it works, it has some exciting results!

So now I have a tracker...Woop!

I've spent most of today compiling emails and replying to various bits and pieces as well as sorting out my phone and trying to get hold of comparethemarket.com, the latter has brought me absolutely no joy at all, sometimes when I phone out the person I'm calling can't hear me...it's happened twice, once with Orange and once today...I don't know whether its the call centre or me...still I will not phone an 0845 number if the company can't get their act together about phoning my mobile number!

The Post-modern - The Church and its surroundings

Yesterday was an interesting day...for personal reasons I took a day out, to sit in my room to pray, listen and read.

I guess the main thing that impacted me was my lack of discipline...I haven't been doing what I should recently, so building up my quiet times and prayer times again is going to be interesting, this time last year I was a lot better at it and felt better for it too...recently not so much, but it has been highlighted by a few God-incidences that reading (the Bible) and praying are things we need to be doing, both corporately and individually. So here's my pledge - to read my Bible and pray daily...starting froooommm....NOW!

I came back to my Bible notes at the right moment too...1 Timothy 4: 11-16 says

'Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.'

What more do you need to hear really when you think the world is against you? These verses are my inspiration, along with the letter to the Ephesians and the Christians in Thessalonica.

I'm currently reading a book by Dan Kimball about the Emerging Church, and Church in a post modern age. I'll review it when I'm done, some questions though, and if you can't answer it, I guess you should read Dan's book... Do you live with a modern or post-modern outlook on life? Are the people around you modern or post-modern in their view? What do you think post-modernism is?

The idea of post-modernism is an intersting subject for me, initially as a sociologist, secondly as a theologian and thirdly as a youth worker (though all are interchangeable) because it can strike fear into people and it can open up a can of worms...but from what I've already read and know, its something that needs to be tackled!

Keep an eye out for further posts!

I have to go home, sitting at this computer has given me a dull shoulder ache that can only be attributed to the lack of support for the wrists whilst typing/using the keyboard...