Thursday, May 18, 2006

Dean of Oxford

More notes to be added here anon as again rushing about today but some pretty good notes of the event from Ian (as well as a link to the weirdest reference of the day) . It was a really excellent day of honest reflection on the state of youth ministry as Phil says. Good to finally meet Ricky who will no doubt blog soon if only due to the presure of being linked to by me (and Lev and Simo!)

So first some quick quotations from Kenda:

Kenda proposed that all people are looking for SALVATION whether they know it or not.

Young people can sometimes see the bible as "a strange text they have yet to unpack... that includes us and has clues about where we're at and why we're here."

"The quest for self and for God are interlinked"

Kenda used a scene from Smallville to compare Clark Kent's search for meaning and self as the universal struggle of people, young and old:

"All of us have kryptonite in our lives... that topple us"

Yet the difference as Kenda saw it was that "in the Christian tradition kryptonite holds a purpose" because the "power of God is shown not through God's strenght but... through the weakness] of the cross"

"Love trumps force in the Christian tradition"

The challenge to us is that young people are "more familiar with the salvation through strength as in Superman" and "expect God to act like Superman" as the people of Israel did when Jesus came to them.

The trouble is that "those unable to identify with the church look for salvation outside it"

and "salvation stories outside the church are more compelling than those in the church"

more soon...

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