Licensed to Chill

So it was my licensing service last night and I am now official!

It was a fabulous evening with some outstandingly good confessional prayers from the young people of St Barnabas Franche, some fantastic drumming from takadrumba, awesome worship songs led by Formal Affair, some really thoughtful intercessions from Upton deanery as well as a great Peruvian gloria from the cantor, beautiful celtic knotwork from my best beloved on the service sheet and topped with the bright red cherry of a phenomenal sermon by Bishop John on the spirituality of young people and my mission in the diocese. Kinda heavy stuff to have a sermon that really IS preached at you however it was still amazing.

Thanks also to Andrew for taking pictures!

Thanks to all for a wonderful evening, especially to those who came so far to support me!

Clergy Day

Had a great morning this morning as I joined the clergy day in the diocese. As a lay worker I fall in that "sort of clergy - sort of not" category. In Worcester diocese, though, this really doesn't seem to be that much of an issue. I felt very welcome.

We had some reflections from David Hewlett on Presence and Engagement, followed by three perspectives on "what is church?" from a catholic, evangelical and radical view. Peter Atkinson (the dean) gave a well-rounded catholic view followed by Hugh Burton for the Evangelicals and then Professor John Hull proposed that it was possible to be a radical Anglican, even if it did sound a little oxymoronic!

It was also great to catch up with lots of people including some who have been reading the blog... always unnerving... but thank you Mike(1) and Doug... and others who have apparently begun to mistake the communications officer for me. Now, as no-one has done it the other way round, I could come across as working extremely hard!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to chat to everyone as I had another meeting in the afternoon which was also a great time meeting some new people and building stronger links with those I'd met before. When all's said and done, I think I am pretty much loving my job.

I'm being licensed on Sunday evening at St Mary and All Saints Kidderminster at 6.30pm and a little daunted at being the focus person on my own but looking forward to hearing Formal Affair and Takadrumba again and seeing young people from around the diocese contributing to prayers and readings. After that, I am officially not NEW anymore!

(1) Mike, does that sufficiently constitute a mention or did you want me to say how amusing/intelligent/insightful/dedicated/talented* you are?
*delete as applicable

Sermon Holy Cross Day

I was invited to preach at St Barnabas, Franche on Sunday for Holy Cross day so used a little thing I'd used before about looking at things from God's perspective. Then I saw this marvellous cartoon on the Naked Pastor so decided I'd pop the sermon up here. As ever, this is the sermon I wrote and is not exactly what I said. As always I find that writing the sermon out in full means I get an idea of the structure and then I get to the lectern and pretty much abandon the text completely!





The readings for the day were as follows:

Philippians 2:1-13
"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

and this was my sermon:

Today we have two very rich readings; two very well-known readings. In Philippians we hear those words which we often sing “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow” and for our gospel we had John’s famous born again passage. The Greek for this passage has two meanings: to be born from above or to be born again different biblical translations opt for one or the other. The passage also concluded with that passage which some consider sums up the whole of the Gospel the good news John 3.16 for God so loved the world…
The problem with such readings is that, as they are so familiar we can actually miss the depth of what they have to offer us.
Let’s start by taking St John’s words. St John’s Gospel takes on a new light if viewed, throughout, with the prologue in mind. Some scholars argue that this is how the author intended the text, in the style of other Greek writings, the prologue sets out the author’s ideas and colours all else that follows:
John 1.1-5 & 9-13
So Nicodemus is one of those people who walk in darkness. You might say that John tells us Nicodemus comes at night, not just because he was trying to hide from the authorities but because he was in the dark in more ways than one. Nicodemus, unfortunately, remains confused. I like the old translation, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it. It can’t understand it and it can’t overcome it either. That double meaning again.
Paul, similarly is writing from prison to the Christians in Philippi emphasizing how they have not understood Jesus, just as Nicodemus had not.
These passages then, have another thing in common. Both these readings place an emphasis on our need to make a change in the way we view things
For those of us who have been Christians for a long time, this can be harder than we think. We find ourselves in a similar position to Nicodemus: A part of the established religion faced by a challenging presence in the form of Jesus. Now we may be part of the Christian church, founded on what Christ taught not the Jewish religious establishment yet I’m sure God does look at the Church of England and see a few things that should be different. Jesus responds to Nicodemus by referring to the tradition of the Jewish church and by telling him that he is both the fulfilment and the power which will turn it on its head and put it back the way God intended it to be. Jesus emphasizes that people must change so utterly that they are born from above, born again, born in a heavenly way before they can see the kingdom. Is that before they can be aware of it or before they themselves can change so much that they become the kingdom?
That is what that great passage of John 3.16 encapsulates. The world as God intended it. Far from the punishment of all the enemies of the Jewish people and the God of wrath, Jesus comes as the opposite not to condemn the world but so that it might be saved and he doesn’t do it in a way that the Jewish people might expect. He’s not the great king and conquering hero but as the lowest
“though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross”
Br John of Taizé described this once as Jesus going from as high as you can be to as low as you can go and thereby encompassing everything within creation.
It is this Christ that Paul says we must be like.
As Christians we may think we know the answer to the question “What would Jesus DO?” as popular today as WWJD on bracelets T-shirts and, I kid you not, boxer shorts! Yet this change of mind is not a once and for all thing. It’s not something that happens at our baptism or confirmation. It is a continuous process. The Benedictine order has “conversion of life” as one of its core rules. It doesn’t mean a one time only deal but a daily, hourly, minute by minute conversion.
Let’s try and get our brains to hold that concept. That looking at things in a different way
If you’re able I’d like to ask you to stand if you’d rather not that’s fine you can still take part it’s just a little easier to do standing.
I’d like you to put your arm up in the air look up and draw a circle clockwise above your head, like it’s a halo. Then I’d like you to keep drawing that clockwise circle and close your eyes. Think of all you do that leads you forward with God and I’d like you to keep your eyes closed, keep drawing that circle and bring you your arm slowly down in a spiral until it is to level with your chest. Now this is how God sees it, looking down. Open your eyes and keep the circle going. He sees us continuously turning back not clockwise but anticlockwise.
This is our needing to be born from above, from god’s point of view. Those good things we do which draw us to God? (halo) God sees our need to turn our heads around and see them not as a way of GETTING TO GOD (they’re not. We don’t build our own path to heaven. Jesus builds the whole path and calls us to follow it) Not a way of getting there not things that make us saints. We are saints God calls us to do that which Paul says, to be of the same mind as Christ. Not building ourselves up by our works but humbling ourselves as servants.
It may sound a big ask to be of the same mind as Christ but as St Paul says, we don’t have to do this alone because “it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” What is God’s will for you this week where will God be at work in you this week?

re-fuelling

Newlife (7)
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush

It was fabulous last weekend to be involved with Rock the Cathedral but it was also really draining. Several of my colleagues asked me if I was "ok" on Friday as I had got really drained by the whole BIG EVENT thing and the attendant aftermath of the sudden drop in adrenalin and all that.

Fortunately I had the time today to do one of those things which is wholly outside my work. One of my "sabbath-day" talents as Bishop John (Oxon) calls them. I really enjoy painting and today I spent a long time on this piece whilst listening to my new Finchley album especially Track 12 called Struggle On. It felt right to draw something from one of the groups that rocked the cathedral last weekend to my quieter reflection this weekend.

The odd thing about this painting is that there's another one hidden in there. I started painting one thing and then found myself just blotting that out and reworking the pain into the background. That's something that was part of the process but is totally not seen in the final thing. I had painted images of white figures moving to a brighter centre but that wasn't what I felt was meant to be there in the end so, against all my better judgement I just blanked them out with no record of them except in my mind.

This image replaced them, of humanity born out of the blue and green of the earth and bathed in God's light.

I hope that the feeling I'm having for it isn't "pride" as such but rather a deep peace at feeling that I've painted something beautiful which speaks to me and hopefully will speak to others.

Rock of all ages

We had an AWESOME night on Saturday at Worcester called ROCK THE CATHEDRAL.

After months of planning and hours of setting up we had a crowd of nearly 300 rocking to the tunes of Finchley, Relentless Craving, Formal Affair (pictured), Dan Haynes and Fans of Faye as well as hearing some wisdom from Bishop John and the vice chair of our Youth Council Jon Pedley. Matchborough youth group presented a challenging drama about Jesus as the "rubbish collector" and Peter Cooper and Co from Barrel of Fun provided some fabulous entertainment in the Juggle Zone.

It wasn't all hyperactive though. There was some chillout space for the adults in the adult creche (putting green and newspapers included!) and BREATHE in the chapter house as well as some fabulous sharing of silence, prayer, bread and wine in the crypt.

Thanks to all my WONDERFUL youth council and the AMAZING team of adult stewards. We really couldn't have done it without you!

Rising Sun sets

So the sun has set on Greenbelt again for another year. I had a fabulous time hanging out with our youth council, with young people from the diocese leading some fantastic worship, with young (and not so young!) people from my old parish, with youth work types on the youthwork matters stall and with all those people who you bump into by chance in a Greenbelt way. Notable was the soap opera-style coincidence of coming out of the Church Times tent with my new Dave Walker book and Cartoon Church calendar for the office to bump right into Dave himself! I promise he wasn't just hanging around watching how the pile of his books was reducing.


So what did I get up to? To be honest there weren't as many talks that really caught my imagination as last time I was there (2005) Jenny Baker was great (despite gales trying to steal her notes), Brian Maclaren was excellent on the subject of praying ina vulnerbale open way and John Bell, as always, was a joy to listen to on the subject of miracles. I also popped along to see Jon Birch of ASBOJesus who was very funny but rather short (in the time sense - only half an hour) pictured here (my endeavours to get a good pic were somewhat hampered by the guy in the hat!)

The overall experience for me was a mix of great chilling (at the proost lounge, in the blue hour with safespace, at blessed's funky mass - with me in three of the pics on Simon's site) and some fab music (Taize, Finchley, Jose Gonzalez, Yvonne Lyon, Beth Rowley, MxPx etc) I went to far more music than I did last time. My proudest moment had to be joining St the young people of St Barnabas for their youthmass which was truly awesome. There was a little bit of, well lets call them teething trouble, at the venue but all came right in the end and young person who came along to it was clearly blown away by the experience which made it all even better!



I still failed to get to any actual art workshops which I REALLY meant to do this year... next time... but I did do a bit of drawing inspired by some of the talks.

For me I think the overall sense was of gentle encouragement. Yvonne Lyon's songs Walk in the Rain and Down to the River plus Here Comes the Sun at the main eucharist and stuff from the talks all came together in the phrase "Here comes the Sun... it's alright"

WDYC internal!

Ok so this is really just for the Diocesan Youth Council...

Alice said on the forum:
"i found some vidios and didnt know what you would think they could be played inbetween the bands or maybe somewhere else. there off a website called www.lookingforgod.com but i got this version off you tube
the fathers love letter


an interviw with god


there are different versions

Ode(ar!) to Joy

I promise I was looking for some useful resources for youthwork on youtube when I found this:

I love Beaker!

Even better news is that this is just one of several official muppet pages now on youtube.

Enjoy!

Joy in Sadness

It must be the hopeless historian in me that is so VERY excited at the news that the Codex Sinaiticus is now available online. I can be hip and trendy at times but then my inner geek just shows through when I see enlargements of parchment damage described as being on "Quire 78, folio 6 recto!" and you can zoom right in on the text and it highlights the individual words for you (this is handy as Greek texts of the time looked basically like wordsearches with no punctuation or even spaces!)

Geeky comments aside...

This is basically the oldest edition of the "Bible" roughly as we know it today dating back to the mid fourth century. It's a book (codex - i.e. no scrolls) of the gospels and most of the Greek translation of the Old Testament (which was originally in Hebrew in the majority though with some Greek) . Basically this text shows that the Bible was formed pretty early and you can SEE IT! Wow!

Moping and some cheering up

As I had hoped to be going to Taize today but I'm not... I'm a little mopey. Especially as apparently there are some etchings by Fr Eric on display (and no doubt for sale) in the exposition. Fr Eric who died last year was one of the very early brothers who really epitomised the coming together of men of great gifts. It was he who designed the beautiful glass windows which adorn the church at Taize and so many of the other beautiful simple things.

It's not just for me that I wish I were going today but for the people I would have been with there. One of the teenagers from my old parish who was there throughout my youth ministry and grew with me in my role is going for the first time and I would so love to have travelled with her as she discovered that amazing place. Instead, those I have travelled with there before are travelling with her and my thoughts and prayers will be in Taize for the next week even as I sit in lots of different meetings here.


Now for the cheering up bit... this did make me lol! Thanks Chris

Dave Walker solidarity post

I've not blogged on the Dave Walker/SSG story before as SO many other people out there have said wise things about it all. Have a look at David Keen, Richard Peat, Bishop Alan and Tim Abbot for some good summaries of the situation which has arisen and of course ASBO Jesus for a fellow cartoonist's reaction. Dave has basically been told to remove any blog posts relating to SSG and SPCK or face legal action which he clearly couldn't afford to contest. He has carefully posted nothing but what he has been able to verify and has even removed comments which were unsubstantiated. It's a horrible situation.

I was back at my old town at the weekend and it was announced that there will be a new Christian bookshop there in September. The congregation received the news, as you might expect, with great delight and anticipation. The idea that people will be able to buy Christian books and resources to support their ministry was fabulous news for them. This is what having a former SPCK shop in the city where I now work should feel. It just doesn't. When I started in post the lovely guy who worked there was ever so apologetic about the ludicrously pathetic "Youth Section" which contained three books none of which I even vaguely wanted to purchase (or indeed already owned). SSG have already taken the joy my old town is now feeling by doing what they have done to the SPCK shops and now they attack someone who has striven to respond honourably to the situation.

As Bishop Alan says:

"Plainly the skills required to sabre rattle for reactionary causes are very different from those you need to run a bookshop, let alone re-evangelise England."

Understanding Generation Y

Interesting new research on Generation Y. As a member of this generous (though tenuously at the top end and married to someone outside it) I do feel an affinity with what they're saying about me and my fellow IPODs (as we're also apparently known! -Do you think when we're OAPS we'll be called Ipod Shuffles??? ) It also rings true for some of the young people I've been working with over the last few years who are now adults.

Anyway, bad puns aside, check out this new research or download the pdf of the report which summarises Generation Y with six tracks on an Ipod (desert island discs comes round again!):

Whatever people say I am, that's what I'm not, Arctic Monkeys. IPODs are members of many overlapping communities, virtual and conceptual as much as geographic.

Speed of Sound, Coldplay. They are busy and time-pressured, so expect sophisticated and entertaining communications.

I can, Nas. They are confident and demanding in work and home life. They want the tools to be as demanding of government.

Gold Digger, Kanye West. Value for money is crucial, but they don't want profit motive to be the driving force behind public services.

Standing in the way of control, The Gossip. They want to be offered a selection of good choices, but not the responsibility of having to make all the decisions themselves.

Digital love, Daft Punk. Unimpressed by the use of technology for its own sake, they want communication in surprising, elegant ways.

So the real question is - what six tracks define your generation or your life? I'm putting my thinking hat on for that one. I'd set it as a challenge to others but everyone's off on hols!

Bishops' Cru

I just love this picture snapped of our Bishop John and Archbishop John Sentamu sitting in front of the altar frontal made by the young people at our diocesan assembly. It just looks liek they're chillin in a diocesan posse. I'm rather hoping the Lambeth conference is going as harmoniously!

Genius from down under

Thanks to Dave for passing this on:

Double time?

Ok, so is it only me that thinks McFly have been influenced by the theme tune for the Gummi Bears for their latest "song for the radio"?

evidence below...

Will the Real David Walker please stand up

Having moved from Oxford diocese where I was for a time in a youthworkers network alongside David Walker when cartooning was a thing he did on the side while being a full time youth worker, I've now moved to Worcester diocese where Bishop David Walker is the bishop of Dudley. This has made me smile every now and then, it has to be said. Well the two have now met up and been photographed in Dave's cartoonist in residence tent at Lambeth.

I've enjoyed following the shennanigans at the pre-conference retreat so far through Dave's eyes which may not be the most high-brow view of affairs but, as Dave says, the bishops seem able to laugh at themselves which must be a good start to a conference that may well be fraught with conflict. May the ministry of laughter continue as the week goes on.

Rabbiting on

Okay... so nothing for agaes and now a third blog in one day, I know, I know...

Contrary to popular belief (i.e. someone in the office this morning commenting), Dave Walker is not "not doing many cartoons" but in fact is clearly UP TO SOMETHING and he's also cartooning.

In fact his first cartoon of the conference is here. Which is not the usual place you might expect to find his cartoons which is here (or even here) but not normally here, where it actually is.

He also seems to be masquerading as a blogging bishop but then it's hard to tell that they are in fact blogging bishops as they only seem to have one laptop and none of them is wearing a mitre. If it weren't for the familiar face of Bishop Alan and the hint of purple I might have my doubts - oh me of little faith!

Building links

I had a fabulous meeting this mornign with the visitors to the diocese from our link diocese in Peru. I told them all about the youth work that goes on in the diocese and my role in enabling that and resourcing it. It was fantastic to discover that Rosario, one of the group, has an incredibly similar role in Peru. She even blogs!! So I've added a link to her blog as a beginning of really making the link with Peru something tangible and real rather than just a theoretical thing on paper which I guess it has been for me (and others?) before now. Her blog includes the joy of a picture of our Bishop John wearing a Peruvian style hat at the Diocesan Assembly and lots of other wonderful photos of their visit here to the diocese.

I managed to understand some of what they were saying without the translator but far from all and, as usual, found myself deeply lacking the vocabulary to say anything like as much as I'd like to have said to them in Spanish. For some reason I could remember REALLY useless words and like Merluza (which is Spanish for Hake!) and not the useful things! I did give the translator a few challenges by talking about skateboarding, juggling and morris dancing!

The three of them were such lovely people and, far from having a formal meeting, we had a great chat about youth work, life, music, young people and building community. They were also so lovely in giving me a Peruvian link wristband, a CD of some fabulous young Peruvian Christians singing and the most beautiful small carved nativity made by those most affected by violence in the area over the last few years.

It was a real blessing.

There's also a real chance I might be able to take some young people out there in 2010. SO EXCITING!

UPDATE: Rosario has posted about our link too.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

The blog has been rather silent lately - apologies. It has been rather a busy time. I am now looking at a rather calmer few weeks, including some leave to go to Stratford and see David Tennant in Hamlet then go to M's cousin's wedding and then a few days back down in the wilds of Buckinghamshire with my dad.

So what's all the busyness been? Well I was guest speaking at Yellow Braces (arguably the best weekend of the summer in Oxford Diocese!) and then I was running the youth stream at the Worcester Diocesan Assmebly which was AWESOME but utterly exhausting as there wasn't a spare second in the day! From Friday 2.3opm til Sunday 8pm when I pulled into the driveway at home, it really didn't feel like we stopped except when we slept. The Assembly was fabulous as I got the chance to meet a fantastic group of young people and get to know some of the youth council a lot better.

I also got to meet lots of people from the diocese which was great as I tied up lots of connections between people and churches. Unfortunately, the youth stream kept us away fromt he main business of the assembly but I've got the DVD coming soon so I can catch up on all that was said by Canon Susan Hope, Father Ken Leach and Bishop Gerry Wolfe. The teenagers did join the main group to hear Archbishop John Sentamu as he came in for a flying visit and talk on his way down to the Lambeth conference.

One of the things that, a little ironically, made the conference hectic, was setting up for Breathe, the exploration of spirituality for 16-19 year olds which Dare2Engage have produced and which the diocese has bought. It is a marvellously relaxing and centring experience for those who participate. It does, however take a little while to set up and we had to chose between missing one of the Eucharists or missing lunch to set it up. I'll let you guess which we chose.

Breathe is an absolutley wonderful resource which I will be using around the diocese in so many different contexts. I can't wait.

Useful sites for posters and all that

I was chatting today with a youthworker who used to design magazine layouts professionally and we were talking about the various things we use for backgrounds.

I've used typogenerator which works very simply and transforms text into a funky background. You sometimes have to wade through some dull ones until you get a good one as it is randomised.

Also I've loved the discovery of this website with fonts from films and bands. A really funky font can really transform a dull poster into something rather special.

You can make ordinary photos look pretty funky with magnigraph. It even works on our dog who is black and white already!!


The other trick I use is painting something and then using it for a background. I guess this is kinda more labour intensive but it's pretty effective!

Today Jo had a link to this thing called wordle which creates lovely word clouds from text or websites. I've seen this kind of thing before but I rather like wordle. Here is a wordle of youthblog - had to include this because of the prominence of creosote - just for you youthblog me old chum!