The Grove Is On Fire

Hi! Aitus?

Ah summer, the glorious wafts of sausages gently sizzling on the barbecue, the long late evenings, the endless, pointless refreshing of the BBC Sport website as you forget that the season doesn't start for another four weeks. As well as all the busy summer program youth stuff that happens, I'm using the rest of my time to write up a load of stuff for various long-term strategy papers and that what, some of which will trickle down onto this blog. That's not including being off to Soul Survivor in three weeks or so, for elevenish days of telling people to tell people what to do¹. At the same time as all this, I'm trying to be a bit better about resting in Jesus and not trying to be always with the doing of many things. So, if you haven't guessed where this is going by now, here is where I tell you; at best, I'll only be posting occasional links up until September, then it'll be back to normal. I'll sort out something with the front page of the site so it cycles old articles up that you might have forgotten about, but that'll be it for long format content for the next short bit.

¹ Which, if you are there, means you should say hello. And then if you're a youth worker you should ask me to interview you if you're a youth worker. I'll be wearing an orange jacket, it's relatively easy to find me.

Get the Men!

Josh Cousineau writing on getting young men involved. (This blog is my current favourite internet based hap'stance of a discovery.)

Female Circumcision In The UK

Harrowing reading but if you work with young girls from African, Middle-Eastern or West Asian backgrounds (ie everyone who works with young women in vaguely urban areas) you should be aware of female circumcision practices in the uk, if nothing else just so you're aware.

The Youthwork Summit Details

Here's a video about the Youthwork Summit giving you the score of what's going on with it. If you listen to the podcast it's the same information. (What's with this trend of putting everything out in audio or video format? Text is pretty concise people, and you can read it while listening to really loud music.) The gist is lots of different speakers from different areas and places speaking for small amounts of time, with time after each session to speak to the various people who spoke in those sessions. There's a strong emphasis on the collaborative, with built in Twitter feeds and suggesting a speaker, which is good because presumably it means you can heckle the speaker too.

Where Have all the Children Gone?

This is from data for American churches, but fascinating none-the-less. It shows where people have churchmanship as they've grown up. It's worth noting that this only gives information about current adults and also that Evangelicals seem to have a slight loss, not through not gaining people in, but through losing more.

God In The Classroom

A science teacher on how he's asked about God a fair bit in class.

Job: Lead Youth Worker, Colchester Road Baptist Church, Ipswich

Go work for my old church! Colchester Road Baptist Church is looking for a youth worker. The young people are quite lovely, and it's a great church, so you should go work there.

Colchester Road Baptist Church is a growing evangelical Baptist church in the north east of Ipswich, with a thriving and growing youth work (ages 11-18) and brand new purpose built premises. We are looking to employ a full-time lead youth worker to shape, strengthen and co-ordinate our existing work, to explore new opportunities and to develop our existing links with the local high school, local churches and CYM (Ipswich Christian Youth Ministries).

Closing date is the 29th June 2010, for more info contact .

Top Five Youth Residential Pranks

In the interest of concerned youth workers everywhere, not getting any sleep because of the worry about youth work pranks that might occur over the nights of their residential weekend, here are a list of the best pranks to pull things to look out for. I'm a big hater of all things messy, for me, the simplest ones that require the least to undo are by far and away the funnest.

• Not Writing On Their Face: Early in the morning, before your friend wakes up, go into their room and remove any mirrors they have. Then leave a note on their sheets on top of their still sleeping body saying "I didn't draw on your face" (preferably written in thick black marker). Wake them slightly with this, then run off. This works better the further they have to traipse to their bathroom covering their face.

• Placing Someone's Underwear On A Tree That's Slightly Viewable Through A Window From The Room The Talks Are Taking Place In Slightly Hidden So They'll Only Notice It Halfway Through The Talk: Kinda self-explantory really. Also works besides the football pitch so they don't notice it till halfway through the match.

• Happy Birthday: The bigger the camp, the better this works. When everyone is sitting down for dinner, stand up, ring your glass or bang the table and state boldly that it's a special occasion, and that it's your friends birthday. Point at your friend, make them stand up, and then get everyone to sing happy birthday to them as they have to stand there and turn red. This only works if it is not their birthday.

• Turning Everything Inside-Out: Best practiced while your mate is out playing football or trying to chat up that girl. Go into his room. Turn everything inside out. Sleeping bag, coat, trousers, rucksack, go crazy! It's surprising what you can get to turn inside itself if you try hard enough.

• The Hoover Manoeuvre: It's a good thing that all youth camps come equipped with a Henry Hoover for this, the pinnacle of all pranks. Find Henry, detach the nozzle and unwind the cord to its full extent. Head over to the room where your buddy is fast asleep and find the nearest power socket outside their room. Then, carefully! plug him in with the wall switch off, and flick the power switch to "on" on Henry's body. Get a partner to stand by the wall switch, and then, when he's ready, with one smooth move push the door open and slide Henry in Ghostbusters style. Your partner hits the wall switch and a trapped, enraged, Henry Hoover explodes during your buddy's deep sleep pattern.

Hacking at the Leaves of Evil

This is essentially entirely correct.

Pascal on Our Addiction to Distraction

If you haven't worried about how addicted your are to the internet, then you probably don't read blogs, so seeing as how this is relevant for everyone, I suggest you read Justin Taylor's links to Pascal's thoughts on distraction. I find myself in convicted by his conclusions.

Youthwork Summit

The as much hyped as you can be in youth work circles Youthwork Summit has been revealed today. The blurb says

It's the idea of creating genuine dialogue between youth workers of all Christian traditions, who talk and pray together to shape creative responses to the challenges of twenty-first century youth ministry. It's the idea of curating a moment of genuine unity, where theology and ideology is momentarily put aside in the light of the bigger picture.

Which probably sounds either completely brilliant or completely nonsensical depending on how you look at it. It should at least contain large elements of the latter, and if nothing else will get you thinking and meeting other youth workers. I for one therefore, heartily endorse it, even if they should be prosecuted for insisting on spelling youth work as one word.

It's also happening about ten minutes from my house and my work, so if you read this, you can come around for dinner afterwards. Or at least to the pub.

Print and Weep Synodical Bingo (or I ♥ The Church of England)

The Church Mouse has Synod bingo ready for July's Synod. I imagine you'll be able to get a full-house by the end of the opening prayer.

That Peculiar Spawn of Postmodernism: The Conspiracy Theory

This is good reading if your young people are a big a fan of conspiracy theories as my young people are. I find that the first reason comes up often; the reason life sucks is because someone out there is plotting to keep people like me down, not because the world is fallen and I am a sinner.

Job: Youth Minister, Soul Survivor Harrow

Soul Survivor Harrow are looking for a youth minister. The advert is short so here is the full blurb.

Christ Church Roxeth seeks to appoint a YOUTH MINISTER
to be Team Leader of SOUL SURVIVOR HARROW (SSH) and to develop youth work and youth outreach within the Christ Church Parish.
SSH is a well-established youth congregation with a track record of encouraging young people's passion for Jesus, enabling them to discover and use their gifts, and motivating them for evangelism and social action.

Salary £18-£20,000
plus pension contributions, with accommodation provided

Closing date for applications - 15th August 2010
Interviews beginning of September

For further details contact Mark Philps (Rector and Member of the Board of Directors of SSH) until 30th July and Jane Atfield (Member of the Board of Directors of SSH) from 2nd-15th August

Application form from Jane at