mountain masala

makeover

i'm currently doing a site makeover at youthspirituality.com - it's getting there...

introductions to prayer

here are some good, simple, video introductions to aspects of prayer

Centring prayer

Lectio Divina

Ignatian contemplation

Praying with nature

 

Young People, Technoculture and Embodied Spirituality

my journal article finally published... some info here. thanks to stephen garner for his work and the opportunity.

A Menagerie of Dreams

I'm helping Pilgrim Uniting Church run another Fringe Festival event in 2012.

A Menagerie of Dreams

A wild garden of fantasy and dread. A multi-sensory encounter filled with hope and despair. Art works by local College students curated as a journey of dreams and nightmares of the soul. The exhibition features artwork by senior school students along with music, multimedia and provocative prose.

Dates: Monday 5th - Thursday 8th March, 12.00-2.00 pm, 6.00-9.00 pm. Friday 9th March, 12.00-2.00pm. Free admission.

Photo by Jonny Baker.

Our aim is to get senior students from local Uniting Church schools to submit artwork on the theme and then curate the space with additional elements so it becomes a reflective journey. The twins have joined the curation team and we're recruiting some others. Let me know if you'd like to participate!

conferences and papers

here are some links to a range of conference papers available online recently... just thought I'd compile them here. lots of excellent stuff.

Symposium on Children's Spirituality, Melbourne - papers here

Religious Education Association (US) - papers here

Australian Association of Mission Studies - papers here

doing faith together

here's my latest youth group activity written for DevoZine, the Upper Room daily prayer guide for young people. the "in the habit" blog provides a weekly group activity which builds on the daily prayer experiences that the young people have (hopefully) undertaken.

doing faith together

"On Our Way" DVD

The series of films produced for the "Practicing Our Faith" project of Valparasio University are now available on DVD through theworkofthepeople.com. Titled "On Our Way", the DVD features 13 sessions exploring Christian practices, along with a free discussion guide. Presenters include Dorothy Bass, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Joyce Hollyday, Susan Briehl and a bunch of others.

Topics include an Introduction, Doing justice, Peacemaking and nonviolence, Discerning God's call, Care for Creation, Making a good living, Friendship & intimacy, Living as community, Honouring the body, Knowing and loving our neighbours, Living in the presence of God, Singing our lives to God, and Study...

The DVD costs US$39.99 (excluding postage).

You can also see the videos on Youtube here.

Engaging in the Christian Life

I've written a unit for our new Certificate program called "Engaging in the Christian Life". It's a competency-based introduction to spiritual disciplines as a basis for a life of discipleship. The word 'competency' might sound odd alongside 'spiritual disciplines'. In this instance the competency is around learning some basic skills/approaches/understandings that relate to practices of spiritual growth. I've really enjoyed writing the unit, and now I'm tracking some distance students through it.

It's been a fantastic experience seeing bits of their journal writing. The unit is quite experiential. They meet regularly with a 'spiritual friend' for reflection. Early on, they engage in some five-day daily prayer and reflection exercises. They work through Vicky Balabanski's video material on discipleship in Mark's Gospel (here), and consider how growth in discipleship might be related to growth in spiritual disciplines.

the upper room

after writing for devo'zine for about 12 years, i've been asked to write for the upper room''s daily Bible reading guide, Disciplines. which is nice as I really enjoy writing for them. 60,000 subscribers. no pressure...

sacred spaces & resources online

i'm writing a short thing for DevoZine on sacred spaces and resources for spiritual growth online. here's a list of sites, more aimed at youth and young adults, but not exclusively. other suggestions?

http://prayer.sa.uca.org.au/ - Uniting Church SA

http://churchresources.info/pray/ - Australian Jesuits

http://sacredspace.ie/ - Irish Jesuits

http://markjberry.blogs.com/way_out_west/worshipprayer/ - UK CofE church planter

http://www.vimeo.com/groups/vfw - Videos for worship

http://www.d365.org/todaysdevotion/ - US Presbyterians

http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/daily_prayer/ - reJesus.co.uk

http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/hours.php - explorefaith.org

http://www.upperroom.org/methodx/thelife - MethodX

http://www.labyrinth.org.uk/ - Labyrinth online, UK

BTW "In the Habit" is a free online youth leaders guide to accompany DevoZine, the Upper Room's devotional magazine for young people.