mountain masala

another website makeover happening

nextgenerations.org.au

not at all sure about this header... likely to change. and a whole lot more work to be done on this site too, but at least its looking better.

makeover

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

Young People, Technoculture and Embodied Spirituality

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

How Milleniial Are You?

Here's a quiz over at the Pew US Research Centre about how much you are like the tech-savvy 'millennial' generation in terms of habits and views. (That would be the US population)...Thanks to Nadia (aka Sarcastic Lutheran) for this.

hmm.... I thought I'd score a bit higher. Have to go out and get a tatt and some piercings and text more...

 

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

the future of youth work in australia

the australian youth affairs coalition, our peak non-government youth body, has just released a paper about the future of youth work. get a copy here.

re:form - new US confirmation resources

i've recently received a copy of re:form, the new youth confirmation resource from Augsburg Fortress Press. It consists of 40 sessions (you heard me, 40!) with a range of resources - Leader's Guide, DVD, 'Anti-Workbook' for young people, and supplements. Tony Jones and Andrew Root helped with the theological framework of the materials. So what's it like?

first up, the Leader's Guide doesnt really tell you what's going on, other than to give you a four-page overview of what is in the books. there's nothing about the why or how of approaching confirmation (or baptism) with young people. second, it seemed clear to me early on that this is designed for younger teenagers (which is much more the confirmation age in mainline US churches than here in Australia). having said that, the focus of the sessions, their educational content, and the design dont quite seem to match up. it all looks aimed at 10-12 year olds (teenagers in my church agreed!), but some of the issues explored seem more suited to older teenagers.

The Spirit and Culture of Youth Ministry

"The Spirit and Culture of Youth Ministry" is one of the most significant books on youth ministry written  in the last 20 years. Really. The Lilly Endowment in the US funded a study in seven mainline denominations called "Exemplary Youth Ministry". Like the Christian Education study that preceded it in the 1990's, it became a benchmark for idenitfying critical factors for effective youth ministry for this new millennium.

About five years ago, Professor Roland Martinson from Luther Seminary, the director of the study, visited Adelaide for a teaching series centred around the study. Rollie is a wise, dynamic, generous, encouraging powerhouse of a man. I subsequently had the privilege of visiting Luther and staying with him and his wife Sherrie.

After a long wait, the book based on the study, "The Spirit and Culture of Youth Ministry" was published. It is largely unknown in youth ministry circles in Australia. I commend the book. Australian readers will, as always, need to read through a cultural filter. Nevertheless it says important things about what a congregation, a youth group, a leader, or a family needs to attend to in order to pass on faith to young people.

You can get the book from LifeLong Faith Associates.

Here are the authors talking about it. Yes, they're old guys. Apparently old guys know how to do good research and write about it...

Young People's Identity in Consumer Culture

Day #2 with Andrew Root last week explored how the identity of young people is formed in late modernity, based on his book The Promise of Despair. Andrew pointed out that in an earlier age, identity was largely shaped by work and by love, namely through family. Of course, that included the 'self' being defined by social responsibilities and relationships. In fact, there was no self as we know it today. To cut to the chase, work and love have been replaced by consumption and intimacy as the defining aspects of identity.

Andy drew on the work of Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher (who is well-known in media studies) it highlights the replacement of the signified by the sign, the real by the hyper-real.

Rethinking Youth Ministry #1

We've just had Dr Andrew Root from Luther Seminary in Minnesota here for 4 days, and been incredibly enriched by his visit. Three days of teaching ministry workers and leaders followed by a morning for about 300 people at our Synod/Presbytery meeting. We had an ugly day trying to get him from Canberra to here on a plane thanks to the volcano... He finally arrived at College 50 mins before start time.

First up, Andy was great to be with and work with. I say this not as an evaluation (!) but in appreciation of him as a person. People warmed to him, his stories and honesty, and humility. You don't always get those things in a visiting speaker. (sorry Andy, just building you up again in order to tear you down.. ha..)