mountain masala

community assets

the conneticut assets network offers intentional links between the Search Institute's developmental assets of young people and asset-based community development (ABCD) from Notrh-Western University. their site is well worth a visit for people involved in community development.

deeper water

we've just had our orientation weekend for new students at college. we seem to have a growing number who want to consider God's call on their lives in some way, which is kind of exciting.

in our part of the world, people are invited to undertake a 'period of discernment' about their sense of call, which has a number of elements including some learning with us. so most of these people were starting their PoD, as we call it (mmm... there must be a way we could get iPod sponsorship!)

i started the weekend with the theme of "deeper water" and used Luke's version of the call of the fishermen. i made a lake from blue cloth (forgot photos as usual!) with stones around one edge, a wooden bowl (to represent a boat, but also offering, whatever), and candle and Jesus icon (by a local artist) at the other end of the lake.

Tonight we gather
on some kind of journey
towards we’re not sure what
we’re hoping for something new
to step deeper in faith
to reach closer in community
to stretch further in service

We all know what it’s like
to do the same thing
be in the same place
with the same people

and then suddenly
to thirst for something more
for a deeper faith
a wider vision

Not a surface change -
but real transformation
like a seed germinating
or birth waters breaking

It is hard to describe
this sense of call
from the One who
names us and claims us
inviting us to more completely be
part of God’s future for our world

That seems a bit too bold
We’d rather say –
we’ve enrolled at college
we’re doing a course
we’re checking out options
we’re filling in time

But if we are honest
perhaps it is more than that

May we on this weekend
and in the weeks and months to come
wait for that gentle breeze
listen for that whispering word

the one that calls us to deeper water
to cast our nets
to trust and follow
to serve and give

I talked about the disciples being called into deeper water, and the risk, trust and uncertainty that involved. We watched the episode from the Time-Life "Jesus" DVD (which I really like and had used recently, but in the watching realised that its not based on Luke's version of the story - doh!). We talked about the movie clip and what it was about this portrayal of Jesus that spoke to us. I moved the bowl from the edge of the 'lake' to the centre.

The next day, my colleague Tony used other passages from Luke for a Bible study - Mary and Martha, the Good Samaritan - and we reflected on word and deed being alongside one another.

In the evening I showed the remarkable movie "Pieces of April". The intent was to do theological reflection on the film, but by the time we got to it, my brain was too tired, so the discussion was a bit of a struggle. But also it was clear that the movie (which I've seen several times) had moved some people quite deeply. I really needed to have had a more pastoral process up my sleeve.

At any rate, I hadnt had a clever 'lake' worship up my sleeve, but I'd taken the Christmas star lights and a bunch of blue/green candles. So I had placed the stars and candles on the lake opposite the stones. We agreed that they weren't starfish in the lake, but stars reflecting on the lake. So I had the 'salt and light' text from Matthew and the 'shining as lights' text from Philippians, and a Noel Davis poem about looking in the mirror and seeing the light within you, and a couple of 'light' blessings from the Iona blessings book.

In 'Pieces of April', the main character, shows great faith a courage to defy her exclusion from her very dysfunctional family by inviting them to her shoddy apartment for thanksgiving dinner. and along the way she deals with all kinds of obstacles and discovers and offers grace and hospitality. so the theme of 'light' was about the darkness not being able to put out the light within us.

[in the discussion i asked people 'who is the Christ-figure in the film?' and in the middle of serious discussion a certain person started chuckling to themselves. we found out later that it was because it had occurred to him that the thanksgiving turkey was the christ-figure because it had given its life to bring people together.... you had to be there....]

we had all kinds of other things happen on the weekend, including a 2 visits to Malvern UC and hearing Phil preach about Jesus' temptation. the Malvern visit was a real gift to us in many ways.

when we finished yesterday afternoon, i said that often when I'm in an amazing place, like Bear Lake in the rocky mountains or Lake St. Claire in Tasmania, I'll pick up a stone and put it in my pocket to remind me of this place. I invited them to take a stone as a reminder of the lake and the call to move into deeper water, and a candle to remind them that the light of Christ would be with and in them no matter what. Phil Carr had talked to us about rituals that sustain relationships, and that rituals bring solidarity and euphoria. I invited them to make time to light the candle and hold the stone - to remember God's call to 'deeper water' and to listen for that call, and to remember that the light of Christ was with them and in them, and to pray for the others of us in the group who were also on this journey. I played the Waifs "Here If You Want."

God was good to us... Many memorable bits along the journey.

blog widgets

i'm not quite sure what I've done here, but I've made a widget of my blog at widgetbox, so you'll see a new button on the right that lets you download the widget and put it on your site or blog or forehead. I'm still trying to work out why you'd want to do that. i was hoping that it would let people turn their blogs into dashboard widgets (for macs) and perhaps it does, but I'm still trying to work it out. at least it seems to be free...

a bitter song

butterfly boucher has a new as yet unreleased song called "a bitter song." you can listen to it over on her myspace site, and it will be on itunes at the end of february. the song was featured at the start and finish of grey's anatomy in the us last week. it's going on the easter playlist that I'm making. it will one of the "saturday" songs. at the moment my "friday" songs include muse, nine inch nails, the finn brothers, all india radio, bernard fanning. "saturday" songs include ane brun, david bridie, and boards of canada. "sunday" songs include american music club, waifs, decoder ring, ben harper, jonathan elias and other stuff.

also just bought the new lovers electric album on itunes. lovers electric are eden boucher (butterfly's sister) and david turley (son of paul and glenyce). having spent time in the uk, eden's voice sounds a lot like butterfly, and even some of the songs have a similar feel, but overall more rocky and less slick. apparently they're gigging in NY at present. have a listen at myspace.

meanwhile younger sister harmony also has an EP out and a myspace site. we got to meet her the year before last when she was staying at the boyce's and fronted up out of the blue to play with the church youth band one night...

i like her music but not sure where the EP is available from.

[re]generate on 6 march

our first [re]generate gathering of the year will be held on tuesday evening 6 march. having found what we all think is a great venue, we'll be meeting again at the colonel light hotel on the square at 141 currie st, on the upstairs verandah hopefully with good weather and warm evening (not too warm - scorching weather here the last few days). our guest will be tim duffey, from vision training associates, the training group for Search Institute. tim is in town for a couple of days mainly to talk to teachers, parents and youth & childrens' workers about developmental assets of young people (see post below for details).

i've asked him to talk about how community engagement helps to reshape faith communities. I'm conscious that some of our conversations to date have tended to be about how churches might run more culturally 'indigenous' or adventurous worship. some of it sounds rather 'attractional'. given that the Search Institute research and publishing is a community development approach, i am interested to hear stories of how mission investment in community health and capacity changes the church, so to speak. given that Search Institute engages in multi-faith research among other things, this should be interesting.

tim's background is in education, in the school system in particular, and more recently in community development. so he's not a church worker, and that will make his perspective free of church jargon.

for the locals, its a two course meal for $18 and buy your own drinks. you need to book with us by 2 march -call 8416 8427. i really want to encourage previous attenders to bring or send a friend/colleague/apprentice....

thanks to jonny baker for the photo in the postcard. damn I want a digital camera...

the transit lounge

the uca has anew website aimed at people exploring faith, spirituality, life, etc. It's called The Transit Lounge and is being hosted in WA. From a quick look, the design and idea are nice, with some inspiration from the Wonder Cafe I suspect. It's supposed to be a on-line magazine. I'll reserve judgement on the content and style until it gets some breathing space.

2007 calendar

we've sponsored a 2007 calendar of synod children's, youth and young adult ministry stuff. you can download a copy here (or contact me for the glossy version.) thanks to nic for the design. great as always.

thriving youth seminars

Tim Duffey, who heads up the training group for Search Institute, will be here in Adelaide on 7-8 March for seminars with childrens' and youth workers, teachers, parents, clergy, etc. Tim will be focusing on the application of their developmental assets research to the positive well-being of young people and the settings in which they live and learn.

We are once again partnering with the Lutheran Church SA's Children, Youth & Family Ministries Dept on these events. As well as some city-wide events, we are running a regional event in the Adelaide Hills with the hope of fostering a community-wide initiative up our way. It will be very exciting if something gets underway.

It all fits with our focus on a 'community development' approach to local mission.

Go and visit Search Institute's website.

You can download a PDF of the brochure here. (256 kb)

mentoring resources

The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota have a range of Mentoring Tools and Resources available for free online here. The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota formed in 1994 as a community initiative to promote mentoring for Minnesota youth. The Search Institute has been involved in some of their work.

In Australia the Dusseldorp Skills Forum hosts Mentoring Australia, which does contain the proviso that "This site is not regularly maintained". However there a a range of worthwhile resources and links.

cranking it up for 2007

i'm back at college and getting the new year up and underway. school holidays have just finished. we had a weekend at a colleague's beach house (bottom of Yorke Peninsula) - windswept dunes, no electricity (and I nearly stepped on a deadly-looking snake) - then came home after midnight to no electricity here! 2 days of no power but at least we've defrosted the fridge!

(the lights weren't on, but we were home... how does that image work? oes it depend on whether you're looking out or in?)

bought a great African & Middle Eastern cookbook and have been adding cinnamon and honey to chicken and fruit to couscous and boiling bulgur (well I'd done all of that before but now I have decent recipes!) some great cooking tips to come I hope. being summer I've eaten my annual paw paw and bought a box of tomatoes, which are now part of every meal. also cranking up the [electric] ice cream machine very week or so - moving to sorbet for health reasons...

have been working on learning resources for ministers about community development - we're going to offer ministers the opportunity to work on local mission with peer support. I can't wait. this matters more than most things that I do.

I'm working with others on a few visitors from overseas at present - Tim Duffey from Search Institute in March, hopefully Steve Taylor from NZ in May, John Bell from Iona in June, Julian Hamilton from Ireland in July, Roland Martinson from US in August. hopefully Paul Teusner and Ani Wierenga too. mmm... too many blokes in there...

Also I have a bit of a dream of offering an alt worship/emerging church gathering here in early 2008 alongside the Adelaide Fringe Festival and WOMAD. That would be supremely good.

got an email from the Upper Room about the youth spirituality resource that I've contributed to. It is called "The Way of Pilgrimage" and will be released sometime this year. The resource is a youth version of Companions in Christ, an experiential discovery of spiritual practices of discipleship. I co-authored the first book in the series with Kyle Dugan, whom I have not actually met! These books are about the experience of pilgrimage and Kyle definitely lives that. The forthcoming series has a number of positive reviews, and I like these...

The Way of Pilgrimage is ground-breaking in the way it honors a young person's heart, mind, soul and body.  The curriculum goes beyond cognitive teaching of the Christian faith by offering young people a variety of ways to open their hearts to God's love.
Mark Yaconelli,
Author, Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus   

The Way of Pilgrimage is a wonderful complement to any parish or congregation’s youth ministry. The program includes 150 daily individual reflection activities along with thirty weekly small group sessions that provide an effective opportunity for young people to deepen their faith and their spiritual practices. This combination of personal reflection and peer sessions greatly enhances this program. Further, the individual reflections are practical, scripture-based and engaging, and the leader’s guide is very complete, making it easy to facilitate the group sessions. This is a valuable resource for those serious about the spiritual journey.
Bob McCarty
National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry

lookig forward to seeing it in print

actually, lots else getting underway, so the new year's posts are about to get daily