mountain masala

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

How wonderful to find this animation of the Dr Seuss book!

National Study of Christian Education

Today I finish my two year secondment to the Uniting Church's National Assembly as Christian Education Research Fellow and email off my 18,000 summary report. I still have a bit more work to do on the full report (about 40,000 words) which will be tabled when I present the Report to the Assembly Standing Committee in 2.5 weeks time. Tomorrow I start 3 months' long service leave.

The research project was designed with three strands
    a.    an analysis of current trends and emphases in Christian education theory
    b.    an analysis of Christian education priorities and needs in Uniting Church congregations
    c.    an exploration of the role of the Assembly in Christian education

The Project drew together qualitative data from a number of sources.
    i.    A review of current literature in Christian Education
    ii.    Correspondence with several scholars in Christian Education
    iii.    Analysis of Census, NCLS and other writings about the Australian context
    iv.    Interviews with 26 leaders from 22 congregations across Australia
    v.    A survey of Assembly staff, agencies and committees
    vi.    Consultations with synod, presbytery and other people – 88 participants

To cut to the chase, here's the most succinct summary I can give you...

Based on the research, I propose the following major themes for an Assembly vision of Christian education:

1. congregations as lifelong learning communities of discipleship for the sake of the mission of God;
2. church leaders who are effective educational leaders, capable of guiding a community in forming disciples;
3. congregations developing a culture of learning for and from engagement in mission: mission-shaping discipleship

Of course there's a whole lot more to it than that, and even that requires some unpacking, but you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks. Let's see what they do with the recommendations!

I've thoroughly enjoyed working for the Assembly - doing the research, meeting people across the country, participating alongside the other Assembly staff in meetings and conversations. I'll genuinely miss it, and that's a good thing. It's been wonderful to get to know a bunch of people better and to meet a host of other church workers and leaders, colleagues who are passionate about education and formation.

So here's a thank you to those who've shared the journey, particularly the Assembly staff, my 'line manager' Glenda Blakefield, and the Project Steering Committee - Rick Morell, Duncan MacLeod, Deidre Palmer and Andrew Dutney.

BBQ Moroccan Lamb and Salads

Great to have Greg Ross over for dinner this evening. An excuse to fire up the Weber.

Lamb cutlets were marinated in minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and pepper. Some were BBQed just like that. I added stuff to some of the others (after the marinating). One lot had freshly ground coriander and cumin seeds, allspice and paprika. The other lot had a crust of ground pistachios, sumac, pomegranate syrup and crushed chilli. Also there's couscous with pistachios. Yoghurt on the side.

Salad of fresh figs, watercress, radish, basil leaves and flowers, crumbled feta, olive oil and honey.

Salad of radicchio leaves, cherry tomatoes, baby cucumber, spinach leaves, french shallots, capers, fried haloumi, lemon juice, olive oil.

Preceded by local Udder Delights cheeses and quince paste and followed by home-made strawberry ice cream (with Grand Marnier...)

Accompanied by Hahndorf Hill 2012 Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Blaufrankisch - stunning local wines. The latter is quite extraordinary. Greg and I went there today to taste their wines. Nice cellar door and view, friendly and informative staff. They also have chocolate and wine tastings! If you head up to the Hills, it's worth a visit. However their most popular wines will most likely be sold out.

You have to love the Adelaide Hills for fresh local produce - the figs, cheeses, herbs, olive oil, smoked meats, etc - not to mention the wine. At this time of year we're grateful for the 3 degrees cooler temperature!

We also christened the decanter that Michelle gave us.

Ground some coffee beans to finish off a very excellent evening.

new music

yes indeeed, it's that time when I'm glad to have an emusic subscription...

"Fin" - John Talabot - Spanish DJ and electronic musisican

"The Clearing" - Bowerbirds - lush mix of folk and gentle pop - go to the website and get some free music

"Live in Studio: Acoustic Trio" - Katie Herzig - infectious folk from Butterfly Boucher's friend

"Big Love Hymnal" - David Byrne - lush orchestral TV soundtrack

"The Boy With No Name" - Travis - yeah, I actually like their stuff...

"For Octavio Paz" - Six Organs of Admittance - lovely acoustic guitar-based instrumental with some vocal

"Walking on the Wild Side" - Lou Reed live... I'm waiting for the man...

"A Winter Project" - A. Pärt - Estonian classical composer recommended by Warren Ellis...

"Love A Kind of Hate Story" - Tim Rose - late US rocker who did well in the UK. raw and rootsy. Thinik Harry Chapin crossed with Joe Cocker.

"Pieces of the Past" - John Wesley Harding - free on NoiseTrade - quiet folky stuff from an excellent accomplished songwriter. Think Elvis Costello with a nylon guitar.

"The Ones Who Wait" - Denison Whitmer - more gentle folky stuff, reedy voice

"Young Man in America" - Anais Mitchell - arty writer with a quirky voice. dense language, but a lightness to the complex songs

"Push the Sky Away" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - no more need be said...

"Seeker Lover Keeper" - Seeker Lover Keeper - lovely folky stuff from Holly Throsby, Sara Blasko and Sally Seltmann. Yes I bought an actual CD...

"Ox4 The Best of Ride" - Ride - great 90's shoegaze band... love their stuff

"The Weight is a Gift" - Nada Surf - American alt-rock, a bit rough at the edges

 "Homeland" - Myles O'Mainnian -  cinematic Scandinavian stuff. quite lovely  - free on NoiseTrade

"Lonerism" - Tame Impala - wanting to see what all the fuss is about! On iTunes

Alive@5 - February

OK, a backtrack to what we did last month at Alive@5, and then a couple from last year that I didn't write up. The Theme was "Caring for Creation" ie. stewardship. It went something like this.

Arrival Activity - Mime/Charades Bingo. People were given a sheet and had to get other people to mime the item in each square. Designed as a "Getting to Know You": GTKY activity. I'll post the details.

Song - "God Made Today" -a golden oldie from camp

Prayer of Thanks – “What happened over the holidays that you’d like to give thanks for? What are you thankful for about this new year? People call out responses, after which we all say “Thanks God for all your gifts”

Bible Story – Genesis Chapter 1 – accompanied by on-screen images and music. We handed out the story (CEV version) for various people to read. The CEV has a line repeated several times "And that's what heppened" so we made that a group responses for most of the verses. This was accompanied by a bunch of spectactular images from National Geographic and the track "Happiness" from thw album "Riceboy Sleeps" by Jonsi and Alex.

Storybook - "Wonderful Earth" by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen, which has this great popup amone other things..

Theme comment - we generally have a brief reflection on the theme. We used a video clip of an airline steward here. Still not sure if that was a good idea or not.

(There was supposed to be a prayer activity here but a certain person forgot it...)

Activities
- Act It! - Make up a puppet play about caring for one another
- Paint It! - Share in painting a large mural of caring for Creation
- Play It! - balloon game4s that required people to be protective

Show and Tell - We always have a brief plenary time in which we invite people to share what happened in the activities

Song - we've been finishing with the same song each month "Thank you God (Father) for Everything"

Blessing - we write a different blessing to say together each month, related to the theme

God has blessed us
with every good thing
May we be God’s blessing to the earth
May we bless the flowers and trees
May we bless the birds and animals
May we bless the rivers and seas
May we be a blessing
to each person we meet
May we know we are blessed
by God each day

Alive@5 - March

Psalm 27

Here's the final lyric. Now trying to write a tune.

Psalm 27

Be the light that shrouds the twilight
Be the might that holds our fears
Be the home that yearns our dwelling
Be the stone that takes our tears 

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Be the cry that whispers mercy
Be the seeker when we hide
Be the taker and the giver
Be the pathway and the guide

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Be the sacrifice that breaks us
Be the shelter in the flood
Be the promise that remakes us
Be the parent who is good

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Forty Days of Blues

You have to imagine Bob Dylan 'singing' to a Muddy Waters-style "Mannish Boy" riff... It's a work in progress, and like Bob himself, you can add and change verses. I have several more in my head... We played it after to worship on Sunday - thanks Titus, Duncan and David for indulging me.

Forty days of purpose
Forty days of pain
Forty days of wandering
in a desert with no name

Forty days of hunger
Forty days of thirst
Forty days of struggle
Wondering who is coming first?

Forty days of questions
Forty days to choose
Forty days of suffering
Forty days of blues

He got the blues
He got the blues
He got the post-baptismal, messianic, wilderness blues

Forty days of wrestling
with the devils in my head
Forty days not knowing
whether I'm alive or dead

Forty days of doubting
Forty days of truth
Forty days of wishing
that I could relive my youth

I got the blues
I got the blues
I got the post-baptismal, postmodern wilderness blues

Bridge:

Running of the parliament's a capital offence
Bishops and monsignors got a ministry of defence
Lady mining magnate's got the Treasury by the tail
Seekers of asylum - they'd be better off in gaol

We got the blues
We got the blues
We got the pre-election, greenhouse, royal commission wilderness blues

Songwrite and travelling

An enjoyable though busy weekend in Canberra at SongWrite. Here I am recording a song by Julie from Adelaide (off screen) who played flute, Sharon (Toowoomba) on keys, Ann (Sydney) on electric upright bass, Scott (Townsville) on guitar and vocals, and Maria (Melbourne) in Djembe. My gear all worked fine and we recorded some great songs.

I also wrote (but did not record) the Muddy Waters-Bob Dylan inspired "Post-baptismal, Messianic, Wilderness Blues".... which starts with the lyrics "Forty days of purpose, forty days of pain"...

On Sunday night some of us gathered at Lin and Steve's place, where I made a simplified version of my Mexican chicken bake, plus this salad, plus nachos.

Titus and I then drove via Albury and Rutherglen to Boort to stay with relatives, and stopped in at Campbells and Warrabilla on the way...

Then a drive home across the Mallee yesterday where we saw these spectacular clouds... In theory that was the start of my annual leave, but in reality I have a few more days of work on my research report to finish this week. Still, it was great to get out and see the country and meet up with friends and family and make some new friends.

Psalm 27

I've driven to Canberra with my friend Titus for the Uniting Church's first songwriting gathering. Here's Andrew Dutney singing songs and talking about songwriting. Robin Mann has done the same. Wonderful. About 20 songwriters and about 10 helpers are present. I fit into both categories as I'm here to write songs and I've set up a recording studio for people to write their songs tomorrow, plus I'm happy to tell people that their lyrics are crap (just kidding, I'll be an encourager). You can bet that the recording gear won't work smoothly...

Mandolin and Uke right of picture. There are a varied bunch of people here from all over the country, including the amazing Fay White, David MacGregor (who is co-hosting it). Looking forward to meeting them all!

So tonight I looked ahead in the Lectionary and decided to work on a version of Psalm 27. Here's my work in progress - no tune yet. Anything might change....

Psalm 27

Be the light that shrouds the twilight
Be the might that holds our fears
Be the home that yearns our dwelling
Be the stone that takes our tears 

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Be the cry that whispers mercy
Be the seeker when we hide
Be the taker and the giver
Be the pathway and the guide

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

Be the promise that restores us
Be the parent who is good
Be the sacrifice that breaks us
Be the shelter in the flood

Christ, be our light
Whom shall we fear?
Deep in the night
Spirit, draw near

(I had somemore edgy lyrics that I took out - like "Be the enemy who breaks us" and "Be the promise that unmakes us". What do you reckon?)