Showing posts with label Youth work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth work. Show all posts
11 August 2010
Youth Ministry YouTube Recommendations
http://www.youtube.com/godrox
http://www.youtube.com/tfneditor
http://www.youtube.com/youthspecialti...
http://www.youtube.com/thatjustinguy
http://www.youtube.com/chooseshalom
http://www.youtube.com/xbox360fanboy131
Ignatius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLGLBVSpBzY
22 March 2010
17 March 2010
02 March 2010
You got the love
A step into the world of vlogging with a cover of Florence and the Machine's version of "You got the love"
20 August 2009
Oopsy Cakesy
Today we had a "Fun Day" at church and I had bought a High School Musical box of cake mix for the group to make to go with lunch. The girls got into making it while I got o with sorting other lunchy bits out, so they emptied the box and got on with it. Apparently Katie asked me if both the bags of stuff had to go into the mixture and apparently I said "Yes" but I can't recall this conversation. So she chucked it all together, mixed in the butter, water and eggs and poured into the tray then put it all in the oven to bake. While I was clearing up the rubbish I wondered where the icing had gone to and discovered that the icing had been put into the cake mixture and was now in the oven. We worried it all may turn out a little too sweet but left it to bake and we got on with lunch and playing with HSM stickers.
When it came to eating the cake it looked good, smelled good and had a slight glaze on the top from all the sugar in it! It was real good, even with the icing IN it not ON it. So an experiment gone wrong but that turned out good and we had fun decorating it with the HSM rice paper decorations and sugary stars.
When it came to eating the cake it looked good, smelled good and had a slight glaze on the top from all the sugar in it! It was real good, even with the icing IN it not ON it. So an experiment gone wrong but that turned out good and we had fun decorating it with the HSM rice paper decorations and sugary stars.
06 February 2009
LifeHouse - Everything
I first saw this being performed at the MAD weekend in Coleraine back in October and remember quite vividly how moved I was by it. So when one of the girls in the Girls Brigade suggested performing it for the display I was excited to hear that it had impacted her so much that she was still thinking about it almost 4 months later!
Here it is for you to watch -
Here it is for you to watch -
20 December 2008
chocolate nativity
The Girls Brigade leaders in church decided that instead of buying presents for all the girls and wrapping them, that they would have Thorntons come with a whole pile of advent calendars and lots of icing filled piping bags. I was able to make one myself and was so thankful my name is so short!
It was real hard for some girls with longer names like Christine or Danielle or Rebecca trying to fit their names on. But it was so much fun and the girls all enjoyed it.
I've had fun opening my advent calendar this year, it's been the first year in a while that I've had one.
The first few days started off with chocolate stars and trees and crackers but the last few days have had kings with gifts, shepherds, angels and now today the nativity scene....
It excited me to see that the birth of Jesus hasn't been completely forgotten by a commercial chain store like Thortons. I couldn't help but say a prayer for everyone else opening their Thorntons advent calendar today that the chocolate treat would be a little reminder to them of the reason for the season too.
It was real hard for some girls with longer names like Christine or Danielle or Rebecca trying to fit their names on. But it was so much fun and the girls all enjoyed it.
I've had fun opening my advent calendar this year, it's been the first year in a while that I've had one.
The first few days started off with chocolate stars and trees and crackers but the last few days have had kings with gifts, shepherds, angels and now today the nativity scene....
It excited me to see that the birth of Jesus hasn't been completely forgotten by a commercial chain store like Thortons. I couldn't help but say a prayer for everyone else opening their Thorntons advent calendar today that the chocolate treat would be a little reminder to them of the reason for the season too.
17 October 2008
hurting
The past 3 years at the Youth Ministry Summer School there has been a lot of focus on teens suffering more hurt and pain than they have in the past. The first 2 years we had 
Chap Clark who wrote Hurt and Deep Ministry in a Shallow World as one of the keynote speakers. Marv Penner, who wrote Help My Kids Are Hurting: A Survival Guide to Working with Students in Pain was a key note speaker at the last Summer School. So each summer school has featured a lot of discussion around the subject, leading us into the thinking that as youth workers we need to set up communities for young people to feel loved, accepted, valuable and worth something. I have to admit that at each discussion on hurt and pain I was struggling to relate personally because I couldn't remember going through anything similar myself.
When we were in the airport on our way to Egypt a few weeks ago I couldn't help but have a look in the book shop. I'm not much of a reader usually but on holiday I read 2 or 3 books - I ended up reading 4 books and got halfway through another. I left the shop having bought 2 extra books to take away with me, one of which was called Loose Girl. It's a book about the author's struggle as a teenager and beyond to feel accepted and loved. She journals how she discovered a way to be accepted, loved and attractive was to use her feminine powers over men. In a search for attention and love she went down a path full of meaningless one night stands and emotionally unsatisfying relationships. Ultimately using and being used in order to fill a void.
As I read this book I couldn't help but think about Summer School and my own experiences of wanting love when I was a teen. I was reminded of times when I felt desperate for a boy to notice me, not just as someone else in the crowd but as someone special. I remember thinking that if anyone ever did want to be with me that I would have to be someone different than who I am so they would like me. I was insecure and rejection made me feel more insecure. I identified with the author in her quest to work out what it meant to love and to be loved. I identified with her as she dealt with her insecurity and compared herself to other girls. From reading magazines, watching TV, seeing movies and more back then I thought love was about feeling loved and thought nothing about returning love to that person too. I thought about how all this made me feel unattractive, unloveable, unaccepted, useless and worthless. Yes, I had friends who cared about me, but this still didn't make me feel like I could be loved. Thankfully I'm past all that insecurity and am a very happily married woman - though I still have my insecurities but they're not related to feeling loved or valuable anymore.
Thinking through all this helped me to identify more with what we have been talking about for the past 3 years at Summer School. It's helped me think more about how I as a youth worker need to get alongside young people and show them a God who loves them and cares for them as they are and not who they think they need to be or act like. It has helped me to see more of how God has created me and is using me to do His will and show His love. I can see more of how He's using me and my flawed humanity to serve others.
Chap Clark who wrote Hurt and Deep Ministry in a Shallow World as one of the keynote speakers. Marv Penner, who wrote Help My Kids Are Hurting: A Survival Guide to Working with Students in Pain was a key note speaker at the last Summer School. So each summer school has featured a lot of discussion around the subject, leading us into the thinking that as youth workers we need to set up communities for young people to feel loved, accepted, valuable and worth something. I have to admit that at each discussion on hurt and pain I was struggling to relate personally because I couldn't remember going through anything similar myself.
When we were in the airport on our way to Egypt a few weeks ago I couldn't help but have a look in the book shop. I'm not much of a reader usually but on holiday I read 2 or 3 books - I ended up reading 4 books and got halfway through another. I left the shop having bought 2 extra books to take away with me, one of which was called Loose Girl. It's a book about the author's struggle as a teenager and beyond to feel accepted and loved. She journals how she discovered a way to be accepted, loved and attractive was to use her feminine powers over men. In a search for attention and love she went down a path full of meaningless one night stands and emotionally unsatisfying relationships. Ultimately using and being used in order to fill a void.As I read this book I couldn't help but think about Summer School and my own experiences of wanting love when I was a teen. I was reminded of times when I felt desperate for a boy to notice me, not just as someone else in the crowd but as someone special. I remember thinking that if anyone ever did want to be with me that I would have to be someone different than who I am so they would like me. I was insecure and rejection made me feel more insecure. I identified with the author in her quest to work out what it meant to love and to be loved. I identified with her as she dealt with her insecurity and compared herself to other girls. From reading magazines, watching TV, seeing movies and more back then I thought love was about feeling loved and thought nothing about returning love to that person too. I thought about how all this made me feel unattractive, unloveable, unaccepted, useless and worthless. Yes, I had friends who cared about me, but this still didn't make me feel like I could be loved. Thankfully I'm past all that insecurity and am a very happily married woman - though I still have my insecurities but they're not related to feeling loved or valuable anymore.
Thinking through all this helped me to identify more with what we have been talking about for the past 3 years at Summer School. It's helped me think more about how I as a youth worker need to get alongside young people and show them a God who loves them and cares for them as they are and not who they think they need to be or act like. It has helped me to see more of how God has created me and is using me to do His will and show His love. I can see more of how He's using me and my flawed humanity to serve others.
13 September 2008
Imitation
I recently saw this video on YouTube and I have to say I was well impressed by this little bird's skills of imitation. You have to watch it to understand and to believe it.
As I watched it I got to thinking about how as Christians we're supposed to be imitations of Christ which then lead me into a whole line of thinking for a youth talk or childrens' talk. I'll not be posting that talk just yet - need to flesh it out a little more first but I thought I'd share the video for those who may be interested in creating their own discussion or Bible Study or talk of some sort using
As I watched it I got to thinking about how as Christians we're supposed to be imitations of Christ which then lead me into a whole line of thinking for a youth talk or childrens' talk. I'll not be posting that talk just yet - need to flesh it out a little more first but I thought I'd share the video for those who may be interested in creating their own discussion or Bible Study or talk of some sort using
01 September 2008
I shouldn't have said anything
So I'm back from Summer School where I had a really great time, full of great fellowship and teaching. I've come away with lots to think about and work on implementing in our own youth ministry.
In getting ready to go away I wrote a post about the end of summer and yesterday I was leading the congregation in prayer, introducing it with the words "we're approaching the end of summer". I really shouldn't have said or wrote either of these things because I can't help but notice leaves falling off the trees and other signs of Autumn. Normally I'm not bothered because I love the beauty of Autumn but having not really had any real summer this year again I just don't feel ready for it all.
It got me thinking about the changes we go through in life and how often changes of season come without us being ready for them, even if we have known about the change coming for a long time. I remember being in university knowing God was calling me into a full time youth work job so after university I spent a year at Belfast Bible College preparing for full time ministry, but when that year was up and I got a job I still felt unprepared and a little overwhelmed. Looking back on that time now I can see how God was using my struggle to make me stronger, better prepared for things to come and to make me more dependent on Him instead of me.
I don't feel ready for Autumn, not just the changes in nature but the change back to the routine as our church organisations start up again. I haven't had time to prepare much for it yet or to think through programme much yet but I need to remember God is using this time of change and unpreparedness to make me stronger, better prepared for things to come and to make me more dependent on Him instead of me.
In getting ready to go away I wrote a post about the end of summer and yesterday I was leading the congregation in prayer, introducing it with the words "we're approaching the end of summer". I really shouldn't have said or wrote either of these things because I can't help but notice leaves falling off the trees and other signs of Autumn. Normally I'm not bothered because I love the beauty of Autumn but having not really had any real summer this year again I just don't feel ready for it all.
It got me thinking about the changes we go through in life and how often changes of season come without us being ready for them, even if we have known about the change coming for a long time. I remember being in university knowing God was calling me into a full time youth work job so after university I spent a year at Belfast Bible College preparing for full time ministry, but when that year was up and I got a job I still felt unprepared and a little overwhelmed. Looking back on that time now I can see how God was using my struggle to make me stronger, better prepared for things to come and to make me more dependent on Him instead of me.
I don't feel ready for Autumn, not just the changes in nature but the change back to the routine as our church organisations start up again. I haven't had time to prepare much for it yet or to think through programme much yet but I need to remember God is using this time of change and unpreparedness to make me stronger, better prepared for things to come and to make me more dependent on Him instead of me.
27 August 2008
The end of summer...
..... is now taken over with the Youth Ministry Summer School run by the Presbyterian, Methodist and Church of Ireland Youth departments in Ireland. This is the 3rd year of it's existence but it seems already to be "the norm" for me. So tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'll be leaving Rob and Stewie (and Boomer - my sister's hamster who we're looking after while she's on holiday) to look after themselves for a few days while I swot up on youth ministry once more.
This year Marv Penner and Kenda Creasy Dean will be the keynote speakers. I'm quite excited to hear from Marv about family ministry as that's part of my role in Bannside and something I really want to develop more. Mind you I'm also real excited about meeting with other people who love working with young people too.
I'll be back in a few days but I'm sure I'll be way too tired to post for a few days!
This year Marv Penner and Kenda Creasy Dean will be the keynote speakers. I'm quite excited to hear from Marv about family ministry as that's part of my role in Bannside and something I really want to develop more. Mind you I'm also real excited about meeting with other people who love working with young people too.
I'll be back in a few days but I'm sure I'll be way too tired to post for a few days!
06 August 2008
If people were like fonts....
I'm posting this geek type video because I'm in the middle of Tech Camp and feeling the need to extend the sharing of geekiness to my blog. Someone (sorry can't remember who) Twittered about this video. So very funny, a lot of thought went into this.
It's day 3 and we've been having a great week so far at camp. On Monday we did some filming and editing and went out on a photo scavenger hunt round Belfast - you can see the photos from that on our Tumblr Account. Yesterday we focussed on the internet. We reviewed some church websites and discussed what was good and what was bad about them, then we set up the tumblr account, set up a uStream and a Tech Camp Blog. And today we're working on some animation and making little cartoons which I'm sure will appear on the blog at some point soon.
I'd better head on now though and get some juice and biscuits sorted for break. Ciao!
It's day 3 and we've been having a great week so far at camp. On Monday we did some filming and editing and went out on a photo scavenger hunt round Belfast - you can see the photos from that on our Tumblr Account. Yesterday we focussed on the internet. We reviewed some church websites and discussed what was good and what was bad about them, then we set up the tumblr account, set up a uStream and a Tech Camp Blog. And today we're working on some animation and making little cartoons which I'm sure will appear on the blog at some point soon.
I'd better head on now though and get some juice and biscuits sorted for break. Ciao!
01 August 2008
Tech Camp
I can't believe it!!!! Tech Camp starts on Monday! For the past week I've been sorting out little bits and pieces for it but still feeling that there is loads to do..... like cleaning out my car for a start! I'm really hoping and praying that it all goes well this year, it's my first year organising everything whereas in the past I came as a leader and helped out in whatever way I could. But I'm really excited about what we'll be doing, which I don't want to reveal here for fear it may spoil it for our campers but I promise there will be a Tech Camp 08 blog which I'll add a link to during the week.
I'd best get back to getting this prepared!!!! But keep the camp in your thoughts and prayers please!!!
I'd best get back to getting this prepared!!!! But keep the camp in your thoughts and prayers please!!!
14 July 2008
Different busy
When I get to May/June things seem to slow down that little bit as the young people are doing exams or enjoying the sunshine, more people are heading off in their caravans for the weekend and organisations are closing for the summer time. I enjoy this time in youth group because we don't plan anything really and just have the time open as a drop in and decide what we want to do when we're there. July is when the busyness all kicks off again and a lot of people in the church don't understand and think surely all the organisations have stopped, what exactly do i do with my time? But this is a time when I'm cooped up in the middle of planning for the Holiday Club for the children, running weekly events for our youth, planning for a youth camp called Tech Camp run by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland as well as preparing for Autumn (and even next summer!) and this year preparing for our minister retiring in September. There really is a lot to be getting done
I have to confess that this must be my favourite time in the year because I love the change in pace, the change in the attitude people have over the summer and the fact that I get a little time to myself to think through and plan properly for everything, whereas the rest of the year I feel so rushed from running between one meeting and the next.
However I'm sure once I'm in the middle of September with all our organisations starting up again I'll probably be at the point where I'm glad to have the structure back again! In the meantime I'm just loving the summer!!!!!
Photo sourced from SXC
25 June 2008
A wedding to remember
A few months ago on twitter a comment popped up from marramgrass saying "So many people keep asking me to shoot weddings, I'm starting to wonder if I should stop saying no out of hand." and a brief twitter conversation began where in summary I suggested he get a youth group to pose as a wedding party and then link it into a Bible study on Christ as the groom and the Church as the bride. A few days after suggesting it the cogs started turning in my head and I thought....
1) I could make a whole series of wedding related Bible studies out of this
2) There's bound to be some children's address potential too and most importantly.....
3) This could be a great end of year bash!
So about a month later after all this thinking I fired an email off to Mr Marramgrass who was keen to give it a go too. We set a date and the next time I met the youth group I announced it and had volunteers to be the bride and groom thus unofficially engaging them to be married in 4 weeks time. Now a lot of people have laughed at me for having had a brief engagement myself and trying to plan a wedding in such a short space of time but thankfully there wasn't as much planning for this one given that we already have a church, have halls for the catering etc, the date was set and I was ready to just wing it. The bride got a little carried away in the planning and had gone to the props department in school to try on about 12 different dresses out of the 30 or so they had (the local wedding dress shop had donated them all) and picked one and nearly each time I was speaking to her since there were conversations about how she would do her hair etc. In contrast most of the guys were wondering what food there would be lol.
Well the big day rolled round and pretty much everyone had a job, there was the bride and groom, the "minister", the organist, the father and mother of the bride, bridesmaids, best man, dj, father of the groom and me the caterer who also doubled as the mother of the groom. It was all pretty thrown together with "vows" written at the last minute and the praise and reading being sorted about half an hour before we began.
It was hilarious, the most surreal wedding I've ever been to. Well it's just funny when the bride and groom give each other jelly shaped rings vowing:
"With this ring I promise to make your finger sticky, I promise to laugh at your jokes in your speech when no one else does and I promise to eat your share of the cake"
After all that craziness we posed for some photos then went to eat and dance the night away! It was a fab day which they've been asking to do again ever since! I think I'll wait a couple of years to plan another one. in the mean time enjoy some of the fab photos Mark took for us.
The guys all waiting on the girls.... what else is new?
Here come's the bride at a million miles an hour!
This is one really casual minister...
The bride and groom....
.... you would think they actually liked each other!
Hitting the dance floor
The Wedding cake I made that was devoured in a matter of minutes
Everyone together
The plan is to prepare a series of Bible studies for the group over the summer so they will be ready in time for the Autumn when we start back again.... and maybe sneak in a few children's addresses about it over the summer.
1) I could make a whole series of wedding related Bible studies out of this
2) There's bound to be some children's address potential too and most importantly.....
3) This could be a great end of year bash!
So about a month later after all this thinking I fired an email off to Mr Marramgrass who was keen to give it a go too. We set a date and the next time I met the youth group I announced it and had volunteers to be the bride and groom thus unofficially engaging them to be married in 4 weeks time. Now a lot of people have laughed at me for having had a brief engagement myself and trying to plan a wedding in such a short space of time but thankfully there wasn't as much planning for this one given that we already have a church, have halls for the catering etc, the date was set and I was ready to just wing it. The bride got a little carried away in the planning and had gone to the props department in school to try on about 12 different dresses out of the 30 or so they had (the local wedding dress shop had donated them all) and picked one and nearly each time I was speaking to her since there were conversations about how she would do her hair etc. In contrast most of the guys were wondering what food there would be lol.
Well the big day rolled round and pretty much everyone had a job, there was the bride and groom, the "minister", the organist, the father and mother of the bride, bridesmaids, best man, dj, father of the groom and me the caterer who also doubled as the mother of the groom. It was all pretty thrown together with "vows" written at the last minute and the praise and reading being sorted about half an hour before we began.
It was hilarious, the most surreal wedding I've ever been to. Well it's just funny when the bride and groom give each other jelly shaped rings vowing:
"With this ring I promise to make your finger sticky, I promise to laugh at your jokes in your speech when no one else does and I promise to eat your share of the cake"
After all that craziness we posed for some photos then went to eat and dance the night away! It was a fab day which they've been asking to do again ever since! I think I'll wait a couple of years to plan another one. in the mean time enjoy some of the fab photos Mark took for us.
The guys all waiting on the girls.... what else is new?
Here come's the bride at a million miles an hour!
This is one really casual minister...
The bride and groom....
.... you would think they actually liked each other!
Hitting the dance floor
The Wedding cake I made that was devoured in a matter of minutes
Everyone together
The plan is to prepare a series of Bible studies for the group over the summer so they will be ready in time for the Autumn when we start back again.... and maybe sneak in a few children's addresses about it over the summer.
20 May 2008
Free Youth Bible Study 2 - Clay Pot
As we're coming into the summer and the tone and speed of youth group slows down due to the warmer weather, exams, families going caravaning etc I decided to take an idea that Duffy Robbins had shared at summer school last August. He spoke about a youth worker (whose name escapes me but if anyone knows please fill me in!!!) who took a large clay pot and broke it into lots of pieces, gave a piece to each of the young people in his group to decorate then glued it all together again.
When I handed out the pieces they were rather confused but loved the idea of expressing themselves also once we'd finished decorating we got to play some rounders outside in the sun.
I took all the pieces home and spent all of the following week gluing it all back together again but it turned out real well -
The following week we had a relaxed casual Bible Study and used the pot as a prop.
Click here to download the Bible Study
If you're using this please get in touch. I'd love to know where and how it's being used - just because I'm curious.
When I handed out the pieces they were rather confused but loved the idea of expressing themselves also once we'd finished decorating we got to play some rounders outside in the sun.
I took all the pieces home and spent all of the following week gluing it all back together again but it turned out real well -
The following week we had a relaxed casual Bible Study and used the pot as a prop.
Click here to download the Bible Study
If you're using this please get in touch. I'd love to know where and how it's being used - just because I'm curious.
11 May 2008
29 April 2008
Married to a Youth Pastor
HT to Matthew McNutt for this link to Married to a Youth Pastor. I've only been reading this blog for a couple of days but it's been very informative and interesting in all sorts of ways. I imagine it might be of interest to others who read this little corner of the web still and that it may be of use and/or interest to youth workers, ministers, and of course their spouses!
06 March 2008
Uses of salt
Marko has posted about how there are over 14,000 uses for salt and it already has me thinking about a million different youth and children's talks... maybe it would be useful to others out there?
Video tips
Josh Griffin has posted some great links on how to use and source videos for youth work, and well I suppose anything really.
A lot of these sites I use, but some I was unaware of, so hope it's of use to others too.
A lot of these sites I use, but some I was unaware of, so hope it's of use to others too.
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