Colourful Dreamer

This is a very telling posting from Sam Harvey. Less fluff! more substance.

This site offers all kinds of liturgical resources for Anglicans in Aotearoa - New Zealand. Bosco is really passionate about Liturgy. What he offers is not everyones cup of tea, but it is still really good to have a New Zealand Anglican resource. he also has all sorts of other material there. worth a look

I am trying to put together a sheet with some thoughts around what good anglican worship might look like with young people, to help those doing worship with young people. So here are some inititial thoughts. Please comment on this, be as harsh as you like peace john Some thoughts: Liturgical § it has a flow (it is more than singing praise songs) § it invites everyone to take part however they are able § creative use of the prayer book (?) Use of scripture § Big chucks are read out so that we can hear it § Uses the Lectionary Sacramental - includes communion § More than words and thoughts but: Visible word of God Non verbal Non intellectual Affective Outward Focusing: § Not so much concerned about us but with what God is doing in the word – invites us to be concernced about the world and to prayer for the world Communal § Anglicans are a people who worship in common Those in this church/place/camp Those across country and around the world – we worship with them as well. § Use of plural ...

I wrote this resource for Lent last year based on the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo. It is a prayer resource, to be prayed with each day. Let me knwo what you think John

This is the edited version of what Ben has sent me. My response follows. Hey Ya I actually don’t disagree with any of this – I think there is an inherent weakness in taking the “I” model too far, but I think the same about taking “we” too far as well. In fact if you’d just simple said Yes, we as individuals need to respond and make it out own, and so we need the “I” songs, but they need to be put into the context of us as God’s community In your blog then I would have been in complete agreement – a balance that allows for individual ownership of a relationship with God as a member of all of God’s people both living and departed. We actually facilitate this by a) writing songs that reflect “we” (like - We want to walk with you or Almighty God…which is actually just from the prayerbook) cos to be honest there aren’t that many good “we” songs out there b) Changing songs that can easily be changed such as Jesus be the centre (be OUR source…) and “Open the eyes of OUR heart” However I also ...

WE ARE, THEREFORE I AM!

I wrote this a few years ago. it is a summary of what I think youth ministry is all about. Youth Ministry is an umbrella term that describes the systematic attention the faith community gives to young people which enables them to reach their full God created potential. That is, everything the faith community is involved in that promotes both healthy development and faith growth in adolescents. v As a communal and relational ministry, it encompasses the whole faith community's work of nurturing, encouraging, and sustaining the relationship young people have with God as part of the church and the world. v As an incarnational ministry, it takes seriously the whole person and all their needs, including physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral and spiritual. v As an incarnational ministry it also takes seriously all the contexts in which the young people live. This includes working to both provide a climate within our faith communities, and in the wider community, which fo...

Thanks Ben. This is what I am hoping this blog will do at times, and that is encourage people to take my up on my outrageous statements. First off, I clearly have overstated my case. I am not even remotely interested in having an "I vs. We" debate. I believe that both are needed for all the reasons you laid out Ben. That is my real issue, that I attend event after event and all we ever sign is "I songs". We need more we songs, and we need songs that are both I and we. It isn't that hard to write them, I change the words of songs all the time to we, and it works. Sometimes I just change the chorus words, sometimes just the verse words. Now, I really can't let Ben get away with some of what he said. Yes Scripture uses "I", as do a lot of our great hymns and prayers. But to intimate that the Hebrew Scriptures only use "I" is false. Their great creedal statements of identity all use we. "We were slaves in Egypt...." Again and again ...

I put this in the comments section as well, but thought I would put it here to. While some of the comments reveal how passionate people feel, I am glad that it has sparked that passion and response. But I do feel I have been slightly misunderstood, so I make the following responses. Firstly, I am really sorry if I caused hurt. I thought that the event was a great event overall. And those who commented are right, I should have said so on the blog. I did tell some of the organisers that at the time, and again in my evaluation. And I did raise these issues in my evaluation, and other issues I felt needing addressing. Yet overall it was a well run event. But part of my role in to “to work with others to broaden & deepen the church's understanding of youth ministry so that it is seen as ministry: to youth, for youth, with youth & from youth.” One of the ways I do that is through this blog and offering comments on what I experience at various youth ministries. Were these comments...