Colourful Dreamer

This was a gathering of 16 people from 14 different Provinces within the Anglican Communion. A further 7 people from 6 Provinces (and one of the ACC youth reps) were unable to attend due to lack of finance to attend, inability to gain an entry visa, or difficulty in taking time off work. Given the difficult times we live in both for the Communion and economically, this showed that interest in the work of this Network is still strong, and we continue to fulfil a vital role in encouraging those working with young people at the Provincial level, and in advocating for youth ministry and those who work with them across the Communion. It was a privilege to be present, both representing youth ministry in this Province, and as one of the organising group. It was inspiring to meet people from around the world who share our passion for youth ministry, getting to know them, learning from them, and to be able to offer what we have learnt from doing youth work in our context. We are one o...

At the recent meeting of Anglican Provincial Youth Officers in Hong Kong we worked on a new edition for Buenas Nuevas, the journal of the International Anglican Youth Network. As a taster, here is one of the articles that will come out in this next edition. Moving youth ministry from being apriority to being part of the fabric of who we are? Over recent years many dioceses and provinces within the Communion have made ministry to and among young people a priority. A lot has been written about the importance of youth ministry. Youth policies have been approved by synods with acclamation. Bishops have spoken enthusiastically about youth ministry, sometimes beginning their Synod report with this good news. Other provinces have affirmed the priority of funding youth ministry initiatives and the importance of engaging those under 25 with the gospel and Anglican tradition. At the recent meeting of Provincial Youth Officers in Hong Kong there was a lot of good news on this front. B...

I recieved from a friend It is work reading and thinking about. WEEP FOR THANDI A few weeks ago, my daughter attended a “team building” exercise at which the members of the team gave a presentation on their lives.   One team member, who grew up on the Cape Flats spoke of her impoverished childhood, describing a small home without electricity or running water. She mentioned that she and her two brothers shared clothes because they didn’t have enough to have a complete set each. She said, “I didn’t know that was WRONG .”   She said that she had only one pair of shoes, and thought that was OK because she didn’t know that it was WRONG to have only one pair.     She concluded by saying that she had thought it was an easy happy existence, and only learned later that she was WRONG because it was a very hard life and she was   unhappy without knowing it. . She apologised, giving the excuse that she DIDN’T KNOW ANY BETTER.   Thandi, who through grit, intel...

John Key this week announced his grand plans to solve the youth unemployment issue. not much there really apart from the normal "blame the young people". The real issue is that in times of reasonably high unemployment young people always fair worst. And so at such times there is always a big push to keep young people in education so that they are more employable. And so that they do not appear on the unemployment statistics. I am not blaming National or Labour for this current recession. I laugh at people who do. We have done reasonably well in this crisis, and that is due to both the previous and current governments. This crisis was caused overseas by poor government (thanks George W and others) and greed. WE are not immune to the greed however. However, I have never thought we needed tax cuts. They were a bad idea. What we needed was expenditure to keep jobs going and to create new jobs. We needed big jobs being given to New Zealand companies and not being shipped offsh...

This stuff really annoys me. Yes Maori get preferential treatment. We let them die younger, achieve the least in the education system, have the lowest rate of attendance at teriary education, have the highest rates of unemployemnt, infant mortality, health issues, some of the poorest rates of access to the health system, etc... And we let them be a punching bag when a party that represents people who have the most, in terms of money, access to education, health system,and accountants who work out cunning ways to not pay for this, people who received higher tax breaks than any other group, i.e. those who really do get preferential treatment, want more votes. I am sick of people like Don Brash getting air time for his unhelpful, racist and divisivise and self serving comments.

These thoughts will be slightly shaped by the Tikanga Pakeha presentation which suggests our theological college offers a school, formation and bicultural site in three Tikanga context. So here are my random thoughts for this morning. I see the theological college as a place that offers training for key people who will help our church engage with our missional task, and discern god’s ongoing mission in our society. So this is two groups, those who will work within the structure primarily to help it focus more outward, and those who will be the point persons for our developing missional work beyond the traditional edges of church, who will be much less interested in keeping the church going, and more interested in living out God’s infinite love for all people in a way that brings them into that love, and allows them to develop worshipping communities that honour their cultural context as well as the gospel. (Ok, this is very wishy washy and pie in the sky, but hey, it is morning)  P...

So the next question is: What kind of leadership for 2020? Here are some initial thoughts: I guess first of all , a younger leadership that is less moulded by church as it was and is A leadership that if focussed on mission, and who understanding Anglicanism as what undergirds that mission. Not working to preserve Anglicanism per se Steeped in the Anglican tradition as something that gives life and through which God works to give life and to change the world Lives out of a profoundly prayerful place Willing to take risks and to fail Is innovative Is filled with God’s love for all people including those we often struggle to love Is more interested in living the gospel than preaching the gospel Is willing to question and not take for granted Loves people can take a community of people with them rather than being a lone ranger Works with teams Helps groups of people develop a vision and ways of working that out Resources people in their ministry Works hard to engage all ages...