School wasn’t my favourite time for lots of reasons, but I can look back on it now with fond memories. In preparation for an event we’re organising to celebrate, encourage & commission Christian teachers, I’ve been reflecting on some school memories, and in particular, some of my teachers.During my first school & middle school years I had some excellent teachers…
I am fortunate to know a number of teachers & support workers: some are members at my Church, others are friends, some are acquaintances. I’m privileged to be able to go into our local Secondary school once a fortnight and pray with some of them.The city I live in has a high proportion of young people – and as a…
Tonight I had the privilege of taking a group from my Church to lead worship at Oakhill Secure Training Centre. It was our second visit to lead their Chapel service, and I was looking forward to it. I’ve heard some great things about what the Lord has been doing at Oakhill over the last 12-18 months.This morning I asked the…
On Saturday 23rd October I spent the day in London in the presence of 592 youth workers/leaders/ministers/etc and at least 20 speakers at the first Youthwork Summit: ‘a new kind of youth work event… breaking down old ways of doing things, and finding new ones; listening to a wider range of voices than ever before, from parts of the church…
This is part four of the series looking at the inclusion of Children & Young People in Worship – if you haven’t read the other posts (intro, 1, 2, 3), I’d encourage you to do so before you continue. this time taking a bit of a step back and considering the wider issue.Having critiqued our current practice at Spurgeons, and…
This is part three of the series looking at the inclusion of Children & Young People in Worship – this time taking a bit of a step back and considering the wider issue. [Image courtesy of BobWeasel]Having explored the issue of the children’s talk a little and critiqued our current practice, I want to suggest that perhaps we could do…
This is part two of the series looking at the inclusion of Children & Young People in Worship – this time just a quick overview of the issue of segregation.At Spurgeon Baptist Church it is our practice to spend the first part of the service with all ages present, before separating about half way through, with the young people leaving the…
I’ve been tasked with reviewing the aim and focus of the ‘all-age talk’ or ‘children’s talk’ at the church where I serve as Youth Minister. We are a pretty conservative Baptist church with a fairly set form of service (affectionately known as a ‘hymn-prayer sandwich’). The Junior Church leave approximately half way through the service and head into their own…
This is the start of a series of posts around the issue of inclusion of children and young people in worship.As I review the current practice at my church and seek to find appropriate developments, I will be blogging my thoughts, comments, concerns and questions in the hope that it will aid my reflection, help to document my progress and…
Today was my long-awaited first day as Youth Minister at Spurgeon Baptist Church, Bletchley (my home Church for 18 years). Having completed my Degree in Youth and Community Work & Applied Theology at the Centre for Youth Ministry in June, I’ve had a relatively quiet summer whilst waiting to be appointed and then reach the start date. But I made…
During my Degree at the Centre for Youth Ministry I’ve collected a large number of related books, with thanks to the Central Baptist Association for a generous book grant. I expect I’ll make good use of them during the next few years, but would like to loan them out to others who may find them helpful. I couldn’t face compiling…