So, over the last month I’ve been attempting to organise my blogging a lot more, focusing on investing time in the topics I want to research and learn more of and trying to be more methodical and more consistent with my writing.
I’d like to invite you to read over some of the popular posts you missed, and feel free to comment or discuss anything you find interesting. Here are some of the posts over the last month which have proved most popular with you guys:
Last Wednesday was an awesome Snow Day – schools were closed and there were loads of young people out and about to play and hang out with. Here’s some photos and reflections on spending time in the snow – and pictures of our Igloo!
Links to stuff that’s taken my interest online over the last week or so.
Scot Mc Knight’s article on The Gospel for iGens in Leadership Journal is really relevant and important for those engaging in mission with young people/young adults.
I’ve just caught up with FlashForward on Five on Demand (UK only) – it’s really beginning to grow on me. Also, Design for Life on BBC iPlayer looks really interesting.
Ed Stetzer’s video for The Nines is really good – “Mission is the opposite of self” (video after the jump):
Last Saturday’s Guardian had a great article where the reporter tailed a couple of different groups of teenage boys – revealing a really interesting viewpoint into what teenage boys think about and how they spend their time.
It’s really good to see a really positive media article on young people. Check it out for some interesting insights.
In his video for The Nines, Rick Warren talks about the need for a process of discipleship in a lot of the churches he is aware of. The question a lot of church leaders are asking is ‘how do we move people along from a needy attitude towards faith to a more committed “what can I give?” attitude?’
Is the problem that this is the wrong question? Instead, perhaps we should be asking questions about the way we market our faith in the first place?
How does the image of mission as liberation help us in understanding how God is at work in the world around us, and how we can get stuck in alongside him?
The story about a teenage intern at Morgan Stanley who wrote some notes of teenagers’ technology usage is quickly becoming a bit of a legend. This is really interesting – I wonder whether companies had actually considered using teenagers to gather research before?
If you haven’t seen this yet, you can catch up with this story from the Guardian.
Here’s a full copy of the research notes which have caused the stir. From my own experience of young people, it certainly seems to ring true.
Dan (who I live with) and Danny from our Lab community put this video together over the last couple of weeks.
Been meaning for a while to write about online lobbying, and how much of a good thing it is for us to get involved in. Especially for students, who are often saying "we have no money, so we can't give", "and we're too busy (or possibly lazy ;-) to give much of our time" when it comes to charities and that whole aspect of being a Jesus-follower.
First up, I so, so strongly believe that social action and social justice on both a local and global scale is a vital part of living the Jesus life. Jesus said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."*
And that's part of our duty and our joy, as Jesus-followers, to continue to bring in the Jubilee – "the year of the Lord's favour".
There are three different places at the moment that I get updates from, who lobby governments on justice and poverty issues – from Zimbabwe to Fair Trade Chocolate.
It only takes about two minutes to:
Two minutes which could add to up to, at least, some small change, and at most something world-changing. There is very little to lose. And, for the skeptics – these campaigns actually achieve stuff.
So, I mentioned three sites I'm subscribed to:
This is Tearfund's facebook app – so quick and easy from Facebook. Every week or so, a new "badger" comes up which you can respond to. As a cheeky extra, you then gain badger points for the amount of badgering (lobbying) you do, and whether you invite friends.
Tearfund engage with environmental and justice issues both here in the UK, as well as the huge global justice issues. And they have a Christian ethos – as you might know.
The One campaign is pretty USAmerican, but came out of what was the Make Poverty History campaign which ran for a year (remember that one). Sometimes they send American stuff out and right now their covering the American elections – which isn't hugely relevant, except that it's about choosing who the next most powerful man in the world will be. Think about it.
I'm not really sure where this site came from – I found it around the time of the Zimbabwe elections. But it is incredible. It's about harnessing and continuing to motivate that wave of young people who quit school over the Iraq war and are outraged about the situation in Zim. They usually focus on the huge, big issues on a worldwide scale.
The best way to keep up to date with these things is to sign up for email updates – so they send you the most vital campaigns for you to spend your two minutes on regularly.
Anyway – there we go, so take it or leave it.
* Luke 4:18-19 ESV
Just caught a LeadershipJournal article in my feedreader – What the Unchurched See in a Building:
Does "sacred" space appeal to or repel the
unchurched? A recent survey probed 1,700 unchurched American adults,
putting photos of four different church exteriors in front of them.
Respondents indicated their preferences by allocating 100 points across
the four images, based on the appeal of the appearance.
The Gothic look averaged 48 points, more than double
the next-highest finisher, a white-steeple-and-pillar exterior that
averaged about 19 points. The other two churches, with more
contemporary looks, averaged 18 points and 16 points, according to the
study, commissioned by Cornerstone Knowledge Network and conducted by
LifeWay Research.
So should churches opt for the cathedral look as a way to attract the unchurched?
- Matt Branagh, Leadership Journal: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/003/8.67.html
Obviously this is USAmerican research, but seems to agree with a general trend – especially with young people (with younger people in the research, the tend towards traditional Gothic architecture was even higher). This is true of my limited experience as well, that "unchurched" people (I love the way the article refers to "the unchurched" – it's like the new PC term for "the lost") are searching for a spirituality with truly emphasises and provides space for the sacred. Missional and emerging church leaders have been reporting this for the last five or ten years.
If young people are going to get inside a church building, they at least want it to be a spiritual experience.
The interesting irony is that there is a trend amongst the "churched" to want to de-emphasise the sacred within their own spirituality. Hence the change from church building which look like churches towards ones which look like theatres or gig venues.
Alan Hirsch reckons that the modern seeker-sensitive church only attracts or connects with between 10-20% of unchurched people. I know we're only talking architecture here, but the parallel to this research is interesting.
Closing this gap between these two polarising viewpoints will be an interesting one. It is made a little easier, I think, by an increased in "de-churched" people and a new emerging generation (the beginnings of which I am seeing in students I work with) of Post-Charismatic young people who are coming out of churches which are heavily invested in the charismatic movement – not necessarily closed off to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but very aware of it's drawbacks and failings in recent times.
Especially in the area of whole-life discipleship and incarnational living (you know what I'm hinting at).
I think that it is a dialogue between these two groups which will hold the key to the direction of the Church over the next ten-twenty years.
Finally, it's interesting in the article that the one person interviewed – who obviously has a personal investment and bias – straight away attempted to de-bunk the research, and question its relevance.
Welcome to the blog of James Henley. I'm a young church leader / youth worker and student based in Newport, South Wales.
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