JonJolly.com

Name Change?

Jon Jolly — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:49:14 +0000

I’ve been running this website as a personal blog for 6 and a half years now. Over that time I’ve moved the hosting package a couple of times, changed the theme design on a regular basis, and focused my writing on the subject of youth work.

The readership and community has grown significantly during the last 2 years with nearly 200 subscribed via rss, around 30 via email, at least 50 unique visitors to the site daily, and over 40 ‘fans’ on Facebook. It’s become clear that the content and discussion is generating some wider interest.

To that end, I am wondering if the time has come to rebrand the site and give it a new name. With a growing audience, it seems a bit arrogant to have the whole thing named after me (I’m not a pop star after all)! Also, I’ve started to think that jonjolly.com doesn’t really reflect the nature of the website either.

So here’s the deal: do you think I should change the name of this website to better reflect the content I write about?

Please vote in the poll below and add any thoughts in the comments. I’ll announce the result in a future post (those reading via rss, the poll is here).

Image Credit: David Reece on Flickr

Guest Post: Shaun Parker

Jon Jolly — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:30:00 +0000

This is the first ever guest post on this blog, and is also the first in a short series written by former young people I have had the privilege of working with. Having been involved in youth work for well over 10 years, many of my old youth groups have gone on to do amazing and exciting things. Some, to my immense pride, have also gone on to work with young people themselves. I have asked a few of these individuals to write about their experiences of working with young people in their particular context.

This post is written by long-term friend Shaun Parker:

Over the last 10 years I’ve worked with Jon in many ways, in fact my first experience of Jon was when I volunteered at a playscheme when I was 14! 10 years on I’ve been really blessed to have worked alongside him. Over the years I’ve been involved in playschemes, church groups, large events like Spring Harvest, young carers support groups, and the most recent was an internship with Arun Community Church which was in partnership with The Rank Foundation.

I write this blog post while siting in a coffee shop in Bogota, Colombia. I have the backdrop of a huge and beautiful Church building behind me while prostitutes (adults and children), pimps, transexuals and drug dealers go about their business – not your normal combination!

After my internship with Arun Community Church I was invited to join this team in Bogota to plant a new Church which has a focus on the community. While this isn’t a new concept for most of us from the West, it is a big deal for people here in Latin America. So our mission is to be a non-religious, non-legalistic expression of Jesus Christ throughout Colombia and Latin America; a church of creativity, reflecting our Creator, a Church of action bringing the kingdom of God into every area of society, and to see the rule and reign of Jesus break out in peopleʼs lives! The name of our church plant is called ‘Comunidad Mosaic’ or ‘Mosaic Community’ in English. Just as a mosaic is made of broken, unique, individual pieces, so too is the church of Jesus made up of individual, broken humanity. But together we create a work of art, together we paint a picture of a different future. A ʻmosaicʼ is an art form both ancient and modern and we believe that the church of the 21st Century should bring the old and new together, reflecting the full picture of the great story we are called to continue – of Godʼs work interfacing with human history.

Before I confirmed to come out to Colombia I had many different options, and while staying in England made a lot of sense (and if I’m honest I wanted to stay in England), I knew that it wasn’t meant to be. God gave me a passion and desire to see people set free from within the sex trade, so I moved over here to develop some projects that will make that happen. We are very much at the start of our work into the sex industry here and are currently just trying to be a light in a dark place.

When Jon asked me to write about some of my experiences of working with young people, I knew that I wanted to talk briefly about the difference between youth work in England and Colombia. Something I have found very difficult when coming over here is the lack of planning and safety. We are currently planning a children’s playscheme for October and trying to find basic Child Protection procedures here is like bashing your head against the wall! But while that is frustrating, what I have found even more challenging is the method that is used to work with young people. Most teachers or ‘youth workers’ won’t allow young people to explore ideas or try things in different ways, they simply tell them what is the ‘correct way’ of doing things. I think this just creates a bunch of robots who don’t know why they are doing what they do!
From my experience as a young person in England, I really appreciated it when youth workers gave me the encouragement to pursue my own answers. That has always been one skill that I have used when working with other people. I think it’s one of the most important things we could do as youth workers and in actual fact it’s very easy to do.

Blogging is new for me and I’m still trying to find my feet with it all. I started back in 2008 but quickly got distracted and gave up. Late in 2009 I decided to start up again and created my own site with the aim to keep people up to date with everything thats happening in Colombia. It has since turned more into a general blog about the sex industry, youth work and many other things. Do feel free to check it out as I would love some comments on future developments of my posts. I have also just been approved as a writer for the http://www.xxxchurch.com blog (a Christian ministry reaching out to the sex industry). It’ll be a couple months before my posts are published but do keep an eye out for those too.

http://www.shaunparker.me
http://www.comunidadmosaic.com
http://www.xxxchurch.com

Soul Survivor Bible In One Year

Jon Jolly — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:12 +0000

Today, 1st September 2010, is the start of Soul Survivor’s Bible In One Year. Promoted heavily at the summer festivals, this NIV version is a similar format to many other read-in-a-year Bibles with an Old Testament, New Testament and Psalms/Poetry reading each day. The really interesting and exciting thing about this one is the collaborative effort being promised by the new Bible In One Year Blog. From the blurb:

Take thousands of young people all committed to reading the Bible together

Add in a brand new arrangement of the Bible, with specific chunks to read each day

Start on 1 September, when the new school/uni year is getting going

Kick it off with a bit of explanation about how the Bible works and what it contains

Mix with online blogs and commentary from Mike Pilavachi, Andy Croft, Ali Martin and more

Top it up with prayer, good friends, supportive youth leaders – and a lot of help from God.

A number of our young people were keen to purchase a copy and we’ve committed as a group to get stuck in together. The great thing though is that you don’t actually need a ‘Soul Survivor Bible In One Year’ to follow along. The references and notes should be posted on the blog each day, and being a geeky kind of youth worker, I’ve plugged the RSS feed into our youth group’s Facebook page so they’ll get each day’s notes popping up in their News Feed!

While there are many other Bible reading plans and various notes available, it’s great that such a large youth organisation are encouraging young people to read the Bible together.

Youth Work Links for 1st July to 31st August

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:00:09 +0000

These are my youth work, youth ministry, childrens ministry and schools work links for 1st July to 31st August. For more related links, check out my links page

The Bible in One Year – Soul Survivor's Bible In One Year blog. A space for us all to share our thoughts, questions, inspirations and challenges as we read The Bible in One Year together!
Helping Parents to Train Their Children for Christ – Disciple Like Jesus – Are you interested in raising your children for the glory of God? That's a good thing, because most children from Christian homes are primarily being discipled in the ways of the world, and most are leaving the church just after finishing high school. Learn why this problem exists, and what parents, grandparents and pastors can do about it.
Author: More teens becoming ‘fake’ Christians – CNN.com – Kenda Creasy Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.
Facebook Places as a Youth Group Game | Youth Specialties – With more than 500 million active Facebook users and the rapid expansion of GPS-enabled smart phones hitting the adolescent market, there's a good chance youth workers will need to take notice.
When we were young: The milestones of youth and rebellion – This Britain, UK – The Independent – Britain is facing a teen shortage. According to a recent Office for National Statistics survey, the number of teenagers – defined as the 15-24 age group – is set to decrease by 5 per cent during the next five years. This is one result of the mini "baby slump" that occurred towards the end of the Seventies – caused by more widespread family planning and poor economic conditions.

Richard Hubbard

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:45:12 +0000

Last Wednesday, Richard Hubbard international speaker, CEO of Links International, and long-time member & elder of our church passed away after a battle with cancer. I had the pleasure of knowing Rich and serving with him at the church these past few years. He was a huge influence on my faith in my early teens and continued to be an inspiration with his energetic and enthusiastic Bible teaching.

It’s really difficult to know what to say or how to respond in these times, so I will simply reproduce an edit from the church newsletter which highlights a bit more about the life of this amazing man.

…After about 5 years working in Plymouth, Rich left full-time employment, and launched out into children’s ministry. Rich and his wife Lynda moved back to Littlehampton and Rich travelled the country leading children’s meetings under the title Powerpoint. He produced a number of cassettes of children’s songs and thousands of children were affected by these, as well as by the many praise concerts and conferences he took part in, often taking a large team along with him.

Rich branched out from children’s ministry and spoke wherever he was invited. Sanga Millar asked him to go and minister in Shillong, North East India. This was the start of his international ministry. Soon afterwards he crossed paths with Norman Barnes of Links International, and Norman invited Rich to travel with him on some trips. This developed and Rich became more and more involved with the work of Links, eventually taking over as CEO in 2006. He has ministered in very many countries across the world to many thousands of people.

Rich always firmly believed in the importance of the local church, and always made it his priority. Rich joined the leadership team of Arun Community Church, and was appointed an elder in November 1993. He was an elder and part of the senior leadership team up until September last year.

In addition to his spiritual input, his wisdom and expertise in legal and financial matters were invaluable. He has helped lead the church from a small gathering to a sizeable church with a significant influence locally and beyond. He believed that the Bible was the Word of God but it needed to be read and understood in context to be understood. For the last few years he has systematically read through the whole Bible each year, and would be continually recounting what God had shown him from it.

His mother recalls a conversation with him when he was 17. He said that he was determined to be able to say on his deathbed that he had not failed to achieve all that God had for him. Rich was never one for resting on his laurels. This time last year he knew he had faithfully fulfilled all that God had called him to up until then, and he felt he should be pressing on to something further, but he was not sure quite what. God had other plans for him.

Rich has influenced so many people in so many ways across the world, but his influence began with us here. He has been a highly respected elder of this church for 16 years. He has been such a loving faithful and loyal family man. He has been a foundational builder, a pillar, a senior statesman, a loyal and faithful preacher and teacher of God‟s word, an inspiration, an example and an encourager. We have been so inspired by the way he has faced the recent illness and has been so positive and faithful to God right up to the end of his life here. I sense God say “Well done, good and faithful servant‟.

His gain is our loss, and all of us will miss him so much. We send our heartfelt love to his wife, children and to all other members of the wider family.

Thank you Rich for the life of dedication and obedience that you faithfully modelled. You will be missed.

UPDATE: A website has been setup for people to leave their thoughts, messages and memories of Rich and to share with others about his unforgettable character. www.richhubbard.co.uk

Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:17:20 +0000

I love the Soul Survivor youth festivals. This year was particularly special as we took a mixed group of church young people, some from the LA-UK community project, and some from the Littlehampton Academy (school). Of 60 young people, 15 made first time commitments to follow Jesus, and the others had a range of positive experiences of God!

However there was one thing that frustrated me about Soul Survivor this year – and it’s nothing to do with the event itself. It’s in relation to Soul Survivor as a brand and how they have various aspects of the organisation such as SoulNet youth leaders training and Soul Action, the social justice arm.

This year Soul Action is running a campaign called ‘Not For Sale’ which focuses on the problem of poverty and how it creates and perpetuates slavery. Here is their video explanation (also available here):

But this is my problem: there are already a large number of charities running massive global campaigns to end slavery and human trafficking, many of them Christian based. Examples include Stop The Traffik, Love 146, A21 and Destiny Rescue, although I’m sure there are many, many more. While each of these organisations may have a particular focus or objectives, they all share a similar desire to end slavery.

So why are Soul Survivor starting their own campaign rather than throw their considerable weight behind one of these existing organisations? In fact, why don’t some of these big organisations join forces to have more resources to achieve their aims?

This short post from intelligent giving back in 2008 articulates my point well:

there are a number of organizations out there which seem to do very similar things. Age Concern and Help the Aged, for example, cannot easily be told apart. Beating Bowel Cancer and Bowel Cancer UK likewise are difficult to distinguish.

So isn’t it therefore a good thing when some charities clear off, and put an end to duplication?

It’s a good question. I guess there are a number of motivational and political concerns for why organisations develop as they do, but the story of two rival cancer charities who merged back in 2001 gives some hope of how orgs can come together for the greater good.

As I said before: I love Soul Survivor. I also love the fact that they are inspiring young people to think about the issues of global justice. I just wonder why they have to launch their own vehicle for doing it.

Photo Credit: Sam L via Flickr

AWOL in August!

Jon Jolly — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:00:01 +0000

Ok, ok! I guess most of you thought I’d given up on this blogging thing by now. I haven’t, but I’m sorry for the lack of posts. I should have learnt in 5 years of blogging that August is a bad month to keep posting. Other notable youth ministry blogs shut down over the summer and I think I will intentionally do the same thing next year.

The reason for my silence has been 2 week-long children’s playschemes catering for a total of 330 children, followed by a trip to Soul Survivor with 60 teenagers, before running a few events for ‘Wick Week’ a local community celebration. It’s been a fantastic summer but has left little time for anything else – especially blogging. Incidentally, this is also my 500th post on this blog. Not the most exciting topic for such a milestone!

I’ve got this week off, then I’ll be back to posting regularly from September. See you soon.

God in the classroom

Jon Jolly — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:44:10 +0000

Mark over at The Grove Is On Fire posted about this article on the Guardian website.

It’s a thoughtful post from a school physics teacher about religious students in his classroom struggling to reconcile science and faith – what they see as contradictory approaches to understanding the world. He concludes:

I can’t help but feel that a proper science education should equip young people to arrive at their own decisions about what to believe, and ensure that if they do conclude there is a god, it is a god who doesn’t stop them from fully appreciating the truth and beauty of scientific knowledge.

I find that I can’t help agreeing with him! It’s a great read so go take a look.

Image Credit: Advanced Theoretical Physics by Marvin (PA) on Flickr

Positive Images Award Winners

Jon Jolly — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:27:50 +0000

So the Positive Images Award winners have been announced. It seems a while ago now that I spent an intense day in London helping to sift through the masses of brilliant entries to pick winners for each category.

Now in their fifth year, the Positive Images Awards shine a spotlight on the great work youth groups and individuals do within their communities to promote young people in a fair and balanced way. They recognise the contributions of media organisations that look beyond the stereotype of young people as “yobs” and “louts” and report on the many positive things they do.

In many of the categories, it was a really hard job to pick a winner as the standard was excellent. The full list of winners can be found here (including examples of their work) and here, including some great quotes from the judges!

Talking of quotes, I got a very brief mention in the Guardian Society Daily news digest on Monday. From the article:

We’ve picked up a 2010 Positive Images gong for a special issue of Society Guardian in April 2009 which we handed over to a panel of teenagers to commission write and edit. You can see the excellent results of their work here.

The supplement covered issues ranged from teenage pregnancy, stereoptyping of young people as hoodies, gun crime and an interview with the then children’s secretary Ed Balls.

According to awards judge Jon Jolly, a youth worker at Arun Community Church in West Sussex:

“The youth special was an excellent example of how young people can provide insightful and engaging ideas when given the chance. It also helped to counter the image that young people are troublemakers and show they are a force for good.”

So there you go! Have a look at what others are doing to promote young people, get inspired, and enter next year!

YWN Article: Good riddance to ContactPoint

Jon Jolly — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:43:42 +0000

The following is a short article I wrote that was published in Youth Work Now Magazine (A supplement of Children & Young People Now) last week. In addition to the print copy, it can be found online here.

Good riddance to ContactPoint
The coalition government plans to scrap the controversial ContactPoint database that holds the personal details of all 11 million children and young people in England, and personally, I’m quite relieved.
ContactPoint had been stumbling forwards for the past few years despite numerous concerns. It was originally proposed as a way to improve safeguarding after the tragic murder of Victoria Climbie in 2000 and, in theory, makes a lot of sense as there are undoubtedly some great benefits from having one central system. Workers can quickly look up a young person’s contact details or find out what other services are working with them.

But there are also some inherent problems in storing this kind of personal data. The Daily Telegraph reported in January that there had been at least four serious security breaches of ContactPoint before it had even been nationally available to practitioners.

Last year, The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust published a report on the state of UK databases. It found that a quarter of all major public sector databases are fundamentally flawed, including ContactPoint, which it issued with a “red warning” for its privacy concerns, inadequate security and the legal issues with maintaining sensitive data with no effective opt-out.

The report also found that this kind of data sharing across agencies can be a barrier to more socially responsible activities. For example, it can deter teenagers from accessing health advice for fear of the request being recorded and tracked.

This view of data sharing was also reinforced in a conversation I had with one youth work professional who admitted actively dissuading his own children from giving personal information to statutory youth workers. He felt that workers accessing information on a database was akin to “googling” the young person’s name – it gives them access to extra, perhaps invasive information. I believe he has a point.

Generic youth work is based on the voluntary principle: that a young person is free to choose to engage with a worker or activity. This empowers young people and they are able to provide as much information about themselves as they wish. A level of trust has to be built. However, if a worker is able to look up that young person’s address and see what other agencies have an involvement, it destroys that trust.

Of course, we all need to monitor our work and will often have to write up reports and record information, but there should be a balance between that necessity and the wishes of the young people on what information we hold on them. ContactPoint did not give them any choice.

Working together for the benefit of children and young people is vitally important and may well save lives. Perhaps now we can find better ways to do this that aren’t so invasive or that run counter to good youth work practice.