I am just getting back some semblance of coherent thought, because by last night when we'd packed everything away I was a complete space-cadet. I was in a bizarre parallel dimension beyond tiredness and could on occasion only stare blankly when asked a question about where a particular piece of equipment needed to go. (Friday night was quite hard work and one particular dorm proved to be allergic to sleep ........ this left me running on the reserve tank for Saturday and Sunday *laughing*

The whole event revolves around living and experiencing Christian community, we talk about Gernillub (phonetic version of bullying backwards) and living the opposite to bullying e.g building people up and including, not excluding. Gernillub we explain is about the Kingdom of God being lived out. All the worship and discussion therefore flows out of that theme and we explore the Kingdom.

We used a "Critical Mass*" that was generously made available to us by Paul Niemiec (DYO for Peterborough) which worked really well with the very able worship band that we had. Sarah Brush spoke and the giant jaffa cake idea was both well used and well eaten!
One of the real encouragments was that we always lay on some late night contemplative worship which is entirely voluntary ..... but 75% of the camp really wanted to go. Fab!

For activities, Adventure Plus headed up Sailing, Kayaking and Archery. As promised also there was a chance to 'Chill' in the solar heated pool which was enormous fun and as ever included the international doggy paddle race and the walking through water challenge! On land we had muggle Quidditch which I can't even begin to explain but was fab and even featured a VERY fast moving snitch, Hilarious and fun (Alison, any chance of you writing this one up?)

My enormous thanks to ALL the team!

* Critical Mass is an interactive but still liturgical Eucharist with lots of interaction and creativity which as a result is really accessible and deeply moving.

Prayers for the camp appreciated :-)

Having only just discovered that my minimalist approach to fuel use has a name, i.e Hypermiling, I was further amazed to find there's a mass of information, discussion and data online. In fact, it's mahoosive, less is the new more! Anyway (and as I was asked, ... genuinely) these are the strategies that I'd worked out and played with for visiting the pumps less often.

But in order not to bore you, only those who click on 'continue' will read an essay exploring useful but dull anorakdom.

Young Woman's Worker Post

The All Souls Clubhouse are looking to recruit a young woman's worker for 16 hours a week to be part of their youth work team. The post will be working with woman aged 11-19 years old in open youth clubs and small groups to carry out the aims of the All Souls Clubhouse; to make Christ known to the people of Fitzrovia. We're looking for someone who is passionate about Jesus and is passionate about making Him know to young women. We are largely looking to build the post around the strengths of the appointed worker.

For an application pack, or for an informal conversation about the job, contact Mark
Closing date for applications: 23rd July 2008

(There is a genuine occupational requirement for the postholder to be Female and a Christian sympathetic with the ethos of the Clubhouse)

When you take into account the environmental impact and the spiraling cost of fuel it's a no-brainer really that if you have to use a car, squeezing more miles per jar-full is a good idea ... and reducing the size of the 'bang' in the engines' suck, push, bang, blow* cycle makes a whole lot of sense.

In my son's motability car there is an average fuel consumption reading which makes Hypermiling much easier. Officially it'll deliver 53mpg on a run but I have driven the 85 miles into Wales averaging 61.3mpg (it was on 63mpg before I had to start going up those darn hills). I have to get the calculator out (yes, sad I know) on the LPG mobile but am turning in really good figures.

I remember reading a biography of a wartime pilot whose expertise in eeking the most flying time out of his fuel saved his life as he nursed his plane back across a chunk of the Pacific towards land. It's difficult to imagine a scenario as serious for me in the Youthblog wagon BUT it might get me home, against the odds, for tea when there are only fumes left in the tank!

* Paraphrase of the four strokes in the engine's cycle, induction, compression, explosion, exhaust.

'Youthwork' are one of the partners as you probably recognized from the font and singleword rendering of Youthwork. It looks like a really interesting site and I'm looking forward to having a better bite into it once The Diocesan Camp is over.

They are of course all interconnected and it has no strategic value, but I wanted something that could help frame, being intentional about Growing. The idea being that if we are moving forward as disciples it's going to need deepening in faith and spirituality, looking back and reflecting, upward learning in leadership and inward growing in self-awareness.

I guess it comes down to: Knowing more of God, gaining a fuller understanding of yourself and others. Not rocket science in anyway.

This post filed under, thinking outloud

I had a fab day off on Saturday and used it to move the only shed that came with the house. It has been rotting at the base as the previous owners built in the Swamp sector of the garden. I had to disassemble it completely to replace the rotten sections and so couldn't resist building it just a little bit bigger. Goodbye 35 sg ft, hello 49 sq feet.
Creosote time me thinks :-)

This entry is filed under 'nothing to do with youth ministry'

The principle of holidaying in the increased comfort my 41 year old body now needs though still existed as an aspiration, especially having something more than 4mm of mat between me and the earth.

So *tada* .......... I've invested £50 in a trailer tent! It's fab, a kind of Swiss army mobile marquee. One moment it's a rather ordinary trailer and the next it's a Bedouin Palace.
Admitedly for £50 there are one or two minor (ish) repairs I need to make but hey, you've got to be impressed, right? (and it isn't a Caravan!)

In memorandum: You will be missed. You were a place where laughter and deep theological discussion were ever present, the place where a diverse range of fellow practitioners became friends and a place where I was challenged, stretched and taught.

(Hi if you are logging on from the seminar to get the Powerpoint)

I wrote a scenario which was a snapshot of one year on for the first youth worker at the fictional, "St Egberts and Most Angels!" One year on.doc The Powerpoint of the presentation as a pdf is here: advice to y3 cym ver2.pdf and the tool for evaluating and weighing all the things that are keeping you busy is there: Jigsaw priorities.pdf

Thank to all the Youthblog commenters who helped frame the issues and ideas, much appreciated! (If you have a look at the Power point you'll see your influence)