reflection at chester

who is left?

2006-10-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

OK so quite a few of you have sent me your blog url.... what about the rest of you? I could be cruel and post a list of all those not added yet.... or maybe I will be nice and just speak to you all in class!!

Seriously the blogs that are already set up well done and keep using them, the rest of you , go on you know you want to....

tonight

2006-10-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

tonight I have been to a service and presentation at the Warrington Campus for the Church Colleges' Certificate in Christian Youth Work. The first cohort to have taken the course as it only started last year, but what a good year it has been not only for the students but also for the tutors. It has been a real joy and privilege working with the group, both students and tutors and am really looking forward to this coming year to seeing what happens with this group.

constant reflection is needed to improve what we do, and so part of my reflection will be how can I better help the tutors and students to get the most out of what they are doing....

and another

2006-10-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Rich is the second student and I get to see his son, cool!! I first met Rich when his wife, then his fiancee, was a student at Chester who sang in the choir..... I didn't ever envisage him coming to be a student on our course, but here he is....Don't worry I'm not going to comment on all the postings like this, but am actually quite delighted to see students posting blogs!

first student posting

2006-10-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

hooray..... first student has posted on her blog, well done Laura (see the link as well)... hope you do get time to reflect and write creatively and that you enjoy the course...

welcome to this blog

2006-08-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

this is being set up now for my students who will be going out on placement in the autumn, but thought I would do a first posting now.

I was at a breadmaking church yesterday evening, with 9 others. Apart from one other person who left after about an hour and a half, I was the oldest by about 20 years!! Now this wasn't a problem as I am a youth work lecturer and youth leader at my church, but it was fascinating listening to the conversations and watching their actions.

As people came in it was obvious everyone knew each other, even if they had only been a couple of times before. But what was fascinating was that they felt very comfortable in this room which is a church, albeit a breadmaking church. Most of them sat around for a bit, chatting but the odd one got set up and started making bread. This is such a lovely stressbusting activity I would recommend it to anyone!! Conversations were about new jobs, in particular, one that a few of them were starting or were going to apply to, was a games tester for a big company somewhere in liverpool.

No mention of God but getting on with people from different places and backgrounds, some who had been brought up in a 'religious background' others with none. All of them helping each other, someone making homemade soup, others making tea or coffee for newcomers. The minister 'on duty' being part of the group, making bread as well...

when it was time, we went into the cloud room, where a couple of candles were lit and G the facilitator of the prayers for the evening read a poem and the passage from Ecclesiastes about time, and then it was open discussion time.... Questions and comments galore, about all sorts of things that were quite deep.... absolutely amazing and then everyone lit candles to remember people who were ill,going through a bad time, parents, friends, films!!

then back into the main room where homemade soup and bread awaited us. What a feast! It was an amazing evening, but what struck me more than anything was the total acceptance of me, someone they had never met before, as part of the group. What also struck me was that although some of them were saying they were not religious, they still wanted to ask questions about God and Jesus, but that they also wanted to 'pray'. These are young people with an unarticulated spirituality, but it is certainly there, and needs are being met and responded to, even if they can't be articulated.