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Category: Organisations
Over two weeks in January I again had the privilege of training around 500 people in the foundations of youth ministry. This training took place during two fine conferences, KYLC (Katoomba Youth Leadership Conference) and LIT (Leaders in Training).
At KYLC I delivered two training sessions to the Strand One delegates, on the topic “Essentials of Evangelical Youth Ministry”, which covered the basics of ministry, and a presentation of my ‘Dual Action’ youth ministry strategy.
At LIT I delivered similar material in two different sessions, the first at the first timers, and a longer two-hour session for those coming for the second year.
I can think of no better way to train up your future and current church leaders than these two great conferences. LIT is aimed especially at upper-high school aged students (years 10 to 12), and KYLC is aimed more at students who have completed their years at school.
Further details of these great conferences can be found at http://kylc.kcc.org.au and http://www.conferences.youthworks.net
Here’s a letter I submitted to the SMH for today’s paper but was not published, concerning the meaning behind the Tsunami tragedy:
“When a falling building killed eighteen people in the first century, Jesus denied that it occurred because the victims were worse sinners than the general public. Yet, he offered this important warning: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5) When Philip Jensen says of God that “disasters are part of His warning that judgement is coming” (‘God’s will comments horrible, says dean’, January 3), he is only repeating Jesus’ sentiments. If The Reverend Tim Delaney believes this teaching is “insensitive, inhumane and ungodly” (SMH Letters, January 4) then his problem is with Jesus as much as Jensen.”
You can read the original article here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Asia-Tsunami/Gods-will-comments-horrible-says-dean/2005/01/02/1104601246571.html and the page that contains the letter I disagreed with here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Letters/Religious-theories-fail-to-explain-this-natural-disaster/2005/01/03/1104601295769.html
Many of you would be aware of the recent media coverage of Philip Jensen’s talks in the UK. It started with a report in The Guardian, with the headline “Evangelicals call Williams a prostitute” (13 Oct), which formed the basis for a spate of media reports throughout the world, for example this article in the SMH.
Since his return from the UK, Philip has given his own perspective on the events during a speech at the Sydney Anglican Synod.
Last night this story was featured on ABC TV’s Media Watch program. However, it seems that even this self-appointed media watchdog is not without its own bias.
It was perhaps reasonable for David Marr to say to Philip that he “hasn’t produced a shred of evidence that you were misreported by the Guardian”, since transcripts of the talk have not been published. Yet, viewers were left with the impression that this absence of evidence damned Philip and exonerated the journalist. Indeed, David Marr ended his piece by saying to Philip: “to get yourself out of a pickle, you defamed the journalist, denounced the Australian media and set out to bamboozle synod.”
Clearly, the Media Watch was biased against Philip and towards the journalist. The fair and balanced way to end the piece would have been to acknowledge that the lack of a transcript leaves the truth inconclusive. Yet, unfortunately, the journalist was treated as innocent until proven guilty, whilst the priest was considered guilty until proven innocent.
For further reading, view the discussion on sydneyanglicans.net here
This weekend I had the privilege to attend the Club 5 Conference at Stanwell Tops Conference Centre. Although I have been attending these conferences for many years, I am thrilled to see youth and children’s ministry becoming an even more significant part of the focus of ministry training and recruitment.
My role over the weekend was to lead a small group, interview a candidate for ministry, and to participate in the program. In particular, I led a seminar group on youth and children’s ministry, in which I was joined by many of the the other Youthworks advisers in showing the importance of youth and children’s ministry, and the options available.
To find out more about the great ministry of Club 5, visit http://www.mts.com.au/club5/index.htm