Read article online at www.sydneyanglicans.net, click here. To discuss the article, visit the forums at sydneyanglicans.net.
Category: Sydney Anglican Diocese
It was the day Jodie might have turned his back on church youth groups. Aged 13, the young Anglican went interstate for a year, taking fond memories of ‘Teens Group’ gatherings in the Sydney suburb of St Ives.
Turning up for a church-run teens program in a new city, Jodie tried to picture what he’d find inside. “I assumed that every single youth group you went to would have a bit where there’d be a talk from the Bible and the youth would be encouraged to pray for their friends, the world and each other.”
Not so, he regrets. “All this group did was just run around and play games.” Jodie never returned to that youth group.
Sadly, for kids genuinely interested in being open to God, such a disappointment might have meant the end of church involvement. But not Jodie. Rather than turning from God and church-run activities, it helped form his views on what a good youth ministry should be.
Now, as a 34 year-old Youth Ministry Trainer and Adviser with Anglican Youthworks in Sydney, Jodie McNeill is putting that memory to good use–making sure modern youth groups turn kids to God while balancing the spiritual message with an attractive, nurturing environment.
“Youth leaders today aren’t just thinking, “Well, how do we give our kids a good night out once a month?””
The ‘Social Influence Upon Faith Development’ report–produced by NCLS, and sponsored by the Bible Society–has found youth groups are now a rising force in pointing people to God.
“Church youth groups are now almost as important as church services in bringing 15-29 year olds to faith,” report co-author John Bellamy explains. “Youth groups have had a much greater impact among younger attenders, confirming their importance in any overall strategy to minister to children.”
When researchers asked churchgoers aged 15-29 years what had influenced them most in their faith, some 38 percent ticked the box next to ‘youth groups’–second only to main church services (42%).
Read the full article and newsletter at http://www.ncls.org.au/download/doc3553/May2005NCLSNewsletter.pdf
Read article online at www.sydneyanglicans.net, click here. To discuss the article, visit the forums at sydneyanglicans.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