Jodie McNeill lives in Jamberoo, NSW, Australia, and is the Senior Minister at Jamberoo Anglican.
Home: 20 Tate Place, Jamberoo NSW 2533 Australia. Email: jodie@jodiemcneill.com Phone: +61 425 222 338
I have found, especially through my youth ministry experience, that it is well worth the investment in time to help a group get to know each other at the start of a session or event. Whether it’s a youth group evening, or a leader’s training event, it’s worth making the time to have a ‘mixer’.
Read my latest sydneyanglicans.net article to see three mixers I’ve done to death, but still work just fine.
In school education, ‘resilience’ is the latest buzz-word.
One of the interesting findings of recent research is that spirituality has been shown to be a key factor in helping people build this resilience.
The only way a state school could teach spirituality would be for them to ask the local religious communities to send representatives to teach the children of their respective faiths.
Yet, what I have just described is exactly what our NSW state school system currently enjoys with Special Religious Education (SRE).
SRE brings a smorgasbord of spirituality into our state schools. It is taught for free by skilled and passionate volunteers from the community. It offers the tools needed to help students form resilience in this pressured and chaotic world.
If SRE didn’t exist, we’d invent it. So why would we ever want to lose it?
Read my full article at www.sydneyanglicans.net
It has become apparent to me that many church music teams play in a similar way to an under-eight soccer team.
All of the melody instruments (such as flutes and violins) usually play every verse, and they often play the same melody line as the congregation is singing. The rhythm instruments (such as acoustic guitar and bass) play with the same intensity throughout the entire song.
A better music team will play like a high-school soccer team. The melody instruments will sit back in some verses and be silent, whilst at other times they will feature strongly. Sometimes they’ll play the same tune as the congregation, but sometimes they’ll compliment the tune by playing basic harmonies. The rhythm instruments will feel happy to be ‘subbed off’ for a verse or two, and then warm up as they reach the intensity of the final stages before the final siren blows (so to speak!)
This mindset shift makes a powerful impact on a church band. It’s not impossibly difficult to achieve, but it does take a commitment by all members to not all just run around the paddock, chasing the ball.
Read my full article at sydneyanglicans.net and leave a comment!
Now that PowerPoint has become passé, what is the next big thing we should use to display our song words?
Check out my latest post at sydneyanglicans.net and give me your thoughts as to what you think is the Next Big Thing.
It’s probably not a smart idea to talk about the sometimes sensitive relationship between churches and ‘parachurch’ organisations.
In fact, to do so might lead me to shoot myself in the foot, given that I work for such an organisation.
However, in a ‘courageous’ move (potentially in the tradition of ‘Yes Minister’), I boldly step where wise angels wouldn’t dare tread.
In my latest column at sydneyanglicans.net read about why I think it’s better to call our ‘parachurches’ by the name ‘hupochurch’.
I just hope I got my Greek right, or I’ll look like a real idiot.
Follow the link, have a read, and leave your thoughts in the comments section.
