EDS HP Airplane Advertisement and Change Management

   I think this is still an appropriate metaphor to invite people to think about change BUT I really want to land the damn thing for a while... how do we do that? There's also something about 'new wine and old wineskins' and not sewing a new patch onjto an old pair of denim jeans!!

"Need Your Love" Temper Trap

"Never Let Me Go" Florence and the Machine

Uniting Church Triennial Assembly Meeting July 2012 in Adelaide

   I decided I couldn't be away for another extra week this year and so I didn't nominate anywhere to participate in the UCA national Assembly meeting this year in Adelaide!! At the last two my highlights have certainly included:
- connecting with young adult participants
- facilitating a working group
- discussion of issues and perspectives with some of our most gifted leaders [beyond the superficial]

I have been frustrated by:
- Some participants unpreparedness
- Participating in spirited and transformational discussions where the scholarship, time and openness to the issues haven't always been evident 'on the ground' in congregations at large
- my own inadequate grounding in some issues

   I believe really strongly in the empowerment of gifted people to make space for Godly discernment and the way in which 'I guess you had to be there' works. It reminds me that this stuff goes off the rails often due to a lack of trust that people can make these decisions [but that goes right through to local task groups or regional teams so what's new]!!
   I think 'consensus' is an important goal but that our processes often don't fully utilise the power of that goal and we have pseudo voting instead. Other times it's as though we assume an idea is of value and then the conversation spends almost the whole time dwelling on what people think is wrong with it and we end up moving in favour but feeling conflicted that an idea that seemed so good suddenly felt tenuous.
   Every Assembly has contentious and groundbreaking issues [because it's a space for big questions and the future]. My final thought in this post is that given all the above I think we let ourselves down by not doing broad educational processes around the big questions. It's about putting theological and contextual tools in peoples hands so our scholarship, thinking, prayer, discernment and decisionmaking doesn't stop at the doors of power. Just my thoughts!!
   Decisions get made but only news of those moves people forward... not the work to understand or to grapple with opposing views... national media, extreme views and caricatures will take up the gap...

BUT hang on, there's something you and I can do...
- The mailings for participants are downloadable in pdf here
- There will be a dedicated website soon
- check the info about the theme
- pick up worship shaping info from the background, theme and topics
- spend corporate time discerning and informing local views about the global issues
- pray
- reflect
- ask

My Favourite Inspirational Video of the Week

Photo Scavenger Hunt

    Last night at Charlestown JYs I was able to help out by planning and facilitating a teams photo scavenger hunt. Teams head out with a Leader to shoot a [10] compulsory images and a choice of [5] from a long list of creative options. Last night's list had some tailored requests considering the proximity to a McDonald's outlet and the possibility of making it to Charlestown Square Shopping Centre if your team stayed focused [and ran fast]
You need:
- a digital camera for each team
- Team Leaders
- TV or data projection to view results
- prizes
- well thought out instructions
- sheet of instructions, photo options etc with clipart etc
- Teams stay together and with Leader

[10] Compulsory Photos
Team in mid air celebrating in a creative location
Entire Team posing as Ronald McDonald
Team as a human pyramid
Team making funny faces in an interesting setting
Team making the shape of a Christian symbol on the ground using your own bodies
As many shoelaces as you can tie together stretched out
Entire Team playing air guitar in a public space
Team holding [2] team members off the ground
A picture of something starting with the letter ‘k’
A packet of lollies

[5] only from this List

Team saying ‘hello’ to a Police Officer

Team wearing hats
Team member in front of a funny sign
Team mimic a statue or fountain
Team group photo with a friendly stranger
Someone having a ‘Bad Hair Day’
A picture of Pizza
Team re-enact a famous scene from history
Team re-enact a famous sporting victory
Team ‘head to toe’ on the footpath
Picture of somebody with a trophy
A couple holding hands with at least one of the people not in your team
Picture of a sign showing the current temperature [not a phone app]
Team member in front of a sign with their name on it
Team in front of an Australian flag
Scavenger Hunt’ definition in the dictionary
Team member with exactly 75c in coins
Other team members holding up one team member off the ground in a chair
Team member under a light fitting as though having a brilliant idea
Team Toyota advertisement ‘Oh What a Feeling!!!’
Team member with their head under a running cold water tap
Team member kissing a McDonald’s employee on the face cheek
Team member wearing outer clothes inside out
Team on the other side looking through a glass window
Team checking out a Takeaway menu
A Logo or a sign with a star on it
A member of another team taking a photo of something
Team in a photo featuring all the main colours of the rainbow
e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Team re-enact a famous movie scene
Team doing exactly what a sign in the photo says to do
Team in a playground and/or on swings
Photo of something that shouldn’t be there
Photo of something nobody in the Team knows how to use

Under time pressure both teams did a great job with some very creative images...

We also looked at half a dozen images and reflected on and asked what people saw in the image, including a modern take on JC and one of his key visual theme stories... to wrap the evening!!

Brilliant Kev Carmody

  I was driving in the Upper Hunter today and listening to 'Conversations' on ABC Radio with Richard Fidler. It was a few years old repeat of a brilliant conversation with Aussie indigenous singer/songwriter Kev Carmody and it was a stunning walk through his early life, influences and his collaboration with Paul Kelly on 'From Little Things Big Things Grow'.
   It's the interview where he talked about the folk tradition of taking old messages/stories and changing them to reflect the current context. To this extent he raves about 'The Waifs' version of his song and John Butler and Archie Roach.
   There's great stuff about oral tradition and history and the changing Australian society. Kev has a brilliant approach to culture and human farialties and conflict.
   If this works you can hear it here
  

Rural and Isolated Teacher Jobs

   "The Hunter's most remote schools say it is getting harder to encourage young people to teach in the country.
High schools in particular are struggling to attract maths, science and technology teachers.
Schools at Merriwa, Muswellbrook and Sandy Hollow are taking part in a new scheme to highlight the benefits of teaching in rural and remote areas, called Beyond the Line.
Merriwa Central School principal Darren Noonan said a combination of factors made it difficult to attract staff.
"The changing nature of the demographics of the teaching service mean were are starting to experience a shortage," he said.
"Most of our universities are along the coast and many students have not been to the country or a rural or remote area."
Mr Noonan said unlike metropolitan areas, teachers still held a respected position in country communities and also received more professional development opportunities earlier in their career.
"There's great ownership of teachers," he said.
"They coach the local footy side and things like that. Teachers become an integrated part of the local community." Newcastle Herald 11.5.12

   Looks like a great opportunity to spend time in the idyllic Upper Hunter towns of Scone, Merriwa or Muswellbrook and beyond.... the full story here

Newcastle's 'Bathers Way' Plans

   Large sections of this concrete walkway are already built or underway but the Council has released plans of the whole project [I smell an election in the air] which will make one of my favourite walks even more spectactular.
   It has to be said I haven't done all this walk regularly for ten years but some bits are just amazing and represent my favourite way to visit the beach... on a 4m wide walkway above the sand, taking in some exercise, the view and reflecting on the world, my work practice and dreaming up crazy ideas!!
Check out the plans here

"Mabo" ABC TV 1 8.30pm 10th June

  

   This is an adaptation of the love story between Eddie Mabo [Murray Islander] and his wife Bonita. It celebrates and explores the man who took up the fight to overturn the principle of "terra nullius" or that Australia was not inhabited by it's indigenous population prior to Eurpoean 'settlement.'

    Both Jimi Bani and Debra Mailman have spoken of the 'palpable sense of responsibility' in bringing this story and these people to the screen. Eddie Mabo's civil disobedience and strength of character took this issue to the High Court and like so many stories of struggle for a higher purpose he died before the historic ruling was handed down.

    While this story will focus on the cost paid and the passion shared by the Mabo's, this [likely M rated]film which will also show at the Sydney Film Festival, is a long awaited project and story. We should all leave aside unreality TV for the night and be reminded of the journey needed to heal the soul of this country and the inspiration Mabo is to his people.



Row K Seat 19 "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

"A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001." imdb.com
" If it's easy to find, it's not worth finding, says Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks), father to nine year old Oskar (Thomas Horn) with whom he has a special rapport. Curiosity is the gift that Thomas gives Oskar, through the games they play together. They have lively oxymoron wars and reconnaissance expeditions requiring analytical thought and tenacious investigations. It's a bit like amateur detective work. But then comes what Oskar calls 'The Worst Day', the shocking events of 9/11, when their relationship is abruptly and cruelly ended. A mysterious key is the trigger that sets the troubled boy on a journey - to come to terms with the unfathomable." Louise Keller Urbancinefile

   I was attracted to this film because of my affinity with New York. It sounded like such a different way to explore 9/11. There have been some great reviews about this Stephen Daldry [Billy Elliot] adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's novel.
   Pain is a surreal thing and grief is a palpable disorientation for many people. To me these are the kinds of themes explored in 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.' Oskar Schell searches for answers and deals with his sense of loss and the particular story he has lived out. The many people Oskar meets all have their own stories. Oskar avoids bridges and the subway and walks a lot. He carries a tambourine to shake when feeling stressed. I wonder what others do at these times? Oskar is in some ways very alone amongst all these people. How does anyone find God in these times?
   We can get a picture of the bigger themes as many others would have experienced them. There are disturbing images and any such film is open to criticisms about 'exploitation' of the 9/11 events. The very opening vignette depicts the renowned image of the so called 'falling man' picture that went around the world.
  
   Some parts of the film are a bit clunky. The most moving scene between Oskar and his mother Linda [Sandra Bullock] talk about Oskar's search seems a sudden change... Despite what I liked about it I do agree that it didn't really quite 'get there'. Maybe the fairytale like premise didn't quite allow the full exploration. I appreciated it enough to watch it again!!
Check the film website here

  


  
  

The Dark Knight Rises

Woo Hooooo!! Thursday 19th July

ArtExpress 2012 Newcastle Regional Art Gallery

   Art Express is one of my 'must do's' each year and this year it'll be at Newcastle Regional Art Gallery from May 5 featuring Hunter area HSC Year 12 artists... It's always a great insight into contemporary mediums and young peoples way of seeing things... or is that just me!! Again you could do worse than taking interested young people for a viewing and guided tour to foster their sense of adventure and creative expression or to foster a worship team!! Details for Newcastle are here
See you there...

Delta Goodrem "Sitting On Top of the World"

"Grounded" Play

   Looking for a creative event to take a group of young people to... read about this play in today's hot chip wrapper... sorry the Newcastle Herald!! The play explores some typical adolescent themes about identity, choices, growing up and standing up for yourself against the backdrop of the 'Pasha Bulker' coal ship grounding in Newcastle.

"Grounded will be performed by the young people of Newcastle not only for a local audience at the Playhouse but will also travel to Sydney for a second season at the atyp Wharf Theatre.

Written by Alana Valentine
Directed by Toni Main
In association with atyp (australian theatre for young people)
Running time: 90mins no interval
Performances:
Thur 10 May 11am & 7pm
Fri 11 May 11am & 7pm
Sat 12 May 2pm & 7pm
Wed 16 May 7pm
Thur 17 May 11am & 7pm
Fri 18 May 11am & 7pm
Sat 19 May 11am & 7pm

Tickets*Adult $30
Subscriber $20 (Subscribe to 4 or more Inspirations Subsription Season shows and save!)
Group 8+ $20
Conc $25"

It's on a limited season at Newcastle's Civic Playhouse and you can explore May dates and tix here
For those who need to know I suspect PG to M would be a fair rating based on the precis I read!!

"Meet Me in the Middle of the Air"

Paul Kelly's brilliant rendering connected with Psalm 23

Anzac Day 2012

Respect,remembering but also knowing that war and violence are not a win, whatever side you're on... there are deep questions around care for the weak, spirit and soul!!

"The Last of the Diggers" Midnight Oil
Who will march for peace
Now that the last of the diggers has gone?
All those who were released
From Sulva Bay and from the Somme

The Mallee is whipped by sand
A great new silence blankets the land
We sure need the Stone Age
In the coming century

Who will feed the poor
Now that the Saint of the gutters is gone?
Who will hear the call?
You lately come or native born

For the touch of the Master's hand
The eye of the Master still watches the lamb
We sure need the Stone Age
In the coming century

The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers has won

Who gets sent to war?
Who'll lose a child to a foreign coast?
Who will leave our shore
And come home rattling like a ghost?

This country can be cruel
It'll leave you with scars that never heal
We sure need the Stone Age in the coming century
Still gonna need some Stone Age in the coming century

The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers
The last of the diggers has won

"The Avengers" Opens April 25 in Oz

I hope it's as good as it should be... 2hours+ or escapist fun and action!!

'Dynamo' E News

   I'm just about to send out the second of the monthly e news I've started distributing in my Youth Ministry Development Worker role in the UCA Hunter with resource ideas, connections, web stuff etc... begged, borrowed and stolen from lots of you...

Dynamo, from the same greek  root word as dynamic and dynamite!!
Happy to add others to the e list in case you'd find it helpful around the Hunter and beyond!!

"The Way" Bible

Space for questions, doubt, hope... this is the goal of a new Bible project called 'The Way' and using a 'New Living Translation' curated with additional black and white images, peoples stories, divided into sections reflecting our engagement with the story and faith.

I haven't read it and no translation serves all purposes but I am intrigued to see how this develops, with codes to draw you into an online community and opportunity to add your questions or stories to the space!!

The community you jojn may be US centric or end up being global...

It's curated by Mark Oestreicher and I'm familiar with some of the other writers and photographers and you can view videos, download a preview Chapter and join in here

"Somebody That I Used to Know" Another Go

This is a powerful interpretation of the Goyte/Kimbra duet now number one on the US Billboard Charts [first aussies since Savage Garden]. Not bad for an annoyingly catchy tune from a very talented nerd!! It's gone mad on FB today here in Oz anyhow!!

"Dr Seuss' The Lorax" rated G 1hr 26

"A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world." imdb.com
   Danny DeVito, Zac Effron & Taylor Swift are handed a great story which takes a little while to warm up but seemed to capture the kids we took to the Heddon Greta Drive In a couple of weeks ago!!
   As an aside the Drive In is one of two which survive here in NSW, Oz [the other being at Blacktown in Sydney]. Apart from only being able to tune in via your FM radio... which had just started 30 years ago when I used to go there... the place is much the same!!
   The owners are wrestling with the cost of a digital projector as fi;m prints are not available as much now but it's been very popular the three recent times we have visited!!
  
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."
So begins this conversation where the Dr Seuss quote ends it onscreen. The film is heartwarming, clever and has a clear message not just about the fate of the last tree in Thneed-ville but of all things.
   I think "Unless.." opens up the possibility of a brilliant youth or family camp theme... using the film as a Saturday night hinge for the whole weekend.
   Theologically this is a discipleship story. It's a story of 'community' and of making the choice to do 'the different thing' because UNLESS someone does... nothing will change... GREED and disregard for the created world are the challenges as Thneed-ville lives on 'bottled' air and is caught in a Matrix like artificial existence maintained in the interests of profiteering O'Hare.

The Story of Bottled Water clip, Blue King Brown's song, Junk Sculptures and wide games with an environmental/diehard styled theme could work well on this weekend adventure. This could lend itself to a creative engagement with Genesis and some eco worship options across the event... let's do it!!

"A tree falls the way it leans, Be careful which way you lean" The Lorax

"Jump Into the Fog" Easter 24 AM

Here's What Might have Happened in the All Together AM Session at "24"

It's probably time to share the ideas!!

Decorations onstage/band in place before 10am Actor in place before start

Images on loop then "24" Digital Clock

Actor 'frozen' onstage

People bring guitar, plectrum, stand etc and muso becomes active

Plays and eventually band joins with 'Blues Brothers' R&B play on for MCs

MC/s enter and sit on comfy lounge

Welcome people to the space Make a few INTROs tbc

Then lead into…

Suggest they didn’t quite know what to expect and what today was going to be like… 

Carlsberg Bikers clip [2mins]

Milk Crate Drama [4] characters including a biblical time traveller

Communal Worship Songs:

One Lord/A Voice is Heard/Let Me Go Down to the River

Activity Energiser: 'Magic Fountain' Art v Science

Movie Collage [5mins]

Setting the Scene/Acknowledgement Indigenous History [Synod Banners]

Didge Music or Gurrumul Clip

Newsreader Live onstage updating the events in Jerusalem

MCs Interview Leaders about Key Aspects of the Day

Communal Worship Songs:

Keeping My Eyes on You/We Will Love

Group Building Activity including 'Clusters'/Music and Questions

Movie Clip "Pillow Fight"

Prayer Response Activity with Flags

MCs explain LUNCH

Communal Worship Songs:

Faith Hope & Love

EXIT band play off

Insight '19' on SBS on Oz TV

   Great program tonight on SBS TV catching up with a set of guests and studio audience of young people aged 19 who have been on the program at 13 and 16. They are a great mixed bunch of Aussie kids from a variety of cultural and contextual backgrounds.
   Honest, thoughtful, informative and inspiring!! Nothing is so informative as the longitudinal stuff where different ones are looking back at old clips and reflecting on similarities and changes.
Check out the background here
   I'm not going to make observations here, I'm 'practicing what I preach' and just listening...

Easter Monday...

Two songs for today...

Easter Sunday!!!

When in coming days I post what 'would have been' our teams contribution to Easter "24" had it gone ahead, you would see that it was a U2 free zone [as that is about creating an experience for a group of young people and leaders using contemporary tunes].

As my Easter has largely been a self created space [with some great conversations, Sunrise and space thrown in]I have broken open the gates and simply chosen what I wanted to hear!!
The above is a fans eye view, not unlike the first night I experienced [and introduced friend Rah to on U2s last Oz visit] before venturing down to the inncer circle onground with Darren 2 nights later!! An amazing show and an amazing song for it's vision of a world lived differently!!

And then there is the original and perhaps most amazing version of all when the U2 'Rattle & Hum' movie doco changes from
black and white to colour at Sun DEvil Stadium Tempe Arizona!!


And here's the thrust of my opportunity to share a Reflection at Warners Bay Foreshore this morning at Sunrise Easter Ecumenical happening!!

Mark 16:1-8
16When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

THE THING ABOUT GRIEF IS….
It’s JUST LIKE the song OF THAT NAME by the Australian singer Claire Bowditch

It’s like a bundle or a fragment of memories,
Of things you did and didn’t say…
Put back together and held onto with string and old rubber bands…
It’s in that frame of mind that MARY MAGDALENE,
MARY THE MOTHER OF JAMES And SALOME,
Bought spices and went to Jesus tomb…
I take the time to remind us BECAUSE , it’s so RARE we know the WOMEN’S names
The writer of MARK’S gospel, crafts a deliberate and unique story
In more ways than one...
They find the STONE they were concerned about, rolled back…
And instead of finding Jesus body, they encounter a YOUNG PERSON
WHO TELLS THEM HE HAS BEEN RAISED, HE IS NOT HERE…

What happens reminds me of the Ethiopean pratice On Easter Sunday morning,
OF moving around their cities and towns, asking:
“HAVE YOU SEEN THE BODY”? Have you seen the body?

On hearing this news, they fled the tomb,
They were asked to go and tell Peter and those around him
In TERROR and AMAZEMENT,
OR it would be true to say, a mix of TRAUMATISED and ECSTATIC...
AND as one writer puts it, AT THE END OF THE STORY,
You can hear THE SILENCE…
BUT the silence didn’t last too long, Perhaps hundreds of years
before a longer ending or two were added…
One of my peers reminded me of another possibility,
with this abrupt ending to the story,
That it was in fact the YOUNG PERSON whose inspired passion
Saw them telling others…

Either way, It didn’t end there,
Here we stand, In the [warming rays] of the early morning sun,
Caught up in the hope, that Jesus Christ is alive,
Captured by the story of one who stood for grace, justice, love and truth
And who calls us to live out that story, everyday…
We are asked, where we locate ourselves in this story?

Over 2000 years later,
We join with people all across the southern and the northern hemisphere
Repeating the ancient words…

Christ is Risen,
He is Risen Indeed…

I’m talking about HOPE,
That sees what might be, that stands against falsehoods
And knows…ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE,

This is what those who followed Jesus seemed attracted to,
What Occupy Wall St [and perhaps Occupy Jerusalem] were all about
And a summary of who we are called to be in community today,
[I cut out examples of those from the edges we could/should be most able to 'be with' in living out a world of another possibility... indigenous people, those who arrive on boats, the poor, friends and neighbours in pain...]

If we have faith to believe…

Easter Saturday...

Hear the silence...

'Good Friday'

Easter is... Love

Both our UCA QLD and SA Synods have over recent years produced some great video clip resources for a variety of purposes. This one features a 'call to worship' in creative fashion from the QLD Moderator but would be suitable for any place and especially on Easter Sunday!!
Play it on youtube, copy and save the web address, paste that into www.keepvid.com, right click on the highest resolution version in the list and click 'save target' or equivalent and choose a folder on your computer and it'll download.
Churches with net connection could play it from youtube directly [play it through once first to prevent stoppage]!!

The New Youth Minister

The US youth ministry culture is a very different context... isn't it?