Four psalms

Many thanks to the Rev Penny Frank (Stoneleigh, Warwickshire) for sharing four fresh and creative small-group resources, ideal for a short summer series - or for any time of year!

Penny explores:

• Psalm 23 God of my journey
• Psalm 51 God of forgiveness
• Psalm 100 God of worship
• Psalm 139 God of relationship

To download, CL subscribers should click here!

Not for boys?

A visit to Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Fathers' Day included perceptive, provocative thoughts on the perennial problem of 'the missing men'.

Preacher the Rev David Banbury reminded us of Rowntrees' breakthrough marketing ploy of creating a 'masculine' chocolate bar - the hunky, chunky Yorkie.

After mentioning the bar's current 'not for girls' strapline (see pic), he produced a second, seriously oversized confectionary item - the Jesus Bar.

Not for boys?

His point, of course, was that many men see church, faith, religion as 'not for me'.

He went on to challenge this perception - and to encourage us to 'rediscover' the dynamic, challenging, adventurous aspects of Jesus' character in particular - and of our whole faith in general.

Readings were 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (St Paul's pull-no-punches assessment of his working life) and Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus' in 'power' mode).

Imporantly, the preacher emphasised that he was not advocating the promotion of a macho Jesus, or boosting a gung-ho 'muscular Christianity'.

Rather, he was trying to impress on us the amazing totality of Jesus' character - incorporating the fullness of the 'mascuine' and 'feminine' aspects of what it means to be human.

And because it was Fathers' Day the service closed with a gift for every man in the congregation - a cool DIY glider mini-kit.

Hurrah!

Chris Moyles bigs up church

Popular Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles woke early-ish on Pentecost Sunday morning and caught a service being broadcast live from the Kingsgate Community Church, Peterborough.

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He was impressed.

Fathers' Day

The increasingly popular custom of Fathers' Day had not reached these shores when my father (above with my brother) was alive.

One only has to head for the shops this week to realise how big a deal Fathers' Day has become.

I guess the day's relative newness and its lack of connection to the church calendar (unlike Mothering Sunday) partly explain the absence of any FD resources in the CL archive.

But watch this space - all being well we'll have a brand-new Fathers' Day resource ready to download in the spring of 2010.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the Oxford Diocesan website, currently featuring a very useful set of FD resources from the excellent newspaper The Door.

Mentoring must-read

'I would recommend Ruth's book to every youth leader and church leader involved in work with young people.'

So writes Dot Tyler of Emerging Culture in the current issue of Youthwork magazine.

Here's the full text of Dot's review:

Waiting until people are in their 20s and 30s to start mentoring and training them in leadership is just too late - Ruth Hassall.

In BRF's series on Growing Young Leaders, authors explore the 'whys' and 'hows' of developing and releasing emerging leaders. This honest guide to mentoring teens is both very accessible and practical.

From the Biblical foundation for why it is so important to mentor young people, to practical help with how to start meeting up and what questions to ask, this book not only equips the reader to be an effective mentor, but also inspires and encourages the reader that they can do it.

As part of the work of Emerging Culture, we have run FRESH, a practical leadership training course, and as part of the final weekend we asked for feedback about the best bits of the course. Was it the great teaching, fun activities, or brilliant worship? Above all these, it was the 1-2-1 time with mentors that they really valued.

We need to be intentional about building up the young people in our churches and giving them the necessary platforms to grow, explore and reach their potential. Mentoring is so key in this process and Ruth's book gives helpful models, objectives and direction for how to incorporate these as part of our own mentoring.

Often as a mentor we can feel obliged to know everything about the Bible and teach them about how to be a 'good Christian'. Ruth highlights a simple and critical issue in her book: young people need and desire support from those who believe in them and their potential. When it comes to equipping young people in their growth as leaders, good resources like this help us journey with them, enjoying the highs with them and helping them deal with the lows.

I would recommend Ruth's book to every youth leader and church leader involved in work with young people. Her insights and helpful guidance are so relevant, practical and mobilising. I love her honesty, her passion and her firm belief that we need to be building up young people to be leaders in our churches and our communities.

As Ruth says, 'Mentoring young leaders really does have the potential to change a generation and renew leadership in both the church and the nation.'

And to link with Growing Young Leaders, please click here.

Readers

A good proportion of CL subscribers serve God and his people through Reader ministry.

'Readers are lay people in the Church of England, from all walks of life, who are called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach, teach, lead worship and assist in pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work.'

Reader ministry is one of the areas of vocation that are covered in the regular programme of CPAS You and Ministry conferences.

Want to know more about Reader ministry? Simply click here.

The image above shows the cover of The Reader magazine.

Mentoring for Spiritual Growth

James Lawrence reviews this recent publication from Bible Reading Fellowship....

Tony Horsfall is clear that this book is about spiritual direction, and the focus throughout is on this practice. But there is so much good material here that it would be a pity if readership was limited to those solely interested in spiritual direction.

Each chapter offers a short, simple, sensitive reflection on an aspect of the mentoring relationship. These reflect the author's breadth of reading and personal experience as a spiritual director. Thus they offer great practical insight on 'how to mentor'.

Having read fairly extensively in this area, I think that this is among the best introductions to the subject that I have come across, characterised by a wonderful gentleness and freshness.

The book is well organised, beginnning with helpful defintions. Tony then examines his subject biblically and historically, before going on to distinguish very helpfully between the qualities / skills /tools of a mentor. He also examines the mentoring process itself.

The chapter 'Road maps and guidebooks' outlines four ways of locating where someone might be in his or her 'development journey'.

Although I don't think I am particularly suited to being a spiritual director, I have still learned a great deal from this book on the 'ministry / leadership' aspects of mentoring.

Highly recommended.

Available from your local Christian bookshop or via Bible Reading Fellowship (check a chapter extract here)

Northern light

A member of the CL team has just returned from a refreshing week as a guest of the Iona Community.

Iona, a missionary hub of the great Celtic saints, remains a place of pilgrimage, refreshment - and of challenge.

Well worth the journey!