Driving home from a meeting last night, past a friends farm and there (by the side of the road rather than actually in the middle) was a cow eating away at the grass. I popped in to let the know and it turned out it she had recently calved and was probably looking for her baby although how she got out and away from baby not quite so sure. I haven’t been back to check but I believe mother and baby are both now doing well! One of those great moments in rural ministry!

written by Simo

well almost… I have been asked to write a case study on the bus project for Youthwork Magazine and submitted my article at the beginning of this week. I think it should be in the next issue (which I guess is due out in three weeks or so guessing from when I got my last issue). Although mostly focused on the bus and only short I have tried to relate it to rural youth ministry as much as I can as well. I am looking forward to having a copy in my hands and I’m sure I’ll put a note up here when I finally see it in print.

written by Simo

Last week we had the APCM at church, I had been waiting for this before I felt I could say too much about my thinking on the blog, but now the info is out with that annual report it all become a little easer as it is out there in the public domain anyway.

When I first arrived in Faringdon I was on a three year contract which was then extended for a further two years, this takes my contract until end of July 2009 but for the last year or so I have started thinking about what is next for me. Come that date next year I will have been in full time Church based Youth Ministry for 10 years (all bar a month) and I feel that perhaps I should be heading in a slightly different direction. As many of you probably know I feel passionately about Youth Work in rural churches, I have been frustrated by the focus on Urban Priority areas, not because I begrudge a focus on them but because I have been aware of a need in rural areas that seams to have been overlooked. (There is also a slight sense of irony here as the rural population of Britain is growing faster that any other!)

So I have had this vision for several years to set up a charity (called Not Ashamed, based on Romans 1:16 (I love that verse!) hence my owning the domain notashamed.co.uk) to ‘encourage, enable and equip good quality Youth Work in and through rural Churches’.

At Soul Survivor last year I went to a seminar by Bishop Graham & Jackie Cray called Getting Collard, obviously about ordination, this is again an idea that has been with me for quite some time, and something that had been suggested when thinking and talking about my vision as well. This has started much thinking and praying and as a result I feel I am being called to ordained ministry and that somehow this fits with the Vision, I don’t know how it all fits together, but I truly believe this is where God is calling me at the moment. As a part of this process I have an appointment with the DDO (Diocesan Director of Ordinands) on the 23^rd May to help start the process of exploring this calling.

At the same time as all this I am also looking around at what other jobs are around, I don’t know about you but it seams to me there is no one place to look for jobs in youth ministry, there seam to be several and not one that has all

I thought it might be helpful to have a list of places to look for ministry jobs and so at the bottom of this post is what I have got so far and I am sure there are several I have missed, especially any outside of the Anglican church, if you know of others please let me know and I’ll add them.

In the mean time I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I look to what the future holds for me and my family.

job search monitor

church of England newspaper

churchtimes

cross rhythms

written by Simo

Thanks to those of you that made the call, I have just heard that Project Inspire won it’s bid , although the info I gave before was not quite correct, they have won a grant of £90,000 and this will enable them to get going with the project and will make a huge difference to both the village community and those around the area, well done to Fernaham and Project Inspire, I look forward to visiting St John’s and seeing what it’s like after the work has been done.

written by Simo

Project inspire (click to find out more) is a project in a local Village of Fernham to help convert the church into a dual purpose building, both church and community centre, it is a village with very few facilities and a church that needed much work doing on it and it was felt that it would be good to make it a building that could be used for the whole community, it will be a place of Christian worship but also a place where young can have a youth club, the elderly can do what they do? This is a very important project and is really about putting the church back at the centre of the community, it being a place that can be used as it would have been when it was first built hundreds of years ago. Of course a project like this costs thousands of pounds, but you can help make a significant difference for just 10p! Today on the Peoples Millions Project Inspire is up for a grant of around £80,000 but they only get it if people vote for it. The phone lines are open this evening although specific times won’t be announced until the 6 o’clock local ITV news. Please, please, please would you call 08702 433 202 to vote for this project, it is one of the villages that I cover (although I don’t actually run anything there at the moment) and it would make a huge difference to this church and the great work which it’s already doing in the community. Calls cost a maximum of 10p and you can call up to 10 times from any one number, so please call as many times as possible, from as many lines as possible, and get your friends and family on it too!

Many thanks,

written by Simo

Well hasn’t it been, we have been fortunate in that we have had no problems ourselves. Several of our friends however were stranded on Friday night and had to find places to stay, Saturday saw the town run out of bread and milk as deliveries could not get in and a few people in the town have been flooded. But it is in the surrounding villages that the problems have been worse. Many people are flooded, one family we know of having moved on Friday woke up Saturday morning to find all their boxes in water, a friends farm has lost crops but fortunately they managed to rescue all the cattle. Several people (and I’m sure more, some of whom I will probably know, but don’t know of yet) are going to be left homeless for a while. And for some it isn’t over yet as water travels down it is expected to get worse in some areas with rivers unable to cope with the extra water.
My heart and prayers go out for those of you who are struggling with uncertainty and loss due to this weather.

written by Simo

Last week we went away for a few days up to Norfolk to stay with friends in Mulbarton (where I grew up) it’s amazing how having really left 12 years ago it still feels like going home, I just feel like I belong, not that I don’t feel that in Faringdon that is obviously home at the moment but I can go to Mulbarton and just fit back in with friends and the church as if I’ve hardly been away and I always enjoy worshiping in the church community there it is also always great to see so many new faces in a small rural church!

written by Simo

This morning I had an important meeting as I begin to think about my future and where it lies (not that I am thinking of moving on in the immediate or near future for anyone reading this locally). I have been in my current post for almost 3 years, in full time youth/youth and children’s work for almost 8 years and involved in youth work on some level since I was a youth myself of 15. I feel very strongly called to youth work, evangelism and to the rural church, an area so often neglected in so many respects. So this morning I was meeting with someone to discus my vision and ideas, beginning the process of trying to establish in my own mind where and how I feel the Lord is calling me to continue in His service. It is so great to be able to meet with people and just thrash some of these things out, the meeting has given me a lot of food for thought and several people to make contact with as I continue to explore and seek Gods guidance. It is a very exciting time but also a worrying one as it is not just about me and my ministry but about my family the people that God has given me to journey through life with and support and how I do that but also how as a family we seek to follow Him and His call. Things are all very much in the early stages but I would ask that you pray for me and for us as we look to God and His guidance and I will endeavour to keep you informed of the things that are going on and give you more details when the timing is right.
God bless you and have a good weekend.

written by Simo