Resources for Youth workers

There's a post on the Sophia Network (written, I think, by Jonny Baker - nope, by Jenny Baker [see the comment below]) which begins: Had a fantastic weekend at Youthwork the Conference where the theme was surrender. It was great to have lots of time to linger and talk to people over the weekend, after sessions and in coffee breaks. And wonderful to see so many gifted women contributing to the programme - Danielle Strickland, Rachel Gardner, Vicky Beeching, Abby Guinness, Helen Millward among others.

Hmm, that's interesting, you say....NOT! But wait, there's more. In the rest of the post 'Jonny' provides various resources for youth on such issues as:


Eating Disorders
Rites of passage for boys (based on the life of Jesus) and some contact names regarding ministering to boys.
Toxic relationships between boys and girls
Body image.


All of these have an underlying mission focus, and are worth following up on.

God as Father/Mother

At the one extreme there are those whose unfortunate relationship with fathers and other men makes it impossible to draw close to God imaged as father and male. And alternatively there are others whose unfortunate relationship with mothers and other women makes it impossible to draw close to God imaged as mother and female. Both images are needed so that believers may draw near to God as they are able and given opportunity to recognize and withdraw their projections upon God, letting God be God--a Mystery of Love ultimately beyond all language and comprehension.

Marchienne Vroon Rienstra
Swallow's Nest: A Feminine Reading of the Psalms

Trevin Wax interviews N T Wright

Trevin Wax is the Minister of Education and Missions at First Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN. A contributor to Christianity Today, Trevin is originally from Murfreesboro, TN and is currently finishing his Masters of Divinity at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY via the extension center in Nashville. He received his bachelor’s degree at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania, where he was involved in mission work in several village churches in the Oradea area from 2000-2005. Trevin’s wife is Corina and they have a son, Timothy and a daughter on the way.

Two quotes from the interview, which you can read in full here
“…We don’t know how the kingdom works. Take Jesus’ parables about seeds growing secretly and small seeds becoming mustard bushes and so on. The kingdom is always a surprise to us, which keeps us humble. The danger with “building the kingdom” language can make us very proud. “Building for the kingdom” keeps you humble. It says, “These are your tasks; you’ve got to get on with them. How God puts them into the eventual construct is completely his business.”

“…It dawned on me several years ago that when somebody says “no” to God and refuses to worship the God in whose image they are made, saying “I’m not going to worship that God,” then what happens to their humanness is that it progressively ceases to bear the image of God. You become like what you worship. You reflect the one you worship. It’s one of the great truths of spirituality…”