Christchurch - Week One

Well, my first week at Christchurch has come to a close and we have begun the real work of getting to know the young people and trying to engage with them in a church setting that is not intimidating, boring or extreme. It is really great here. The team of people here are fantastic. Bob - the youth minister - is really switched on and really on fire for the work that happens in this area. Cheryl - the childrens minister - is fantastic at engaging with the really little ones and does so in a manner that is not patronising. Gavin - the vicar - is a funny guy and clearly follows his vocation closely and leads the church remarkably well. The rest of the team, in the office, pastoral care, church wardens etc are all really singing from the same hymn sheet (no pun intended)

I am exceptionally lucky to be sharing a house with Fiona and Jon, two great people who are making the whole process of settling in much easier. We are getting along well and share many things such as sense of humour and a desire to see the house kept in a clean state and acceptable to live in.

So far most of the work has been getting to know the routine, meeting people, prayer meetings and team building. Tonight we are running "Going Deeper" - which is one of the youth events for the key stage three group and unfortunately Bob is not well this evening so it's interns on their own! Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end. We have planned the games and such and it is quite fortunate that it is a social and we are not being responsible for leading and Bible study in our first encounter with this group.

The motto of the whole youth is "We exist to reach our family and friends who don't know Jesus, to show them his love and to grow passionate followers of God that seek to worship him with their whole lives" - which is really encouraging. What was amazing about it was that when it was first written it only mentioned friends and the young people themselves requested the inclusion of the word 'family' which shows that they are thinking about it and wanting their families to share the same experience that they do.

I am off now to prepare the quiz and meet and greet style game for this evening and generally get myself ready before we wander churchward to lead the meeting. I shall report back on how it went and the first encounter with the 10-14 year olds of 'Going Deeper'

God Bless