All Ready-to-use articles – Page 2
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BlogReady-to-use Mentoring: Three Persons…
Years ago, someone set up a ‘prayer tent’ in our Sunday service and I felt God speak to me quite clearly, and quite profoundly. As I lay on my back in the small tent, I looked up and saw that the pattern of the material as it joined at the peak was a small square with an ‘X’ through it (as the illustration demonstrates).
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Taking Stock
A few years ago, the Anglican church I was working for wanted to extend the building out and add a café.
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Self-reflection
Last week I broke my collarbone by coming off my bike during a triathlon in the Peak District. As far as my fitness plans went this was a curve ball: any plans for competing in other events went out the window. I was disappointed, annoyed and physically in pain.
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IssuesReady-to-use mentoring: The third person
Seeing things from an outside perspective can be a real benefit to achieving progress, insight, and hopefully change. When you are in the thick of things yourself it can be really hard to see the obvious mistakes you are making or understand anyone else’s point of view.
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Word of the Year
January should be the official mentoring month! New Year is a key season for appraising the previous year and setting goals for the coming 12 months. It’s also a time that often results in frustration, and even guilt, when a few weeks later, good intentions fall by the wayside and healthy habits are already broken. Here are some ideas to support your young people through it this year:
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Are you talking to yourself?
I was mentoring a musician this week who has a new single called ‘Victorious’. It’s about overcoming tough things that stand in your way and hold you back (in her case, dyslexia). In the same breath as telling me about the song, she was complaining about the problems she encountered in releasing the single, before she had a light bulb moment: she wasn’t following her own advice! She needed to resist the temptation to give up, and show more resilience and determination if she was to be victorious over setbacks and discouragement. She needed to live what she was preaching and remind herself of the facts, rather than listening to doubts.
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IssuesReady-to-use Mentoring: Resolutions
One of the few preaches that has really stuck with me over the years is from my childhood, and annoyingly for me back then, it was from my dad! He said, ‘This January, don’t make resolutions, make resolve.’ What he meant was: don’t create destinations that you may or may not reach; don’t set yourself up for a fall, rather build roads for yourself to travel along as far as you can.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Worship: Worship and Social Media
‘The Church has been slow to adopt new communication technologies. Far from being faddish, these technologies are the very essence of how people today construct their worlds. It is here that the Church may be most out of step with culture’. (Eddie Gibbs, Ryan Bolger,
Emerging Churches) -
IssuesReady-To-Use Mentoring: The relationships matrix
There is precious little instruction and guided reflection on how to have a healthy (offline) social network and how to develop a range of healthy relationships. There’s no qualifications needed to become a parent, no training courses on how to be a good friend; a bit of thought could help us to reflect God better in our key relationships.
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Issues
Ready-to-use Saints & Martyrs
This resource is designed for youth workers and chaplains using the Lectionary .
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IssuesReady-to-use Schools work: Love is Sacrifice
As the pupils are coming into assembly give a class worth of pupils a piece of paper with the question, ‘What is love?’ on it, and pens or pencils to scribble down their thoughts.
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IssuesReady-to-use mentoring: Listen up!
The worst mentoring relationship I have ever been in came early on in my mentoring ‘career’ …
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Blog
Ready-to-use Reflection: Light of the World
The run-up to Christmas can be a frantic time, with parties, present-buying and incessant jolly music. Give your group space and time to prepare for the ‘coming’ (Adventus) of Jesus by entering into silence, reflection and prayer. After welcoming and noticing each young person, give everyone a stack of sticky notes and a pen. Allow each member of the group to find a space to sit where they are not easily distracted.
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IssuesReady-to-use Parable: The perfect life
Rachel and Erin both loved spending time putting together photos for Instagram and Snapchatting their friends. They had a bit of a competition going to see who could get the longest streak and the most followers.
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Blog
Ready-to-use Reflection: Lent
The 18th February 2015 is Ash Wednesday. You know when it comes around, because the day before you will have stuffed yourself with pancakes! Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the traditional time of fasting, confession and contemplation leading up to Easter. In recent years people have been rediscovering the spiritual riches of some of these ancient rhythms and seasons. Here’s a reflection to kick off Lent with your young people
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Blog
Ready-to-use Movie: The Lego Movie
‘Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you’re part of a team!’ Let’s be honest, nobody outside of Denmark thought that a Lego movie
would be a good idea. -
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