Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

hauerwas street cred : stan can't be that mean

i find this highly amusing from shaun groves in speaking to stan hauerwas's staunch pacifism. tony, you might like this too.

Stanley Hauerwas has said, “I’m a pacifist because I’m a violent son of a bitch.” And I don’t believe him.  Because he’s miniature.  He’s a diminutive (brilliant) theologian no more than five feet tall and speaking with a voice that reminds me of an LP played at a 45’s speed.  I’m not buying that he’s violent.  Not physically.  And that lets some of the credibility out of his entire pacifist position.

hendersonville first : health ministry highlight

two of our youth put together this video. one actually started it and due to summer vacation had to pass the final cut onto another. the latest in our ministry highlight series. i think it's a bit long, but i can live with that as i think it is mostly excellent. yours truly gets to make a special appearance.

more on the links : and it's not golf

time just seems to be going everywhere but into blog posting. no biggie, just means i'm working with the youth who i am sorta paid to minister with. so for the time you can see some of the fruits of work & readings. this is my latest collection of stuff.

• television and our children's children
• imvu another up and coming virtual reality world
• theology of mission
• lyfe : connecting God to us
• phyllis tickle on the new emergence
• android (which i was reading about in wired) hits snag
• reduce camera shake
• pete rollins interview on church beyond belief
• teen pregnancy pact info.. penelope's celeb parent porn
• celebs reason for teen pregnancy pact
• the pregnancy pact is called into question
• fewer peeps going towards tech degrees
• teens feeling the recession pinch?
• parents leading teenagers back to the newspaper
• pagans and patriarchs
• wordle.. just try it
• incarnation in virtual world
• interval training is the way to go.. if only i exercised
• what communication lessons i learned in marriage counseling
• a church dominated by the young and unexperienced
• build your own photo wire wall
• words for non-believers
• church practice gutenberg mindset in google world
• map-it your brainstorm session
• waking up to pluralism
• the creative worship tour
• are you young umc clergy? this is for you then
• the new classics.. and what kat thinks of some of them
• i am thinking of a bamm experience for myself
• what books have changed your life?
• pastors need to theologian in weekly columns.. they still do this?
• diary of an outreach flop
• i don't get radiohead, but this is a cool stage set!
• thomas's welcome message
• mitch on facebook past, myspace present, linked-in future.. hmm
• scot on the whole dobson obama junk
• white people like to compare folks to hitler.. and acting poor
• does the church have a responsibility to encourage carpooling?
• for teens email just doesn't cut it.. duh! i've know that for years
• ypulse on some hypothetical questions of youth, social media culture
• teens crashing pools using google earth.. hmm.. smart.. maybe use street view too
• bullying becoming a younger thing
• my faith isn't the only way.. neither is yours
• cutting understanding the self-mutilating teenager

super cool : a dance around the world

a bunch of friends have already highlighted this video. it's pretty darn cool to imagine it all as you see it

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

music monday : one of the gavin's

while playing a golf tournament on saturday one of my buddies called me gavin degraw.. i told him he can't call me that cause i wasn't sure if that was a bust or a compliment.. no idea who that is. but there is another gavin that i do know. he's still not the number one gavin richardson in google though! boo-yah! a blast from the past, bush - machinehead

youth ministry video : glimpse of our church

myself and a group of our youth are putting together these highlight videos for all the overarching ministries of our church. one video highlight gets show each sunday through the summer. this past sunday was our youth min sunday. it's kinda hard to capture everything that we are in a 3 min video, but i'm kinda happy with this one, plus its different than the other videos we've been doing so far.

things on tab : random links for friday

just a myriad of links from odd stuff i've have on tab in the browser.

• make a difference join ctrl+alt+del
• why is youth culture more global?
• oh very young, and gadgety
• college students bike to break silence
• a green social network?.. interesting
• help the united methodist global aids fund
• nashville and their bad drivers
• how youth and video cameras are changing the world
• "truth comes from being involved, and not from an observation or speculation"
• best apocalyptic movies
• easter ad series reaches people.. tip don
• 100 topics i hope you write about
• twitter church..
• 10 things adults should know about youth
• on moving into smaller youth ministries
• how myspace is moving to help brand
• youth media & hip-hop
• drunkorexia?.. might not be a word, but is is a condition
• playing politics & facebook, latest from pew internet research
• how do we pass the baton to the younger folks in mainline & beth's add-on
• willimon on empowering a new generation of leaders & connecting with young people
• facebook takes over myspace
• crazy tornado picture
• post-evangelical youth ministry

the things i don't understand : odd things about my town

living into my "productive years" in new jersey there are a few things that are prevalent in the south that i for some reason or another just don't grasp very well. things like, the 4 wheeler, hunting, and competitive fishing stand at the front of the list.

being in at a church now that is part of a town based around a lake system, and apparently a good fishing lake at that, my worlds of understanding and confusion collide every now and then. at the moment we are in the now of collision.

for whatever reason the mens professional bass tour will begin a tournament next weekend at our lake. apparently it is being moved from another lake due to some of the flooding in the mid-west. with news of the tournament i started to see the boats the next day. you know the boats, the ones that have all kinds of stickers on them (plus the cars that tow them) and have some massive sized engines off the back ends.

so while i was finishing up hitting some golf range balls this morning a guy asked if the course had a range. i confirmed for him that it did, the noticed as he drove away to park his van sported a bass sticker and a missouri plate. so i asked him if he was here for the tournament next weekend. "no" i'm hear for the womens tournament this weekend. me, "really." him, "yeah, she didn't have a good day ranking wise, but she caught like 35 bass." me, confused look. him, "it is really nice here, we've talked of moving here." me, "i certainly like it. so have a good day hitting them around."

i drive away and i find myself in another state of confusion.. women's competitive fishing....

bishop nt wright : colbert report

last night many of you probably caught nt wright on the colbert report. for those that didn't, here's the fun. if you were not sure what exactly was said, go check in with jake, he transcribed the conversation.

total gross : if the principals behind it were not so real

love the onion, and love the onion news broadcasts. this one is just gross, it is scary to think of though as the principals behind making this product are quite real. tip jody

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

music monday : wild wild

in a bit of a repeat, i am throwing out another talking heads video. this is a long-distance dedication to mike, one of my parents who loaned me a copy of "stop making sense" for my amusement. i don't think i thought about it then, but over the years i have seen the brilliance david byrne. this video shows some of that radical thinking, showing off that parody stuff you seen more of over the years. you might even see some familiar, yet younger, faces.

non-religious but spiritual : learning to talk again

today we had a great day of conversation. i hooked up with friend jim palmer for a day of conversation 'connecting with non-religious yet spiritual people' and some 25 folks. i tried to broadcast it over ustream, which, it might have actually done. i think though our church wireless wasn't quite up to task for it though. i did record most of it on simple video, so maybe i can put some out there in future days. jim has given a little synopsis of the conversation.

i really enjoyed our time together today! let me try and summarize some things that came up, and then ask for your feedback on a few items.

in summary....

1. all people have "spiritual" interests and desires (i.e. desire for peace,love, freedom, and contentment). unless you live on an island, every person has had exposure to religion. some people have spent more time and energy seeking God and spiritual things through religion than others but all people are influenced by the presence of religion in society and culture.

2. "religion" is defined as a fixed or defined system of beliefs, practices, and structures meant to aid people in knowing God.

3. a "non-religious" person is someone for whom that organized system of beliefs, practices, and structures is not beneficial for their "spiritual growth and desire to know God. in cases where those religious beliefs, practices, and structures are oppressive, legalistic, judgmental, shallow, hypocritical, and demeaning, people are deeply wounded and damaged from their previous religious involvements, and are therefore often resentful of those individuals and churches involved.

4. a highly organized form of church is only one form of church. this form of church works for some people but not all people. an increasing number of people no longer subscribe to the idea that "church" must involve a building, organized programs, and weekly worship services.

5. the panel today is representative of many non-religious people:

Mike - Buddhist AND Christian
Jeffrey - Don't label me anything, get to know me.
Carlene - Don't put yourself or others in a box.
Doug - Love is my religion.

6. unconditional love and acceptance, and cultivating true relationships/friendships is what's most "relevant" to non-religious people. these cannot be accomplished or achieved within the typical systems, structures, and programs of organized church life. in other words, the true essence of "church" is not even possible AT church (services, classes, groups, meetings, programs, etc.).

7. religion often labels/stereotypes people, too quickly judges and condemns others who are different, and insists there must be "winners" and "losers." religious energies are often focused on converting people to different beliefs. what gets lost in all of this is truly understanding people as they are or where they are, and how they got there.

8. some people seek to "reform" organized forms of church to make the message of Christ more accessible to non-religious people. others choose to operate outside organized forms of church.

i want to encourage you to read the books: Authentic Relationships, and Divine Nobodies. Consider this Yahoo Group an open forum for the following:

- continuing the conversation of "connecting with the spiritual interests of non-religious people" - offering your feedback and input about today's gathering - sharing how things are evolving in your own personal life and/or in your faith community as it relates to this topic - sharing your input and feedback about the books - passing along other helpful resources

another gathering is scheduled for the fall. if you are interested in helping in any way, let me know. i am also working on a similar event in which the panel will include clerics from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and an Atheist. let me know if you have any interest in helping with that.

you can also always email me at jim(at)divinenobodies.com

thanks! jim

up and coming bloggers : teen style

anastasia at ypulse has garnered a list of up and coming superstar teen bloggers.

If you ask your average teenager if they have a "blog," he or she will probably just look at you funny. "Blog" tends to describe the act of writing and publishing online in a more formal way... For most teens, blogging is just writing in their MySpace journal or LiveJournal -- and is usually intended for a very small group of readers, i.e. their good friends. The writing is more informal and can include acronyms and emoticons and misspellings. It's often a continuation of a conversation that may have begun in class that day that includes photos from so and so's party.

....

Carl Ocab (14)
Thilak Raj Rao (18)
Paul Bourque (19)
David Wilkinson (13)
Jason Pereira (17)
Jon Wheatley (20) 
Ahson Rafiq (18)
Sly Blanco (16)
Marko Dimitrovski (13)
Nick Sullivan (17)
Eli Burford (17)
Collin LaHay (18)
Pranav Rastogi (13)
Shannon Lilly (19)
Maher Saleh (12) 
Thomas Sinfield (17)
Wayne Liew (18)
Adly bin Mukhtar (19) 
Chloe Spencer (16)
Sean (15) 
James McDonald (18)
Josh Buckley (16)
Jim Regan (18)
Gareth Boyd (15) 
Shane Hudson (14) 
Jessica Mah (17) 
Glenn Wolsey (15) 
Connor Wilson (16) 
James Owers (19)
Li (17)

owning our brokeness : in my inbox today

in the context of our conversations of today. i found the final quotes of this video "what if this is your welcome committee" to be interesting. another thing i found striking, people are still hurting, you can see it in their faces. video sent from a friend to my inbox, thanks liz

the cynic in me said, boy there are a lot of tvs in that place

pulling for the home team : weekend glance

the us open kicks off today and i will be watching as i can. i am pulling for my boy phil. as a fellow lefty (and a lefty that is actually right handed) he's been my fav since he won the us amateur. it's in your backyard phil! go get it!

praying in virtual : my evening with friends

i spent some of the evening in conversation and prayer with some friends in second life. we had a good chuckle that just about everyone we tell about ministry and gatherings in second life always seem to look at us like we are weird.. maybe we are.. probably

ordination photos : annual conference scenes

i am uploading some photos from annual conference. most of the photos are from the ordination service. i tried capturing some friends in ministry or folks i just know well enough that they won't be freaked out that i'm taking their picture. other photos were more random & some were taken by my friend mike who happens to like the stained glass at the church.

leading in change : youth perspective

our youth this past weekend engaged in conversation over what it would take to lead through the changing culture. these are their notes.

FRESH Happenings

Leaders of Change- What should a leader look like?
Integrity- act because it is the right thing to do
Trustworthy/Trusting- no control issues
Open-minded- equality, nonjudgmental, remember that we are all God’s children and we are all valuable
Mutual Respect
Fearless- courage, takes on challenges, brave
Good Communication
Listening- values all input
Vision- plan, set goals, be in motion
Confidence with Humility- confident but not arrogant
Optimistic- positive, hopeful
Inspirational
Passion- enjoy what you are doing
Teamwork- cooperative
Service- leading by example, knows when to follow and when to lead
Unity- everyone works together, common goals
Knowledge- understanding, research

Embracing Change-What sets United Methodists apart?
Bigger Picture- faith, trust, hope
Actions- compassion, inclusiveness, attempt new things
Acceptance- open-minded
Risk Taking- faith, acceptance of results, responsibility, confidence
Same Emotions but Different Reactions- peace, hope, life changing, strength from struggles
Support- God, church members, youth groups, pastors
Miracles/Blessings- seeing the world through different eyes
Prayer/Bible
Motives- acting for others and not for self
Conflict Resolution
Being An Example- actions, grace, love, stories
Presence and Energy- being there, support
Shared Experience- witnessing, guidance, sharing is caring
Forgiveness- love, live by example, progress, lets go of negative energy
Community- connections, support system
Encouragement- support, sharing
Sharing of Strengths- new ways of communicating, art, music
Having and Holding Faith- provide healing time
Hakuna Matata- worry free life

Transformation- What calls to us?
Issues- teen pregnancy, eating disorders, addiction, suicide, over indulgence, pornography, Instant gratification
Spiritual Depth- touching God, sharing God’s love, worship, hands on, ideas, creativeness
Wastefulness and Indulgence- recycling
Small Things Big Effects- volunteer
Bring Passion- make changes in issues that excite you
Raising Funds and Awareness
Be Role Models- not just to younger people but also adults
Be Selfless- passion for helping others, think about others, no selfish thoughts
Discipleship
Involvement
Become Someone’s Hero- share time and experiences, smile at someone
War- be peace makers
Be A Childlike Teacher- learn how to play again, children at heart

a pretty extensive list.. what do you think. btw meet our new ccym leader for the next year. it's a good looking group.

annual conference day two : running tab

hey, back at annual conference. was a bit late and got in for the middle of the financial report. so my running thoughts through the day.

• apportionment talk can go on for ever it seems
• chatting up some folks on upcoming resolution stuff. i really don't know how we are going to get through what business we need too and hear adam hamilton.. unless adam gets some trimmed time.
• adam hamilton is a good preacher for filming. i haven't had to move our position camera a bit
• to twitter or to blog?
• "hold the organization accountable for the mission" -ah
• jay is live blogging the adam hamilton address
• adam hamilton was very good. heard some of his stories before but still good.
• inbetween break listened to nicole witt she was quite good. haunting type voice

after reflections. things got kinda busy so hard time to post

• jay continued to keep track of adam hamilton. hopefully i'll get a complimentary dvd for my work filming the sessions. (hint hint!)
• susan introduced me to this over one of our conversations
• i spoke in front of annual conference for the first time, twice. i wasn't a delegate so it was as points of clarification being the conference youth coordinator. people said i did a really good job with that, neutral, balanced, good points, even a 'Christ-like' comment came. i don't know about all that as i was nervous as heck and really can't remember how i said things. i know some of the nuts and bolts of what i said. i do appreciate the affirmation
• someone told me they were hurt by being excluded, 'not invited' to the table on some youth ministry events. that hurts to know their hurt, but i hope to help build a bridge there and some new relationship.
• our conference voted to develop visioning type teams to discern and develop comprehensive plans for the futures of youth, children, and young adult ministries of the conference that will then work with the personnel committee to hire according to those plans needs.
• our conference voted to send a resolution to develop a task force to look at one of our camps, the one that is mainly outdoors and geared towards children and youth,
• i ate lunch provided by the youth group at murfreesboro first. they were crazy fun, but i was so worn that i could only stare observe. they seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
• john did a kicking job with the lay speakers sermon. he equated the struggles the old school printed newspaper journalism has with new media with the same struggles that the church is having with new shifts in culture. he really said some awesome stuff. i want a transcript, or his dads tape.
• home, and i will sleep in a bit tomorrow

thoughts of an annual conference : running tab

i'm keeping a running tab on my thoughts and opinions from annual conference.. they are my thoughts and come through my lens of being part of this family. take issue with them or agree.

• our youth president is sitting with our bishop and entourage as a sign of showing support for and giving importance to the youth of our church. so why did the bishop just get the youth president to go and get him some coffee? bad form
• laity address is giving the same old rhetoric of 'we need to get younger laity and clergy'.. funny, that didn't seem to matter to you last year when we were electing delegates for general conference and the young adult laity were begging for consideration of balance of ages for our laity delegation. maybe i was too old at 32 to be considered young.
• mckendree report coming in. the fallout from all that is really tragic & hopefully will find its way into a better place. my grand father-inlaw got to stay because he had personal care insurance and wasn't dependent on medi-care stuff.
• thinking bout conversation with my pastor before entering the sanctuary.. i'm dreaming big now & excited to know i work with a solid and challenging visionary. cool thing too, i think some of the dreams can happen
• not sure what the 'other business' we are discussing, but i'm tuned out and scanning the crowd. see a lot of lovely people that i hope to catch up with sometime in the next 2 days
• hispanic report was cool. some good folks involved in that whom i really like. lame that i really know very little about engaging in those ministries.
• tennessee conference had the highest increase in percent participation with the advance in '07 in the southeast jurisdiction.. impressive
• into nominations. not sure what all is happening, but there are some good people & number of youth on the nomination list.
• this is a nice article that i find relevant for my days context
• on my pew: computer science homework, twitter, sudoku, book, book, txt msg, book, day dreaming, book, book, sleeping, the last two are paying attention. business as usual
• bishop's address: "its been a hard year".. yes, it has
•   "you would be surprised what you can learn from our middle school students" yes, if only you actually listened.

evening highlights

• got recognized for my work/participation with youth ministry institute 2. afterwards ginna said some great things about beth as recognition for her work. beth cried, which got me crying. we hugged, it was special, and sad at the same.
• i seemed to be sequestered by people to talk about the upcoming camping task force & conference program position resolutions. i don't know how all that is going to go down, but it was interesting that so many people sought me out for perspective.
• ran into adam hamilton while trying to figure out the camera stuff and talking to others. talked with his wife about their travel in. she seems quite nice. adam said thanks when i held the door for him.
• change of plans, change of plans.. but we got the ordination service recorded. it wasn't ideal so it will be a bear to get compiled into video. there is footage and that was goal 1 after every single plan seemed to fall apart beforehand. it was fun to chat through the headsets. probably was too chatty, oh well. dock my pay
• ran into richard, an old youth who is now in working world and finishing university. he was all dressed up in a suit. very professional looking.

music monday : hook brings me back

gotta love the blues traveler.

hit and run : new way to fight crime

found this video interesting. not so much that the police department is using youtube to fight crime, but more the reactions of the people, in and out of the cars. does something seem odd to you? like how long a guy laid in the road till someone actually approached him... someone turned their car around and went the other direction, people drove by, folks stood and stared.. human behavior is crazy

junior high mission : hump day

DSC_5040.JPG
Originally uploaded by hfumcyouth

so it is wednesday and it is our 2nd day of out and about work. i am the set driver for the saint andrews mission/urban ministry center. it's pretty darn cool. it is a dead methodist church in urban chattanooga that has been brought to life partnering with all kinds of immigrant congregations, community college, after-school programs, and more.. it is wonderful.

mike the pastor who heads it all up is a mutual friend from working with youth03 & youth07.

one thing i like about the place. wi-fi.. i have been able to upload pictures and send out email updates. check out our growing camp lookout service week flickr set.

camp twit

today we are on our way to camp for our junior high service week. i hope to post for some of you interested parties. but since posting might be at a minimum you can follow the twitter updates.

where is the twit?

follow me on Twitter

music monday : camera one

i had a pretty good week catching up with josh joplin last week. his stuff was buried on the church computer in windows media player.. how it got there i don't know. must have been bored, but it made for some good moments. here is josh playing one of his more popular songs "camera one" in some cafe. the audio is good in this, versus some of the cell phone footage that's on youtube.