Tuesday morning came really early. But I was very excited to see what the day had in store, which motivated me to drag my old bones out of bed.
I already had my day planned months ago when I registered for the Forum. But last night's presentation on the Saint John's Bible had reawakened some creative impulses so I took a more intuitive and spontaneous approach to the day.
I found myself in Sarah Arthur's extended seminar "Once Upon a Story: Narrative, Poetry, and the Youth Pastor as Bard." I wasn't familiar with Ms. Arthur, but I was so glad I went. Often in ministry, we use story as a tool to make a point. She showed us ways to help youth enter into a story themselves, and reminded us to trust the Holy Spirit to do the work. Manhandling the process often causes the story to lose its enchantment. "A story isn't just something that points to reality, stories are events that happen to us and change us." Can't wait to hear more tomorrow morning.
William Romanoski, a film professor at Calvin College, did the morning lecture on the media driven culture that saturates the lives of our youth. Youth also create content in ways that didn't exist several years ago, but they often reappropriate images they've seen before. This can reinforce stereotypes. Important stuff worth thinking about because the media plays such a significant way in the way we imagine ourselves. This was the first of a two part lecture. Interested to hear next time what is the application for addressing this as youth workers. Got a chance to chat briefly with Prof. Romanowski afterward. Would just love to sit and pick his brain sometime, especially if I had my video making son in tow. He knew who Roger Corman was, so he gets the Eastman seal of credibility.
I also made it to Mike King's class called (gulp) "Flourish: Curating Environments for Communities of Christian Practice." He had a lot of good stuff to say, but what I will remember most is his story of cathedral makers working on a structure that they know they will never see completed in their lifetime. What if I took the same kind of view as a youth worker? Rather than just look a few months down the road, what if I made decisions based on what I could do now to sustain the youth and community years and decades down the road? What kind of disciplines and practices can I teach youth that will sustain them for the long haul? I really appreciated Mr. King's viewpoint, which really runs counter to the consumeristic and anxiety driven activity so prevalent in youth ministry these days. The guy's got integrity.
Well, there is so much more I'd love to share with you, but I can barely keep my eyes open. I bet Wednesday morning will come just as early.
No comments:
Post a Comment