Sweet Dreams

Time to think

2010-04-19T05:03:00.000-07:00

I've had some brain space over Easter to mull over my project and the issue of what it means to run it in my spare time. I wanted to log it as part of my ongoing reflection before it gets lost in the pressure of juggling other work now hols are over...

I know my course tutor is keen that any project be sufficiently lightweight to ensure longevity and a healthy non-reliance on central resources as there will be less and less to go round in future church circles.

While I do see his point, I wonder if this lightweight approach is fine for certain mission contexts but not others. For example, for projects working with children, elderly frail or learning disabled, I'm not sure a lightweight model is as easy or appropriate. More thought needs to happen in planning, preparation, safety, the logistics of getting the group to meet in one place.

I'm aware too that these groups share a similarity in that they have two groups within their sub-cultures i.e. the dependency of the firt group means that parents and carers are very much party of the day to day subculture but their needs are not the same as the first group. One could argue, any project working with one of these groups is actually working with two, therefore doubling up on the task of building relationships and taking more time.

Add to that, it will take even longer to grow a project if members have little initial connection to you.

So, light weight model works well for Christian adults looking to set up a project where they know each other, can sit around and drink coffee and chew over deeper life/faith issues. But not everyone fits this category. In short, does this lightweight model discriminate against some of our more marginalised groups in society?

The irony is that many of the creative projects working with these marginalised groups in society don't have full-time staffing because they are not deemed important enough to warrant it on their own. So I'm realistic enough to not try and argue for full-time leaders. One of the reasons some of these things have kept going is that a team has formed to sustain the work. Ideal really.

However, what do you do when you've been asked to start a project as one person (as I have) and/or the place from which you then hope to recruit team members has a culture that lacks confidence in volunteering, lacks imagination in what something might grow into or lacks free time to give to something. (A small traditional church, for example.) You're on your own!

It leads me onto another issue that I think I've touched on before. Some of these well-meaning recommended fxc processes involving stages that you develop over time don't seem to work too well when resources are limited. Three of four stages of lightweight approaches begins to look quite heavy.

I also can't get away from the fact that to start a project and make relationships can never be really light weight. Sure, the logistics can be. A meeting can cost little, take little time to organise but – and here comes the crunch - can you do lightweight relationships? Surely, not? OK, no need for everyone to become BFF but it takes time to listen to each other, to learn about each other, much less trust each other. Otherwise it'll just be shallow, surely. If what differentiates a fxc from an outreach project is that exploring deeper issues happens within the fxc and not 'main' or 'real' church, then I'm not sure light weight will cut it.

So what do I conclude? Aim for light weight in a way that doesn't require full-time leaderhip is good but to imagine a project can be developed into a long-term effective community at no cost is naive.

A glorious finish!

2010-03-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Phew, well we did it. Last night was an organisational triumph. Glad I had done so much in advance and worked out teams/delegated roles etc for every half hour slot because it was all quite mental. Having said that, the kids were amazing - really focused despite their palpable off-the-scale levels of excitement. All the family members came as hoped. A nice mix of brothers, sisters, mums, dads and even two grandparents. Everyone seemed quite relaxed and happy to be there and not awkward as I feared - to be in a church building etc. I advertised the Good Friday children's service and 7 out of 20 kids are coming. (I'm making hot cross buns as part of the service.)

A friend (one of the mums) commented that at some of the messy church things she's seen, you never gets the adults eating with the kids which is a shame. Too early plus other family members needs feeding at home later anyway. Therefore it felt really special to have everyone sitting down and eating together last night. You couldn't do it every week but the gift of last night is that we were able to make it feel special - like a family meal out to celebrate something. Tablecloths, menus, music in the background, flowers on the table, schloer to drink all helped. The church warden kindly bought all the kids in the club an easter egg each to say thank you for their hard work which led to much jumping up and down with excitement. One child had even bought me a present to say thanks.

Washing/clearing up took ages, sabataged somewhat by drinking champagne with the team toward the end to celebrate all we'd achieved. And my brain is still a bit scrambled now from the intensity of it and how well it went. Thanks again to all who helped - I couldn't have done it without you. So here ends my pioneering project for now. Just got to add up the final sums and think about feeding back to my funders/course mates. All good.

One day to go...

2010-03-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

One day til the madness begins...the last session (boo hoo) of cookery club is tomorrow to which parents, siblings, grandparents are invited to stay for a meal the kids have prepared at 5pm (normal pick up time). The kids are SO excited. They keep coming up to me in the playground when I drop Natalie off in the morning to talk about it.

I am pleased to say that I have come through my sleepless night phase and the general sense of panic I was feeling last week about cooking so much food in such a small oven in such little time. I've got it all planned out to the last spring of parsley. Now I say...bring it on.

Mexican

2010-03-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

I think the session last week was the best one yet. I felt the balance of fun and calm was just right. I gave them a fairly complicated recipe (nachos and vegetable fajitas) and they coped well. They washed up without asking although they needed a bit of nagging to finish tidying their work space. I had a craft ready for the early finishers as a distraction from the usual climbing the walls and falling over each other. It's a shame they can't all work at the same speed like robots, really… (only kidding) but there is something annoying about the kids with more energy and speed taking up more of your attention because you've got to remind them to stop chasing about or find things they can do while the slower ones catch up. Some of my slower members are so sweet and I would love to be able to give them more time as they tell me things that are happening in their lives.

My thoughts are now consumed with the final session in 10 days time which is the meal they've invited their families to. It's a logistical nightmare. I was awake from 1-5am on Thursday night scribbling down times, menus and table plans. We're feeding a 3 course meal to 50...I must be mad...

Just read this morning a transcript of Archbishop of Canterbury's talk at a conference a few weeks ago in Lincoln. Really good, I thought. He reminds us that projects like these shouldn't be about entertainment, problem-solving or quick fixes. I'll email it to anyone who's interested.

Salmon and mango salsa

2010-03-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday's session went well, I think. The main cooking bit went extremely well. I emphasised at the beginning that I wanted a calm and quiet cooking session and they did brilliantly. The recipe was just the right level of complicated and looked so impressive in their plastic boxes to take home. They enjoyed the 'guess the fruit' game - pomegranet, passion fruit, lychees, papaya. My husband mischeiveously asked me afterwards if I taught them about similies in Song of Songs ;) I assured him I did not. And they enjoyed the fruit craft with cocktail sticks/umbrellas and bits of melon and kiwi cut with cookie cutters.

I was also chuffed that a few days beforehand, one of my kids came up to me in the playground to ask what they were making and when I told her, ran off to tell her little group of friends (who are also members) who listened in elated attentiveness to what we were making. I love the fact that I'm responsible for creating such excitement for them.

All that said, they were still extremely giddy after washing up. Because they finishing clearing up at different times, this means they end up in the church lounge just messing about while we wait for the slower ones. We've had an idea though! We're going to set up an activity for them to do after washing up in the hope that will keep them focused. I'm very grateful that my project mentor is a teacher. She says this is all very normal for working of kids of this age!

I'm still chewing over what will happen after this phase draws to a close. I'd love to build on but I simply don't know yet whether we have enough resource (by that I mean volunteers, interest, funding again for next year).

I'm also aware of the difficulty of assessing whether a project has worked or not. By what criteria do you decide? Also, 6 months is a very short time-frame when building trusted relationships with a lot of families you didn't know at the start.
Way too short.

Barbeque chicken and Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm quite relieved. Yesterday went much better than the previous session. One of my helpers from last time wasn't put off by hamburger chaos (thankfully) and came and helped again. I was also more careful to explain what specific help I needed from her and she was brilliant. She's willing to help at all sessions which is fantastic.

After last time, I kept recipe/ingredients really simple and the barbeque chicken was pretty much just mixing up the sauce that they then poured over the cooked chicken (and then popped back in the oven for a bit more cooking time).

The up side of keeping the recipe simple is that clearing up was minimal (after the children left at 5.00, we were all cleared up by 5.10). The down side is that we'd all finished cooking at 4.10 with 50 minutes still to fill!? However, they enjoyed the Ready Steady Cook game (they had to design a recipe from a bag of random ingregients and the winner got to take ingredients home) and they LOVED the sweety bracelet making which took about 25 minutes of quiet concentration. The quiz was less of a success as it was hard for all of the kids to stay engaged. I also got them all to lie down on the carpet, relax and listen to Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. It took about 10 minutes plus a stern talking to to get them all to listen, lie down and be quiet. Honestly, it's like herding cats...

It is really hard to know how hard to come down on them. With the extra kids that have joined, the group is noticeably louder and more unwieldy. If any of you have any tips on quietening/calming methods, do add your comments.

Yesterday was interesting in that it was parents evening across at the school at the same time (I went over for my daughter after cooking was over.) So more parents popped in and out during the session. One mum and three teenage sisters stayed for pretty much the whole time (although there was a fair amount of to-ing and fro-ing in and out of the front door for cigarettes and mobile phone chat) And the mum and baby brother of my 16 year old helper stayed too. At the time, I couldn't help but wonder if all these other people present just made it all more stressful i.e. having to watch the door for security, small children around, increased noice level etc but on reflection, I realise how lovely it is too. To have family members come and hang out with us and help/do crafts is what it's all about, isn't it? I feel abashed at not having realised it at the time and reminds me over unhelpful leadership tendencies that want to control outcomes rather than see what delightfully unpredictable elements emerge.

So i think I'll go for a slightly longer recipe next time, that increases time they are cooking but doesn't increase set up/clearing up too much. I'm thinking baked salmon (they can have a happy time with lemon, butter or maybe maple syrup?? and foil wrapping) and then they can tackle some sort of simple sauce.

My thoughts are also wandering to the future. We finish sessions at Easter so what next? We have a new incumbent coming in April and it might be interesting to chat with her about what next/else may be possible. I'll keep you posted.

Food for thought

2010-02-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

I blog with a heavy heart. Last session felt like hard work. It was an important learning curve and I take heart that the best way you can learn is by having a go.

Things got complicated a couple of days before when I discovered two of my regular helpers couldn't make it. After a very restless Tuesday night, thankfully, two new people were able to help (one a parent) but neither of them knew how to work the oven (the oven has amind of its own – something to do with the way the timer works or doesn't work!?) and neither were the sort of people to take charge if the kids are getting giddy and I can't be in two places at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY grateful for their help – it couldn't have happened without them – but I think I am just reflecting back the pressure of me as the overall leader when there are new volunteers who have never been before.

I was also too ambitious in what I asked the kids to make. Hamburgers and salad. And of course I realise in hindsight, the more complicated the recipes, the longer and louder everything takes and the more paraphernalia that needs clearing/washing up after. My 3 new kids seemed to really enjoy it but that of course added to the complexity of the session. In hindsight, it all seems so obvious that I planned too much but I think my stress about volunteers made me partially blind to this.

I also learnt from this session that making napkin swans doesn't really work with paper napkins (cloth napkins with an iron works best) and that children find it hard to remember dates in their heads if they aren't next week. Fair enough. I've had a few confused parents ask about the end of term meal assuming that is was this week from what their kids told them rather than the date I announced of march 25th.

I'm very glad of the regular contact I have with the kids and their parents at the school gate. It takes the pressure off the sessions themselves to get to know people as well as the cooking. I've had lots of short but good conversations with parents about how well their kids are doing. They tell me their kids absolutely love it which is so good to hear – it makes it all worthwhile!

I do think the team/volunteers thing is an interesting issue. I've heard it said that when something is your idea, it's always difficult to get help from others. It all makes me wonder if I missed a trick at the beginning of the process by not embarking on a more consultative process that other people would feel was their idea as well. As it was, Abi the curate and I dreamt it up together. I wonder if anyone would have wanted to get involved in the dreaming stage, even if I had asked them?!?

An older lady at the church made comment that those members of the congregation who are older have served the church faithfully for many years making tea, doing flowers, washing linen, children's work etc. A lot of them feel its time for the younger ones now. Problem is there are precious few younger ones and many of them work as well as raise families.

Suddenly it all seems very bleak for small churches if they want to start something new. I realise that my club is just one stage of a much-needed longer process of engagement. If I read Singlehurst (SRK) or Lings (arches) right, ideally any further stage (or stages) has to happen while the first stage continues too (running concurrently). Suddenly, that feels like a massive amount to sustain for a small church.

Pizza

2010-01-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I think all the pizza making went well last time. Our first session of savoury food seemed to go down well. Seeing them kneed their dough (for the pizza base) was lovely.

And while it rose, we learnt about how bread marks all sorts of special occasions in life all round the world. They were a bit giggly by then so copious amounts of shushing preceded each child as they picked a country and read out the relevant interesting bread fact.

We then had reflection time on a parable/story about leaven bread. It was a little bit sideways but there were one or two moments of hush as I talked about the ways in which yeast has been used to tell thoughtful stories of wise men. I’m so glad I went to the trouble of getting the pizza boxes. The kids were so excited to take their creations home in them.

So to next week. Beefburgers and salad nicoise. I’ve also re-advertised and got an extra 4 people coming along. It seemed a shame to limit it to 12 when, now we’re not doing cakes etc, we’ve more space in the oven. I just have a horrible feeling it’s going to be even louder and crazier. I’m also going to tell them about the end of term meal and fold napkins with them as preparation for that. Better brush up on my napkin origami this weekend…

Happy New Year

2010-01-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

We’re making pizza at this Thursday’s cookery (the first session of the new year). So I was presented with another opportunity in this pioneering project to put myself out there and risk humiliation – I went to the pizza take-away up the road and asked if they’d sell me 15 of their cardboard pizza boxes so my kids can take their pizzas home on Thursday safely in one piece. English is definitely not the first language of the take-away staff so my request was met with some confusion. However, that said, when they understood what I was after, they were very obliging in selling me what I needed and it even led to a conversation with one of them about a church he attends across the city.

This Thursday’s theme will be bread as they’ll make up their own dough with yeast for the pizza base. It’s amazing that, to add to the connections to maths (fractions on the measuring cups), personal skills (washing up/tidying up after themselves), learning about different cultures (American thanksgiving) and festivals (halloween, all saints day, Christmas), you can also connect food into geography. I’ve designed an exercise where they explore the different ways breads are used in celebrating rites of passage in different countries across the world (using a map we keep in the office with pins etc). I just hope the kids enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. I’m also going to tell a story about a parable of leaven bread (GP) to help them explore the role of yeast in bread-making and its symbolism in some religious contexts.

I forgot to blog before Christmas but I had a really encouraging meeting before Christmas to review the autumn term. Two team members (one of them the curate at St Aidan) and I met and we all agreed it’s gone really well. We’ve also come up with a shape for the spring term than will culminate in the kids inviting parents to a meal which they cook and serve. This idea had occurred to me about two months ago but I’d shelved it as I thought it was too ambitious so it was brilliant the way someone else came up with the idea.

last before Christmas

2009-12-05T15:23:00.001-08:00

Well, the last meeting of the term happened last Thursday and we made sugar cookies – a traditional American Christmas biscuit. For a number of reasons, I think this was our best time together yet. The kids were like wild animals when they arrived (that time of year, I guess?!?) so I told them very calmly that I would be monitoring their behaviour and unless they could prove they could cook in a well-behaved and calm way, I would have to tell them they couldn’t come back after Christmas. Well, they all did fab. Well done kids. And in the calmness, some really good cooking happened; they all concentrated really well and figured out ingredients and measurements (sort of!) on their own. I’m really proud of them.

I made sure they had cookie dough already made up so they began by rolling and cutting their shapes. While they cooked in the oven, they made their own dough from scratch to take home to make more biscuits with family. Washing up went very well. Everyone helped without needing to be asked. I even had a brainwave to ask the more restless boys to hoover which they were very excited about!

We then had a short reflection time looking at some frescos by the artist Giotto that tell the Christmas story (Godly Play resources from SCEC). Again, all the kids listened well and got really into the discussion. The wondering questions are still strange for them. I tell them there are no right and wrong answers and that we’ll just consider the answers to the questions inside ourselves but still they all put hands up and gesture excitedly. The last wondering question was ‘which image makes them most excited about Christmas’. Quite a few pointed immediately at the visitation of the magi and said it was because of the presents!! Ah well. Kids will be kids... Then, we only just had enough time to ice the biscuits before parents arrived. The all refused to use the green icing (made from natural colourings) because it looked like bogies! They do make me smile!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T02:56:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year when everything is so manic finding time to blog is becoming a challenge. Our thanksgiving session two weeks ago went well. The news that we were making cheesecake was met with disappointment which surprised me. Turns out, most of them think cheesecake is made with actual cheese!?! Also, for next time, I must remember that spreading cheesecake filling over a non-chilled, low fat biscuit base makes for major biscuit detachment. Thank heavens I'd brought extra filling and a couple of spatulas…

All the kids listened very well to the short history of thanksgiving (dressed as Indians and pilgrims) and the sample thanksgiving food I'd made (cornbread/pumpkin pie/sweet potato) was met with suitable "yuck" reactions though they were brave enough to try a forkful of most things.

Finding volunteers seems to be an ongoing pressure. I only need 3 adults besides me but finding helpers who aren't tied up looking after kids/working/not CRB checked is proving a nightmare.

I can't believe this week's session is the last one before Christmas. I can totally see why leaders of pioneering projects can't always be reflecting on the big picture/strategic effectiveness of their work as the day to day running requires so much energy. We're going cookie crazy this session. (Many thanks to my Mum who made batches of dough ahead of time while I was away at Cliff last week). I'm also hoping to do some godly play style reflection and if I've enough money in the budget, icing a small Christmas cake competition. Bring it on.

Bonfire night

2009-11-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

Another good meeting yesterday although three of my children didn’t make it. I’ll have to give my absentees a call and see if they’re ok. We made apple and berry slice then played guess the vegetable. They guessed the courgette and butternut squash right but struggled with the parsnip and aubergine. I then had cooked samples for them to taste. They like the butternut squash soup more than I thought they would. And all the parsnips were devoured. I then attempted reflection time on Bonfire Night following the success of reflection on Halloween and All Saints last time but I had totally failed to think of any Godly Play-style wondering questions beforehand (can anyone think of any in hindsight?) so it turned into more of a test of their Guy Fawkes knowledge and a general chat about fireworks. The bulk of the conversation focused on a story they’d heard that day in assembly about a girl who’d had her fingers blown off because she lit a firework when told not to. Nice.

I’m pleased that I’m getting time to have more conversation with the kids. They’re so funny. Their wit and energy is so refreshing despite the fact that it takes them half an hour to decide whose in whose team for the quiz. Honesty.

It’s thanksgiving next time. I’ve asked an American lady who occasionally comes to church to talk us through the origins of this American festival complete with fancy dress Indian headdresses and pilgrim white collars as my knowledge of american history is decidedly sketchy. I’m looking forward to it. Not sure what main dish to make with the kids. Chocolate cake was their suggestion yesterday. After chocolate brownies and rocky road, I’m all-chocolated out. Cheesecake maybe? (too challenging?) Or flapjack? (too easy?) Also beginning to consider savoury options though I want to steer clear of raw meat and it needs to be something that they can mix up and then can go in the oven or fridge without any hob or oven work prior to that...other than homemade pizza, not sure what else might work. Any suggestions?

Third meeting

2009-10-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to say every time we meet, it gets better, easier and more fun! We went totally chocolate today with Rocky Road (main recipe) and, along with a seasonal quiz (about halloween and All saints day), we made chocolate apples (instead of toffee apples as those are far too complicated!) decorated with chocolate button eyes and marshmallow noses etc. We're certainly scoring high on the old fun factor! We even had 4 rounds of "In the jungle, the mighty jungle..." while we did the washing up...

Not so sure about the low-maintenance factor. It feels just about manageable for one person in a "bit more than spare time" role (me). I was more aware of the two tasks I juggle in this project, preparing for this session. The recipe planning and shopping is one task (one I find quite easy though still needing time and effort). The other task is the planning for the festival/reflective input and the overall responsibility for the relational aspects of the project. They are quite different tasks using different skills. Ideally, you could do with two people planning it together. And it does make me think the key to low-maintenance is good team work, which is an additional challenge for someone being asked to begin a project on their own.

Aside from the challenges of planning and preparing, my team are fab and so much more than I expected. Adele just instinctively gets on and clears up. Abi is both fab at practical and relational stuff and slotting in where needed (her support has been invaluable) and Jamie's just cool (she's 15 so like a big sister to the kids). One of the mum's stayed this time too which was great. So in terms of the actual meetings, it works really well.

So bring on next session. Nov 5th so the theme will be Bonfire night, of course. Not sure yet what to make...how do you top bowls of melted chocolate? I'm thinking about gingerbread or parkin. I just hope the kids like ginger unlike my fussy four year old. Also got to read up on Guy Fawkes so I sound like I know what I'm talking about in the reflection time...

Second meeting today

2009-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was chocolate brownies today. The smell was intoxicating...just at the wrong time of day as well i.e. right before dinner. The kids were much calmer today (and I certainly was) so three cheers for that. They still seemed to really enjoy themselves despite me getting more school-marm-like to get them to pay attention more quickly.

Washing up with the kids took ages (as chocolate brownie mixture turns washing up water into brown soup with just the dunk of one mixing bowl) but they really got into the game (design a dish out of 3 specified ingredients plus 2 you know you have at home-winner gets to take ingredients home) and craft (pear place names using cloves for initials plus ribbon). My team of 3 helpers were brilliant. We all agreed we could do with one more helper so the recruitment drive continues. I'd love to be able to involve someone who isn't already heavily involved in other stuff at church. I think I'll chat to some folk face to face (rather than via the notice sheet) and see if I can charm them into helping.

Chatted with one of the mums today who was taking minutes at the funding meeting I had to present at last week. The issue of paying a fee for each session is clearly a concern for many who sit on funding bodies such as these. The feedback during and after the meeting included concern that not all families would be able to come if we charged (even a small fee) and therefore we have limited our catchment. My reflection is that with 12 spaces, we are limited anyway but I did gain some good ideas for how I might connect with a greater diversity of social backgrounds after Christmas.

Also, discovered my funding bid to another charity responded positively. Great news!

Another new experience

2009-10-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Having just about recovered from leading my first school assembly and running my first cookery session, on Wednesday I elected to stand up in front of 30 representatives of my local community and make a bid for a small grant request for my project. I wasn't sure what to expect but everyone seemed very positive and they've given the project some money. All sorts of suggestions were made to expand, involve others etc It's all very encouraging...

Reflection on first meeting

2009-09-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Been five days since first meeting. Still processing it, even now.

I think it went well. 11 of the 12 children arrived all with their money. 11 beautiful apple crumbles were made. Washing up was done, equipment labelled, rules decided upon and fun game played at end. Kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. So job done.

Or was it? Why was I up thinking about it in the middle of night? Yet again, I have deep appreciation for all those who run these kinds of projects. I was surprised by how the time goes by so fast. My fear is that the downside of the fun and energy created is that every session will pass as a blur of flour and sugar with no time to take anything in or get to know the kids a bit more.

However, maybe I shouldn't be too over analytical with just one session under my belt. As this is the first time I've ever done anything like this, I suspect the considerable feelings of frenzy are not helped by my brain working overtime...

First meeting today

2009-09-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

Very excited. First time we meet is today. Assembly advertising plus fliers have done the stuff and I have filled all my 12 places. Got all the equipment. Kids all VERY excited so their parents tell me. Ready to go...

However, also having last minute doubts about this will ever be anything like a fresh expression in the proper sense. But that's good, isn't it, because that way something contextual may emerge rather than imposition of something without consultation.

The good news is that this way, the church can offer something to people in the community beyond it's current membership. I'd rather help with that than do something vaguely trendy for people who are already Christians but fed up with church. There are groups round here for that already so it's nice to feel I'm not replicating something already being done.

I have a growing sense that it is important to keep my current project "neutral space" to get to know people. It's good loving service and community engagement.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I still need to work out how to get all my bits and pieces round to the church without a car as Paul's run off with it on a work thing...

I survived!

2009-09-17T02:03:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to report the school assembly went very well indeed. I did a Ready Steady Cook thing with a bag of supposedly unknown ingredients. With a volunteer each, Abi made trifle and I a cheesecakey thing all in 5 minutes with kids counting down the last crucial 30 seconds. They then nominated two teachers to taste and all voted on which was the yummier dish. I won! I then advertised my cookery based project.

The kids were so cool. It's such a different experience presenting in front of a group of 100 kids than a groups of 100 adults. They get so into it. Their enthusisam and energy is so refreshing compared with the cynicism and weariness you can often feel with a group of adults.

I'm so chuffed to have done it. Right now, I feel high - like there's nothing I can't do - although thinking about it, I'm not sure I'm brave enough to take a senior school assembly so scratch that last thought.

On another matter, entering the whole world of CRB checks has been a bigger deal than I expected. I keep getting conflicting info and processing forms takes more time than I realised. This is all at the same time as waking up to John Humphrys getting cross about excessive checking on the Today programme on Radio 4. I disagree with JH and believe we need to be safe but I note how cumbersome it is to flag up when recruiting volunteers and how careful thought needs to be given to how you phrase it.

2009-09-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

Well, things seem to be coming together well. Had an official letter of blessing from the PCC for my project (!?), fingers crossed for my funding applications to be looked on favourably and I've designed and made the fliers.

Fliers are funny things, aren't they? Everything seems so much more official when you've got a flier which is weird because it's really only a bit of paper that people may or may not look at, let alone decide to do anything about it. I'm aware of the collusive role a flier can play in the whole trap of mounting an "event-based" project - the "build it and they will come" mentality (Field of Dreams film) that just expects people to crawl out of the woodwork rather than invest in personal relationships/invitations. And then people wonder why their mission isn't effective. Anyway, I'm sure you get my drift...

It was good to read John Young's article in the Church Times this week about their fresh expression for children. (p.12) After 6 years, he reflects good connections have less to do with events and more to do with long-term friendship, hospitality and consistancy. Not rocket science but good to have it in print nonetheless.

Guess what? Just to make this whole project thing even more challenging, I've agreed to do a school assembly to advertise my project to the kids!? Am I mad? Any advice from anyone with experience in this kind of thing?

2009-08-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else deliberating over how much to plan the content of your project before it actually starts? I'm aware that I'm doing quite a lot of planning. Because I'll be working primarily with children, I think this is OK, and probably very sensible.

However, I'm just aware that any good project shouldn't fall into the client/provider trap that can so easily undermine any sense of belonging, community and shared ownership that benefits everyone involved in projects like this in the long term. We want to get away from laying on a programme for people that encourages passivity or the feeling of being patronised. I love the idea that those involved in my project make it what it is.

I'm also aware that some of last year's students planned material ahead to time which they never used because, as they met, the group together decided the agenda and how they should spend their time together. This is a good reminder that until you've met and built relationships, you can't properly know where they are at and what will bless/engage/encourage them.

So, I conclude a certain amount planning is ok if you hold it lightly and know that you will need to adapt as you get to know people and develop what you are doing...

First blog

2009-07-29T01:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, here goes… first blog entry…

Having to plan for MEC3 hard on the heels of my MEC2 assignment has been interesting. I have to confess to feeling a little bit superior on completing my essay (I know, very shameful) because, after the time and effort invested in producing 8,000 words of clarity over what defines an emerging church (or fresh expression), it's easy to find other people's confusion all rather irksome.

However, having to do MEC3 has been good for me. It's very humbling. I have new appreciation for practitioners who are told to begin a fresh expression by their superiors or line managers. I wouldn't change anything I wrote in my essay. I think it still stands but I note that however you define an emerging church when it is up and running, the start-up issues are less straightforward than the theory suggests. Where do you start when you've a "blank sheet of paper"? What happens when you've got limited resources? How do you balance a) where you have to start with b) what you hope it might eventually become and not confuse everyone in the process? Writing an essay doesn't tell you how it all feels when you are in the role of the practitioner faced with these kinds of questions, living with the provisionality of hoping something significant will grow but having no certainty about when, how and what.

On a more positive note, I'm glad to report that I'm getting really quite excited about what I'm planning. My thoughts are never far from what recipes will work well with the kids, what equipment we'll need, etc. I love the fact that cooking is a way in to celebrate life…to create something, to mark the seasons, to bless another person by making them something yummy, think about family traditions…it's all good!