Had another Hot Topic last night. At the end of Hot Topic Nights we invite a representative from each discussion group to share their findings with everyone else, effectively teaching the group. Here’s the finale to last night’s Hot Topic Night.

Set List: Days of Elijah (Robin Mark), Shadows (David Crowder*Band) was planned, but I broke a string so couldn’t finish the set.

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared EasyWorship schedule, PowerPoint slides, created H20 Action News, prayed, chose topics, recorded and posted videos of leftover topics.

Lesson Topic: Hot Topic Evening: Why do people think Christians are perfect and what can we do to change that? Is purple (Physical Affection) bad or is it good?

Scripture Used: 1 Peter 1.13-16; 1 Thessalonians 4.3-7; 2 Timothy 2.22; Philippians 4.8

Positives From the Evening: Conversations really flowed tonight, for both groups. The girls group had a rabbit trail that led them to some really deep conversation about broken homes and the success (or lack of success) in their parents’ marriages. The guys had some interesting conversation, even going off on the tangent of whether or not one can lust after their wife. There were a couple of new faces tonight and one of them was not afraid to share her groups findings at the end of the evening. At least 50% of our teens present tonight come from (what I can determine) are largely un-churched backgrounds.

Negatives From the Evening: The guitar string breaking during Days of Elijah was a problem. We always seem to need more time for discussion. We could use another leader or two present.

Results From the Evening: I really love these discussion nights. It gives our teens a voice and allows them to discover things for themselves. The side tangents, though potentially distracting, are where the real heart came out (especially in the girls’ group), which has led to some discussion between Kelly and I about what we can do to show some of our teens from broken homes some tangible love, and how we can invest into them in solid ways.

Student Involvement: Students participated in discussion, ran EasyWorship, ran the video camera and shared at the end (effectively teaching the group).

Next Week: Something interesting that I am working on for Advent.

Bonus: Check out the four remaining videos from the Hot Topic Box and weigh in with your thoughts on YouTube.

Set List: Undignified (Matt Redman), Shadows (David Crowder*Band), The Hand that Holds the World (Starfield).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared EasyWorship schedule, input new songs, created H20 Action News, prayed.

Lesson Topic: Real Talk Evening – Open-floor Q&A from teens.

Scripture Used: Philippians 4.8, 1 Corinthians 10.23, Leviticus 19.28, 1 Corinthians 6.19-20

Positives From the Evening: Real Talk Evenings always bring a lot of great questions, and tonight was no different. They ranged from questions about discerning God’s will for life to how to encourage a friend who is turning away from God to whether or not music that isn’t CCM is okay to listen to. I really relish these evenings, and the mood in the room was really receptive to hear answers, and to provide them as well. The music was really well received, and even enjoyed by most.

Negatives From the Evening: We did have a couple of teens leave early without knowing why. We did not start on time because there were a lot of teens who straggled in late. No one volunteered to run EasyWorship, so Kelly had to.

Results From the Evening: I feel that there was a lot learned tonight, and that (once again) providing our teens with an open forum to ask their tough questions really went a long way toward validating their thoughts.

Student Involvement: Students drove the entire evening by asking questions.

Next Week: No WNL due to our community Thanksgiving Eve service.

Last week we tried out a new format for Wednesday Night Live with our Hot Topic night. In short, we collected questions and topics from teens, and then built an evening of discussion around the top two topics. We had teens share the results of their discussions, and in essence, they taught themselves that night. But there were 4 questions left over. So what do we do about that?

Two things. The first is that I opened up 4 Facebook discussion threads for teens to interact with. And the second is that I filmed myself answering the topics/questions and have posted them to our blip.tv and YouTube accounts, inviting teens (and other viewers) to share their thoughts. Here’s the first video. For the complete set, you can find them here.

If you are anything like me, you find yourself communicating tons of information with many different groups of people every week. You might even find that you have 5 or 6 meetings in a month that cover different information and your notes just don’t seem to cover all the information that you have given out. Then you have to figure out who you gave what information to and when you gave it. Now, writing everything down beforehand and reading from that list can really help this, but what happens when information pops up that didn’t make it to your list?

Record it.

Over the past month I have struggled to keep track of all my announcements, teaching, points, and news bulletins. Who did I tell what when? Did all the parents get the memo about the idea behind our new Journey Groups? Which students were able to hear what I had to say about Friday Night Flood? Enough people have told me that they did not get the information that I shared (some are right, some just didn’t listen) that I have decided to purchase a Digital Video Recorder. I never really considered any other format, as there are many potential benefits to a digital recording of announcements, meetings and news:

• It can be played back instantly. Need to remember what you said just a minute ago? You can play it back without wasting the time to rewind a tape.
• It doesn’t wear out. A tape would.
• Easily transferable. You can transfer the file from recording device to computer with great ease, sometimes with a built-in USB plug.
• Easy to share it. Want to send your leaders a copy of the meeting last week? Simply attach the mp3 or .wav file to an e-mail or upload it to a file hosting site such as box.net and your leaders can hear everything.
• Easy reminder. Send a copy to students to remind them of upcoming events or to remember an important lesson from that week’s meeting.

In short, there are a lot of benefits to recording everything. I have already used it to record audio this past Wednesday night that came in handy when the microphone on the video camera didn’t pick up everything quite right. And tomorrow I’ll be using it to record a discussion on Youth Ministry 3.0 that our Leadership Team is having. I’ll share the recording with everyone, both to refresh them on our talk, and to inform those who couldn’t make it.

The hardest part is figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of!

Set List: Videos of How He Loves (David Crowder*Band) and Jesus Paid It All (Kristian Stanfill). I do not yet have my voice back, so I ran the music videos for these songs under the lyrics, effectively having two bands guest lead worship through song for us.

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared music videos, set up Youth Room, prepped Action News Announcement video, set up discussion element, prepared and posted 90 Second Recap video.

Lesson Topic: Hot Topics: Is it bad for a Christian to be paranoid? and If churches have different beliefs, how do we know who is right?

Scripture Used: Isaiah 43.1-2, Isaiah 41.10, Matthew 10.29-31, 1 Thessalonians 5.21 & Acts 17.10-11

Positives From the Evening: There was a lot of interest in the topics and the idea of discussion. We got to see a few teens who have been MIA for a long time (and who are planning on coming back regularly). There was real discussion going on after the program was over (something that has not happened in a long time). The music video experiment went over well. In the girls group, the discussion was so good that they needed more time to talk. I got to have a long discussion with one teen who was waiting on his ride and the chat was more than just surface chatting. We really got to connect.

Negatives From the Evening: Almost no one arrived on time, so we got a late start which meant less time to really discuss. That one teen’s parents had still not shown up after the program had been done for 90 minutes.

Results From the Evening: The experiment seemed to be a success. Giving teens the freedom to discuss and arrive at answers on their own, then having them share was really great. It sets us up well for the next week, as I have already chatted with a couple teens who I haven’t been able to in a while.

Student Involvement: Students discussed and shared about their findings.

Next Week: Another Real Talk evening. Looking forward to it.

Didn’t have any teens around to film announcements this week, so I grabbed a camera and did it myself. Not my best work, but not the worst either!

I got to spend all last week laying on the couch being waited on hand and foot by a beautiful woman, entertaining myself with whatever I could imagine on-screen. Well, that’s one way of putting it. Makes it sound like I had a good week, eh?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

A phone call from the doctor’s office this morning confirmed that last week I was delivered a knock-out punch from H1-N1 that my body was not ready for, and despite it’s best rolling with said punch, I ultimately succumbed and rolled up in the fetal position to try to heal. Ouch. Normally when I come down with the flu, it burns through my body in about 36 hours or less. Not so H1-N1. Down for three straight days, finally got into the doctor for some meds, and 4 more days of recuperation. This stuff is nasty.

But the real fear was in that my two children (6 months and 2 years) both came down with it as well. And Toby (6 months) decided to try to pop a tooth in at the same time. He was so miserable. But they are on the road to recovery as well (thankfully), and Kelly can finally try to rest easy. Or as easy as a mother of two and youth pastor’s wife can rest.

But God did a few things for/with/to me while I was down. First, He forced my body to rest. I needed it more than I realized. Today I feel energized, refreshed, and ready to go (if not a little overwhelmed at everything that needs done to catch up). I also lost about 5 pounds. Cool.

He also provided me with amazing care from my beautiful wife Kelly. She ran herself ragged taking care of all three of us, and I don’t remember hearing her vent or complain about how rough it was even one time! She deserves so much more than I could ever give her. Thank you Kelly!

He also allowed me to be blessed by a few of our volunteers who stepped up and took over 2 of our programs that ran this past week (Wednesday Night Live and Sunday School. Friday Night Flood was already canceled), and from what I have heard they did an excellent job. Thank you Matt, Megan and Nancy!

So there you have it. I had Swine Flu, and now I am better. Hopefully I can get back on track soon and get back to providing quality resources and information to you guys this week. Thanks for your continued prayers as my family continues to heal from this illness this week!

Set List: Come To Me My Child (Mine), Storm (Lifehouse), In the Secret (Andy Park), Doxology (David Crowder*Band rendition), Jesus Paid it All (Kristian Stanfill arrangement), How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townsend), Rain Down (David Crowder*Band), Shadows (David Crowder*Band), My Savior, My God (Aaron Shust).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared and practiced set list, created meditative moments to interspersed between songs and Scripture, set up Youth Room for proper atmosphere, bought additional candles, prepped Action News bulletins (and video).

Lesson Topic: Reflections on Hosea

Scripture Used: Hosea 1

Positives From the Evening: A lot about tonight was positive. The atmosphere was perfect, utilizing three different stations for prayer requests (at the foot of the cross), Fahim money, cell phone collection and Sign-in/news bulletins was incredibly successful. The Music was well-received, even prompting honest attitudes of worship from several teens. The Scripture was shocking to a few teens (go on, read it for yourself. Just remember to read “adulterous woman” as prostitute). And on top of all that, the junior-highers who are normally pretty excitable were appropriately subdued for tonight’s setting. I feel that several teens really got a lot out of tonight, and collided with God in a way that they are not used to.

Negatives From the Evening: Virtually nothing, save for needing to rush for candles before the night started (should have picked them up earlier this week).

Results From the Evening: The meditative atmosphere really helped a handful of teens to engage the Scripture more than they normally would. Though I did not get to speak in-depth with many of them afterward,  I could see a visible change in demeanor, almost a more thoughtful group of teens leaving the room tonight. And as I stated earlier, a few of them were shocked that God would have a prophet go through so much as an example to His people.

Student Involvement: Almost nothing this week, except for praying for each others’ prayer requests.

Next Week: We start a new programmatic element with Hot Topic discussion!

==========================================
Bonus: Some pics I snapped at the end on my Blackberry

Set List: Medley (Third Day), How He Loves (David Crowder*Band rendition).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared lesson/discussion time, filmed and edited H20 Action News, put together set list, practiced set list, prepared sign-in sheet and prayer requests sheet, prepared and hung Hot Topics box and cards and Journey Groups Sign-up sheet, put together EasyWorship schedule, found and prepped “what is church” video.

Lesson Topic: What is Church?

Positives From the Evening: The music set was very well received tonight after a rough start. There was a lot of real thought put into the discussion time. There were several teens who wanted more. The announcement of Journey Groups shifting to Sunday nights was received well, and almost enjoyed.

Negatives From the Evening: There was a lot of talking tonight that was disruptive to the lesson. One student is convinced that all religions lead to God/heaven. There are no names on the Journey Groups sign-up sheet after tonight. There are still a few in the crowd who seem to see nothing wrong with being consumer Christians (my impressions, not anything stated out loud).

Results From the Evening: The discussion format really freed us up to hear multiple perspectives and see that many of our teens have a fairly solid grasp on the church as an organism, not as a building. The discussion led us to several fun tangents (some of which we will capitalize on in a few weeks), and after the lesson time was over there were a couple of in-depth conversations with students who were still thinking about the evening’s topic.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship, Student Leaders led discussion groups, half of up-front teaching focused on students sharing their answers to the questions for the evening.

Next Week: The return of Reflection Evening!

Videos Used:
What is Church? (runtime: 3:28)

H20 Action News for October 21, 2009 (runtime: 5:36)

Set List: Days of Elijah (Robin Mark), No One Like You (David Crowder*Band).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared lesson/discussion time, created 90 Second Recap video, filmed and edited H20 Action News, put together set list, practiced set list, prepared sign-in sheet and prayer requests sheet.

Lesson Topic: Serving God by serving others.

Positives From the Evening: A fair amount of our new students from last week returned this week, many of whom were junior high guys. The girls once again enjoyed their time together. We had a new potential volunteer/leader drop in and check the evening out. There were several really good conversations after the Journey Groups were over.

Negatives From the Evening: The junior high guys were disruptive… well it was really only one of them in our Journey Group time. But during the large group time, there were several teens who wanted to be the center of attention and it took us nearly 45 minutes to get through two songs and a 7 minute announcement video. Most of our teens checked out immediately after Journey Groups were done. There was once again one student left waiting for his ride until nearly 9:00 (when we were done at 8:00).

Results From the Evening: The lesson time in my group was disjointed (too many guys, with a drastic difference between the 7th graders and the upper class men), but ultimately seemed to hit home when I challenged them to treat others as if they were better than they are this week (part of the lesson). I was able to talk to several of our teens again about shifting Journey Groups to Sunday evenings, and even though there were some drawbacks given, almost all of the ones that I talked to said they would be there if we did move them. So even though it was a rough evening at points, ultimately it was still a pretty decent evening.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship and starred in the H20 Action News.

Next Week: Journey Groups take the week off as the church’s Missions Conference takes center stage. The group that went to The Pittsburgh Project this year will be sharing next Wednesday .

Just thought I’d throw this up here for ya. If you have seen any of these before, you will notice that Leg ‘O Lamb (Parker in real life) has scrapped his weekly rant on Continental Drift. This was a decision he came to on his own, realizing that he had exhausted his material for it and it was not coming across as very funny. Now the Dictionary idea? I don’t know about that one yet. And Hank’s Media Minute this week is a study in what happens when you get in front of the camera without any real preparation. Next time, he will be much more prepared.

Take any ideas from it that you can and use them in your own ministry!

Set List: Days of Elijah (Robin Mark), Undignified (Matt Redman), In the Secret (Andy Park).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared lesson/discussion time, created 90 Second Recap video, filmed and edited H20 Action News, put together set list, practiced set list, prepared sign-in sheet and prayer requests sheet.

Lesson Topic: How do we grow closer to God?

Positives From the Evening: The girls’ group not only enjoyed their time together tonight, they experienced a slight jump in numbers. For the first time in a little while, we had teens invite their friends to come out to a WNL and they came. There was even some fun off-topic theological discussion going on in that group. They are really making it their own. The guys had some great discussion that centered around the nature of truth, and how we pray. Once we got into the music (we had a rough start) the group really seemed to bring it home on a strong note. The Action News was once again well received (Chris is a natural in front of the camera as John Winkleburger).

Negatives From the Evening: The guys have no clue or concept of what they want to see their Journey group do/become in their journeys yet. Once again, no money for our sponsor child was collected. Starting music was a little rough, and though half the room knows the motions for Days of Elijah, it was next to impossible to get anyone to demonstrate them. No one wanted to hang around after the Journey groups wrapped up, and all but 2 left nearly immediately after we were done.

Results From the Evening: There is definite excitement from many of our teens about growing with God this week. Hard to determine after one night, but I feel that the new students seemed to feel welcomed and have been encouraged to come back next week. We also learned that we cannot put a second female Journey Group leader on the back burner any longer. 11 girls is at least 3 too many for the format, and will quickly become detrimental to conversations. Overall though, I feel that it was a good night, and I have been blessed to have been a part of it.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship and starred in the H20 Action News.

Next Week: Journey Groups take the week off as I field any questions about faith that our teens have for a Real Talk Evening.

Even though I sound a bit coldish (I feel like I am fighting something), I recorded this week’s Jump Start today. This week my thoughts reflect on Jesus’ infamous “I Am the Vine” statements from John 5. It was selected because this week Wednesday Night Live’s Journey Groups will be exploring our need to continue growing in our faith. If you can use it in your own ministry, then please do so. If it helps you in your own journey, awesome! Let me know if you watch!

The Action News this week only was able to get one of the newsteam on camera, so this is how we filled in. Fun stuff, and LT went over better this time than in the summer update. Announcements, comedy, weather report, and a little devotional thought. Enjoy!

Set List: The Hand that Holds the World (Starfield), Medley [All You Have to Give, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Your Love O' Lord] (Third Day).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared lesson/discussion time, created 90 Second Recap video, filmed and edited H20 Action News, put together set list, practiced set list, prepared sign-in sheet and prayer requests sheet.

Lesson Topic: The importance of fellowship in our lives, and how we need it to grow as Christians.

Positives From the Evening: The girls really enjoyed their group time tonight, and are even looking at ways to make the group their own. The Action News was well-received. There were nearly twice the teens as we had last week, including a couple we haven’t seen in a while, and two new students. Discussion was even better this week than it was last week. The music really picked up when we got to “Your Love O’ Lord”. Our missing Student Leaders from last week were present (though one left early).

Negatives From the Evening: Honestly, there was not much negative beyond the fact that we started late, and thus ran later than I was expecting.

Results From the Evening: As stated earlier, the girls really are getting excited about the ideas of Journey Groups. They are even dreaming up ways competing with the guys. Overall from my perspective, the lesson seemed to stick. Even the hangout time after the groups met was a good experience, though I would like to look at either setting our end time sooner, or setting up something that encourages teens to stay the extra 30-45 minutes after groups to hang out and decompress.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship and starred in the H20 Action News.

Set List: Romans 16.19, How He Loves (David Crowder arrangement), A Beautiful Collision (David Crowder*Band),  No One Like You (David Crowder*Band).

Prepwork For the Evening: Prepared lesson/discussion time, created 90 Second Recap video, filmed and edited H20 Action News, put together set list, practiced set list, prepared sign-in sheet and prayer requests sheet.

Positives From the Evening: We had a brand new junior high student for the first time, and got to see a couple of students that were MIA last week. Discussion in my Journey Group went well at the beginning of our time together. Reading Scripture was welcomed by teens. There was excitement about the set list, and real involvement from the students. The Action News was enjoyed. The LIVE curriculum really worked out well tonight.

Negatives From the Evening: A couple of our Student Leaders were MIA with little to no valid explanation. Discussion trailed off in my group about midway through. Jump Start seemed to get lost in the shuffle again this week. Apparently my idea to include it as part of the Action News (even as one of the last elements) has begun to backfire. There seemed to be some discontent with the music selection tonight, as some complained about it behind my back, and I heard about it through someone else.

Results From the Evening: Overall, the Journey Groups seemed to have success. Only time will tell if they have a long-term impact. And even though we were missing a few teens (the fair was this week as well), the ones who were present really seemed to benefit from being there tonight.Using a curriculum that intentionally sets up discussion instead of lecturing really sets us up for success, inviting teens to share more than listen, and can set up real discussion. It started tonight, and I pray that it continues on and gets better and better each week.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship and starred in the H20 Action News.

Set List A: Days of Elijah (Robin Mark), Romans 16.19, How He Loves (David Crowder arrangement), Jesus Paid it All (Kristian Stanfill arrangement)
Set List B: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townsend), Storm (Lifehouse), A Beautiful Collision (David Crowder*Band), Your Grace is Enough (Matt Maher)

Prepwork For the Evening: Creating videos (H20 Action News, 90 Second Recap, WNL Fall Preview), creating Collide logo, putting together EasyWorship presentation, writing lesson/explanation for Collide theme, prepping music.

Positives From the Evening: Most of the group was incredibly excited about the new songs (even one teen who does not usually get excited about singing). The group really seemed to latch onto the new theme for this year, even getting excited about the idea of possibly getting t-shirts printed with the logo on it to use as discussion starters at school. The videos were well received, and at least one teen present was actively taking notes. The idea of starting Journey groups excited most of the group.

Negatives From the Evening: Due to sports involvement, our numbers were in the basement (we had 4 where we usually have around 15-20). One teen was distracted by her stomach (and she is incredibly picky so she turned down what food we had to offer her) throughout the evening, especially during our music portions.

Results From the Evening: The excitement was contagious. Those who were present really seemed to leave tonight energized and ready for the week. Sharing all of our outlets for our videos (specifically the 90 Second Recaps being available through iTunes) was really helpful for at least one of the teens there. Our teens went home challenged and encouraged, which for a preview evening is pretty good, I think.

Student Involvement: Students ran EasyWorship and contributed to the discussion. Over the course of the year I hope to work them in to more responsibilities for WNL.

I know, two video posts in a row. Hard to avoid this week so far, but here is the full length Jump Start for this week. I’ll be trimming it down to fit into our weekly H20 Action News announcements for Wednesday Night Live. The rest of the week should have a lot more text-centered posts. Enjoy!

I have been taking a little break from blogging the last couple days.  This past week has been a whirl wind since “the vote” at the ELCA CWA.  Many of my posts and comments here have dealt with issues from the CWA (Churchwide assembly).  This will continue to be an important topic to think and pray about and discuss…but I need a little break to process.  There are some comments on this blog that I need to attend to and I plan to respond to those early this week…so I thank you for your patience.  I am also working on a plan to meet with parishioners in small groups to listen to their concerns and questions while I share more information about the ELCA.  I have yet to finalize details yet, but when I do I will be sharing this plan with you here.

These next couple weeks may continue to be a whirl wind for me though:
–Salem’s 125th anniversary celebration is just 2 weeks away…with much to do yet.

–Confirmation, release time and Wednesday Night Live is beginning in mid-September.

–My wife and I are in the midst of home remodeling…which we are trying to finish before the 125th anniversary (we are having an open house at the parsonage).

So there’s much to do…and with that probably much to blog about.  But if you see a little dip in postings from the past week you will know why.  As I say every year…September is one of the busiest months of the year for me (next to December and Holy Week/Easter month).

In any case (and as always) I thank you for your comments and for stopping by.  Your presence here is extremely important to me and to others who visit.  Your thoughts and questions cause me (and others) to think.  So thank you and God bless!

-edh-

Here is a video tour of what Wednesday Night Live (our discipleship-oriented program) will look like this fall. Lots of useful info if you are trying to start up a small-group ministry. It runs just under 9 minutes, and is available for download both at HeadlyVision on blip.tv and in iTunes.

Tonight was a very laid-back evening for Wednesday Night Live. Since this is finals week for nearly all of our teens we help a drop-in night with music, basketball a few announcements and a little evaluation of last week’s Friday Night Flood.

Overall the evening was good. No prepwork outside of the Action News, and no real drama to speak of, so program-wise it was a successful evening. I even got to have a good conversation with a couple of girls that we haven’t seen in a long time. Even had a somewhat revealing conversation with another teen when dropping him off after the evening was done.

Next week we start Wednesday Night LIFE Groups. Small groups for the summer.

Tonight was definitely a night for winding down leading into the summer.

We did have two new students come with a girl we haven’t seen in a while. Though they had to leave early, they seemed to enjoy themselves while they were there. In fact, one of our graduating seniors took it upon himself to be the welcoming committee for them, introducing himself, getting to know their names and generally making them feel welcomed and comfortable.

Our numbers were down (lost a lot to the track banquet), and in anticipation, we simply had some music (some really into-it teens and some really anti-teens), and watched a Nooma. We used Trees and it led into a great, brief challenge to live life as God commands. I asked about some of things they do every day, how do those tasks/items impact the world around them. What do you do with your iPod when it dies? How environmentally friendly is riding your dirt bike each week or driving your new car? who made your football cleats? These questions were not asked to guilt them into change, but merely to help them think about how the things that they do impacts the world around them. I then challenged our teens to make time with God this week at least once. Just them and God, no electronics, no music, just them and a Bible, inviting God to be Remedy in their life. And I also challenged them to sacrifice time to be the Remedy for someone else around them (since Remedy has been our theme this year). I also let them know that at next week’s finals week drop-in I will be asking them how they did.

An interesting night. We’ll see how it goes next week…

Tonight was a rough night.

We wrapped up our What is God? series by having teens look up a handful of Scriptures that described God or His character, and had them interpret the Scripture – tell the rest of the group what that passage said about God. The whole point of this series was two-fold. I wanted them to know that it is okay to ask questions about God. But more importantly, I really wanted to give them a more well-rounded look at God. To really debunk the Americanized perception of God as nothing more than an old bearded guy sitting in the clouds that springs to mind when the subject comes up. I shared several Hebrew names for God (and their meanings) to help shore this up, and challenged them to use everything last week and tonight to do just that.

I don’t know how well it sunk in. When talking about how Jesus was not a 6-foot-tall white man with blue eyes a couple of teens perked up, but the rest of the evening was really rough to gauge. The music fell flat, the announcements didn’t seem well received (one teen asked 15 minutes later for info about something that was already given in detail in the announcement video), and the discussion time felt strained.

I think a large part of it is this is May, and a lot of our teens seem to have checked out. But I really can’t say how tonight went. One of those nights…

May 2009 update

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

Rocket – Broomhill-based design agency
http://twitter.com/rcktsheffield

University of Sheffield – the  university’s central Twitter account
http://twitter.com/sheffielduni

Article – pop culture magazine
http://twitter.com/articlemagazine

Crucible theatre – theatre and home to the world snooker championships
http://twitter.com/crucibletheatre

Lyceum theatre – theatre
http://twitter.com/SheffieldLyceum

Wednesday night live – Creative Sheffield’s summer season of Wednesday night events in town
http://twitter.com/WedNightLive

Bar one – Sheffield university student bar
http://twitter.com/shefuni_barone

Mr Ben fancy dress – Crookes-based fancy dress store
http://twitter.com/Mrbenfancydress

Sheffield centre – Church army’s research unit
http://twitter.com/SheffieldCentre

Rhyme and reason – children’s bookshop at Hunter’s bar
http://twitter.com/ShefBooks

Remember the name – publisher of Replay magazine
http://twitter.com/richardfidler

A mind apart theatre - theatre company making performing arts accessible to communities
http://twitter.com/amindapart

Smith and Clarkson – fine art collaborative duo
http://twitter.com/SmithClarkson

Run hide survive – DJs, producers and promoters of Club pony
http://twitter.com/runhidesurvive

Sheffield irregulars – Minature model painting group
http://twitter.com/sheffieldirregs

Yorkshire county cricket club – Leeds-based cricket club
http://twitter.com/Yorkshire_ccc

Clickety click – photographer
http://twitter.com/clicketyclicks

Resound design – web and print design company
http://twitter.com/resounddesign

Vital Sheffield Wednesday – Wednesday news from Vital football
http://twitter.com/vitalwednesday

DS print & design – print company based in Walkley
http://twitter.com/DSPrintDesign

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.