Mind the Gap
I've very much appreciated Jason Gardner's Mend the Gap.
It's a book that has resonated very much with my heart for the church, in fact it's one those books where you think "I wish I had written that"!

There's so much in it about how youth work may not be the only answer for the church's reconnection with younger people, about how we can be church together, and about how we ended up here.

A couple of quotes:
"The answer the church has found [to the generation gap] is not to equip the older generation to relate better to the younger but to appoint someone else to do it on their behalf" (p149)

"If we see the role of youth workers in our churches as subordinate to the role of Senior Pastor, then it seems that we're guilty of viewing children and youth as 'becomings' and not 'beings' in their own right" (p155)

"what teenagers look for in a church is a tangible fervour for God" (p163)

This will definitely make it onto my list of books recommended for churches to read when thinking about youth stuff, especially as it's from a UK perspective. Which makes me think what else would be on that list? But that's for another post I think!

Study, study, study
I'm currently fortunate enough to have a few weeks off regular duties, as a kind of mini-sabbatical.
My main job is to get my dissertation done! (just a small thing).

Anyway I just came across this quote from Bruce Milne's Dynamic Diversity that I though was worth posting:
"Christian worship needs to be sociologically inexplicable not sociologically conformist. It should reflect the new order of the kingdom of God, where relationships become possible that surrounding society can never achieve" (p110)

Challenging Thought
"I still have the calling to minister to those on the margins even if it doesn't fit neatly into my gift mix or personality preferences" (David Anderson Gracsim, p99)

Unintentional Divides?
Continuing to think about how church can be multi-cultural and multi-generational, inclusive community for my dissertation.
And in doing some reading came across this quote:
"Most of our current models of youth ministry work on assumptions about generational distinctives that are often aimed at specific sub-cultural groups within white society. In the process they reinforce generational and cultural divides and the full gospel is no longer presented to all young people". (Simon Bell)

I would subtract the word "young" from the last sentence, because the assumptions we base so much youth ministry on affects the demonstration of the gospel to all people and leaves the church as less than should be.
The quote is from this book "Happy in my Skin", which I'm appreciating more 2nd time around.

All Age Services
"All age" worship has been something of a recurring theme for me.
I often get asked to lead the dreaded "family service" and have done a few trainings about them.
At the moment I'm just re-looking at some materials for a session with a local church next week and some teaching at Oasis College for youth ministry students later in the month.
There are many quotes about these services and how wrong people can get them,(often based on caricature) but this one seems to sum it up:
"It would, essentially, be a service focused on children and young people with a short sermon, plenty of action songs and confectionery would usually make an appearance somewhere!"
(Susie Mapledoram in Young People and Worship).

Successful Church
I've posted before around the issue of what success looks like in youth ministry and church life (e.g here and here). But the models that are still prevalent are those based on number crunching and surface effect.
Here's a quick quote:
"But we are not far from thinking that the church leader with the biggest congregation and the flashiest Sunday meetings is the most successful" (Chester & Timmis, Total Church, p188).

On the other hand is there a danger that we lose any desire for growth in these ways because of the fear of being accused of being "attractional" rather than "missional"? How can we be realistic in looking for growth that is deep and Christ-centred?

Distinct?
Just re-reading Mustard Seed Versus McWorld by Tom Sine as part of getting my head round my current college assignment.
Here's a quote that you may have heard before, but resonated again with me:
"I am convinced that one of the reasons Western Christians aren't terribly effective in evangelism is that we are so much like the culture around us that we have very little to call people to. We hang around church buildings more than others do. We abstain from a few things. We aren't as hedonistic as the people around us - but we certainly keep trying" (p223)