Wirral YFC

The next Catalyst will be taking place on the 21st February at St Michael and All Angels in Newton, West Kirby.

• Start: 8:00pm – Finish: 9:00pm,
• Worship led by Jonny Brennan from YP2,
• Creative Prayers led by Aimee Farlam from Chester College
• Martin Dickson speaking.

For more details about Catalyst go here.

Here are the words of an insightful new song by Regina Spektor called Laughing With, it is the first single from her new album Far, due for release on the 26th June. I think we will be using in assemblies before long.

Laughing With: Regina Spektor

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor…

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

Do you fancy a brisk walk with the Wirral YFC team this May?

We are currently looking for as many people as possible to join us on the sponsored Wirral Coastal Walk which is being held on the 23rd May 2010. This annual event run by the Rotary Club of North Wirral gathered 4,500 walkers last year and raised an estimated £330,000 for numerous charities and good causes.

This year we would like to raise somewhere in the region of £5,000 for our work with young people in Wirral and we would like you to help us make it happen. Please do consider walking with us.

As well as having the satisfaction of completing the walk in the knowledge that you have helped WYFC in their mission to take good news relevantly to every young person in Wirral, you will also get:

• A map of the course (your choice of 5,10, 13 or 15 miles)
• An official sponsorship form
• Free refreshment stops along the way
• A Wirral YFC 2010 Coastal Walk team hoodie (or T-shirt if you would prefer)
• A Wirral YFC commemorative mug
• £10 gift voucher
• A certificate/thank you from the Wirral YFC Director, Martin Dickson

Should you wish to take part please do get in touch. We need to have final numbers by the end of April.

After a very succsessful session at the YFC Conference on ‘Mobilising Prayer with and for Young People’, Wirral YFC have launched an online archive of creative prayer ideas and resources that you can use or add to. If you would like to have a look you can find it here.

One of the best things about the YFC Staff Conference is the opportunity to network with a huge variety of people who bring vastly different perspectives, experiences and methodologies to a united mission – the declaration and demonstration of the gospel to the young people of the Great Britain.

This year Martin met Nick Shepherd who is the Leader of the Centre for Youth Ministry and he provided some very interesting food for thought with a simple question,”Does the mission look like Superman or Robin Hood?” – The answer has some huge implications! As Martin continues:

Superman is a super hero whose mission is to save people from a corrupt world. He steps in and rescues people from their problems.

Robin Hood is a heroic rebel whose mission is to fight on behalf of justice, peace, freedom and truth. He provides for those in need and seeks to uphold the values of the kingdom against oppression until the king returns. He sets people free from the clutches of their corrupt masters in the process.

Jesus was, and is, both and the implied nature of Nick’s challenge was ‘are you sure Wirral YFC are both too?’

Wirral YFC are primarily Proclamational Evangelists, to put it simply we tell as many young people as possible the truth about themselves as people who were created by a loving God (Jesus and Paul often told people who and what they were in God’s eyes before they told them how to behave), the nature of sin, the relevance of Jesus and particularly the Atonement. As such we affirm, or engage, in something of a ‘Superman’ mission. We present Jesus a future, almost eschatological, means of salvation from a corrupt and sinful world and I think Paul did something  similar – Paul’s gospel message was ‘I was a sinner who needed to be saved and because of my trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection I have been saved, I am saved and I will be saved’. I had always thought this was the gospel but now I need to reconsider – is the gospel more Robin Hood than this? Future salvation when the physical body dies is certainly gospel truth, but what of the ‘Kingdom Come’ now, is that part of the gospel too?

What would it mean if our thinking shifted to a Robin Hood style of mission; there are many who would suggest that this is more like the mission Jesus defined for the church? A Robin Hood style of mission would certainly see us sharing the gospel with less young people each year, of that I am certain. Proclamational Evangelism would still figure but it would also see us looking for ways to provide for young people who are from deprived families, or no families for that matter. It would mean more time spent fighting for youth justice perhaps by advocating or lobbying at local government level on young people’s behalf. It might also mean providing more drop in centers, diversionary activities, ASDAN support and one-to-one counseling.

But then the specific call God gave to the founders of Wirral YFC comes to mind. The call is not to be Superman, or Robin Hood, or any other analogy, metaphor or typology for describing mission. The call is obedience! Jesus I am sure does call the Church to a mission of massive scope, its paradigm not any task or calling but Christ himself… But Wirral YFC were never called to be the/a church, nor are we Parachurch I hasten to add; instead Wirral YFC are one part of the body of Christ – part of the Ecclesia. An evangelism focused, ‘superman mission’ styled part of a much bigger body that God has used mighty over the past 20 years to share the good news of the atonement with many many 1,000′s of Wirral’s young people.

I would love to hear what you think?