Disqus - Latest Comments for bobweasel

Re: The Youth Work Blog: It’s time for a revolution… or youth ministry is dead

Jon Jolly — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:38:59 -0000

Thanks for this Martin. I think by and large you're right from a meta-perspective. Youth work is not as prominent in churches as it was 10 or even 5 years ago, but I kind of like that as it brings some perspective and challenge to what was, quite often, thoughtless and shallow activity. There are some trends I am hopeful of, the leaning towards family and integration rather than isolated youth ministry (assuming it can still cater for young people at their age-appropriate levels), the necessity to look outside of the church and engage with others (both Christian and non), and the need to seek God and His wisdom in it all.

Re: navyblur.

Jon Jolly — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 07:24:20 -0000

We used these guys for our family photos. Amazing results and lots of fun! :)

Re: There will be no Tech City in London if BT is not brought to heel

Jon Jolly — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:14:55 -0000

You might want to spell check this article. "Past" instead of passed? "crack team of founders and angineers"? Good job!

Aside from that, I've had similar issues being passed from dept. to dept. with BT over business broadband provision. They need some competition.

Re: Mistakes I’ve Made #3

Jon Jolly — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:38:00 -0000

Ha ha! Thanks mate. There are many, many more...

Re: 50 Ways to Become the Answer to Our Prayers

Jon Jolly — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:30:08 -0000

Love this Shaun, thanks for sharing!

Re: YWN Article: Who would gain from a licence?

Jon Jolly — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 07:11:29 -0000

Hi Chris, I believe there are many people questioning the validity of the JNC but, at least for now, it is widely recognised as a professional level qualification and without it, excellent youth workers are often unable to hold senior positions.

I really enjoyed the process of studying for my BA (Hons) and got a great deal out of it, so I would always endorse training and gaining that JNC. The qualification itself won't affect your work, but the process of gaining it should make you a better worker.

Re: YWN Article: Who would gain from a licence?

Jon Jolly — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:29:06 -0000

Thanks Chris, I totally agree with you. Your point about licensing promoting a narrow definition of youth work is entirely accurate.

I wrote the article before Bernard's critique of the NYA's Spending Review Framework response, but I take a lot of his points. Personally, I feel the NYA have no real role or future in the current climate and are desperately trying to find a niche that will keep themselves solvent.

There's a great discussion happening around Bernard's letter on the cypnow site here: http://community.cypnow.co....

Re: Mistakes I’ve Made #1

Jon Jolly — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:28:04 -0000

Thanks Rich.
I think I'll share that one in a later post... Once I've actually got over
it!

Re: Mistakes I’ve Made #1

Jon Jolly — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:33:41 -0000

Ha! I was hoping people might have forgotten...

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:32:58 -0000

Brilliant! Thank you David, firstly for taking time to comment here and respond to these concerns, but also for explaining that Soul Action is doing exactly what I was criticising it for NOT doing.

It's really good to hear that you are partnering with other groups to promote a larger global campaign. I guess my only comment would be, it would have been helpful to know about the wider partnerships as part of the initial push at the Soul Survivor festivals - but I suppose it's not as important as getting the Not for Sale message out.

Soul Survivor (and TearFund for that matter) have been really significant in the lives of many of our young people and I'm really thankful for the work that you and the team do.

Re: Soul Survivor Bible In One Year

Jon Jolly — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:29:23 -0000

Hmm, not sure Chris. You have to give the application overall permission (by clicking application settings at the top of the left hand column), then specific permissions to post to the page (found by selecting the page from the left hand column).

I only had to do these two steps before I was able to enter and configure the feed.

Re: Soul Survivor Bible In One Year

Jon Jolly — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:15:47 -0000

Hi Chris,

The simplest method is to import the RSS feed through Facebook's 'Notes' feature. Every profile and page has Notes. Just click on it, then click "Edit import settings" on the bottom of the left column. Then add the RSS feed URL and save. It'll then import every post as a note.

However, because I wanted the feed to show up in everyone's News Feed and on the page, I used a brilliant Facebook App called RSS Graffiti: http://apps.facebook.com/rs...
It's got some powerful features and can handle importing hundreds of feeds at the same time!

Add the application to your profile, then go and configure it. It will show all of your groups, pages and profiles and you can then set various feeds to go separately to each one. I set it to post the Bible In One Year feed directly to the page wall. Hope that helps!

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:38:12 -0000

I like this Rich. I think you've got it exactly right. It is about acknowledgement and communication.

Re: Richard Hubbard

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:19:38 -0000

Hi Gaz, I think Rich managed to impact a significant amount of people during his (too short) lifetime.

There's now a website setup at www.richhubbard.co.uk where people can leave messages on their memories and experiences of Rich. Please take a few minutes to leave a comment there.

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:15:34 -0000

Hi Steven,
Good to have you on board! :)

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:15:03 -0000

Hi Gaz, thanks for the comment - it's good to get feedback from one of the charities mentioned here. I love your positivity about the collaboration within the UK - it's a very gracious response. You guys are doing extremely important and dangerous work in trying to end slavery. Let's hope more young people become aware of the situation and get involved.

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:36:49 -0000

Thanks Sim. The blog post I quoted was over 2 years old so of course, things have changed!

Hope you're all OK.

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:35:11 -0000

Hi Chris, Thanks for the comments. Did we ever arrange a time to meet up? Would be good to chat over a coffee!

With regard to your points above, I think you make a good argument. It is similar to having many church denominations in the same town - they cater for different people and theologies, but I would always hope that they communicate and collaborate through gatherings like Churches Together.

For big Christian charities doing similar work, I would also hope that there is some sort of shared agenda and a chance to work together (even if some of the details between the organisations are different).

With Soul Survivor for example, I would have loved to have heard a "we're doing this thing for these reasons, but we are in partnership with/have talked with these guys from this charity who are doing something similar" (obviously, it would be a bit catchier!)

Without any acknowledgement of other people's work in a similar field, it all comes across as a bit arrogant (and ignorant). But maybe I'm being too picky now?

Re: XXXChurch Blog

Jon Jolly — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:02:01 -0000

Nice metaphor Shaun. It's good to see you writing out of your own experience and applying it to wider themes. Keep up the good work!

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:53:58 -0000

Thanks Dave,

This isn't a pop at any particular charity. I'm sure that Love146 are brilliant at what they do and it's good to hear they partner up. There's probably good reason why they haven't joined with Stop The Traffik (for example).

But you can see from a public perspective why it seems a bit odd. I'd love to see all these orgs doing their thing, but joining a coalition with a commitment to share practice and resources to benefit those most in need. I guess though, that it's a big logistical issue.

Re: Family Court Statistics

Jon Jolly — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:28:06 -0000

Hello Jo,

Thank you for the courage to write and share this - I can only imagine the pain you have suffered.

As the owner of this website, I just want to remind you that comments you make here (or via email reply) are public and can be read by anyone. If you did not intend to share this publicly, please respond and I will edit or remove them for you.

Jon

Re: Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication

Jon Jolly — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:58:39 -0000

Thanks for the responses guys. It is a difficult argument. I'm not saying that any of these charities ARE duplicating work, it's just that, from the outside they seem to do very similar things. I'm sure they would all go about things in a different manner, work in a different geographical area, etc, etc.

Shaun, I take your point about people promoting their own work. If I were running one of these charities, I'd want to tell people about it and have our logo on stuff so that we could get better recognised, draw more sponsorship and ultimately achieve more! But you're right in asking "why do we do it?" Maybe if people were more graceful and humble, and less concerned about protecting their work a lot more could be achieved!

Re: AWOL in August!

Jon Jolly — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:29:06 -0000

Will do!

Re: Starting Out In Youth Work

Jon Jolly — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 16:56:39 -0000

Hello Petra, sorry for the long delay in a response!

With regard to your partner's situation: Firstly, you don't need a qualification to work with young people (particularly with voluntary agencies), but it is becoming more common and would certainly be useful. If he were willing to pay the fees, he could enrol in any part-time JNC validated course to get a Youth Support Worker qualification. A list of current courses can be found here: http://eazysecure12a.net/ny...

However it is experience that is most important and if your husband has already done some voluntary work, he may be able to gain a part-time role somewhere. Many local authorities provide training as part of their employment too.

The National Youth Agency have recently redone their website and information is now a LOT easier to find! For more comprehensive advice, I suggest you visit this page and work through the information there: http://www.nya.org.uk/workf...

I hope that is useful.

Re: Engaging with Young People Outside the Church

Jon Jolly — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:35:15 -0000

LOL. Thanks Dougal, although I guess that point wasn't high on my list!