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Page 1: ten reflective exercises for youth leadersof ways. Home Print Off The layout and design of this resource has been put together with home-printing in mind. With the booklet printed

ten reflective exercises for youth leaders

Page 2: ten reflective exercises for youth leadersof ways. Home Print Off The layout and design of this resource has been put together with home-printing in mind. With the booklet printed

Welcome to Now What? A book of ten theological reflective exercises for youth leaders to help you define your youth ministry vision in COVID-19 world.

This booklet has been designed to be used in a variety of ways.

Home Print OffThe layout and design of this resource has been put together with home-printing in mind. With the booklet printed off at home you’ll be able to make notes, interact in the exercises and keep all your thoughts and ideas relating to this booklet in one place *** add about colour. Alternatively...

Take Notes AlongsideYou can use a notebook to write down answers while viewing the resource seperately on a screen.

Electronic AnnotateThe final option is to use an ipad or tablet and a screen pen to annotate the document digitally. PDF files are able to be annotated on any computer, ipad or tablet however, due to the creativity of the exercises inlcuded in this resource, annotation would work best if completed using a pen on a tablet screen.

How to use this resource 5

Part 1: A journey of reflection 6Reflection 1: Lament & Loss 10Reflection 2: Building from the Rubble 12Reflection 3: What just happened? 14Reflection 4: Thinking about Young People 16

Part 2: A journey of vision 19Reflection 5: The Change Walk 20Reflection 6: God working in chaos 22Reflection 7: These 3 hours are yours, Lord 24Reflection 8: Listening to young people 26 Part 3: The journey begins 29Reflection 9: It all starts here 30Reflection 10: From now on 32

Notes 34Satellites 35Showcase 36

contentshow to use thisbooklet

How to use this booklet Page 3

Contents Page 2

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

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How has it been for you?Seriously, how has it been for you?

Who could have imagined at the beginning of 2020 that by the Summer there would be no youth festivals or camps to go to, young people would have spent most of the year out of school and a large percentage of the Church’s youth ministry would have moved online? Who could have predicted the rupturing of our normality or the presence of restrictions placed on our lives that would have such a significant, and in places devastating, impact on our work among young people?

There’s no doubt that this has been an extraordinary season to be involved in youth ministry.

We’ve had to push back against the very real fear that lockdown would mean losing meaningful involvement in the lives of the young people we’re called to serve. We’ve had to up-skill and let go and trust God in very real and very new ways. We now know the huge amount of imagination and ingenuity it takes for a church to keep connected with young people in a lock down scenario! And we also know how easy it is to lose touch with young people, especially those on the fringes of the youth group, those we only meet in school or on the streets, those living in tech poverty. And whether you’ve mastered Zoom or preferred picking up the phone, we’ve been tenacious in our attempts to still be present to young people.

part one:

a journey of reflection

Part one Page 5

Part one Page 4

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Page 4: ten reflective exercises for youth leadersof ways. Home Print Off The layout and design of this resource has been put together with home-printing in mind. With the booklet printed

But it’s been a hard slog, hasn’t it? Even for those of us who feel we’ve had it easier than others, it’s not been plain sailing. This time has been emotionally disorientating for all of us. For all the signs of hope we may be holding onto, there’s much that’s been lost. We feel it. The young people feel it. 2020 will forever be known as the year of COVID-19 – a once-in-a-centuary virus that has put paid to hundreds of thousands of lives around the world. Something we will be feeling the effects of for years to come.

But whether we’re invigorated or deeply concerned by the prospect of a ‘new normal’, we’re all faced with the vital question of ‘Now what?’ It’s a bold question to ask. Being prepared to ask it requires both a posture of willing readiness to tear up old plans and make new ones, and a posture of courageous honesty as we press pause. It’s a moment to ask God to help us draw the right kind of lessons and meaning from what we are seeing so that what emerges from the rubble of this time is a youth ministry equipped to reach, support and disciple young people.

In September 1666, Samuel Pepys stood on the south bank of the Thames, watching as the city he loved became engulfed in what became known as the Great Fire of London. As someone who stayed in the capital and documented how the fire spread and ate all in its path, Pepys gave first hand account of all that London came to lose.

Built in 1087, Old St Paul’s was the Norman cathedral built upon command of William the Conqueror (think 1066, Harold and the arrow in the eye) and maintained within the centre of London – it was the heartbeat of the city – the standard that all of London’s people would rally around. If St Paul’s stood, London stood. Like a modern day Taj Mahal or Sydney Opera House, it was a building that seemed to carry the pulse of the people.

On September the 7th, five days after the fire started burning, John Evelyn, another diarist at the time wrote at the site of St Paul’s, ‘Thus lay in ashes that most venerable Church, one of the most ancient pieces of early piety in the Christian world.’

St Paul’s had gone, swallowed by the fire. Only stone and charred wood remaining. As he stood gazing at the smouldering ruins, Samuel Pepys must have been asking himself, ‘Now what?’ He persuaded Christopher Wren, an eminent architect and designer of the time, to re-imagine the St Paul’s of the future. Wren’s first act, after drawing up designs and arguing with officials, was to send labourers to find stones to mark the place the cathedral

would be built. The labourers returned with stone, rustically carved, old in feel and look, but solid and dependable. Having asked where they’d found the stone, the labourers replied that it had been sourced from the rubble of Old St Paul’s cathedral. Wren took the stone and used it to mark the foundations of the new build. Measurements were taken, ground was broken and the cathedral was built, completed in time for Wren to see it before he died. The building consumed by fire, broken down into pieces after relentless heat and pressure, became fundamental in building what came next.

In our own way, each of us will have a story of hope and rubble emerging from this time. Our heart for this resource is that you will be able to acknowledge the challenge and pain you’ve been feeling. To notice and mourn what you’ve lost, who you’ve lost. Even as you celebrate the new opportunities and growth you’re witnessing.

This first journey is an invitation to trust. To trust that as you pause, notice, acknowledge and reflect, God will meet you. It’s also an invitation to draw a line under the emergency mode you’ve been operating in so that you can head into the kind of strategic, innovative thinking that can help you to cast and implement vision.

Note of caution -- it’s tempting (and all too easy in my experience) to head into a

reflective moment with the eyes of a critical bystander, ready to pounce whenever you spot the things you could have done, or might have done, or should

have done! We’ve designed these activities to help you better understand your unique youth ministry context, not to load on the guilt. Our hope is that what you discover through engaging with these activities will be central to the next part of your journey of vision casting.

At times of devastation, chaos and mess it’s hard to hold fast to the idea that there is any kind of plan or anyone in charge. Yet God is not helpless among the ruins. He is not playing catch up or scrabbling around trying to formulate a plan. God is the architect, surveying the landscape and planning what comes next.

He has every intention of building something strong out of this season, and he wants to do it with you. So take this moment to pause with God as you go on a journey of reflection.

Rachel Gardner

In our own way, each of us will have a story of hope and rubble emerging from this time.

Part one Page 7

Part one Page 6

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

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lament and loss

Reflection one Page 8

“He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend.”Henry Taylor

More than a third of the Psalms are laments. In fact, the Bible is full of lament at key moments. The book of Lamentations weeps over the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus lamented in the final hours of his life.

“Lament turns toward God when sorrow tempts you to run from him. It’s a form of prayer. It is more than just the expression of sorrow or the venting of emotion. Lament talks to God about pain. And it has a unique purpose: trust. It is a divinely-given invitation to pour out our fears, frustrations, and sorrows for the purpose of helping us to renew our confidence in God.” Jim Martin, IJM

Perhaps a place to begin is to take some time to name those you are aware of who have lost.

• Pick a lament psalm and use it as a ‘liturgy’ to give voice to your prayers.

• Why not pick one of these Psalms to begin: 3, 6, 10, 13, 22, 44, 57 & 60.

• Don’t just read, pray and move on. Sit in the discomfort and let God comfort you. Don’t be scared to feel, even to feel deeply, and to meet God in any emotional pain.

Lament is not crying. It’s different. And it’s uniquely Christian.

Reflect on who and what has been lost in the last few months -- both for yourself and for your young people. Use the page to write the names of things you grieve and bring them before God the Healer.

I grieve...

Those who have died

Those who have been ill & those who are still unwell

Those who have lost family & friends

Those who have lost jobs, income, freedom & more

Those who have lost opportunity to learn at school, to take exams, to finish courses, to graduate

Those who have lost in other ways -- like frienships, confidence, way of life...

Something extra: Write your own Psalm of Lament. You’ll find a useful guide to how to do this at shorturl.at/AOQW7

Reflection one Page 9

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

1

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Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Reflection two Page 10

“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise.” Isaiah 54:11

We are in a place of rebuilding. Our ministries may not have been reduced to ‘rubble’ but things are not as they were. The experiences and events of the last few months can be the foundations on which you build something new.

In the introduction to this section, you read about how the rubble of the St Paul’s Cathedral, after the Great Fire of London in 1666, was used as a foundation for the new building.

When Christopher Wren used the rubble of Old St. Paul’s to lay the foundations for the new site, he noticed a particular stone engraved with the word “Resurgam”. The inscription, latin for “I will rise again”, resontaed with Wren. This stone was placed directly under the location where the dome of St Paul’s would come to be built. Wren then chose to use the word Resurgam and the motif of a phoenix to carve into the brickwork of the front of the New St Pauls. The reminder of the old Resurgam. I will rise again.

If you were to put an inscription of one word on a piece of rubble that would become the cornerstone of your rebuilding, what would it be? Write it on the stone below.

Something extra: What would happen if we applied this same exercise to our personal lives not just our ministries? Give it a go and see what you learn about how you’ve grown and changed personally over the last few months.

Reflection two Page 11

Take some time to think about what you’ve experienced in your youth ministry during the COVID-19 crisis. Write each of them in one of the pieces of rubble. Include the highs, lows, lessons learnt, moments of growth and what you’ve discovered about yourself, the young people you work with, and God during this time.

building fromthe rubble

2

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Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Reflection three Page 12

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40

Think about the months since restrictions came into force and how they have impacted your work with young people. Use the grid headings to prompt your reflections on how your youth ministry has responded to the change of routine brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions during lockdown. Write your answers in the space under each section heading.

What’s had to stop?

What have you continued by adapting?

What did you try that but didn’t work?

What’s kept going as usual?

Something extra: Something extra: Compare notes with another youth worker in a similar context - did they find the same things? What can you learn?

Reflection three Page 13

what justhappened?

3

Once you’ve finished, look over what you have written and think through the following questions.

• What do you notice?• What columns are most populated? Are any empty?• How do you feel about what you’re looking at?• What’s been the most significant loss or change?• Are you glad anything has had to stop? Does it create an opportunity?• Is there anything you’re doing differently, that you’d like to keep

doing in the future?

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Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Reflection four Page 14

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Lamentations 3:40

Think about the young people you are connected with and how much engagement you’ve had with them over the last few months.

Take some time to write down every name somewhere in the circles on this page.

Put them closer or further from the centre depending on their engagement with the youth ministry and you.

What have you learned from this exercise?

• Have some young people actually been able to engage more with you -- maybe they find digital engagement easier?

• Who’s disappeared?• What do you need to do next?

Something extra: Create a plan for how to re-engage / encourage those young people who are at the furthest edges of your circles. Tailor your plan to take into account their specific needs and situations.

Reflection four Page 15

thinking aboutyoung people

4 Responded to contact from usOccasional involvement in what we’ve done

Fairly regular engagement

Connected - engaged with w

hat you’re doing

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So this is the exciting part. Daunting of course -- but brilliant!

part two:

a journey of vision

Part two Page 17

Part twoPage 16

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

So what might God be asking of you? What vision might he be wanting to share with you as you consider Youth Ministry in a COVID-19 world?

My recent Sunday night obsession is watching nature programmes with my two children. They’re young so they tolerate it! My favourite bit is when the camera pans around a barren plain like the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest place on earth.There’s nothing there apart from sand and rocky outcrops for as far as the eye can see.

Then it rains -- wild rains -- and something wonderful, impossible happens. The seeds of some 200 desert plants hidden close beneath the surface suddenly germinate, creating a carpet of bewitching colour.

If there were no seeds waiting in ground, when the rains came there would be no life.

Casting a vision is about looking ahead to see what the seeds and

the rains might produce. It’s about getting off the back foot of what we think could never happen, and getting into the way of what God is already bringing to life, even if we can’t see it yet. It’s about planning steps for a future we can’t yet see, trusting that the one who knows the future is guiding our plans and strategies.

These following activities are created to help free your hope-filled, long-sighted, prophetic imagination. It’s an invitation for you to consider carefully the young people and the places you’ve been called to, the resources God has already gifted you with and where God might me leading you to boldly ask for more!

Our heart is that you don’t just come away with a few good ideas to move things forward in your youth ministry, but that you grab a handful of seeds packed with the potential of what’s only possible with God, and know where to plant them.

Rachel Gardner

It’s that moment on the journey when you get to dream bigger. After all, the God of the ‘more than’ is with you, eager to inspire your wildest dreams for the young people he’s called you to serve. Our call to be with young people and our role to lead them into the dangerous adventure of pursuing God is unchanged from before lockdown. But it’s highly likely that our means, models and methods will need to look different.

It’s about... getting into the way of what God is already bringing to life...

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the changewalk

Reflection fivePage 18

“People are open minded about new things, as long as they’re like the old ones.”Charles Kettering

Change takes work. Change takes risk. But if the last few months have taught us anything it’s that we know we are capable of more radical change that we knew.

So how can we embrace change in our youth ministry? This exercise will help you explore that question. You can do it on your own though it works better with someone to facilitate it with you. Read through the list of questions. Write each one on individual post-it notes or pieces of paper and place

them on the floor, laid out in a figure of 8.

If you can, ask someone you trust to do this exercise with you. Their role will be that of the listener. You will step on the first question and the listener will read the question aloud to you. Speak your answer out loud and examine how the question makes you feel. The listener will offer neither encouragement or advice but simply allow you the space to process what you are thinking and saying.

1 What is changing?2 What was great before the change?3 What could it be taking away?4 What do you least want to let go of?5 What do you have to lay aside?6 What is threatened by this loss?7 What makes you anxious about it?8 What could get damaged?9 What is the worst that could happen?10 How have these thoughts hindered you?11 What surprised you about the change?12 What confusion was created?13 What do you need to handle it well?14 What would that allow you to do?15 What good things might happen?16 What is changing in you?17 How could you be more yourself?18 What does that make possible?19 What other dreams could this bring closer?20 What relationships could improve?21 What is this change teaching you?

Something extra: Can you identify three character traits that you think would be most helpful for someone experiencing change. How true are these traits of you?

Reflection five Page 19

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

5

Our relationship with change can often be complicated – sometimes we’re not as open to change as we’d like to think.

1

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Activity adapted from a resource developed by Jim McNeish, Quaich Consulting Ltd and used with permission.

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Reflection six Page 20

“See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”Isaiah 43:18

But this is also a moment when, out of the chaos, God can do something new.

Isaiah 43:18 “See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Take some time to reflect on that verse. Perhaps as a way of starting, take a look at the jumble of letters opposite. Stop and look at them. Out of the chaos can you see anything hidden emerging? See if you can solve the puzzle.

Something extra: Can you identify three character traits that you think would be most helpful for someone experiencing change. How true are these traits of you?

Reflection six Page 21

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

6

Right now things seem really mixed up. We’re dealing with loss and change. We’re wondering how youth ministry will restart. It feels out of control.

Activity adapted from a resource developed by Jim McNeish, Quaich Consulting Ltd and used with permission.

What new thing is God doing in your youth ministry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? Write your answer in the space below.

S U C E I V E I T I

G P R N I K A M M A

N D E G I N T H E D

I O P A Y D N A L E

R Y T W A S S I E S

P O O A G E M N T E

S U N N N E A T S R

T I W E I I E H A T

G N O W O A R E W A

N I H T D M T S D N

God workingin chaos

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these three hours are yours, Lord

Reflection seven Page 22

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”1 John 5:14 - 15

Think of your prayers creatively -- you may want to include silence, some creative activities, a walk, liturgy, intercession or any of the other countless ways to pray.

These questions might help to give some structure to each hour of prayer.

Something extra: As you navigate the next few months of what your youth ministry will look like, commit to writing a spiritual journal (prayers asked, answered, etc.).

Reflection seven Page 23

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

7

Challenge yourself to put three hours aside to pray and seek God’s vision for your youth ministry in the coming year.

Activity adapted from a resource developed by Jim McNeish, Quaich Consulting Ltd and used with permission.

hour one

Pray for everyone involved in your youth ministry. Young people and leaders.

• Lord, help us to love young people, and see them as you do.• Lord, show us their needs and where we must serve them.• Lord, show us their gifts and what they can become.

hour two

Listen to God. What is He saying to you about the youth ministry in the coming year?

• Lord, what are you asking us to focus on this year?• Lord, what are you calling us to step out in faith and try?• Lord, where are you asking us to bring some things to an end?

hour three

The next twelve months will be challenging for you as a youth leader. You’ll need fresh reserves of courage, love and wisdom. You’ll need to be agile and ready to adapt to whatever comes. This hour is for you.

• Lord, help me to walk with you this year.• Lord, where do I need to change and grow, ready for what is to come?• Lord, fill me with your Spirit.

You don’t have to do this on your own. What about getting all your volunteers, those dedicated to prayer in your church and any young people who want to be involved to join in?

It could be a whole morning, afternoon or evening or even an hour a day over three consecutive evenings or weeks.

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Reflection eight Page 24

Something extra: Is there a way you could draw together all the themes and plans into a few sentences that capture it all? Use it to draft a vision statement for the coming year.

Reflection eightPage 25

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Activity adapted from a resource developed by Jim McNeish, Quaich Consulting Ltd and used with permission.

listening toyoung people“The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich

And who better to consult than the young people themselves. Youth ministry isn’t done to young people, it’s not a show or a product... it’s a space for them to find and grow in faith. Their space. So now you have a chance to reset what you do based on what they want and need, not on your assumptions.

Take some time to contact the young people you work with. Try to talk to at least three or four. Text, call, whatever works... and ask them three questions. Use the space below each question to make a note of their answers.

8

Imagine, for a moment, you’re not limited by the history and traditions of your youth ministry. What activities and clubs you run. Where or when you meet. This is a time of reimagining... what could your youth ministry look like as you step into this new season?

We’re starting from scratch. What do you want the youth ministry to be like?

We have a chance to stop some things -what would be on your list?

What words describe the best kind of youth ministry you can imagine?

Having talked to young people, why don’t you and the other leaders ask yourselves those same questions...

• We’re starting from scratch. What do you want the youth ministry to be like?

• We have a chance to stop some things - what would be on your list?• What words describe the best kind of youth ministry you can imagine?

1

2

3

4

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part three:

the journeybegins

Part three Page 27

Part three Page 26

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

Throughout these exercises you’ve been encouraged to look back at where you’ve come from and to look up ahead to where you might be going. Making time for deep reflection and casting vision is vital to our work among young people. But if we left it here we’d be missing out, because there’s a journey ahead of you and at some point, you’ll have to take a breath and start.

In his song Rainbow Country, Bob Marley sings, ‘Though the road’s been rocky it still feels good to me.’ It makes me question how much I’m willing to put up with to be on the road I’m called to travel. No journey is easy, in fact the best ones usually aren’t! ‘Are you really riding?’ Bob Marley sings. Is the rain in your face, the wind at your back, the mud on your jeans?

When Jesus sent his friends ahead of him across the sea of Galilee did he sense a storm was on its way? We’re told that they’re in the boat, fighting against the winds, for a long time. Exhausted and battered about -- how they must

have wished they’d never begun the journey.

Interestingly Jesus had no plans to be with them on the shore. In fact he sent them away from him. But once on the open seas, he joins them, walking on the waves. He didn’t cause the storm to make a point. I’m not sure he even planned for them to see him, but they did, and they were afraid. So what does he say first? Not, ‘I’m here’. He does say that, but first he says, ‘Take courage.’ It’s like Jesus is saying, ‘Take a pause, Take a breath. Draw on what you already have on this journey, because what you’ll discover is that you already have me.’

‘But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”’ (Matt 14:27).

So it’s time to hit the road. Get going. Take your first step. Rev up the engine. This is not about being fearless. You’re no superhero, thank goodness. You’re something far better; you’re called, you’re beloved, and you’re never, ever alone.

Rachel Gardner

My South London Granny had some great rules for life: call everyone darling; start as you mean to go on; and if you can’t work something out, walk it out.

To my knowledge she never owned a pair of walking boots or wet weather gear (I love her for that!) but no matter the conditions, my Gran was unstoppable in her determination that getting going is good for you especially if you’ve got a few fruit gems in a tissue in your pocket. One of her favourite phrases was ‘Get on yer bike’ which never felt like an insult, always an encouragement to get started, get going, begin!

So it’s time to hit the road. Get going.

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Reflection ninePage 28

Something extra:

Reflection nine Page 29

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

it all starts from here“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”Proverbs 16:3

9

Now you’re getting into the practical details. What do you want to do? Work with the other youth leaders to list out your ideas for activities or events or whatever it is that God’s given you a vision for.

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Reflection ten Page 30

Reflection ten Page 31

Now What? Reflective execrises

Now What? Reflective execrises

from now on“From now on.... what’s waited till tomorrow starts tonight.”The Greatest Showman

10

The highs and lows of that emotional rollercoaster can have a knock on effect on our walk with God. Maybe the struggle of lockdown drove you to dig deeper in God’s word and spend more time seeking peace in His presence. Maybe the horrors of this panademic and the brokenness of the world you see on the news has caused you to question and doubt. Or maybe, despite everyone seeming to have more free time on their hands then ever before, you still can’t seem to find a spare 5 minutes to squeeze in a quiet time.

On the other hand, maybe you finally got into a rhythm with God over the last few months. Prehaps

you spent more time in prayer than ever before. You’ve carved out new times in the day to study the bible. For you, lockdown may have been exactly the thing you needed to refocus to relationship with the Lord.

Whoever you are, however you’ve been feeling, whatever your exeperience of the past few months, what will you do from now on?

Reflect on your personal faith journey through lockdown and consider the following questions. Write down your answers as you set out a new plan of action.

Most people would probably agree that lockdown was a time of very mixed emotions. While some days might be filled with joy at time spent with the family and efficient work-from-home hours, other days were spent in struggle, exhaustion and grief.

Thinking about the last three months what moment did you feel...

• Closest to God?

• Farthest from God?

Are there any patterns you’ve developed in you spiritual life that you need to change?

What habits and rhythms have you introduced in your walk with God that you want to continue into this new period in your youth ministry?

Take some time and draft a promise to God. What’s one thing -- one habit, pattern or rhythm -- you want to keep or put in place from now on to invest in your relationship with God?

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Something extra: Is there a way you could draw together all the themes and plans into a few sentences that capture it all? Use it to draft a vision statement for the coming year.

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notes

Notes Page 32

Now What? Reflective execrises

Notes Page 33

Reflection seven: Good working in chaosYou’re looking for the words of Isaiah hidden in the letters. Start with the ‘S’ in bold in the middle and trace a path from there... got it?

Now What? Reflective execrises

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