A site called RethinkingYouthMinistry.com has an interesting piece about gigantic **** ups in working with young people. Here's a slice...

Several years ago, I shared some the biggest mistakes I have made in youth ministry and I think it's humbling to revisit these occasionally ... and add a few more! Anyone willing to share their own personal "youth ministry fail?"

1) Competing with Other Ministries - It's hard to resist the temptation to want to see what the church across the street or across town (or across the country) is doing and wondering "Hmmm. Maybe I should be doing that, too." If the other church seems to be attracting more youth, I suppose it's human nature to want to emulate their program. I used to be hyper vigilant about trying to discover the latest trend, the latest gimmick, the newest "approach" to youth ministry and then implementing it, figuring that if it worked somewhere else, it would work with my students. This sort of approach assumes all youth and thus all youth ministries are alike and that what works across the street will work just as well on our side of the street. But the truth is - every ministry is particular to the setting and the individuals that we serve. It really doesn't even make sense to copy your own youth ministry program from one year to the next because over time the group shifts and grows and their needs change.

2) Doubting My Age - When I was a younger man just starting in youth ministry, I feared that I was too young, too close to the age of the youth to make any lasting impression on them. Then, as I aged (grey hair...less hair...reading glasses), I began to wonder if I was getting too old to be effective with the youth. Was this a job for a younger person? The truth is...

You can read the rest here...

We had a few big threads on the old site - now sadly lost - about the times we had stuffed up big-time. It made for quite an amusing read!

I have always felt that it's okay to make mistakes, just as long as you learn from them. Well, most mistakes anyway - there are some which pretty much kill your career stone dead. Yeah, just don't make those at all!

Great piece from Busted Halo. Here's a slice...

For many Catholics, the mystery involved with receiving Holy Communion remains a distant reality. The language that the Church uses to define the mystery of the Eucharist is heavily philosophic, thus making it perhaps even more difficult to understand. Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that the Eucharist is at the heart of the Catholic Church.

Understanding bread, wine and community

The reality of this Sacrament can be unlocked for us if we allow the bread and wine to communicate to us what is actually taking place. These sacramental signs, or the "stuff" that is transformed into Christ's body and blood, don't just appear out of nowhere. In every Mass, the bread and wine are the gifts presented by members of the community in the offertory procession. The bread and wine, therefore, also represent the community. As bread is made up of many grains of wheat, and wine is made from many grapes, so the Body of Christ is made up of many members, joined together in Christ.

Go, read the rest...

Aficionados of this site might remember my very brief appearance on the News at Ten back in 2009. Archbishop Nichols had made a comment about Facebook being bad for young people and the BBC had asked me for a quote in response.

Following my 10 seconds of fame, I wrote about my views in a little more detail on the site.

Anyway, as Clerical Whispers report, it turns out that the Archbishop is now coming round to the view that Facebook has it's uses. Here's a slice...

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has become a Facebook convert after witnessing first-hand the power of social networks to bring people together.

The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, made headlines two years ago when he blamed the internet and mobile phones for "dehumanising" relationships.

But he told the Standard that he had been impressed by the ability of the web to build communities in the real world.

Archbishop Nichols said: "I had a meeting with a group which runs homeless shelters and depends on youngsters for volunteers. They told me they put an appeal on Facebook and soon afterwards were contacted by three teenagers who had seen the message and wanted to play their part. I have said that I have concerns about websites which create relationships that appear to be real but in fact have no substance, but things like Facebook do help people keep in touch."

You can read the rest here...