by tashmcgill | Jun 10, 2006 | Uncategorized

O God of beauty, oft revealed

in holiness of heart.

One Day, This Sky Gonna Rise Up, Rise Up

one day, this sky gonna rise up, rise up
one day, new songs gonna rise up, rise up
we gonna tell the old stories round the fire

lights come up on the new day
rise the heart made of clay
new breath open up my bluebottle lungs
rise the songs of yesterday

sing again new tune
sing again world made new

Friday arrived with me in a blue funk. Three guesses – I’d said goodnight and goodbye to J again – the second it’s not so different from the first, and I miss him already. It’s hard saying goodbye to the ones that are the dearest and best again. However – perspective always makes a difference. I know that there are really good things about this trip .. this grand adventure for him. So that’s encouraging and something to place in high priority.

It’s strange though, to be starting off on this adventure of my own, and to not have him around to talk about it with – or to include in the process. I can only think and dream of how he might be involved from where he is, or when he comes back.

Anyway – the blues were partly caused by Thursday night’s review – ugh. And the rest of the day was occupied with a half-teary melancholy.

BUT there is sometimes a bright and cheery reason to stay more hopeful and bright-eyed than you otherwise might be – and in this instance, the bright reason is a marvellous idea that has been on a slow simmer.

One of the priorities in this new business, is creating creative soup – bringing people in and together and creating space for ideas to birth and generate. That in combination with the conversations I’ve been having with Paul Windsor re: Hymns… is birthing the Dusty Hymnbook. A whole new world and approach to theology of worship. Old school, real deal, deep, soul scratching worship. Heck yeah.

Wish us luck for the move. As of tomorrow, Sola Fida has an official home. Wow.

by tashmcgill | Jun 9, 2006 | Uncategorized

Starfield
They sound like they are a great band! I’ve been listening to an MP3 of an event I read about on Marko’s blog. It’s hilarious. I’m loving it. It’s a brave man to send a potentially humiliating MP3 around the world – but I love it.

It’s a challenging scenario for us as leaders of Eastercamp. We’ve been growing and as such the environment within which we bring speakers and contributors is changing. So we are starting to explore the international options. We’ve had plenty of speakers from Australia, and we’ve loved it. But the somewhat strange reality is that finding speakers of charisma, quality and consistency to speak to crowds of our size, who can also exegete our culture enough to not be lost at sea … well.. it’s hard work for anyone. So we need to start stretching our borders.

But there is a lot to consider. The cost isn’t the biggest issue, although there are airfares to consider (esp. for speakers families – what’s the point of coming to NZ if you don’t bring the kids and have a great time?) and then the chasm of speakers fees. We have traditionally paid such small amounts in comparison to typical speaking fees in the US and UK. Then consider the exchange rate. But that’s not the biggest issue.

I consider the biggest issue not even being whether or not a speaker is up to the task, but rather what we bring them into. How do we introduce them to our culture and environment in such a way that they feel embraced as well as involved. How do you communicate the deep, vibrant history of our camp tribe? In the past these challenges have belonged to other members of the oversight team, but as Programming Director my role is expanding into these liaison roles as well – something that’s been really successful with Andrew Palmer ..(I think – he may correct me).

Yup. Lots of things to consider.

Young Adults & Youth Ministry Under Review
Last night was part two of the process. Having not been at part one, I was a bit behind the eight ball, but this morning at youth ministry staff meeting, we all expressed disappointment with the process. It seemed far too shallow and skimming over the surface of some very small ideas. The truly big ideas are actually deep questions of church ideology and practicioning. So generally all round a bit frustrating.

by tashmcgill | Jun 9, 2006 | Uncategorized

We Wore The Church Bells Out
We did the best we could within the circumstance. We wrote the rules how we wanted them to be. In all the crimson sunsets and the dawns that we avoided, there was something fatalistic from the start. Wait for me, in the dusk. Wait for me, underneath those skies torn from the blue of space. Rise with me, I cannot be alone tonight. We did the best we could. We can be relieved, the bells have stopped.

We rung out the days with wheat and hops. We found barley gold and laughed a lot. All these tributes round they go around around the hill, you’ll be coming down soon.

Song Of The Moment : Last Goodbye
Jeff Buckley

Well, the bells out in the church tower chime
Burning clues into this heart of mine
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes and the memories
Offer signs that its over… its over

by tashmcgill | May 30, 2006 | Uncategorized

I’m So Freaking Tired

I’m tired ..

of being the flexible one because I’m single and without children
of women’s events that introduce everyone by Name, Marital Status and Children
of being on the receiving end of Assumption – assuming my issues, assuming my attitude
of being less-than because I’m single and without children

We have a training weekend this weekend. All Christian grace aside – I’m so tired of being shoved out of the room I booked for the family with 9 & 11 year olds who only just organised themselves. I’m tired of the assumption that I don’t mind being flexible because they are from my church. I’m tired of the fact that because I don’t have children, I’m not allowed to comment on what’s feasible or reasonable.

I’m tired of single parents who complain about needing a break from their children, because no married parent I know gets one. I’m tired of parents who have no concept that their children are ill-mannered, spoilt, self-centred ‘christian’ children who are highly unpleasant to be around. I’m tired of parents who take advantage of the facilities of our office space and that I have to accommodate children coming in and out of the office all the time.

I’m tired of youth group programming that only raises young adults that want church to be like youth group, and a church that is unwilling to accept responsibility for a generation of ‘young’ adults who haven’t grown up because all they wanted was a babysitting service for teenagers. I’m tired of youthworkers who don’t look beyond the borders of teenagehood to see that longterm some of the effects of our programming are disastrous. I’m tired of people that see success as being what’s right in front of them, and not what happens as a result of our present day action in twenty years.

I’m tired of being gracious about things that ought not to matter.

I may be slightly grumpy today.

by tashmcgill | May 30, 2006 | Uncategorized

Getting Ready For A Young Adult Gathering

Why I Hate Cynicism
March 3rd, 2006
Cyn.ic: n. (sinic) a cynic as a person “disposed to rail or find fault” and as one who “shows a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions, and is wont to express this by sneers and sarcasm.” (The Oxford English Dictionary) See also.

Cynicism allows…
the incompetent to seem competent
the shallow to seem deep
the uncaring to seem compassionate
the listless to seem engaged
the ignorant to seem smart
the fool to seem wise
the unforgiving to seem compassionate
and the coward to seem brave

It is an intellectual lie, a fraud perpetrated on the good. The cynic suffocates all that its calloused presumptions touch. What’s worse, through its mockery, good is inhibited before it begins.

the seeds of righteousness are trampled under foot
the pure at heart are falsely accused in the genesis of their good deeds
the spark of creativity is snuffed out before it can flame
the song is silenced before the notes on the page are sung

“Cynicism is a buffer against commitment…and leads to despair” (JIm Wallis)

As people of faith, we must hold out hope. In order to hold it out to others we must possess it as our own. We must own it. Cynicism is an easy sell-out to the obvious difficulties that hope sees through. Cynicism is easy and sure. But faith, trust, forgiveness and hope can be hard and unpredictable. Cynicism offers to “guard” and “protect” us from the potential harm that might befall us, but what it really does is suck out hope from our souls. The very hope we need to be humane… the hope we need to live in community with one another…the hope we need to follow God… and the hope we need to become like Jesus. God calls us to be wise, but not with the wisdom that the “world” offers. The wisdom of the world, you can be sure, is fueled by cynicism.

“A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.” (Sidney J. Harris)

Cynicism is a child of unforgiveness. Certainly there are many things to be cynical toward: politics, medicine, religion, business, humanity, etc. However cynicism forbids the “new beginning” that faith in God gives to all of us. It traps us in our cycle of failure, keeping a record of wrongs, snuffing out the spark that we are called to fan into flame.

“What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” (Oscar Wilde)

by tashmcgill | May 28, 2006 | Uncategorized

Business As Usual
Business plans are storming ahead – a number of exciting jobs on the horizon and a number of other projects that I’m looking forward to pitching for. The balance in writing proposals is establishing how much information to give the client to begin with. And how much to reserve in the tank. We move into our office on the 11 June.

Apart from that .. how cute is the boy? Managed to take some photos of Jes and Liam this weekend.. too cool for school!