There is a time for everything

There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

It is time for me to say goodbye.

The past year has been a tough one for me. I have known that I would likely be leaving you, but could not say too much as all the pieces were not yet in place.

But now, I can tell you. And I want to say goodbye properly, and tell you the whole story.

My husband, Isaac, heard God calling him to become a vicar in the Church of England. For the past two years, he has been meeting with other vicars, writing essays, and generally preparing for an assessment and selection for going to Bible college.

To cut a very long story short, on Saturday 1^st August, the Bishop of Norwich approved his application, and we’re moving to Durham at the end of August to start a new adventure.

And so, as I said above, it is time for me to say goodbye.

The past 3 years I have spent in the Anglia division as your DYO have been amazing. There have been highs, and there have been lows, but overall, I am so grateful that God called me here to minister to you during this time, and that I have had the chance to share in so many of your journeys with Christ. It is such a privilege to have been there as you have made a decision to follow Him, or as you have learned something new about the Bible, or praying with you in the tough times, or even just laughing together at the pranks you have pulled.

The last 3 years have stretched me, challenged me, grown me, and shown me how good God is. And I thank you all for being a part of that.

Every single one of you is precious in God’s sight, and I hope that in some small way, I have been able to show you each how much He loves you.

As I leave, and you wait for your new DYO, I encourage you to stay strong in your faith, and really bind together as the young people of Anglia division. Get in touch with your friends from around the division, and just meet together. Ask your youth leaders to organise ‘youth group’ exchanges and visit one another’s clubs, fellowships, Sunday meetings, whatever!

Don’t forget to thank your youth leaders. They are the ones who are there for you, week in, week out. They are the ones who spend hours preparing in the week, turn up early to make sure everything’s right, and stay behind to tidy up your mess. And I thank each of them as well for all their hard work and support to me while I have been here, and for supporting you.

There is a time for everything. Right now, we’re saying goodbye, but that does not mean it is time for the end of youth work in Anglia division.

The team at DHQ are passionate about the work that has been going on, and are so keen to see you all continue to grow in your faith and yourselves. Please continue to support events like Youth Councils and Summer School, and attend Youth Band and Youth Chorus.

God has great things planned for each of your lives, and for the work in the division. I’m sorry I won’t be here to see it, but I believe it will happen. And one day in the future, when we meet each other in a random place, I can’t wait to hear all about it.

Becky

Youth Councils 2015

On Sunday 22^nd March, over 65 young people plus leaders gathered at The Thetford Academy for Youth Councils 2015. Many corps were represented and a large number of the young people were attending for the first time.

Many corps groups had created ‘This is My Salvation Army’ videos, which were a highlight of the day. Each video was made by young people in the corps and reflected the character of the group. The Anglia Youth Band and Anglia Youth Chorus also took part in the worship as well as creating their own videos.

During the afternoon, there were a number of activities to choose from. In Sports & Games, teams competed in challenges such as ‘Toss the Whellie’ and creating their own ‘Haka’ chant. Owls were created from old loo rolls in Arts and Crafts, and some of the youth chilled out and asked questions in the Chill Out Zone. Some members of the Youth Band gave a spontaneous march around the building, playing favourite hymn tunes and even some unseasonal carols!

Dave Cotterill from ALOVE was our speaker for the day, and he explored Micah 6:8 – challenging the young people to live lives of humility, mercy and walking with God. In the afternoon he encouraged them by showing the many supports they have to living their life this way.

Do we need to stop the worship 'whoa'?

I saw a youtube video recently which documented the many secular songs that use ‘whoa’, ‘oh’, or a similar variation as part of the lyrics. The amount of songs documented was amazing! And it got me thinking about how the use of these sounds is not exclusive to secular music. How many of the new, ‘modern’ worship songs feature the ‘whoa-oh-oh’? In fact, as I write this, the worship music I was listening to featured one!

I once heard a worship leader joke about the ‘whoa-oh-oh’ used in his song was an Aramaic word for ‘I love you Jesus’, but he left the conversation there. They did not explore why they had used the word. What is it that makes this word so popular in modern worship songs? Why do worship leaders constantly write songs that use it? Is it a filler, for when they didn’t know what else to write? Or does it allow the worshipper a chance to engage?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleycampbellphotography/5245827932

One of the beauties of ‘whoa-oh-oh’ is that it can mean so many, different things to each person singing. It can allow the worshipper to express a whole variety of emotions whenever they sing it. It gives worshippers a way to express the deepest longings of their hearts, share their frustrations, offer praise, pray, and much more through just a simple sound. Also, while some worshippers may feel happy to sing their own songs of praise during worship, many people, particularly those new to worship or those not used to this kind of worship, do not find it easy to do so, and singing ‘whoa’ allows them to express the same feelings. It is an expression of what is written in Romans 8:26:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

(NIV)

This isn’t to say ‘whoa-oh-oh’ can’t become a time filler and meaningless. As I said above, almost every new worship song seems to feature one these days. It’s a staple part of the modern worship song; and a lot of the time it is used as the ‘hook’, the part of the song that gets stuck in your head after you leave church. ‘Whoa-oh-oh’ is maybe not the best theological thinking to be ringing in our ears after we’ve engaged with God! I certainly don’t believe it’s going to impact my lifestyle if that’s all that’s in my head.

As with all things worship, it comes down to what your heart is saying as you sing. What is going on in our minds and hearts as we sing ‘whoa’? If we are not singing in an attitude of worship, then the words or sounds we make don’t matter at all.