Niddrie Church Ministries (Page 2)
Youth Groups That Do What They Say On The Tin!
In the UK, there’s a product called Ronseal. It’s a popular varnish/wood stain product available in most hardware stores. Their advertising strap line is really well known: it’s supposed to be simple, straight-forward, and down-to-earth. “Ronseal: It does exactly what it says on the tin.” In…
‘Off the shelf’ Christmas assemblies for schools
Being the new chaplain on the scene, it falls to me to deliver this year’s Christmas assembly in the local high school next week. The expectation is for me to deliver a short seasonal message to a large group of teenagers (who don’t really want to be there) to help them think more about Christmas.…
Christian Youth Work : Developing Healthy Partnerships
One of the things that we notice about the young people in Niddrie is that many of them like bikes, both the pedal kind, and the motor kind. So bikes present us with a great opportunity for contact with many young people and also with other organisations working in the area. As a church, we want to…
Should the church help young people into work?
If any professional ever had a claim to the title ‘Jack of all trades’, it would surely be the church Youth Worker. What other profession can boast such diversity in roles as: counsellor, entertainer, artist, cleaner, cinematographer, people manager, taxi driver, web developer, teacher, caretaker,…
Our children in a ‘moral abyss’
A couple of weeks back, I wrote a post about our decision to invest more heavily in the children’s work at NCC. As a ‘youth’ worker, I’ve always been a bit reticent about doing children’s work – I don’t really enjoy it, though I recognise the need for it! Dr Helen Wright, head teacher of St Mary’s Calne, Wiltshire and President of the Girls’ School Association was quoted…
Is There Anybody Out There? Mez’s Updated Autobiography Available Now!
by Mike Stark “This is a compelling, gripping, heart-wrenching, you-can’t-put-it-down story of sin and grace. Read this and thank God that, as Psalm 136 says, ‘His love endures forever.’” (Mark Dever) ~ Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC The updated…
Children’s Work & Church Planting: Friends or Foes?
With independence on the horizon for NCC, we’ve been spending a lot of time as a Ministry Team thinking about our vision and direction for the future. If our church members are to be on board with our ideas, they need to know where we’re going. The leadership of the church has decided…
On being a school chaplain
It’s been nearly 3 years since I first got into the local high school. Since those early days, my job as Niddrie Community Church’s youth worker has involved an increasing amount of time and energy spent there. Last month, I was invited to consider becoming the school’s chaplain, an official position within the school community that would give Ellis and…
The power of an invitation
by Mike Stark This past week we’ve had another team over from Champion Forest Baptist Church, Houston, Texas. This is the second team we’ve had over from the US this year. Its always a great encouragement to us as a church, as the Americans inject a bit of money, man-power, and enthusiasm to the work in Niddrie. On Saturday night we had an X-Factor style…
Wanted: Female Youth Worker
by Mike Stark One of my overall strategies for the future of the youth ministry at Niddrie Community Church is to have youth work shared between a team of committed leaders. One of the things I have become increasingly aware of in Niddrie over the past 2 years is that I’m incapable of having a significant impact in the lives of young people in Niddrie by myself. A…