I’ve spent a great day at Connected and have been pointed in the direction of loads of online applications that will help you lots in your youth work and with your presentation.

Check out:

Ning.com for open or closed blogs (check ours from Connected)

Flickr.com - photo sharing

Twitter -  tell people what you are up to, or what they are missing - direct to their mobile

preview.getthebuzzword.com or docs.google.com for online word processing you can work together on.

PBWiki.com - start your own wiki page and allow others to edit it! (Connected wiki)

Jumpcut online video &  editing

Also, don’t forget to download the Coming Of Age book for some great podcasting tips.

A new network for women in youth ministry has been launched.  The Sophia Network aims to celebrate women in youth work and ministry, what we have achieved and what we are contributing to the kingdom of God. We want to increase the visibility of women in youth work, making the wider church aware of the fantastic work that women are doing. The Sophia Network will enable women in youth work to connect with each other, share skills and experiences and offer encouragement and support.

Shift6 (or ^6, the keyboard shortcut for ‘insert here) is a new blog looking at mobile device use, particularly among young people.  well worth a read or adding to your RSS feeds.

Highlights so far are some information on BLYK, a new invite only mobile phone network for 16-24 year olds, a great blog about why Radiohead’s digital back catalogue release is cool but way too expensive and some good stuff about iPhone, Google Phone, mobile development and all that stuff.

download a free book on web 2.0 full of tips and ideas on how to use it to engage with young people.

Hi Guys

I started reading a book called ‘A New Kind of Youth Ministry’ and started watching one of Rob Bell’s lectures called ‘everything is spiritual, and I started thinking about how I communicate God’s story to young people. I got very frustrated and wrote a blog with my rantings.

click here to read it.

Following on from the Students Today video over at KSU a response came entitled ‘A Vision of Professors Today’.  Read it HERE.

I have to say that some of the people who have made the biggest impact on me are lecturers or professors.  I teach at ICC as an ‘extra’.  I have a job that lets me spend time on it but at the same time I’m doing a Masters and the people who teach me are great.  They are knowledgeable and inspiring.  I hope you find some people who inspire you.

This is an interesting post about how Eurostar have blogged their move to St Pancras and used some great user generated images on Flickr.  It flags up some of the control issues around using blogs rather than adverts.

Earlier someone (one of the class, doesn’t matter who) made a post advertising a way to get a Wii for free.  The suggested way to get the Wii was to encourage people join an online betting group and bet at least £5.

Dilemma: I removed the post.  Should I?  Why?  Why not?

How do you communicate the messages you want to give to your youth groups?

Our ‘youth fellowship’ group on a Sunday really respond to film so I’m using that as a platform to show as many of my short films and sketches that have messages. Mostly to massage my ego* but it seems to work for them.Tonight we’re taking a break from my ‘ego worship’ and watching a nooma and then have a wee discussion after it. A preview of the selected nooma is below.

It’s amazing how preaching a sermon with music and images help young people and not so young people to respond more than just listening to someone preach at the front of church. It could also be that Rob Bell is just a damn fine communicator.

So, how do you guys communicate. Let’s get some ideas going. Could be helpful.

*please don’t think I’m being serious about my reasons for showing my videos. Maybe 20% serious but definately no more than that. Honest.