Mike King

Greenbelt, Stonehenge, Brighton and Canterbury

I left the Greenbelt Festival and headed to Stonehenge.  I've heard that a lot of people talk about Stonehenge as a disappointment but I cannot understand how anyone could have that opinion about a monument that is more than 5,000 years old.  I prepared myself on the drive by listening to The Prayer Cycle, which set the mood for my visit.  The surrounding area around Stonehenge contains burial mounds and processional avenues that can still be visibly seen.  The day was alternating between bright sunshine and clouds which made for a stunning light show on the famous stones.  I was very inspired and felt amazingly alive in this place.  I'm doing some writing on the theology of space and place so I'm sure this factored into my experience.  Here are a few pics I took on my iPhone.

After spending the night in Brighton, I headed to Canterbury which has been on my list of "must visit places" for a long time.  With my passion for Christian History and Thought you can probably imagine what a treat it was to be in Canterbury.  Although, it was ridiculous to see Starbucks next to the Cathedral Gate Entrance (click to enlarge the last picture).

Good Gaudi, Back from Spain

Vicki and I arrived home from a wonderful trip to Spain.  This was a mix of vacation and research/writing for an upcoming project I'm working on.

I loved studying more about the life and work of Antoni Gaudí,

Gaudi was a Catalan Spanish Architect who lived from 1852 to 1926.  Gaudi's architectural work was driven by his passion of nature and his Christian faith.  In fact, he's often referred to as "God's Architect."  His most famous work that is still in process of completion (with full directions from Gaudi) and will be for many more decades, is the Sagrada Familia.

The last couple of days we spent with Gaudi, especially in the Sagrada Familia.  We also loved his Casa Batlló.

Here are some pictures of Sagrada Familia;

Here are some pictures from Casa Batllo;

I Didn't Find the Holy Grail at Montserrat, but I Loved Looking For It

According to one of the King Arthurian Legends the Holy Grail was taken to this other-worldly location of the Abbey at Montserrat.  I didn't find it but we loved exploring this amazing site.  I've been referring to Montserrat for years because of my studies in Church History.  Ignatius of Loyola had a transformational conversion praying in the Bascilica here.  Ignatius would develop many spiritual practices that continue to impact Christianity today.  Ignatiuis was a significant figure in the counter-Reformation movement and is the founder of the Jesuit Order.

Montserrat is a little bit overcommercialized but a pilgrim staying at the Inn near the Abbey could overlook the tourism and find peace and quiet in the surrounding areas.  This is a beautiful place and is the biggest reason why we are in Spain.  I'm working on a writing project about space and place and their significance in Christian Formation.  More on that later.  Here are some pictures...

Ahhhhh, Barcelona

I enjoying some relief from the extremely hot weather in the USA.  Vicki and I are in Barcelona, Spain where the temperature gets down to 70 degrees at night and 80 degrees in the day -- with NO HUMIDITY.  Ahhhhh, Barcelona.

Below are a few pictures.  Tomorrow we travel by train to the Abbey of Montserrat where Ignatius of Loyola had a significant transformation that led to his life of prayerful devotion.

San Diego is hard to beat...

 

No posts over the last couple of days.  Vicki and I spent several days in sunny San Diego.  I had several meetings.  I met with Tic Long at Youth  Specialties about the 2011 NYWC’s and also with Adam McLane.  I had some writing projects to work on but we also loved every second of sun, surf and temperatures in the 70’s.  We found a little time to play, if you call running 20 plus miles over three days playing.  We do, especially when your running in such great settings as you see in the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back from Denver

Back from five days in the Denver area.  The first couple of days Chris Folmsbee and I met with the leadership of Renovare about partnership possibilities between Barefoot, Renovare and Youthfront.  We had great and synergistic conversations.  The Renovare team is awesome and I look forward to working with them closer.  I think wonderful things will be coming from our ongoing dialogue and planning.  Stay tuned.  In addition to our time with Renovare it was life-giving to have extended time to scheme and dream with Folmsbee, we've always found it easy to generate ideas and new ways of thinking about ministry, resources, leadership developent and formation.

When we finished our meetings at Renovare, Chris stayed in Denver to teach a $5 Training Session with 70 some youth workers.  I headed up the mountains near Estes Park to lead a high school retreat for student leaders at Highlands Retreat Center.  Although I was exhausted by the conclusion of the retreat, it was a very fullfilling ministry opportunity with young people who are very serious about faith and their life with Christ.  I was also blessed to work with several dozen adult youth leaders - great people.  A big thank you to Chris Johnson, a passionate youth pastor friend, who championed me coming as the speaker and Kevin Starcher who is the Director of Summer Camp and Youth Programs at Highlands. 

Here are a few more pictures - mountain streams are a fascination of mine.

 

I Wanna Go Home...

The last ten days have been brutal, good, but brutal. 

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

I had to go to San Diego early for the National Youth Worker Convention for some meetings and to get ready for The Sanctuary experiences at the convention.  I had a wonderful time working on the Soul Care offerings for youth workers with my friends - Beth Slevcove, Archie Honrado, Lilly Lewin, Libbie Patterson, and Jodi Shay.  I taught one 90 minute seminar called Youth Ministry in 3D: Cultivation of Time, Place and Space for developing a community of practice.  I also  taught, led or facilitated 11 other sessions.  In between I fit in working meals and meetings with youth ministry partners and associates.  When I had free time I hung out at the Barefoot table to promote resources and the Immerse Journal.  Tim Baker, our editor for Immerse was at the convention to meet with our authors and find new authors.  We were able to fit in a meeting to conceptualize the March/April edition of Immerse.

I had an excellent lunch with Paul Bertelson, CEO/President of Youthworks (the new owner of YouthSpecialies) and Jeff Carver, Youthworks' VP of Research and Development.  These guys are great and their Youthworks team demonstrated an amazing spirit of service and hospitality throughout the convention.  It was also great to see Tic Long back in the saddle.

I had good conversations with friends Mark and Jeannie Oestreicher, a wonderful dinner with Jim Hancock and lunch with Andy Root, along with many other conversations with longtime youth ministry friends. 

A funny (weird experience) happened when Chris Folmsbee, Laurey Kiehne and me were eating dinner at The Bing Crosby Piano Lounge.  It happened to be Ladies Night and the Ladies were having a spirited time dancing to the music of a piano player that was singing cover songs - Billy Joel, Elton John, etc.  All of a sudden he launched into "Jesus, he can move the mountains, our God is mighty to save, mighty to save..."  The dancing Ladies continued their tipsy dances but now had their hands lifted in the "worship position."  To say that it was weird and cheesy is a major understatement.  I don't know what was going on but we had some good laughs over it.

It is not too late to register for the second NYWC which will be held in Nashville, November 19-22.

WILMORE, KENTUCKY

After spending a day and a half in Kansas City, I left for Wilmore, Kentucky and Asbury University.  I'm speaking at a Retreat on campus.  My friend Brian Hull who teaches youth ministry at Asbury organized the retreat for high school students who feel called to ministry vocation.  The Hull family used to live in Kansas City and we attended church together.  Brian, Carol and I had a fine dining experience together eating great food and catching up on life, so good.  In addition to the retreat I spoke to the entire student body at the University which was an awesome experience.  I also taught an afternoon seminar for area youth workers.  Jim Hampton, who is President of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators and a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary also participated in the retreat.  It is always life-giving to be around Jim.

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Tomorrow I fly to Raleigh for weekend planning meetings and a Board Meeting for the Wild Goose Festival.  I'm looking forward to being with my Wild Goose partners - Karla Yaconelli, Joy Wallis, Ian Cron, Gareth Higgins along with others who will gather for these meetings. 

On Monday I will be attending Duke Divinity Schools' 2010 Convocation & Pastors' School.  Fellow Youthfront staff members Erik Leafblad, Micah Thomas, Sam Theismann and Tom Greenwald will also be attending the conference so it will definitely be a GOOD time.

Great opportunities, wonderful friends, good times BUT I WANNA GO HOME...

Adventure in Gloucester...

The night before Greenbelt started we arrived late into Cheltenham and decided to find a place to eat.  We ended up wandering until we found ourselves next to the majestic and mysterious Gloucester Cathedral.  Gloucester Cathedral is nearly 1,000 years old and has been a place of continuous worship.  It is the burial place of King Edward II (the effiminate Prince of Wales, son of King Edward I depicted in the movie Braveheart) which made it a place of pilgrimage and provided the resources to build something magnificient.  The Gloucester Cathedral was used to film the first, second and sixth Harry Potter movies.

We found the door of the Cathedral unlocked.  It was 9:00 pm but we couldn't resist venturing inside.  Jessica and Vicki were freaked out assuming that we were tresspassing and would probably be arrested.  We could hear some kind of gathering going on somewhere in the vast spaces of the cathedral caverns.  We spent more than half an hour exploring the amazing art, scultptures, tombs, memorials and chapels.  King Edward II's tomb was and is a masterpiece. 

We also found several contemporary prayer stations scattered throughout the cathedral.  I made a comment that it appeared that Jonny Baker had been there.  As we begin to wrap up our short clandestine tour of the cathedral we passed by another wandering pilgrim.  I asked him what was going on with what sounded like a social event somewhere in the cathedral.  He responded that it was a gathering of young church leaders from the UK.  I started asking if certain people were in attendance and soon I was hugging Jonny Baker and other's gathered for a pre-Greenbelt party.  I heard someone say "hey Mike."  It was Jon Meyers, former youth pastor in Kansas City who now lives in Seattle.  We were invited to join in the shenanigans and soon we were part of a small group who were given access to climb the famous Towers of the Gloucester Cathedral.  Wow, what an experience and what a great start to the Greenbelt Festival experience.

In France, headed to the UK

For the next two weeks I will be in France and the UK.  The first week will be spent in France, mostly in the village of Taize, which is a wonderful community of Christian Brothers who live in residence and work for reconciliation among peoples.  Every week in the summer several thousand young people ages 16 to 24 come from all around the world to enter into the spiritual rhythms of the Taize community.  The schedule revolves around three daily offices of prayer.  The prayer times are approximately an hour in length and include Scripture readings, singing several repetitive and beautifully harmonious songs (usually scripture phrases), verbal prayers and a significant period of silence.  The Scriptures and Prayers are spoken in a variety of languages representing many of the countries represented.  This will be my third visit.  I brought ten fellow pilgrims with me on the first two trips.  This time Vicki finally makes it to Taize, along with our daughter Jessica and son-in-law Micah Thomas who also serves as the Director of our Youthfront Camp South.  We employ many similar values and practices (for our context) at Youthfront Camp South and West that exist at Taize.  We know we can’t duplicate what has happened at Taize but Taize has had a significant impact on Youthfront Camp South.  I’m excited about my three fellow pilgrims having the Taize experience.

Week number two will be spent in the UK.  We will be attending the Greenbelt Festival.  We will be there with a group of friends whom I serve with on the Wild Goose Board.  The Wild Goose is a North American expression of The Greenbelt Festival.  Of course it will have its own identity but the Greenbelt team has been very helpful and supportive of our initiative.  The first Wild Goose Festival will happen next June.  More details coming soon…

Stopover in Sydney, Australia

Vicki and I stopped over in Sydney, one of my favorite cities, for a couple of days coming and going from New Zealand.  This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  The iPhone doesn't capture it.  If you ever find yourself in Sydney don't miss the Royal Botanical Garden behind the Opera House and traveling to and fro by Ferry in the Harbor never gets old.