www.college.youthworks.net
www.youthworkscollege.blogspot.com
Graham grew up in Sydney, and ‘tasted and saw that the Lord was good’ while at Christ Church Anglican St. Ives during the end of High School.
After leaving school, he studied Economics at Macquarie University and worked as a Business Economist for a Merchant Bank in Sydney for 2 years. He still remembers the sermon that challenged him to use his gifts in leadership in the church – so he left the world of pin-stripe suits to become a minister (telling people at work he was doing it for the money!).
After studying at Moore College, he knew the call of Jesus was to ‘take up your cross’, self sacrifice and all that – so bravely decided to leave Sydney and take up a position in the wilds of Wollongong! After about a week living in paradise I realised I never wanted to move back to big smelly Sydney ever again! I spent five years of ministry with youth and families at St. Michael’s Wollongong, and then started with Youthworks College at the beginning of 2000. I’m married to Kate, and father to Juliet (7), Rosanna (6) and Jonathan (2)
An ideal day off includes a run and swim at Austinmer beach, reading the Sydney Morning Herald, deciding on something to cook for dinner and spending the afternoon buying food and cooking, before sitting down with family and friends for a leisurely meal.
As Dean of the College, Graham is responsible for the day-to-day running of the College, works with the other faculty in pastoral care of students and teaches in Systematic Theology, Youth Ministry, Popular Culture and Spirituality.
(Thursday 2:00pm)
So is he going to be talking about the Book of Revelation (the one with the beasts and 666 and Armageddon and the Great Prostitute) or the doctrine of Revelation (that idea that God speaks to us)? Answer: Both!
We'll talk about how to give God a lead speaking role in your youth ministry and use the Book of Revelation as an example of how to do it. Neither the Bible itself, nor the Book of Revelation in particular, are as difficult as they're often made out to be, and understood clearly and used well they can be of great benefit for growing young people in Christ. The session will lay some principles of teaching the Bible to hear God's voice, some pointers to make sense of the book of Revelation, and spend some time talking together about how to make it all work in your youth group.
(Friday 10:30am)
It seemed like a good idea at the time. “Let’s give the kids a chance to play ‘stump the youth minister’ – they can ask whatever questions they want about Christian life and we can answer them. It’ll be easier than having to prepare another talk. And they can invite their non-Christian friends as well.” And so there you stand, you’re past the feeling of the blood rising in your neck and now with your cheeks flushed and your stomach churning you can begin to feel the sweat drip down your back. The actual question that was asked has all but been forgotten by most people in the room, what is not so easy to forget is the bumbling answer that you’ve give that has simultaneously managed to confuse those who weren’t already confused, to contradict what you’d said in answer to the previous question and has left you in the same argument about science and the Bible that you always have and still don’t know what to say about it. Surely there’s a better way!
One thing that characterises youth ministry is that young people ask lots of questions, whether you’ve organised a special question and answer night or you’re in the car driving back from an activity or sitting around the campfire on a retreat.
This session aims to do three things: To give you the opportunity to ask your own difficult questions (or the questions that “a friend of yours” might ask) and get an answer; to help you learn a model for answering difficult questions that will help avoid the problems that can arise; and to help you know what to do and say when you’ve got no idea of what the answer should be
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