Hi! I’m Neil, and, as it says on my Facebook profile, I am ‘father of two beautiful girls, husband of a wonderful wife; graciously loved by an awesome God!’ I am also a mad Southampton fan (yes, I know: I must be mad to support Saints!) and recently completed a certificate in theology on an ‘open learning’ basis. I was privileged to grow up in a Christian family and became a Christian when I was 5, so I am a strong believer in outreach to children, youth and families. I have been involved in youth and children’s work in some form or other since I was a teenager.
I have previously worked as a teacher (both in the mainstream and working with excluded pupils), a youth worker and a schools worker. In the process, God has taken me from Hampshire to Yorkshire and on to Darlington where I am now based.
My role with Scripture Union is about encouraging, equipping and inspiring God’s church in the North-East and Yorkshire region to be effective partners with God in the exciting project of outreach to children, youth and families. In practical terms, this involves a lot of networking with children's and youth workers (including volunteers), seeking to identify where we can support them and their co-workers in their ministry. In particular, it is my role to seek to identify training needs and to help to meet these, both through our regular Regenerate events and through direct 'in-house' training in churches.
Among many other things, it is also my role to identify where there is interest in developing Scripture Union projects such as X:Site, It's Your Move and Lifepath and to maintain a degree of support for some of the existing X:Site events. Furthermore, I currently oversee the Lifepath event at Jervaulx, although leadership of this event has been delegated to a local Methodist minister and a core team of volunteers.
My hope is that in some way we can all share our combined wealth of experience, ideas and vision to further God's kingdom!
For more information please click on 'Contact Me' and ask. For a copy of one of my recent newsletters, click on the appropriate link:
Neil J April 2010
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