The theme of the Assembly this year was “Love life”, with John Bell being the main speaker. From all accounts John spoke very well – passionate and challenging, over the weekend. When I was there on Monday he was speaking about the importance of recieving blessings from other people alongside the importancd of giving blessings to them. He illustrated this with stories about people he has met over his life that have enriched his life, even when he initially thought they had nothing to give. Now, usually I don’t find myself in agreement with some of John’s approach to Theology, but on Monday I found myself agreeing with him, more than that, I found myself really resonating with what he was saying. It started me thinking about my time at the Youth Assembly over the last 11 years and how it has blessed me through the people that I was often there to serve; about the times when I took part in summer mission and how they people I met more often than not blessed me more than I felt I blessed them; about the hospitality I was shown when I visited an unrecognised Arab village in Israel, visiting a community who had very little, were severely oppressed, yet still gave everything they had to the 11 white people who were visiting them.

There was only one debate on Monday at the assembly, a debate talking about marriage. It was really interesting to listen to the groups as I was walking around taking photos, hearing how each group had picked up on different aspects if the material. Some were delving deeply into Theology of marrisge and looking at what the New Testament had to say about it; some were exploring current cultural approaches to marriage, asking questions such as “Is more emphasis
put on the wedding than on the actual marriage?” and “Is marriage as important to society as it used to be?”; other groups were exploring issues around divorce and remarriage, during the ‘blether’ where they had recieved some background information about the subject they were also asked some specific questions about Marriage and how the Church relates to it, one of the questions being “should the Church develop a liturgy of divorce?” The reasoning behind this being that an earlier survey of young people had brought back the suggestion that a service marking a divorce may help children and young people (and the adults) to cope with thr break up a marrige better. It was a really interesting debate, I’m sure the final deliverance will appear on the COSY blog soon!

One of the things I loved about visiting this assembly was the number of people I recognised, it really wasn’t that big a percentage of the number of people there. I thought that was awesome! Yeah, it was great to see old friends, people I haven’t seen in ages when I went, but it was just as awesome to see more youth and young adults engaging with the wider Church, the more diverse the attendance at the NYA is, the better for the wider Church!

My role on Monday was to take some photos of the day, capturing some of the moments that could be used for publicity for the event. I was able to get a number of good photos, which will be appearing on here, the COSY blog, the COSY flickr page and a few other places soon, I was very aware that I was starting my visual story telling of the weekend at the end of the event. They may be good photos, the may provide a visual narrative to some of Mondays goings on, but they are missing the wider narrative and context of the entire weekend, so I can’t wait to see the photos appearing from others who were there for the whole weekend, or perhaps just for small parts of te weekend.

I’m going to leave my ramblings there for the time being, save to provide some links for you to better explore things around the Church of Scotland National Youth assembly:
For the COSY blog visit: www.cosyblog.wordpress.com
For the COSY Twitter account: www.twitter.com/#!/cosy_nya
For the COSY Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/cosyblog

Enjoy exploring these pages!

Peace Out

I attended the General Assembly 6 times as a youth rep: 2001, 2002, 2o03, 2005, 2008, 2009 and this issue came up every year! It was rarely brought up by a Youth Rep, it was more often brought up by a commissioner to the assembly who appreciated the input of the Youth Reps and wanted to see that input given further weight. The argument against has been consistent since I first attended, Youth Reps are not allowed to vote because of 2 reasons: There is the issue of ordination, most Youth Reps are not ordained; The other issue is that Youth Reps, ordained or not, are not commissioned to assembly. For Youth Reps to be allowed to vote would require, in my opinion, fulfillment across the board on both of these issues, which would then of course require an overhaul of how Youth Reps are chosen to attend the assembly and an overhaul of who/ how the Church of Scotland Ordains people.

I have not always been against the vote, when I first attended the General Assembly I couldn’t understand why the Church wouldn’t just let Youth Reps vote. It made no sense to me, it seemed to me that they were just being awkward, mean perhaps! I blame that on the fire of youth (I was 17 with a full head of hair after all!). I’m now 10 years older and able to better channel my passion into avenues that have an opportunity to bear fruit. I understand the nuances better than I did when I was an inexperienced, naive 17 year old. Now, before you all get mad that I’m labeling all youth Reps (and others) who support Youth Reps getting the vote as naive, inexperienced, young, stupid or anything like that, I’m not. I’m only pointing out that when I was 17 I often spoke/ acted before I thought, I didn’t always understand what I was talking about (i’m not sure that last point has moved on much TBH!).

Youth Reps at the assembly are an incredible force, they speak with passion, with power with pride, with emotion, with eloquence (ok, that last one isn’t always true, some Youth reps have been known to mumble or even inform the assembly that they possess “mind-boggling expertise”). The pint is, Youth Reps are always a welcomed part of the assembly, a celebrated part of the assembly. They are not scared to speak (30-40 people having your back tends to boost you confidence!), they are not scared to challenge, to ask questions (even awkward or stupid ones!). So is it really that big a deal if Youth Reps never get to vote? Youth Reps still make a valued input, still do and say enough to change the assemblies mind and influence them.

I’ll leave you with a quote from my friend Lynsey on twitter: “Hoping the youth that don’t think we have a vote were represented. We don’t all think the same. We’re all pals though….beautiful”

They disagree, but they love each other anyway…….

Peace Out

Before I launch into my ramble, here are the relevant sections from the report and deliverance (before any addendums/ amendments from the floor). the report can be downloaded from the Church of Scotland website here (titled: The involvement of young people and decision-making in the Church)

The relevant section of the pre-debated deliverance is as follows:

Young People and Decision Making (See Section 8 of the Church and Society Council Report)
8. Commend this report to Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Councils, Committees and groups associated with the life of the
Church of Scotland for study and action.
9. Urge every Presbytery and national Council and Committee to appoint a named person to champion young
peoples’ involvement in their decision-making, whose role will be to work with the established structures and to
develop new and appropriate ways for young people to be involved.
10. Instruct the Church and Society Council, the Mission and Discipleship Council and the National Youth Assembly
to prepare a report to the General Assembly in 2013 and every two years thereafter, evaluating progress and
suggesting further ways in which the Church of Scotland can make a difference in this area.
11. Encourage all Presbyteries to take seriously their responsibility for nominating a Youth Representative to the
General Assembly and encourage all congregations and Presbyteries to support their young people in attending
the National Youth Assembly.

12. Affirm the work of Young Scot, the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Children’s Commissioner and urge every
Presbytery and national Council and Committee of the Church of Scotland to consider the need to work with them
to develop new ways of engaging with young people and supporting their participation in decision-making within
the Church.
13. Commend the Presbytery of Europe for its initiative in convening the first ever Youth Presbytery for 18-25 year olds
and encourage other Presbyteries to consider how they might adapt this model for their own context.
14. Invite the Nomination Committee of the Church of Scotland to include in its reports a record of the number of
young people (aged 18-25) who have been nominated and the number appointed each year.
15. Encourage Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries to reflect on the appointment of young Elders (aged 18-25) and young
Commissioners to the General Assembly.
16. Invite every Presbytery and national Council and Committee to consider the timing and format of meetings to
allow young people to participate in decision-making.

I’ll let you make your won opinions about the report and section of the deliverance. Needless to say, there was substantial debate in the assembly hall, as well as on twitter, around the topic. Basically, the Church and Society Council are trying to advocate for young people to become more involved in all areas and levels of the Church. There wasn’t really any arguing against this idea (didn’t expect there to be!). there was a lot of debating around sections 9&11, the idea of getting Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries to ensure that they have young people involved. Again, no arguing against the idea, but many people standing up and saying that they couldn’t do so because they just don’t have young people to do so. It seemed that they were more fixated on lamenting the lack of young people involved in the Church where they are than on the challenge to them put forth by the fact that they needed new/ different ways (perhaps just plain better ways!) to engage with the young people who live in their area. I feel confident that I can guarantee there are no Kirk Sessions or Presbyteries who have no young people within their boundaries!

Kim Wood, one of the youth reps (also the current National Youth Assembly Moderator) made a very eloquent, passionate speech about how young people are involved in the Church, they are passionate about the Church, and they want to be more so!

There were many things said today that I thought were spot on, many things that I thought were moot points and some I disagreed with, I’m not going to go into it all. I think it’s enough to say that here, today, we have a council of the Church other than Mission and Discipleship (who have been long-running supporters, advocates, encouragers, role-models and inspirational figures to young people within the Church of Scotland) encouraging the Church to engage more with young people and for young people to become more engaged and passionate about the Church. I thinks that superb, outstanding. The passion of the young people in the assembly hall today was beautiful to listen to, to watch. The youth Reps at the assembly really do represent the young people involved in the wider Church. Perhaps not necessarily in belief and opinion, but without a doubt in passion and drive for the work of the Church, for God’s Kingdom. A phrase used yesterday and many years before in the assembly is that there is more that unites us than there is that separates us. I believe that, within the Church, this is never more apparent than when we look towards the young adults attending the Youth Assembly and at the General Assembly as Youth reps. So many differing opinions, beliefs, backgrounds. And yet when they (we, even though I’m now too old!)get together, we don’t let our differences drive a wedge between us. We argue, we debate, we disagree, but we respect, we all know that we are aiming for the same ultimate goal, and that unites us more powerfully than our disagreements, our differences ever could!

There were a few interesting points floating around twitter. My friend Stewart pointed out that there was not any discussion on involving children and young people who are under 18.

Peace Out (hope it wasn’t too rambly!)

Anne Dillard

I was definitely changed by the people I met. Everyone I met over there changed me in some way – some more than others. I’m trying to be an intentionally more joyous person. Years ago, I thought of myself as a really positive person, always looking for the best in people and in situations. Various things that happened in my life have knocked that out of me a wee bit, but I’m done with that. I want to be positive again, and I’m going to be. I can make the choice to be like that – my new friends have taught me that much! There is so much around me that is truly awesome and God-sent, I want to make an effort to see these things and to take the time to wonder at them.

Dancing, I want to keep check on the pride that as often held me back from expressing myself. I don’t want to be embarressed to dance, like I have been in the past. Dancing is such an incredible experience. At the Crossing the Bridge conference, despite all our cultural and societal differences, we were all brought together at many points during the week by the language of dance. Whether it was just shoving some music on and doing our own thing, surrounded by others doing their own thing or learning a dance from another culture. When the music played and we started dancing, all the language and cultural barriers were forgotten and we all just melted into the moment, into the atmosphere of enjoying ourselves and having fun together!

On a more serious note, my faith has been seriously challenged while I’ve been away. I’ve been guilty over the last few years of becoming quite apathetic in my faith, not really putting as much effort or focus into cultivating and feeding it as I should have. I’ve allowed myself to often become sucked into the trap of Church politics – at a local and national level. The people I met, the strength of faith I met in Nepal has really challenged me to climb out of my rut, to stop being so blasé aboutmy faith. In Nepal, I met Christians who live in countries where Christians are persecuted, I met people who live close to villages where Christian homes were burned and a family burned alive, I met people who themselves have suffered for their faith, and through all of this, I saw more passion for God than I ever have at any large Christian event in the UK – including the General Assembly, the National youth Assembly, CLAN gathering and Spring Harvest. There were none of the trappings of the institutional Church that we have here, or they were at least not as pronounced and deified as they are here!

One thing that struck me was the timing of the trip and how that challenged me. Since 2001, at this time of year, I have attended the Church of Scotland General Assembly 6 times as a Youth Rep. It has always been a great experience, meeting other young Christians, being involved in the Church of Scotland at that level, seeing how decisions are made and meeting many of the people working in the Church of Scotland. But it is also a week of religious trappings, of institutional mumbo-jumbo, of pedantics, arguing over individual words and, dare I say it, tension between Christian and Secular living. I thought I would miss not being there this year. I didn’t, not a bit. Hearing the stories I did in Nepal, encountering the people and Churches that I did helped me realised how skewed my focus has so often been in my faith and the outworking of my faith. I have put to much effort and energy into things in the Church that, ultimatly, don’t make that much of a difference, compared to the difference standing firm in your faith in the face of persecution and hatred does. It has not all been in vain, although undoubtedly some of what I have been involved in has been. It’s just been an eye opening experience. I don’t judge myself, or others, for the perspective I worked from, I worked from and with my personal experiences as I knew them. But I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to have my eys opened and my mind opened to the reality of wat Christians in parts of the world are facing. I’ve always known about the persecuted Church, about Christians who live in fear of attack because of their faith, but knowing about such things is completely different from knowing people who live with such things. I pray I never forget what they taught me about following and serving God.

I can only imagine that over the next few weeks and months, more and more thoughts will pour out of me about this trip, perhaps not always in the most sensible order! Let me thank you all in advance for your prayers, support and encouragement in working through these thoughts.

Peace Out

I will miss not being at the assembly, the 7 Youth Assemblies I have attended, as delegate or staff, over the last 10 years have been very important to me. I’ve made many good friends, been challenged, been inspired, at the assembly in 2000 I gave my life to Christ. Through my involvement in the Youth Assemblies, I’ve been opened to many other opportunitites – the ecumenical assembly in 2001, being a General Assembly youth rep in 2001,2002,2003,2005,2008,2009 (2003/2005 as a youth assembly rep – I’m quite proud to have been a part of the first group voted by the Youth Assembly to represent the Youth Assembly at General Assembly in 2003, voted by the NYA of 2002), going to Toronto in 2002 as part of the CofS group that visited the Roman Catholic World Youth Day celebrations, being involved in the Wadi adult network, the upcoming trip to Nepal and countless other weekends, evening and events that I was able to attend/ be part of through the people I’d met. I know this list seems a bit narcissistic, but I’m just realising how blessed I’ve been to be a part of all these things.

If you’ve never been to the Youth assembly and you are eligible to go, I would recommend that you do, if you’ve been before, why do you share some memories with us? Those who are going this year – relish it, enjoy it, participate. Its the kind of event that is only as good as you make it, if you don’t put yourself into it and take part, it will never be as good as it could be – for you and for those around you.

Peace Out

Peace Out

The Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly starts today! As I’ve previously blogged, this is an awesome event! Close to 300 young Christians from around Scotland will be gathering in Stirling as of this afternoon to spend a weekend together exploring what it means to be Christian in Scotland in the 21st century and how we interact with the rest of the body of Christ.

There is so much going on this weekend, I can’t begin to describe it all! I’m excited about my contribution, I’m away to go for breakfast so can’t describe it all fully just now. But basically, I’m serving NYA with 3 of my greatest passions this weekend: I’m leading 9 hours of sporting activities over the weekend, I’m doing a session called ‘worship through a lens’ and I@m part of a team blogging and twittering about the weekend. It’s great to be able to use my passion to serve a community that has given so much to me over the years!

Must dash, food calls!

Peace out

So what is NYA? It’s a youth event run by the Church of Scotland for 16 – 25 year olds. Over the course of the weekend we debate issues facing the Church, attend seminars designed to help us with our faith journey, have ceilidhs, eat together, generally just having fellowship with other Christians at the same stage of life as us.

What is it about NYA thats made it so important to me? As well as the life changing event of giving my life to Christ in 2000, each and every year I’ve attended has changed me for the better. When I first attended, I was 16, severely lacking in self – confidence and entirely unsure of who I was and where I was going in life. It didn’t change instantly, but as the years passed I grew in confidence and was much more assured of who I was. Was it NYA that caused this change in me? To put it simply, yes. The part of the event that changed me the most has always been the people I meet there. Some of my closest friends are people I”ve met through NYA. Indeed, the 2 most inspirational people in my faith and professional journey I met at NYA2000: Paul Beautyman and Steve Mallon. Amongst the many people who have inspired, mentored and encouraged me, their ‘investment’ in me has had the greatest affect on me (not to belittle the many other great people who have taken me under their wing!). Over the years I’ve met hundreds of young Christians at NYA, I can only hope I’ve had half the impact on their lives as they’ve had on mine.

Many of the debates and seminars over the years have encouraged me to explore my faith in relation to real life, how does what I read in the Bible connect with life? The many, many conversations, debates and people I’ve experienced over the years have enabled me to have what I think is the greatest asset in my approach to faith: an open mind. I don’t always agree with what people say or how they approach faith, but instead of being abrasive, I love having the opportunity to be able to chat to people and hear their story and how they got to have the approach they have.

I believe know that I have matured so much in the last 9 years. My involvement in NYA, and everything that has come out of that (General Assembly Youth Reps, World Youth Day, Impact, many friendships and much more) has grown me so much more than anything else I could have been involved in. I can’t think of anything else I could have been involved in that would have allowed me to be pushed out of my comfort zone so much, to learn so much, to grow so much. I’m eternally gratefully for NYA and for everything it has led to in my life.

I can’t wait for this weekend, although I’m a little sad that it will be the last NYA I can ever attend as a delegate. After this year I’ll be too old! I hope I’ve matured enough to move on from this chapter of my life in a positive way. One of my characteristics is that I’m incredibly nostalgic. I love revisiting memories and photos, thinking back to the awesome things and people I’ve experienced. Without doubt, my days as an NYA delegate will be up at the top of the list of happy memories.

If you’re there this year, I look forward to seeing you. If you’re not and have been before, we’ll miss you, if you’ve never been, I’m sad for you!

Keep an eye out over the weekend on my blog, the NYA Blog and on twitter (#nya2009) to hear about whats going on this year.

Peace Out

Enjoy!

Peace out

Chris