Tag Archives: young people

2018 Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly

Leave a reply

As I write this the 2018 National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland is getting under way at Gartmore House in Stirlingshire. This is the annual meeting of youth representatives from the Kirk focused around three carefully chosen issues each year. The topics are discussed, deliberated on and in a discernment process like the General Assembly itself, recommendations are reached. But the process does not stop there. These recommendations are taken seriously by the larger church and form the basis of the NYA report to next year’s General Assembly. The topics for this year are:

  • End of life issues
  • Ecumenism
  • Social Media

The meeting begins this evening and runs through 5 pm local time on Monday 20 August. There is an online guide to the event.

The event has not been live streamed for several years now so following on social media is probably the best way to follow along. The Twitter hashtag is #NYA2018 and there is also Facebook and Instagram.

The Twitter game from the NYA leadership on their feed @cofs_nya has not been very good over the last couple years, but the NYA Moderator feed @nyamoderator has been well maintained. And so, as the new Moderator, Tamsin Dingwall, takes over we can anticipate her putting her own style on the account. And over the past year the previous moderator, Robin Downie, has done a good job of communicating through that account and I hope to continue to see his activity on his personal feed.

I am not seeing very much early tweeting by delegates yet, but there are a number of the feeds on which we can expect to see some updates. First, the Moderator of the General Assembly regularly makes an appearance so watch for the Rt. Rev. Susan Brown’s comments on @churchmoderator. In addition, the main church news feed and Twitter feed @churchscotland as well as the Kirk’s official publication Life and Work will probably have some news @cofslifeandwork. The NYA has also developed a strong partnership with the Church of Scotland Guild so keep an eye on @cofsguild.

In addition, I see some activity from individuals in advisory or resource roles for the Assembly, so keep your eye out for updates from Liz Crumlish (@eacbug) and RevShuna (@shunad). In the realm of church and state, the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office (@SCPO_) has said they will be participating and keep an eye our for Ross Greer (@ross_greer) as well – he has previosly been an NYA delegate and may be again this year. He is also the youngest member of the Scottish Parliament.

I would also note at this point that the third discussion topic, Social Media, does have some immediate application in the wider church as the Church of Scotland has just launched some resources regarding digital media to equip churches.

So there you have the basic preview of this Assembly. I will update as appropriate and I just might get a profile of the new moderator and clerk posted. Congratulations to Tamsin and Seonaid as they take up these positions. And our prayers are with all the delegates as they begin this weekend.

[Ed. note – Just adding a personal note and apology for a fairly quiet blog. I have a whole lot of information and reflection to post about the General Assembly season in general and the wonderful time I had at the GA’s in Scotland in May. Over the last couple of months I have been navigating a job transition which I hope will provide me more time to write and get caught up.]

PCI SPUD Overnight 2015

Leave a reply

SPUD-logo-purpleAs I hit the button to publish this post the annual SPUD Overnight of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is about to begin.

As youth input into the General Assemblies of the different Presbyterian branches go, each has its own particular flavor. In the Church of Scotland the National Youth Assembly meets a full nine months before the GA and through a multi-day deliberative process of their own they write deliverances that contain material that will be presented directly to the commissioners at the Assembly in their own report. In the case with the Young Adult Advisory Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), they do not meet beforehand but during the Assembly they gather in the evenings late at night and hear about the issues the Assembly is considering.

The PCI SPUD Overnight is a bit of both of these. While it does not directly generate business of its own to go to Assembly, it is a time of deliberative consideration of items that will be considered by the Assembly just over a month later. It is a time of discussion and providing input and feedback to the Assembly, through their representatives. The discussions are wider ranging then just the business of the Assembly and also aim to equip the attendees to work back in their home congregations. And yes, there is time for a bit of fun as well.

This year’s Overnight kicks off at 7 PM local time today, 24 April, at the Faith Mission Centre in Portadown, Northern Ireland, and runs until 9 PM the next day. Each congregation is invited to send representatives to the event.

The SPUD web page includes a short video about the event and the presenter, Helen from the SPUD working group, specifically mentions topics within the church like outreach, community, and youth leadership, as well as the wider societal issues such as “abortion, the conscience clause and sexuality.”

If you want to follow along on social media the starting points are the PCI SPUD Youth Assembly Facebook page and their Twitter feed @pciSPUD. They are promoting the hashtag #useyourvoice, but it is not exclusive to this event. Other official Twitter feeds that might be active during the event are the one for PCI YAC – the church’s Youth And Children Board of which SPUD is a part – at @PCIYAC, as well as the church’s official assembly feed at @pciassembly.

It is worth noting that SPUD is active throughout the year in many different ways, as you can see on their PCI YAC web page. In particular, their GA Fringe event was a success last year so they will be doing it again this year. And in addition to this Overnight event, they did regional events with the SPUD On Tour theme.

So as the SPUD delegates gather we wish them a good weekend of discussion and fun and look forward to their input at the Assembly in just over a month.