As I write this the 2016 National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland will be getting underway in Stirling. I have frequently expressed my appreciation for this event because it provides a forum for young adults (ages 17-25) to get together and discuss contemporary issues and how they interact with society and their faith. Furthermore, their discussions and conclusions are then presented to the Church of Scotland General Assembly the following May. (If you are interested in more detail, have a look at the National Youth Assembly report to the 2016 Assembly as well as their longer Supplementary report which has more detail and narrative as well as pictures.) In addition, other entities within the Kirk, like the Church of Scotland Guild and the Go For It initiative work with the NYA and its leadership.
So this year’s Assembly convenes the evening of Friday August 19 and will adjourn mid-day on Monday August 22. It will be meeting again this year at Gartmore House in Stirlingshire.
The discussion topics this year are Gender Justice, Mental Health, and The Future of Ministry And Fresh Expressions. This is an event with a moderate profile in Scotland and the Minister for Mental Health Maureen Watt MSP will address the Assembly delegates on Sunday concerning what the Scottish Government is doing to address the problem. The NYA Facebook page is one way to follow along with these discussions as well as to see links to some of the background readings that were posted in advance of the Assembly.
The new NYA Moderator is Andrew MacPherson and the Clerk will be Lyndasy Kennedy and you can read more about them in the Kirk press release from April. In addition, a new article was posted yesterday previewing the weekend and giving some of the late-breaking details.
The best way to follow along is certainly Twitter so keep an eye on the hashtag #nya2016. You should also be looking at the official NYA account (@cosy_nya) as well as the NYA Moderator Account (@nyamoderator). Also a chance you will see something on Andrew’s personal account (@StAndrewMac). The NYA will be covered by the curated account Church Scotland Voices (@churchscovoices) under the operation of Fiona Marshall for the weekend who can also be found on her personal account, @LikeWatervrDude. And we can expect an appearance of the Church of Scotland Moderator, Rt. Rev. Dr. Russell Barr, who tweets at the official account (@churchmoderator). Might see something on the Moderator’s official Facebook page as well. Other groups include the Go For It initiative who will be there (@GoForItcofs) as well as representatives from the United Reformed Church’s Youth Assembly in January (@URC_youth). And probably worth including the official Kirk account @churchscotland. Finally, let me include two individual accounts, that of the Minister for Mental Health, Maureen Watt, mentioned above (@maureensnp) and the Rev.Liz Crumlish who works with, and will be representing, the CofS Path of Renewal project (@eacbug). UPDATE: And I missed Lyndasy Kennedy, the Clerk, at @GhettoSmurf90.
And so, with that, I will wish the delegates and staff of the 2016 NYA well and know that we will be praying for them this weekend. It will probably take a bit for some of their deliberations, decisions and recommendations to be processed and reported, but we look forward to hearing about those at the appropriate time. And have a wonderful weekend of fellowship, discernment and spiritual renewal.