Well, it is the beginning of September and for a G.A. Junkie that means it is time to start following the National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

I have come to really appreciate and enjoy the annual NYA because of the close link it has to the church’s General Assembly and for the serious business it does while still having a lot of fun.  Rather than my trying to describe the NYA, here is the beginning of their description of themselves from the About page on the NYA blog:

The National Youth Assembly is a residential weekend for people aged
between 16 and 25 to voice their opinions in the Church of Scotland.
This annual event attracts young people from all over Scotland, with all
different backgrounds. The main focus of the weekend is to debate
subjects and put together deliverances to go in front of the General
Assembly on how we would like things to change, how we could help things
along or simply to thank or applaud work that has already been done.
The debate topics change each year and can be anything from “Fashion” to
“Politics”, “Poverty” and “Climate Change”. As well as hearing from
guest speakers there is also a chance to attend workshops on things like
Noisy Worship, information about charities, CosyCoffeeHouse, life
experiences etc. and time to spend socialising! Each day begins and ends
in worship, praise and a time to spend with God. Come. Open your heart
and let God lead you. You may be surprised!

This year the theme is “love life,” based on John 10:10.  The Assembly will get underway tomorrow, September 2, at 8:30 pm at the University of Stirling. The meeting concludes on Monday afternoon, September 5.

The big news is that for the first time some of the sessions will be streamed on the web. This group is also all over Twitter (it has been known to trend) and they are using the hashtag #nya11 this year. The official Twitter feed is @cosy_nya and watch for them to create a list of others tweeting from NYA11.

I have not seen much information about the conference posted yet, such as the schedule or the topics to be discussed, but you might want to keep an eye on the official cosyblog for news, updates and probably the official materials. Cosyblog also has a photo stream on flickr.

Not much more to say at the moment — I will update above as the meeting develops. Prayers for the NYA and best wishes for this great event where young adults can participate in the deliberative and discernment work of the church.