CEYC Update
Details
Below is an article summarising the Church of England Youth Council Residential which took place 13th to 15th November 2009 at High Leigh:
On Friday 13th November, around 20 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 battled somewhat adverse weather conditions to gather for the Church of England Youth Council's yearly residential meeting. The weekend's theme was to be "Body, Mind and Soul", taken from Matthew, ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.' (Matt. 22:37) After introductions and dinner, the evening's proceedings began with prayer and worship and some activities to help us get to know each other better. We then broke down into small groups for discussion and ended the evening with a service of compline.
Saturday commenced with Morning Prayer, followed by breakfast and Morning Worship, before beginning discussion of Christian life and ethics, a central theme for the weekend. We considered the way a Christian should live, why they should live in such a way, how a Christian should relate to others and how non-Christians relate to Christians. This soon developed into a discussion of what a Christian response to ethical issues such as the environment and assisted suicide should be, looking at not just our response but also how we relate to the opinions and responses of others. The topic proved challenging and evoked much debate but was tackled sensitively and I am sure all would agree that we learnt not just about how we respond to others but also a lot about ourselves.
After a much needed break, we reconvened to discuss specifically the issue of assisted dying, in preparation for a debate later in the day. This again proved both challenging and thought provoking with many views expressed, but was approached in a similarly sensitive way. The afternoon brought some rest from discussion and debate with time to do a prayer labyrinth, prepare drama and music for the evening Eucharist and a workshop looking at liturgy in the Church of England. The workshop looking at liturgy proved especially interesting, broadening our outlooks on the different ways in which we worship and how resources for worship can be made more easily and widely accessible. We then reassembled together to debate the issue of assisted suicide and whether the Church of England Youth Council supports the conclusion of General Synod that there should be no change in the law regarding assisted suicide. A sustained, but at the same time sensitive and respectful, debate resulted in the Church of England Youth Council supporting the view expressed by the Church of England. In the evening we partook in a Eucharist service, followed by dinner, Bible study and a party to celebrate the fifth birthday of the Church of England Youth Council.
The sensible amongst us retreated to bed at a reasonable hour and were somewhat less sleep deprived at Sunday's Morning Prayer than those of us who continued conversations into the early hours of the morning. Following breakfast, elections took place for the positions of secretary, core group member and Board of Education representative. We also heard reports from the Church of England Youth Council representatives who attended General Synod and Churches Together in England. We then discussed radical faith, looking at how each of us could live radically, before breaking into regional groups and then into different small groups for a final Bible study, concluding with a time of worship together. We said our farewells over lunch and departed to the train station to head back to our various parts of the country, taking with us new friendships, new ideas and a new encouragement and revived sense of the role and importance of the participation of young people in the Church of England.
Article written by Rebekah Clark, one of the CEYC representatives for St Albans Diocese
Short links
http://www.albandys.org.uk/go/church_of_england_youth_council_update
http://www.albandys.org.uk/go/242