Lydia Raddings, has written this article on a recent Ecumenical Gathering she attended – Junction 25. Lydia is a member of Beeston Hill United Church, a committed member of the URC Youth and a new member of Yorkshire’s Children and Young People’s Committee……
“Over the weekend of the 31st of January to the 2nd of February, myself and a couple of other young adults from the URC attended an Ecumenical gathering of young adults near Doncaster at Dearne Valley Activity Centre. The event was organised by the URC, Methodist, The Church of Scotland, Baptist and the Quakers. During the weekend we participated in workshops on evangelism, relationships and we had time to have some open discussions on all aspects of our church life. We were also able to relax and play games with each other and participate in activities such as climbing, archery and a walk across a viaduct. We ended the weekend with worship that was planned by the young adults who attended the weekend.
The workshops and discussions through the weekend were focused on what is important to young people and what may be seen as taboo conversations to have in our own churches. In one session we discussed whether the church is ready for generation Z relationships. It was a safe space where we were able to have honest discussions without the fear of judgment which allowed us to learn from each other and question what we took as fact. For example, we were trying to discern what relationships are currently accepted by the church. I challenged my group who thought being single is accepted by the church. We came to the understanding that it is not easy if you are single. There is a pressure to find a partner and have children with constant questions about when you will settle down and marry.We had an opportunity to discuss in small groups, topics such as what do young people look for when finding a new church and how to be more Christ-like. On the final evening, we played a game in small groups that encouraged us to have conversations about deeper topics like spirituality, politics and more taboo topics. It was refreshing to be able to speak freely without the fear of being too political or controversial. It is rare in a church setting that we get to have these discussions let alone with people our age, to be given the space to do so was valued.
The weekend allowed us to build relationships with other young Christians around our age, which we would not have been able to otherwise. It was interesting to see how different everyone’s life was despite being around the same age with some being in first year of university and others in a steady job with a place of their own. Many of us were one of the few at their church or in many cases the only one, so being given the opportunity to meet other young Christians was appreciated. I come from an LEP (Local Ecumenical Partnership) church which is formed by Baptist, Methodist and the URC. And often can feel like I am being forced into a box where I am seen as a singular denomination despite me not identifying as that. It allowed me a space to accept all my identities within the church and educate others about LEPs, in addition to meeting others who are from LEPs too. Because of Junction 25 I now have friends in different denominations and I know that if I went to a Methodist or Baptist event, I would not have to worry about not being accepted. Towards the end of the weekend, I was having a conversation with one of the other young people who said it was nice to be able to have positive experiences with other denominations because they had previously had a negative experience. They said that because of this event they would be much more willing to work more ecumenically in the future. This was the overall theme of the weekend. We were asked what the Church would look like if it was led by the young people and the answer from the majority of us was that it would be more together ecumenically.
Events like this should always be supported and championed by the URC as it is in our basis of union that we should aim for a united church of God. Events like this are monumental in fostering and enabling our young people to create vital connections to the churches outside of our denomination.”
Images by Freely