National Youth Assembly
The National Youth Assembly, often shortened to NYA, is an annual gathering of young people aged between 16 and 25 years old (inclusive) within the Church of Scotland. The event is run by the Mission & Discipleship Council of the Church, as part of Church of Scotland Youthwork (CoSY).
The 2013 event is held from 16 to 19 August, at the Westpark Conference Centre, Dundee.
Purpose
The primary aims of the event are twofold: to provide the youth of the Church with a safe space in which to explore their faith alongside what is for many an unprecedented company of young Christian, and to determine through debate what the youth of the Church have to say on various issues.
The NYA discusses different topics every year and determines what they wish to say on these topics through the medium of debate (deliberately akin to that of the General Assembly). The resultant statements of intent and belief are consolidated and made publicly available on the CoSYblog. These are also presented as part of a report to the General Assembly by the NYA Moderator.
Moderator
The Moderator chairs the debates throughout the weekend and is elected by the previous year's Youth Representatives, along with former Moderators and the Mission & Discipleship Council's Children and Young People Development Worker. A list of previous moderators is listed below:
- 2004/2005 Alison Thomson(now Alison Train)
- 2006/2007 Judith Taylor
- 2008/2009 Iain McLarty
- 2010 Kim Wood
- 2011 Amanda Philip
- 2012 Euan Patterson [1]
- 2013 Lynsey Martin
- 2014 Rachel Hutcheson
References
- ↑ "NYA Moderator". Church of Scotland. Retrieved 5 March 2013.