Hello all.
The last month has been a busy one for me and Kacie! We have continued with our Mods on Tour project, beginning in Northern Synod on 15 and 16 August.
There, we joined Neil Thorogood, the General Assembly Moderator, at Waddington Street URC (pictured above), where we were all given a tour of the church and adjacent mental health resource centre. It was fantastic to see the support which many vulnerable people in Durham are being offered there. It made me particularly proud as, from the end of September, Durham will be my city! That’s right, Northern Synod, I’m moving to Durham to study: if you need any advice on how to deal with me, please feel free to contact the Moderator and/or CYDO of East Midlands synod. Cake typically tends to buy you some time in which I will not be talking.
Speaking of cake and talking, Kacie and I also ran Cake and Debate sessions at Greenbelt. Across the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday lunch times in the youth venue, we focused on three topics: Toxic Masculinity, Political Activism, and Generative AI. It was an absolute privilege to get to run these sessions, especially with the support of three other members of Youth Exec: Korede, Christine and Zac.
The young people at Greenbelt represented a rather different demographic to those that I normally get to speak to in my role, with a relatively large proportion of agnostic people there. This made the opportunity to debate with them a particularly refreshing one, especially when paired with some of Kacie’s fantastic baking.
While we were at Greenbelt we received the shocking news that Pastor Robert Guanco had died in an accident at another Christian festival, Big Church. I understand that a lot has been said in the media since this tragedy, but I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our message of love and support for everyone affected. My prayers, and those of the rest of Youth Executive, are with you all.
Thank you again to everyone for all the support that Kacie and I have received over the past month. It was particularly lovely to hear from people after our first blog piece went out last month. I hope you all have a fantastic rest of September.
In his love,
Alex
Images: (main) Kacie and Alex with members of Waddington URC, Durham; (insert) Kacie (right) at Greenbelt with Neil Thorogood (centre) and URC Head of Communications, Andy Jackson