United Reformed Church

URC Youth Assembly Round-Up 2022

Youth Assembly 2022 was a blast. Our theme was Jubilee, marking the United Reformed Church’s (URC) 50th anniversary.

For the first time in two years we came together as young people to share what makes us passionate and to spend time with God.

Youth Assembly this year was slightly different due to Covid-19 – we wore masks 24/7, abided by one-way systems and refrained from hugging our friends.

However, that didn’t stop us from having a fantastic time!

We were joined by our ecumenical friends from the Congregational Federation, Quakers, the Methodist Youth President and Churches Together in England.

For the first time, we livestreamed our worship and keynotes. These were based around the theme for Youth Assembly: “JUBILEE – Commemorate the past, celebrate the now, create the future”.

Our worship was led by the Revd Dr Phil Wall. We were joined by the Revd Dr Michael Jagessar, who led our Commemorate keynote; the Revd Fran Kissack, who led our Celebrate keynote; and the Revd Samantha Sheehan, who led our Create keynote.

Watch on our Youth Work YouTube channel.

We took time to Celebrate with a good old-fashioned pub quiz and made bunting.

Create, a sensory session, gave us the chance to get a bit crafty.

Commemorate was a chance to look back at the past and celebrate good things that have come from it, including inducting the new Youth Executive.

Youth Assembly 2022 said a sad goodbye to the longest serving URC Youth Moderator, Reuben Watt.

We elected Philippa Osei as our new Moderator-Elect, Laura Everard as General Assembly and Assembly Executive Representative, and Megan Westgarth and Alanna Hurman (job-share) as the new Equality and Diversity Representatives.

We also inducted new Synod Youth Representatives, along with myself as Youth Moderator, and I am looking forward to working closely with them.  

Jo Harris, URC Youth Moderator

Photos from the weekend

Tap on each image to see a larger version of it.

A Rocha UK eco-recognition for URC Youth Assembly

URC Youth have displayed a strong commitment to ‘get its own house in order’, introducing innovation to ensure that its events and meetings are as environmentally friendly as possible, considering travel, food, energy, waste and sustainability.

In recent years, Youth Assembly passed resolutions urging the URC to recognise the climate emergency and divest from fossil fuels.

These were agreed and adopted by General Assembly and have influenced policies at Synod and local church level.

In the letter of commendation to URC Youth, Andy Atkins, CEO of A Rocha UK, and Helen Stephens, Church Relations Manager for Eco Church, said: “Thank you for being such a significant part of this movement and for helping the whole of the URC to respond to the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Please continue to make your voices heard, to demand action and accountability from leaders and to take practical actions yourselves such as you are doing in running your event in an as environmentally sustainable a way as possible. Leading by example is so powerful.”

What people said about Youth Assembly

Maya Withall, Wessex Synod Youth Representative

This year was my first URC Youth Assembly. Although I helped to plan it as part of URC Youth Executive, I had no knowledge of what it was like.

Having a fresh view of Youth Assembly, I can see why it is such a loved ‘event of the year’. It was a collection of diverse individuals all brought together for their love of God. It allowed people to meet others from all around the UK that they would otherwise never have had a chance to, and to reconnect with people they hadn’t seen for a long while.

Across the weekend, I could see how powerful the voice of the young people is in our Church. I enjoyed YOUth Decide (the sessions where we discuss motions), as you got to vote on what you wanted and everyone, no matter their role, was able to voice their opinions.

With the great worship, keynote speakers and evening entertainment, as well as the overall friendly environment and the support team of the CYDOs, it really was a great weekend and I can’t wait until next year.

Ed Rugg, Quaker Youth Representative

URC Youth and Quaker Junior Yearly Meeting have a lot in common. Our events provide a space in the church for young people to be themselves and, in many, many cases are the only places where true spiritual experiences occur. Fellowship, both spiritual and temporal, is what binds us – URC, Quakers, Youth Church – together. I have experienced both kinds in abundance here.

Shermara Fletcher, CTE’s Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multicultural Relations

URC Youth’s dedication to ecumenism was echoed throughout the assembly with a constant reminder that the unifying of Churches was a part of their foundation fifty years ago. URC Youth showed a joyful and renewed commitment to following their ecumenical legacy. […] let this inspiring vision be a sign to the Churches across Britain.

Download Youth Assembly Round-ups

United Reformed Church