Tag: Youth

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Nurturing all-age connection and community

Society around us constantly divides and labels people on the basis of their age. We are divided into generational cohorts and given nicknames that supposedly summarise our most defining characteristic: ‘Boomers’; ‘Gen Y’; ‘Millennials.’

These divisions serve political and marketing purposes, but they leave our community fractured. The Gospel of Jesus, however, reconciles us to God and calls us beyond boundaries of age, gender, ability and culture, into community together, to be formed by one another as together we love and serve a world in need.

Churches are increasingly aware of the need to recover the values, practices and skills for gatherings with all generations together. Multi-generational, multi-age, all-age, crossgenerational and intergenerational approaches offer us different ways of healing the divisions in our gatherings and create the potential for new spaces of engagement with those not yet part of a faith community.

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Life’s big questions over Elevenses

With a name inspired by JR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Elevenses at Trinity North Uniting Church is a discussion-led worship group making a big impact in the lives of the people who attend. In the book, Elevenses is a meal break taken by Hobbits at 11.00am. Although they do provide refreshments, at Trinity North, Elevenses is so much more than just a snack.

While the group has been beneficial for the young adults who attend, it is not specifically aimed at young people and attracts members of all ages. Its intergenerational scope has created a space where people can explore life’s big questions with others who have different perspectives.

Jana MacAdam is a member of Trinity North Uniting Church, Greenwood Worshipping Community, and a first-year university student. Feeling too old for youth group, Jana felt she needed more theological discussion than traditional Sunday morning worship could provide. On approaching her church council, she found they too had been discussing how they could provide a space for young adults to explore their faith.

“We found there was a need for something to cover the gap,” said Jana. “We’ve got the youth group and that’s really running well, but then you’ve got nothing for anyone who’s too old for youth group, and nothing on a Sunday.”

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All-inclusive games for emerging youth

Having taken part in State Youth Games for a number of years, the Uniting Church team, U Team, this year also took part in the Emerging Youth Games on 22 April at Warwick Stadium, Perth.

While State Youth Games is a weekend event in Bunbury for young people aged 16 and over, Emerging Youth Games invites kids in years 7–10 for a one-day all-inclusive event. Ten people joined  the U Team this year, coming from Nedlands, Mt Pleasant and The Billabong Uniting Churches, with around 20 teams taking part.

Emerging Youth Games is organised by Youth Vision, a division of the Churches of Christ in WA. Churches from across the state put together teams who compete in a range of games designed to  include people of all abilities.

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Building ties through service learning

Through the service learning program at Wesley College, a relationship has formed between the Uniting Church WA school in South Perth and Cyril Jackson Senior Campus, in Bassendean.

Cyril Jackson Senior Campus is a school in Bassendean which caters to year 11 and 12. It offers alternative learning, enrolling some students who have been expelled from other schools, and  refugees from around the world.

Five years ago, the Zonta Club of Perth was offering scholarships to female students at Cyril Jackson, giving Wesley College the idea to offer scholarships to the male students. With the aim of  raising enough money to give two $500 scholarships, in the first two years, three were actually awarded. In 2014 and 2015, three scholarships of $600 were awarded. Last year, three scholarships  of $750 were awarded. In addition, the recipients receive a Wesley Sports Bag including a hat, pen, shorts and water bottle.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Intergenerational bonding in Busselton

Finding common ground and activities for people of different ages is not always easy, but when you do, it can be a beautiful thing. The ‘blokes’ of Busselton Uniting Church semi-regularly get together for a meal at a local pub, but their February gathering was different. They were looking for something they could invite younger people to that would help foster relationships and  connection across the generations, so decided on lawn bowling.

On a balmy summer’s evening, 29 of us gathered to compete and eat pizza. Players ranged in age from 7 to 89 with everyone placed in an intergenerational team. There was plenty of banter and no hamstring tears to report.

The best part of the gathering was seeing the interaction between the different ages; common ground was found and relationships formed that will no doubt cross over to Sunday morning and  beyond.

Andy Broadbent

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From the Archives: KUCA

In 1978, the year after union of the Uniting Church in Australia, the South Australian synod started planning a children’s rally, KUCA (Kids of the Uniting Church in Australia). Their first rally was held in 1979, the International Year of the Child.

In 1984, the Uniting Church WA launched a KUCA rally of its own, and by 1985 there were 52 Sunday Schools and other children’s groups affiliated with it, with around 500 children involved. The first overnight camp took place in Parkerville in October 1985, giving rural groups the opportunity to stay overnight.

A newsletter, YAK (You and KUCA), was produced by the Uniting Church SA, in conjunction with other synods, filled with puzzles, activities, poems and stories. For many years, the organisers of  KUCA produced a t-shirt transfer, which was widely recognised and worn by many people around the Uniting Church WA. The KUCA costume, a kookaburra body suit, was also a hit for many campers.

KUCA camp is now known as KCO (Kids’ Camp Out) and still attracts congregation groups from all over the Uniting Church WA. It has evolved a lot over the years, now incorporating junior  leaders and a synod wide event on the Saturday evening. Turn to page 13 for pictures from the most recent KCO, held in March. This year, KCO held a birthday party for the Uniting Church’s 40th Anniversary.

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Happy birthday from KCO

This year, Kids’ Camp Out (KCO) celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia with a massive birthday party.

Kids from congregations all over the Uniting Church WA joined in with party food, games and dancing on the Saturday night of the camp, 18 March. The night included well-loved party games such as pin the tail on the donkey, limbo, giant jenga and pass the parcel. A disco dance rounded off the night before campers headed back to their congregation groups for a story and supper.

Members of the wider Uniting Church WA were also invited to join in the celebrations with the adults playing their own party game; trying to land bouncy balls into cups.

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Making a Messy Church connection

The Messy Church congregation at Albany Uniting Church has been running for around three years, led by a group of retired members of the Sunday morning congregation. All aged between 65–85, these 13 leaders are dedicated to bridging a gap between the generations and sharing their faith with the community.

Each month, a Messy Church service is held in the Lockyer building of Albany Uniting Church. The service involves craft activities, stories, songs and discussion, followed by a shared meal.

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Faith and friendship at Yurora

Yurora NCYC 2017, the Uniting Church in Australia’s National Christian Youth Convention, had its genesis in 1955. These days it is a festival of art, music, theology and fellowship.

Yurora runs for five days every two to three years with hundreds of young people from across Australia attending. This year, it was held from 8–12 January in Sydney with a program including Canadian group  Tim Neufield and the Glory Boys, and a whole crowd of Australian artists, including Pirate Church, who feature in this edition’s profile story on page 6.

Covering dozens of important social and theological topics, festival goers attended sessions throughout the day learning about issues like reconciliation, multicultural worship, the intersection of  environmental care and theology and a host of other hot issues.

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Sit, chat and wander at Campfire

Over the September long weekend, 125 people from Uniting Churches around WA descended on the small, Wheatbelt town of Lake Yealering for Campfire 2016.

Campfire is run by the Pastoral  Network of Evangelicals Uniting in Mission Action (PNEUMA) with the express aim of encouraging and resourcing people for mission. It is also a fantastic weekend of relaxing and hanging out  with friends – old and new.

Andrew Hamilton, part-time retic guy and part-time pastor of Quinns Baptist Church, was guest speaker this year with his three sessions focusing on ‘The practices of sent people,’ ‘Living lives that are different’ and ‘Speaking of Jesus.’ Andrew’s sessions were engaging and practical with plenty of time for discussion.

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