So its been quite a while since I blogged here – 5 years or so! I have been blogging through other sites – COSY/ Church of Scotland World Mission/ Choices Aberdeen and a few others.

A lot has happened in that time – I’m now a Father to an awesome son; I no longer work in Youth Ministry – Linda and I started our own Art and Photography business 4 years ago. Various other events and experiences have shaped my life in that time – some positive, some negative, all have changed and grown me.

I’m hoping to get blogging on a much more regular basis, I miss it, I enjoyed it and I feel like I have something to share that people might be interested in!?

Lets see how it goes…

Peace Out

On Wednesday, the new Aberdeen Family, Youth and Childrens ministry network met for the first time.
It was a successful meeting. Our aims are purely to meet together regularly to pray together, share what is happening in the ministries we’re involved in, any issues we need help with/ want to share with others and generally just support each other!
There were 7 of us there on Wed, although there are a number of others we know of who couldn’t make it. If you are involved in any of the relevant ministries in Aberdeen or the surrounding area or know of anyone who could benefit from this network then drop me a line as a comment at the end of this blog and we’ll get you them in the loop. We’ve set up an online network page using Ning, although it is a closed group, so an invite is necessary to join the group.
Tony and I are quite excited about the potential of this network and for the blessing it can be for those involved in these areas of ministry.
For me, the drive to set up this network comes as a response to a lot of the stuff that I have witnessed/ experienced over the last 9 years being involved in Youth ministry, but especially the last 4 years when I’ve been employed as a full time youth worker/ pastor. If you would like to be involved in this network, that’s awesome! If you aren’t in the area, then please pray for us as we go forward with this and why not set up something similar in your own area?

We next meet on November 10th at 2:30pm, location TBD.

In the meantime, here are some photos from Wednesday:

Tomorrow is an exciting day. It marks the first meeting of the new Aberdeen Youth/ Childrens/ Family ministry network (our first job is to come up with a catchier name!).
It’s being set up by myself and Tony Chadwick, who is the youth pastor at IBC (International Baptist Church).
We’ve both discerned a need for this kind of network in the city. We aim to meet for prayer, mutual support and most likely some sort of caffeinated drink!
We’re meeting at 2pm at Crown Terrace Baptist ( http://www.crownterracebaptistchurch.org.uk ).
Everyone is welcome to join us, please come along!

Today Linda and I are celebrating our 4th Wedding Anniversary! Yay!
So I thought that I would dedicate my blog post today to her. Yes, yes, it may get soppy, but thats ok!
We’ve been together as a couple for just over 6 years, we got married young (I was 21, she was 19) but there’s no point hanging around when you know you’ve met the right person!
The last 4 years (as a couple) have been awesome, which has made the difficult stuff going on around us that bit easier to bear. Without Linda I’m sure I wouldn’t have coped so well the last few years.
It’s an amazing privilege to be married to Linda, I couldn’t have a better wife!
She has a remarkable gift for putting up with all my bad habits, and I have no idea where she gets the patience to put up with all my daft ideas!
So happy anniversary Linda (Yes people, I did get her a present!) here’s to many more happy years!

Today marks a year to the day that I started blogging.
It’s been quite a year: so much has happened and I’ve changed in many, many ways!
I feel much more settled in myself since last year, a lot more confident in myself and much happier in general!
Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, especially those who’ve given feedback via comments or private messages to me. I don’t blog so that I can feel important or see how many people are reading my thoughts, I blog for various reasons: to share thoughts/ resources/ funnies/ articles/ photos with others and to help me reflect on things that have happened or are happening.
As much as the stats aren’t important to me, it does help when I’m feeling uninspired or think that what I’ve shared is tripe that I can see that people keep looking!
So here’s to another year, hopefully as eventful as the last year, but without a lot less tragedy!
This year marks an important transition time in my life, something I’ll be reflecting on quite a bit in the coming months. It’s been great to be able to share it with so many!

Peace out

NYA has been pretty awesome so far.
It’s slightly bizarre thatm after being hosted by the Apex hotel in Dundee for 6 years, we’re in a sprawling University campus in Stirling. Usually everyone would be on top of one another, everything would happen within 2 minutes walk of each other. Instead, there is a good 10 minute walk from Accomodation to many of the places we are using, not much, but it gives you an idea of how much bigger the space we have is.
Usually, where I would sit during NYA to relax and reflect would be filled with 300 other NYA delegates and staff trying to catch up with friends, make new ones or refelcet on happenings as well. Instead, I find myself just now reflecting in a huge lobby, that is silent apart from the A.C. It’s wierd. But I quite like the silence.
I’m posting a wee bit on the NYA2009 blog aboutgeneral happenings etc, but on here I wanted to be selfish and reflect on the parts of the weekend that I’ve been directly involved with so far, specifically the social media aspects, sport, a worship session and relationships.
As I previously blogged, i’m delighted this year to serve the NYA through 3 mediums I’m passionate about: Sport, photography and social media.
I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the social media side of things, wandering around talking to people about their impressions of the weekend and what they have enjoyed so far, we’re hoping to put together a blog post and a video of such thoughts before the end of the weekend.
Sport, I love sport, today we had 3 hours of sport: Ultimate Frisbee, Badminton and Golf. Everyone seemed to have a good time and there was some good banter going around, i’ve always maintained that sports are great for people getting to know one another…a great tool for Youth Ministry.
Photography. Today I led a worship session exploring the idea of worshipping or praying, using a camera as a medium. It’s been interesting preparing that slot, exlporing within myslef what worship is, how I worship, what prayer is, how I pray, does photojournalism inform this idea of worshipping through a lens? Later I’ll write a blog post about that session, would be good to get some feedback on my thoughts!
Tonight we’re having a bit of a fancy meal and a fun presentation ceremony, will be a good night, I’m sure I heard mention of a ceildih and a Jazz band!!!
I’m loving being a part of NYA2009, its one of those events where I can’t wait for it to happen, but at the same time I don’t want it to end!!!
I had some good chat last night as a part of my role as a ‘Houseparent’. Chatting to some folks about what NYA means to them and how it has influenced their lives. The number of young people, myself included, who have been so positively influenced by this event is astounding. Without doubt, the long lasting legacy of NYA will be a long list of lives changed for the better, people inspired and enabled to serve God.

Peace Out

Today is the day!

The Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly starts today! As I’ve previously blogged, this is an awesome event! Close to 300 young Christians from around Scotland will be gathering in Stirling as of this afternoon to spend a weekend together exploring what it means to be Christian in Scotland in the 21st century and how we interact with the rest of the body of Christ.

There is so much going on this weekend, I can’t begin to describe it all! I’m excited about my contribution, I’m away to go for breakfast so can’t describe it all fully just now. But basically, I’m serving NYA with 3 of my greatest passions this weekend: I’m leading 9 hours of sporting activities over the weekend, I’m doing a session called ‘worship through a lens’ and I@m part of a team blogging and twittering about the weekend. It’s great to be able to use my passion to serve a community that has given so much to me over the years!

Must dash, food calls!

Peace out

This weekend, the Church of Scotland holds its National Youth Assembly (NYA), held this year at Stirling University.
NYA has been an important part of my life since I first went in 2000. It was at NYA2000 that I gave my life to Christ and embarked on the incredible journey I’ve been on for the last 9 years. This will be my 7th NYA since 2000, I’ve attended under various guises: delegate/ staff/ organiser.

So what is NYA? It’s a youth event run by the Church of Scotland for 16 – 25 year olds. Over the course of the weekend we debate issues facing the Church, attend seminars designed to help us with our faith journey, have ceilidhs, eat together, generally just having fellowship with other Christians at the same stage of life as us.

What is it about NYA thats made it so important to me? As well as the life changing event of giving my life to Christ in 2000, each and every year I’ve attended has changed me for the better. When I first attended, I was 16, severely lacking in self – confidence and entirely unsure of who I was and where I was going in life. It didn’t change instantly, but as the years passed I grew in confidence and was much more assured of who I was. Was it NYA that caused this change in me? To put it simply, yes. The part of the event that changed me the most has always been the people I meet there. Some of my closest friends are people I”ve met through NYA. Indeed, the 2 most inspirational people in my faith and professional journey I met at NYA2000: Paul Beautyman and Steve Mallon. Amongst the many people who have inspired, mentored and encouraged me, their ‘investment’ in me has had the greatest affect on me (not to belittle the many other great people who have taken me under their wing!). Over the years I’ve met hundreds of young Christians at NYA, I can only hope I’ve had half the impact on their lives as they’ve had on mine.

Many of the debates and seminars over the years have encouraged me to explore my faith in relation to real life, how does what I read in the Bible connect with life? The many, many conversations, debates and people I’ve experienced over the years have enabled me to have what I think is the greatest asset in my approach to faith: an open mind. I don’t always agree with what people say or how they approach faith, but instead of being abrasive, I love having the opportunity to be able to chat to people and hear their story and how they got to have the approach they have.

I believe know that I have matured so much in the last 9 years. My involvement in NYA, and everything that has come out of that (General Assembly Youth Reps, World Youth Day, Impact, many friendships and much more) has grown me so much more than anything else I could have been involved in. I can’t think of anything else I could have been involved in that would have allowed me to be pushed out of my comfort zone so much, to learn so much, to grow so much. I’m eternally gratefully for NYA and for everything it has led to in my life.

I can’t wait for this weekend, although I’m a little sad that it will be the last NYA I can ever attend as a delegate. After this year I’ll be too old! I hope I’ve matured enough to move on from this chapter of my life in a positive way. One of my characteristics is that I’m incredibly nostalgic. I love revisiting memories and photos, thinking back to the awesome things and people I’ve experienced. Without doubt, my days as an NYA delegate will be up at the top of the list of happy memories.

If you’re there this year, I look forward to seeing you. If you’re not and have been before, we’ll miss you, if you’ve never been, I’m sad for you!

Keep an eye out over the weekend on my blog, the NYA Blog and on twitter (#nya2009) to hear about whats going on this year.

Peace Out

So, in less than 2 weeks the annual Church of Scotland National Youth assembly will be starting. To enable those outwith the assembly to still be somewhat connected to the assembly, we are utilising twitter and blogging. For those of you who use twitter, you can follow the youth assembly in 2 ways: you can follow what the ‘official’ youth assembly twitter account is saying by following @cosy_nya or, if you are writing about NYA or want to see what others are writing about NYA include the tag #nya2009 or do a twitter search for the same and it shall all be connected!
You can also follow what some of the staff/ delegates are writing about NYA by following the ‘official’ NYA blog at http://cosyblog.wordpress.com

Enjoy!

Peace out

Chris

Today marks me working with Blue Horizon for 2 weeks now. I feel like I’m settling in well, getting on well with the staff and really enjoying the aspects of my job I’ve discovered so far!
But this post isn’t about me and how I’m fitting in, it’s about a bus. One of the many exciting areas of the project that helps make Blue Horizon a unique project in Aberdeen, quite possibly even Scotland! Here’s what our website says about the point of the bus:

* A safe and welcoming place where young people can hang out, meet friends and enjoy evenings in their neighbourhoods.
* A café and meeting area within the bus, fitted out with audio and visual technology, game stations, and a cafe area.
* A team of youth oriented volunteers and workers to facilitate activities and available to discuss issues and problems.
* A hub for a range of street based, park or car park youth activities such as street football, hockey, skateboard.
* A venue for informal learning enabling young people to explore through different media youth relevant issues, beliefs and choices.
* A point of contact with other youth support services.

It is an awesome project to have on the go. I’m looking forward to going out with the bus once it starts up again this week and seeing it in action!

In the meantime, here are some photos I took when visiting the bus for the first time yesterday:

The Bus along with Ali, who takes care of it for Blue Horizon

Stairs and the kitchen area at the front of the bus

Games console area at the back of the bottom deck

Video area at the back of the top deck

front of the top deck, comfy seats, a 1-1 booth and a wee soundproof music room at the front

The 1-1 booth, used if a young person wants to speak to a member of the bus staff

The soundproof music room at the front of the bus

As my time with Blue Horizon goes on, I’ll be posting more about some of the awesome stuff the staff here do, I’m considering starting a Blue Horizon Blog…?

In the meantime, I encourage you to go to our website, and if you have any question please don’t hesitate to email me, or a relevant member of staff. All our email addresses are available on the website.

Peace out