By Uniting Church in Australia Assembly
Posted in Culture
Since the conclusion of Yuróra 2017, the National Christian Youth Convention held from 8-12 January in Sydney, the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly has posted several reflections on the event. New Times online has gathered these together and republished these for South Australian readers who may have missed them. The February/March 2017 print edition of New Times will provide further reflections from SA attendees and others.
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Yuróra unites us
Stuart McMillan
Yuróra was for me a wonderful opportunity to take the pulse of our Church.
I cried with joy several times as I sat in the auditorium young people leading the gathered community of Christ; a rich cultural, linguistic and theological diversity which is our Church and joined by representatives from six of our partner Churches in Asia and the Pacific.
We praise God together one in Christ.
At Monday night’s rally I preached: “That we Might Be One” and amongst other things I’m passionate about I shared this:
We are a multi-cultural Church, with over 190 migrant congregations worshipping in 26 languages.
My passion is that we become a truly “inter-cultural” community, one that is transformed by the Spirit into the kind of community I experience here at Yuróra, because the reality of our oneness is lived out among us in love.
That has been my Yuróra experience a rich intercultural community that loves Jesus and wants others to know the life giving, great love of God.
Interactive interfaith
Semisi Kailahi
When I led an interactive interfaith workshop at Yurora 2017, I was overwhelmed by the positive response from the youthful participants.
Together we explored how our faith shapes our identity and sense of belonging.
Through poetry and storytelling, we engaged the group in activities that explain how we falsely build barriers and how we can break down them down.
Tracing out their hands onto a piece of paper gave them five opportunities to break down any internalised stereotypes about themselves and others around them.
We created a space for wanted participants to acknowledge and break down their own preconceptions and biases.
We played a video of Amina Iro and Hannah Halpern from Washington DC’s Youth Slam Poetry Team where they inspired and entertained at the 2014 Common Ground Awards.
One participant spoke about how she yearns to have a culture as rich and vibrant as her Yurora counterparts.
“Yurora shows us all these amazing cultures with their dance and their song and then our white culture - it seems like we have nothing.”
After sharing, the group watched a video of Jamila Lyiscott delivering a poem titled “3 ways to speak English” before breaking off into small group discussion to think about the barriers of preconceptions and biases they feel.
The group was challenged thinking about how they overcome these barriers.
“Most people look at me and assume that I’m not intelligent, they think all I can talk about is sport” said one participant.
“People look at me and ask: what sport do you play? How long you been playing?”
“I love the multiculturalism of Yurora, but just walking around I see that cultural groups tend to stay together and I find it difficult to bridge the gap that because of my skin colour”
“Colour and Creed” came together with the help of April Robinson, the interfaith network developer in VIC/TAS Synod and Sahibajot Kaur from the Sikh community.
Becoming a mentally healthy church
Shane Gillard
A full house of Christian youth came together at Yurora to share their experiences with mental health and learn from each other.
Dr Robyn Goodwin is the Senior Clinical Supervisor at Uniting (NSW.ACT), and her aim was to create a safe space for participants to share their stories with the group.
“This is the time to talk with someone if you want to share your personal experience,” she said.
“While we as health professionals can understand symptoms and make a diagnosis, we aren’t always able to predict the underlying issue.”
Depression and anxiety are the top two mental health conditions faced by the Yurora age bracket.
“There’s a perfect storm happening in your adolescence where you grow as a person and take on new roles and responsibilities in your lives,” said Dr Goodwin.
“You’re at the developmental stage where you’re obsessed with yourself and what your friends are doing.”
Participants were moved by the openness of others on what is usually a difficult topic.
“We face the stigma of mental health every day, and that needs to be addressed,” one participant said.
“This is a positive step for us as Christian youth to take together.”
The workshop demystified the cycles of anxiety and depression, involving negative thoughts, behaviours and feelings that get in the way of everyday life.
Dr Goodwin helped participants understand the fears they were experiencing and how to approach them as they arise.
The best advice? Prevention is more effective than cure – the earlier you can get help, the better.
The workshop was facilitated by Christian Students Uniting, an inter-denominational Christian group on campus at the University of NSW, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney University and Macquarie University to open up a dialogue with young Christians about their mental health.
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A couple of years ago I was participating in a course which had a smattering of people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background. I would have said that they were good participants in class discussions but not the most active ones, and I gave little thought to it.
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