Sligo19: Young Adults

Miryam Lightbody is writing with VOX Magazine at the New Wine Ireland summer conference in Sligo this week. She’ll be sharing insights from the collection of community events and gatherings taking place outside of the regular talks and teachings so that you can catch the rhythm of Sligo19 ‘outside the box.’ 

Young Adults’ Evening 

Monday 15 July

Lucy Peppiatt and Peter Lynas were on the Young Adults’ question panel in the Chapel on Monday night. Here’s Miryam’s experience:

The Young Adults’ ministry team are running events this week at Sligo19 to disciple the younger generation. The Q and A session in the Chapel on Monday night was a great chance to debate together on the issues that directly affect our generation.

The Chapel was set up to encourage discussion, with round tables to gather around and lots of sweets and crisps to munch on. 

Lucy Peppiatt and Peter Lynas got a chance to introduce themselves and share a bit of their story with the audience before getting into the questions that people in the audience had submitted.

It was interesting to hear what topics were on the hearts of the Young Adults who attended. It became very clear that gender politics and how to engage with people who are of a different sexual orientation was something of meaning to the audience. Lucy Peppiatt advised us to be discerning – that an ongoing family issue and a conversation with a passer-by are to be handled very differently. 

Another area of discussion was the ethics of sharing our faith in a professional context. Peter Lynas warned to be careful of power relations – that sharing with a patient for example in a medical context isn’t usually a good idea whereas we can freely chat with colleagues. 

The place of women in leadership also arose as a topic on the hearts of the young adults in the Chapel. Lucy’s response, as a theologian and writer of a book illuminating how the New Testament restores women’s position as equal leaders, responded firmly in favour of female leadership.

The crowd were friendly and the speakers inspired much post-panel discussion amongst everyone in the Chapel. More than anything it was very clear that the speakers and leaders from the Q and A have a real heart to address the issues that Young Adults face and it was especially valuable that Young Adults themselves were given freedom to direct the evening themselves with their own questions.