Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Official Report 745KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, for which our leader today is the Rev Bruce Sinclair, minister of Overtown parish church in Overtown, Wishaw.

Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, I recently discovered that, out of 845 ministers in the Church of Scotland, only 48 are under the age of 40 and only three are under the age of 30. I stand here as one of the 48—as a novelty, it would seem, or perhaps an anomaly, though when I was ordained in 2009, I did not think of myself as being either of those things.

I have found that there are many challenges to being a young minister working alongside a congregation but, equally, there are many joys and opportunities. One of the things that I am passionate about is encouraging and enabling young people to explore their faith.

Over the past four years, I have been involved in the Church of Scotland’s national youth assembly, which, like the Scottish Youth Parliament, is a forum for young people to challenge and feed into a national structure, and make sure that their voices are heard. By being encouraged to participate in that way, young people aged 17 to 25 can feel—and indeed are—more part of the church. Although it is not the event’s primary objective, some of those involved may even go forward for ministry.

The theme of the 2013 national youth assembly was identity, which encouraged the young people to explore who they are, to see themselves as valued within a faith community and to discover more about how they can be part of a society more broadly.

We are blessed with many faith traditions in Scotland, many of which are continually being challenged to draw together and involve all generations of their community in decision making. Secular communities in Scotland are no different. We are all challenged to live as a community together, both locally and nationally, and create a vision for our shared future. When I reflect on that, a verse from the Bible resonates deeply with me:

“Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters; your young will see visions, and your old will dream dreams.”

As a young minister looking at proceedings such as the national youth assembly and the Scottish Youth Parliament, I am continually impressed by the passionate commitment of many younger adults to making life and society a more tolerant and tolerable place for us all. I believe that their commitment to working together is a positive vision for Scottish society today and into the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We were all saddened and devastated to learn of the sudden passing of Helen Eadie at the weekend. Our thoughts are with Helen’s family: Bob, Fiona, Jemma, all her grandchildren and other family members. I inform members that a book of condolence for Helen is available for members to sign in the black and white corridor. A motion of condolence for Helen will be taken next week, when we will be able to pay our full tribute to her.