Parish supports Scout Group; Fourteen young women take on Guiding’s toughest challenge; Church conference to connect with young;’ Looking good’ more important for Irish students than religion: survey
Parish supports Scout Group
Eglantine Parish is lending its support to Hillsborough Scout Group, one of the largest Scout groups in the province, which is in the process of building a new Scout Hall.
Work will get under way this September and the hall is due to be completed in the summer of 2014.
The Rev Tim Close, rector of Eglantine, said: “Hillsborough Scout Group was looking for a venue during this time.
“In keeping with the Diocesan Vision Strategy objective of engagement with the local community, Eglantine Parish was pleased to step in and offer the Scout Group use of the Parish Hall for three nights per week from September 2013 to June 2014.
Fourteen young women take on Guiding’s toughest challenge!
Irish Girl Guide’s highest award involves 60km hike and eight projects
Fourteen young women are donning backpacks on Achill Island, Co Mayo, to take part in Guiding’s toughest challenge. The Chief Commissioner’s Award involves a 60km hike over five days with eight projects to complete.
Participants are expected to carry all their camping and cooking equipment and must survive on a mere €4 a day for food. They also have to keep a log book of the experience.
The survival adventure is organised every second year by Irish Girl Guides (IGG) to challenge members over age 16.
The projects that participants must complete are based on exploration of the area in which the event takes place but it is impossible to prepare for this in advance as participants never know what part of the country they will be competing in until literally the day the challenge starts. This adds greatly to the excitement and anticipation!
“This event is like no other event the girls will have undertaken in Guiding,” says Award organiser Emma Walsh. “It will require team work, commitment and determination. This award is a very personal experience for each girl, thus they will all gain something very different from doing it. In the past girls have gained new skills, confidence and friendships that will last a lifetime.”
Seventeen-year-old Hayley Myerscough of Lucan Rangers in Dublin chose to take part because she fancied undertaking “an incredible challenge”. “It is certainly a goal I hope to achieve and I am willing to put every blood, sweat and tear into it,” she says. “For preparation, I have done two lightweight weekends (one in the Galtee mountains and another starting in Glendalough and finishing at Lough Dan). I’m feeling confident, apprehensive and excited about it. It’s something that will mean a lot to me and I hope to improve my skills in hiking, map reading, planning and putting up a tent!”
Hayley and her team-mate, Aishling Caulfield (also 17), recently participated in an IGG trip to Switzerland where they took part in a number of hikes. “I decided to take part in the Chiefs as, throughout my whole Guiding experience, I have been taught to try new things and push myself to the limit,” says Aishling. “Chiefs is one of the most exciting challenges I have had to face!”
Georgina Louise Guy (age 22) is one of several feeling apprehensive as she has heard “the legends of how tough it can be and the breaking points”. However, she is excited too as everyone she knows who has participated previously has told her it has been a life-changing experience: “Even before my partner, Susan Carney, and myself have started the challenge we have had so much fun with just the practice that we’re ready to get out there and do it.”
After the hike, the teams will be assessed by means of their projects and log books as well as a de-briefing with members of the Chief Commissioner’s Award staff. There are three levels of achievement. “The certificate is presented to all teams who participate in the event while the woggle and certificate is presented to all teams who complete 60km, the log book and projects,” says Walsh. “The award itself – a silver Celtic knot pin – is presented to all teams who enter wholeheartedly into the spirit of the award and benefit in a really personal way from the experience.”
Church conference to connect with young
News Letter – Billy Kennedy writes – Plans for a major Presbyterian conference for young people at the end of August have just been finalised.
‘The Word’ is a Bible-focused conference to help people see how the word of God connects with every area of their lives from the knowledge in their heads, the love in their hearts and the action of their hands.
The residential week-end conference for young people between the ages of 18 and 30 is organised by the Presbyterian board of youth and children’s ministry, and will take place on Friday-Sunday August 30-September 1.
The three days of Bible teaching at the Faith Mission centre in Portadown are aimed at people who are passionate about Jesus and want to go deeper in their relationship with Him, believe that the Bible is relevant to today’s culture and want to develop their skills in applying this teaching to their lives, and who enjoy spending time in fellowship with other Christians.
The main speaker will be the Rev David Montgomery, minister of Greystones Presbyterian Church in Dublin.
Alongside his congregational duties, David teaches at the Irish Bible Institute and Taylor University, Indiana in the United States.
“My main passion is getting people excited about the Bible,” says David, “ and then to develop their understanding of how it can help us all develop our relationship with Jesus.”
More at –
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/church-conference-to-connect-with-young-1-5400243
‘Looking good’ more important for Irish students than religion: survey
Ecumenical News – The survey found that 2.2 percent of students are Church of Ireland/Protestant, compared to 2011 census figures of 2.81 percent in the general population.
Looking good is more important than religion to Irish college students, a recent survey has found.
The Student Marketing Network poll was conducted among 1,146 third-level students across the Republic of Ireland over two weeks in August the company revealed on Thursday.
The survey shows that the prospects of Ireland sustaining its reputation of being a country of devoted Catholics.
The survey chose 1,146 third level students at random across the Republic of Ireland.
It showed that while less than 60 percent of respondents considered themselves Catholic, the second largest group were atheists at 20 percent.
Colman Byrne, Managing Director of Student Marketing Network and oxygen.ie, said:
“The survey brought up a lot of interesting information that people may have different views on but it certainly shows that there is a major disconnect between organized religion and young people in Ireland.”