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… then it’s FURY Assembly! That is the national conference for young people in the United Reformed Church. FURY is the title of the youth organisation of the Church — the Fellowship of United Reformed Youth. FURY Assembly 1999 was held in Swanwick, Derbyshire from the 15th-17th January, where 150 or so young people aged 13 to 25 got together to discuss important issues, worship and have FUN!!
FURY Assembly is made up of representatives from the eleven provinces of the URC, and there are two people from each district. The URC is a small denomination which began in about 1970, and it’s made up of several different churches joined together — the Congregational Church, Presbyterian Church and the Churches of Christ. It’s Youth organisation is NOT small however, and in my opinion it is the BEST one!!!
I went to FURY Assembly as a rep for the Churches Guide and Scout fellowship. Another York student, Andrew Tropman went on behalf of Yorkshire. The programme was packed, with an introduction on the Friday night, discussions and debate on Saturday morning, a choice of workshops in the afternoon, and a disco (!!), or free-time in the evening . On Sunday there was worship in the morning, more debates and presentations, then a Communion service to round off the afternoon.
FURY is run by elected volunteers, one of which is the FURY Chair; who last year was Georgette Margrett from Coventry, supported by the Chair-elect, Neil Platt from Bolton. As well as being a fellowship to link-up young people, and encourage making friendships, FURY also does some business, working on campaigns for social action and different issues in Church life. These issues are brought up as motions to be voted on by those present, so that they can decide whether or not to offer their support to the proposals.
This year’s motions were on Jubilee 2000, violence in Iraq, genetic engineering, and ecumenical links with other Churches. The motion on the bombings in Iraq had the most heated debate; the proposal was that FURY should stand out against the government’s violence towards Iraq for the sake of the Iraqi people. It urged the government to find peaceful solutions to the problem; this was eventually passed. The Jubilee 2000 motion pledged FURY’s continual support for the campaign, and encouraged members to carry on with active campaigning in 1999. The genetics motion expressed concern about the genetic modifications of animals, and called for tighter controls on any human genetics experiments. The ecumenical motion proposed FURY working more together more closely with other Church youth organisations such as MAYC and Baptist Youth, which FURY Council hope to do in the future.
It was a great weekend, and I had a good time. The assembly was fun and informative, and I came away feeling closer to God.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005