Autumn Soul 2022
Autumn Soul is the national youth event for the Methodist Church in Ireland, focusing on missional discipleship through bible teaching, praise, seminars, community, and fun. It gives young people and youth groups the space they need to meet Jesus in fresh ways, learn about the Bible and encounter the Holy Spirit. It is a safe space for those exploring faith, living out their faith and those who have questions about faith. This year we were joined by over 300 young people, leaders and volunteers in Bangor for a jam-packed weekend.
This is the first year (since 2019) that we have been able to have a fully in-person 3 day event. Our theme this year was “Pursue” and our main speaker, Rick Hill (Lead of the Council for Mission in Ireland, for the Presbyterian Church). Rick brought us on a journey to discover more about God’s pursuit of us and what that means for us as Christians. Through Bible teaching, worship and prayer the young people, leaders and volunteers left with a greater understanding of God’s love. Each person was encouraged and equipped as they continue to pursue Jesus in the everyday.
This year worship was led by the “new” Autumn Soul band, a group of young people from all across the island who love to praise and worship God using their musical gifts. We are so thankful to them and all of the hard work they put in to preparing for the weekend – they did a wonderful job leading us in praise and worship.
We had an opportunity to learn about migration and some of our Irish Methodist World Mission Partners in a seminar led by David Nesbitt (MCI Mission Partnership Co-Ordinator). We also spent time exploring what it means to develop resilience and the importance of listening to the things that God says about us in a seminar led by Kintsugi Hope (a charity striving to make a difference to peoples mental wellbeing of varying age groups and different backgrounds). We were joined by the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev David Nixon and Lay Leader Tom Wilson, who the young people eagerly prayed for. A listening space was provided by The Big House Ireland throughout the weekend.
It was wonderful to see so many people come together to serve – our hard working Stewards went above and beyond to help the weekend run smoothly, the prayer team took the time to seek God and hear his heart of the numerous young people and leaders, the creatives and the tech team spent a lot of their time running around and setting everything up in the background, the hospitality team kept us all going with copious amounts of coffee, the wonderful staff from The Big House Ireland joined us and provided a ‘listening space’ for any leader or young person who needed it. Without these wonderful people, this event would not have happened.
From Prayer walks, to painting and from drama videos to dodgeball. The event was full of fun, friendship, fellowship and we can’t wait to do it all over again next year at Autumn Soul 2023 – We’ll see you there!
