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THE GATHERING<br />
PASSION. HOPE. ENTHUSIASM. Just a<br />
few words which approach a<br />
description of the atmosphere<br />
that infused Carronvale House over the<br />
weekend of 14 th /15 th October 2006.<br />
But these three words only begin to<br />
capture it; a fourth completes it:<br />
excitement.<br />
The occasion was the first meeting of<br />
the thirteen-strong group of young<br />
men, comprising current and former<br />
KGVI cadets and former Seniors,<br />
driving forward ‘The Gathering’, an<br />
event at Carronvale on Saturday 24 th<br />
February 2007 designed by young<br />
people to progress Aim 5 of our<br />
current Development Plan: ‘To<br />
promote the participation and<br />
empowerment of young people by<br />
developing the decision making<br />
infrastructure of The BB’.<br />
Presented with a blank canvas and<br />
motivated by <strong>this</strong> single purpose, over<br />
the weekend The Gathering grew from<br />
a date pencilled in a diary to an<br />
ambitious, aspirational and, crucially,<br />
achievable event. And <strong>this</strong> by<br />
individuals who had not known each<br />
other as they walked in the door on<br />
Saturday morning. Needless to say, it<br />
wasn’t long before a team emerged<br />
that fully embraced the possibilities<br />
The Gathering holds for The Boys’<br />
Brigade.<br />
The weekend began, following a short<br />
period spent focused on the planning<br />
weekend’s purpose with team-building<br />
activities, albeit with a twist. These<br />
kick-started the process of critical<br />
thinking needed for the task ahead.<br />
Crucially, they also identified and<br />
celebrated the gifts and achievements<br />
of the assembled team offering<br />
reassurance that the ensemble were<br />
precisely those people equipped to<br />
achieve that task.<br />
Next, a humorous exercise honed the<br />
team’s skills in selling items they were<br />
asked to bring to the weekend that<br />
were precious to them. This done in<br />
the hope that The Gathering once<br />
devised would be similarly precious<br />
making much simpler the task of<br />
selling it to the seniors and young<br />
Officers from Battalions across<br />
Scotland who would attend.<br />
After lunch The Gathering was<br />
committed into God’s hands through<br />
prayer; that His will would be reflected<br />
in the group’s vision and refracted<br />
through their actions. The hard work<br />
of designing the programme then<br />
began. A fairly relaxed day proved<br />
incredibly productive and by the<br />
Sunday morning the programme of an<br />
event that promises to be filled with<br />
fellowship and packed with purposeful<br />
discussion about the movement’s<br />
future had materialised.<br />
But <strong>this</strong> was only the start. Skills<br />
developed the day before selling items<br />
as obscure as pillows, iPods and<br />
cuddly monkeys were used to begin<br />
planning the publicity for the event.<br />
Each of the planning group members<br />
tasked themselves with securing<br />
support for the event by making<br />
personal representation to their local<br />
Battalions, encouraging others to<br />
attend, air their views and start<br />
shaping the movement to mirror their<br />
vision.<br />
At first sight <strong>this</strong> seems a difficult task.<br />
But I for one am confident that if the<br />
atmosphere of the weekend spreads<br />
out from Carronvale as they gather in<br />
the event’s participants the House will<br />
easily be filled with 150 seniors and<br />
young men each with the same<br />
passion for their movement, a similar<br />
hope for its future, and an enthusiasm<br />
to share their vision. Together, fully<br />
embracing the possibilities enshrined<br />
in a single sentence in a Development<br />
Plan that unlocks their potential to<br />
shape their movement, they can begin<br />
mapping the road ahead.<br />
THE GATHERING<br />
SATURDAY 24 TH FEBRUARY 2007. EXCITED?<br />
FINDING YOUR WAY TO THE GATHERING…<br />
The thirteen young men planning <strong>this</strong> event will be attending events in your<br />
local Battalion to deliver a presentation to tell you more about The<br />
Gathering (remember those finely tuned marketing skills…). <strong>In</strong> fact, by the<br />
time you read <strong>this</strong> they may have been and gone, moving elsewhere to fire<br />
up another group with their passion and enthusiasm for the event. If you’ve<br />
missed them, don’t worry. Further information can be found on a flyer that<br />
was sent out in December’s Company Mailing in Scotland and an electronic<br />
version is available on The BB Scotland website: http://scotland.boysbrigade.org.uk/.<br />
For more details, and to book places to attend The<br />
Gathering, simply return the slip on the reverse of that flyer or call<br />
Carronvale House on 01324 562008. Make sure your Boys find <strong>this</strong> flyer.<br />
Encourage them to find The Gathering.<br />
page 20 • VOLUME 115 No. 1 • January 2007
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