Movement 116

autumn in
Paris
The Europe region of WSGF held a fiveday
conference in November 20O3 at
Saint-Ch6ron near Paris. The theme was
'Black and white: stripping religion and
cufture of dualistic thinking'. movement
editor Liam Purcell attended. He writes:
This was my first experience of a WSCF event,
and it was a real eye-opener in many respects.
Over forty students and young people, from
twenty-six d ifferent Europea n cou ntries, gathered
at a small centre in the French countryside to
discuss theologl and politics, share one another's cultures, and make new
friends (and also to stay up late drinking wine, putting the world to rights
and dancing to bad European pop music).
Like me, you may find the conference's title a little daunting and
'dry'-sounding - but in practice, it was a powerful theme which allowed
a really diverse and challenging range of issues to be tackled without
ever bogging down in academic wrangling. What particularly impressed
me was the atmosphere of openness and respect for difference - unity
in diversity. There were major differences of opinion over many issues
- unsurprising when speakers included a radical feminist and a gay
theologian as well as a conservative Orthodox priest. But these were
all discussed in a friendly and constructive way, and all of us came
away having learned something of others' perspectives.
The programme was packed but well-planned, including visiting
speakers, worship, input and workshops from the delegates themselves,
cultural evenings, and a free afternoon exploring Paris.
WSCF Europe holds two conferences a year, in venues all over
Europe. SCM has money available to help its members attend these
events, and I highly recommend them as unique opportunities to
broaden your horizons and do some exciting theology.
See www.wscf-europe.org to find out more.
happy birthday Aberystwyth!
It's not often that something exists for
over 50 year in student circles, so when
Aberystwyth Methsoc realised their
society had been around that long, they
thouglrt it was time for a party. Saturday
4 October 2OO3 saw 100+ ex-members
of Aber Methsoc descend on St Paul's
Methodist Centre. The place was packed
on Saturday afternoon for a seMce led
by Revd David Gibson featuring hymns
and songs from each ofthe five decades
of Methsoc, a sketch, and many
memories and humorous stories.
A reason that Methsoc has been and
continues to be so strong in Aber is the
warm hospitality and welcome that the
congregation has always given students.
This was again abundantly in evidence over
the weekend, with ex-students put up by
members of the congregation and the
church working together to produce a
fantastic faith tea for over 1OO people, with
leftovers! There was a barn dance in the
evening, whilst the church was again full on
Sunday morning for a service led by former
member Revd Peter Hughes.
Methsocs are becoming a dying breed,
giving way to combined societies and all sorts
of other ways to celebrate being a Christian
student. In Aberystwyth, we take pride in our
relationship with our church and its people,
and that helps us on our journey through
university and beyond. We embrace the new,
but we have a firm grip on the past, where
we've come from. ln preparing for future
generations of students, we remember the
trial and tribulations of the past 50 years. I
NEWS
h. The World Student Christian
-.r of
^Sr-
Federation is a global
! 9- organisation linking student
f ll WSCF .F :l'"t',:: ",i1"J"?*T*,il
Errropc F scru is one of its member
9"^
-
rJ tou"tents. WSCF is split
tfrgrqC
into a number of regions, and
each region arranges conferences,
publishes journals and provides other services for
members of SCMs within that region. See our
regular 'worldvieW feature for profiles of WSCF
member movements in different countries.
All disagreements were discussed
in a friendly and constructive way,
and all of us came away having
learned something of others'
perspectives.
Kaff laws and
Hannah Coates
Photos by Arnold
Smith
Aber Methsoc
movement l5