This is part of a series of posts over the summer where members of the Presbytery Staff Team write posts for the website in place of Stella. This week: Matt Sinar (Youth Development Officer)
I’ve just returned from Magnitude 2026 – an inspiring week of worship, Bible teaching, and lots of fun for young people across Scotland. Over 2200 teenagers gathered for a week where they were challenged to live out real lives of faith, whilst camping in a field at Lendrick Muir near Kinross.
The week consisted of main worship meetings each morning and evening in the “Big Top” – consisting of Bible teaching from a series based on Hebrews 11 and the challenge to live lives of faith, inspired by the Old Testament lives of Abraham, Moses, Enoch, David, Noah, Rahab and Sarah; lively worship; and some deeply profound prayer ministry times. There was also a “Wee Top” which served as an alternative worship space using different materials, resources and fidgets, enabling young people who preferred not to be in the Big Top to connect with Jesus in a different way; as well as the Big Top meeting being live-streamed into a quieter space for those who wished to engage with the main gathering but without quite the same decibel level!
On top of these meetings, the days were interspersed with relevant and engaging seminars (for both young people and youth leaders); various sports competitions (football, basketball, dodgeball, volleyball, netball and putting!); resource exhibitions; and some well-run opportunities for quiet space or a listening ear. Various charity organisations were represented, including Christian Aid, Alpha Youth, MAF, 24-7 Prayer, and Scottish Bible Society, who all ran numerous activities designed to bless, inspire, challenge and encourage young people in their faith, whilst also raising awareness and engagement with these organisations.
As you can tell, it was a pretty packed week, and a privilege for me to form part of the Church of Scotland’s Core Team as we ran the Church of Scotland Village. 160 young people and youth leaders from the Church of Scotland, from 15 different churches across the country (including Dyce from within NENI) joined together on the camping field, gathering in a big marquee for meals and other social times, so that individual group/church leaders didn’t have the added stress of organising catering for their young people for the week. There were even hot showers!
I said it after Magnitude last year, and I’ll say it again – Magnitude is a festival that can be life-giving and faith-defining for young people. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event, which will run from Saturday 24th – Wed 28th July 2027. One of the advantages of the Church of Scotland Village is that if a church has only one or two young people interested, they can still come together with others in a shared booking and an opportunity to make lifelong friends.
Only 353 days to go...