Maya Withall was inducted as the United Reformed Church Youth Assembly Moderator for 2025–2026 in March.
In this reflection, Maya shares her thoughts on Youth Assembly 2025: how it unfolded, what it meant to her, and the hopes she carries into her term as Moderator.
This year’s youth assembly felt really fresh and calm, something which can be hard. The new site was amazing and everything we hoped for proving an opportunity to reshape how we run Youth Assembly. Over the weekend we had time to delve into the theme of “All are Welcome” from our range of workshops to our amazing keynote.
The new “breath” session allowed some much-needed down time but also an opportunity for people to explore the range of different topics available from cake and debate, where we discussed the dangers of AI and what minimum voting age should be, to sports and forest church. We left Youth Assembly pondering what we should do to embody the theme and how we can make people feel more welcome, not just in the URC but our lives.
Looking ahead to my term as Youth Moderator, I can already anticipate that this year on Youth Exec is not going to be like any other! While I am nervous about the changes to the Youth Exec following its review, I am also excited about the opportunities these changes will bring. My hope for this year is that young people in the URC will feel more connected and able to engage with the Youth Executive in ways they couldn’t before, and that youth exec can enable young people to get involved in the URC on a broader level.
Most of all, I am looking forward to working with the new Youth Executive to plan an amazing Youth Assembly 2026! I am also eager to explore what work we can do at a more localised level through our Synod reps. A key focus for me this year will be the environment. I hope we can be more mindful and considerate about sustainability in our planning of Youth Assembly and make it a more environmentally friendly event.
Beyond that, I want to explore how we can encourage young people to inspire their local churches to consider their role in climate change and their environmental impact in what they do. Since Children’s and Youth Work played such a big part in how I came to be involved in the URC, I’m passionate about how we can help more young people engage with the URC: not just locally but at a national level.
I look forward to my many train journeys, and how much I can crochet along the way. Most of all, I’m just excited to be Moderator – challenges and all. This is something I have wanted to do since joining Youth Executive at the age of 14, and I hope the year doesn’t pass too quickly. More than anything, I want to make the most of my time and do everything God is calling me to do in the Church.