Scotland’s Biggest Christian Youth Festival: Crossover 2004

Jointly organised by the Boys' Brigade and the Church of Scotland's Board of Parish Education, Crossover 2004 - Scotland’s biggest Christian youth festival will start on Friday evening of 11th June. Other partner agencies include Christian Aid, the Girls' Brigade, Frontier Youth Trust and the Church of Scotland's Boards of Social Responsibility and National Mission. The event’s objectives are young people aged between 12 and 25 and their leaders.

Throughout the whole weekend, in the Cultybraggan Training Camp at Comrie, Scotland, a massive number of programmes will be offered by different organising agencies everyday from early morning til the evening. The event is blossomed with many different kinds of programmes, such as worship, interactive workshop, skill training, sports, film discussion and so on.

Crossover now steps into its sixth year. In 1998, the Boys' Brigade tackled the problems of the growing gap between young members coming along to their company, but also coming along to their local churches. It began to organise a youth event, in an attempt to reach the young people with a different approach and allow them to realise that Christian faith and indeed church was something that they could be involved in.

Together with the Church of Scotland’s Board of Parish Education, Boards of Social Responsibility and Board of National Mission, the Girls' Brigade, Christian Aid and Frontier Youth Trust, the idea was first made feasible in June 1999.

Rather than just making fun, the organising agencies play an important role in bringing out educational values. In the light of a rise of 20% in the number of people being infected with HIV in the UK in 2003, Christian Aid will take young people on a journey around the world of HIV and AIDS, giving them an overview of how to tackle the problem.

Prepared by the Frontier Youth Trust and IMPACT, some sex education workshops are especially designed for boys or girls. “Sex, Relationship and God” addresses a Christian view on the topic while “Body Beautiful 2004” is for girls only to discover the importance of self image and identity as teenage girls in the eyes of God the Creator.

Other interactive workshops will be held for both young people and youth leaders exploring many issues from homelessness to the debt crisis, clowning skills to craft sessions, films discussions to theological discussions. As well as thinking about themselves, they encourage young people to think about others who don't have the same quality of life that they do.

Cosy Chapel hosted by Church of Scotland’s Board of Parish Education will be open all weekend, providing a venue for worships and a variety of different styles.

On Saturday, several Christian bands and artists including Acquitted, As If, Indigo Echo, Neil Alton and Yvonne Lyon will line up to perform and entertain the festival goers.

There are many different things to explore at Crossover 2004, also entitled “Rumours of Angels”. Since the first event held in 1999 at Fordell Firs, near Dunfermline which attracted over 400 people, it has continued to grow well in numbers throughout the years, the number of attendants exceeded 900 in 2001.

For further details, please visit the official website: http://www.crossover.org.uk