Welcome to the Dowanvale Youth Fellowship website.  We are a group of young people who attend high school, college/university, or who are in training or full time work.  On Sunday nights we meet together to worship God, learn more about our faith and to get to know each other.

The Youth Fellowship generally begins with tea and food, and a time for mingling.  After an opening Psalm and prayer, we switch between varied meeting formats.  We may have a speaker, a group discussion, a video or a Q&A session. 

- On Sunday 18th September we had our first Youth Fellowship meeting of the session. It was great to see so many of the students back amongst us, and to have several new faces as well. The night began with mingling and refreshments before the YF committee were set up as a panel. Iain and Innes interviewed the 5 committee members, drawing out testimony, what to get involved in at Dowanvale, and what they like about Glasgow itself. It was a very relaxing evening (except for the panel!) and a great encouragement to see God blessing our time together. The night finished with Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and our strength” - indeed He is!

- On Sunday 25th September we had Youth Fellowship with the elders to begin our Freshers Week. Over the night we managed to get familiar with who they were, and what their backgrounds are. It is always good to put a face to a name straight away, as it is perhaps easy to go through a semester and not know who all the elders actually are. So it was a really blessed night of fellowship, with lots of laughter as well as some wonderful singing. The welcome packs were well received and will hopefully help over the course of the year to know what’s on and who’s who. The night finished with a beautiful rendition of Psalm 100. “All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice”. Well, it was certainly very uplifting to those present - may the praise be to God alone!
In fact, you can listen to that singing by clicking here.

Freshers Week 2011

Freshers Week was a successful week enjoyed by all those in attendance. On Monday there was some good competition at 10-pin bowling followed by table tennis, with about 30 people playing in each activity. Tuesday brought out some hidden acting talents, as 4 teams competed in the video challenge to make the best 5-10min sketch. Thursday was a challenging evening for those in attendance as Donnie “Quack” Mackinnon spoke on Christian Warfare in the Big City. The hard truths about being a Christian were laid before us all, and the challenge was set to live more Godly lives in every aspect - especially in our interaction with others! Then the last freshers week activity saw a small group enjoying a Crazy Wok together before the service on Saturday night! These activities, mixed with the prayer meeting, and the weekend communion services, made for a very special and blessed week in the congregation. We now look forward to the term ahead of us, bringing all things before God in prayer, hoping that He blesses all that we try and do.

- On Sunday 9th October the Youth Fellowship had Angus Morrison (the younger one in the congregation) leading us. We split into groups to discuss the secular societies that Noah, Abram, Lot, Daniel and Joseph lived in. This drew out several key learning points and practical applications that we can use in our every day lives. Especially noticeable was the simple faith and trust in God, even when others doubted. Being diligent in prayer when the world ridicules it. Not following the secular ways of the world, but being set apart for Christ. A very enjoyable evening which stimulated plenty of discussion. The meeting closed with Psalm 1 which appropriately says “Blessed is the one who turns away from where the wicked walk” - let it be an example to us all!

-On Sunday 23rd October, Donna Macdonald came to talk to the YF on the topic of decisions. The meeting opened with the singing of psalm 25, which introduced the topic nicely to us, as it highlights the importance of seeking God’s guidance. Donna began by telling us about the important decisions she has had to make personally. In particular, she mentioned the decisions she has had to make surrounding her trips to Uganda. She then gave us advice as to how we can use our own faith to make hard decisions which will optimise our walk with God. Overall, this was an excellent insight into a topic which many of us struggle with. Making decisions is not easy! To conclude, we sang psalm 139 which seemed an appropriate item of praise to close with!

- On Sunday 30th October we were joined by the preacher of the day - Rev Robert Macleod. We are very thankful to Mr Macleod for staying with us and sharing some of what the Lord has done in his own life. The topic was Discipline, and we heard some of how discipline has been evident in his own life, through a few words of testimony and background. The YF was very well attended and everyone was on good form having enjoyed a congregational lunch earlier on in the day. The night closed with Psalm 133 - How good it is when brothers dwell in unity, and live as brothers should, Amen!

- On Sunday 13th November a very tired Youth Fellowship met after most had just returned from the GUYF Weekend Away at Rowardennan. Such a blessed time of fellowship, friendship and fun was enjoyed by all who attended. Alan Speirs, a deacon in Dowanvale, spoke to the group on the issue of Time Management. Alan spoke with his usual friendly manner, plenty jokes, and several examples from the Bible of good and bad time management! A good night of fellowship was enjoyed, ending with Psalm 133 again, where the unity mentioned cannot be overlooked, that’s for sure.

- On Sunday 11th December the youth fellowship met for the last time of the term. Due to exams and the absence of a lot of students the fellowship was smaller in number than normal. However, this did not remove the feeling of the Spirit which was very evident. Niall Maclennan, one of our students, shared a bit of testimony about how Jesus worked in his life. It was a very open and honest account of what the Lord has done, and we are thankful to Niall for sharing this with us. Psalm 25 closed the night for us, asking God to show us His ways, and so we hope that we can always look to Him for guidance.  As the YF breaks for the festive period, we pray that everyone will have safe travel and a blessed time with family and friends. See you all next year!

Scotland international rugby player Euan Murray spoke at the Dowanvale Youth Fellowship last year.  You can hear the interview by clicking here.

Stephen Campbell has been appointed as the Admin Assistant and Youth Worker of the congregation as of August 1st 2011. You are welcome to contact him on

35 Dowanhill Street Glasgow G11 5QR email: stephencampbell99@hotmail.com