Couldn't resist posting this short clip:
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Sunday, 7 November 2010
What is Good News for students?
This Sunday I thought I should write about a really significant and strategic issue, something that matters.
Practically at our doorstep, here at Holy Trinity Coventry, there is a large university which serves 20,000 students. It's not clear to me whether collectively we at HTC are doing all we should for these 20,000 souls. One might put the point in sharper biblical focus: does this geographical closeness amount to a divine encouragement to lift up our eyes to the harvest, and consider whether we might be some of the labourers being called to assist? Of course, the need is not the call; obedience to our Master is not simply a matter of knee-jerk responses to every unmet opportunity that might come by (that way leads to burn-out). But on the other hand the need can be the signal to open our eyes to a genuine call, something which we should make a real priority. Let us consider together ...
My thoughts on this were given a sharp kick at the end of September. We were approached (by the other nearby university) to see if we might participate together with other churches in a student welcome event. Trouble was, we needed to supply a couple of students or near-students to speak; and that's where we ran into a road-block. HTC has plenty of older people who would be happy to come along and speak at such an event, but is very very short of students. We tried our best, but in the end we had to pass on that opportunity. That gave us pause for thought: as a church we lack people in the early part of the 20-30 age-range. It was a salutary experience for us to have to confess to this unwelcome fact, and to admit that we had no idea of what to do about it.
Now it's possible to overstate the matter. For example, just today I was chatting at the 0930 service to a student who is president of the university mountaineering club; moreover we offer a friendly welcome to several Nexus students each year. But it doesn't exactly match the 20,000 souls studying next door; moreover many of the thriving 20's groups of ten to fifteen years back have now moved on to the next stage of challenge in the Christian way. We need to face facts: we have a gap at that point of our age-spectrum, and that limits us in several significant and strategic ways,
A question one should always ask: is the perceived need actually already being met by someone else? I don't know the answer to this, though I know places to which we might address the question. It is my impression that other churches are in a better geographical position to provide well for the other nearby university, but perhaps this is not so true for our neighbour. Some of us are involved in the work amongst international students, and we should listen to what they have to say. Another of our number is the Anglican chaplain, so for sure we should ask her opinion! Certainly our Christian brothers and sisters at the Cathedral next door do their bit; but one wonders whether our Lord might be beckoning us over too, to take part in the demanding work of harvest: 20,000 souls.
So: if in fact it is right to hear the Lord's call in these facts, how then might we respond? Here comes the second trigger to my thoughts. My son has just started his first year at a university far from home, and has ended up finding himself with the Methodists there. Many things attracted him to them, but one thing struck me forcefully; they invite their students into family homes for lunch on Sundays. As a parent I wanted immediately to send these people a thank-you note for being so kind to my son - and I realized that for me and for my son part of the Good News here is that he is being given loving hospitality when far away from home, right to the direct and tangible point of being fed - rather well! So perhaps one possible ministry for HTC would be to seek to welcome students into our homes after our services for Sunday lunch.
Practical issues abound. If we were to take this on, then it would need to be a shared effort by a range of us, prepared to commit to this over an extended period of time. I talked to someone in the 0930 who had been involved with a similar ministry in his previous church, and he made that point strongly to me. No point in going off half-cock; if we were to do this then we should make sure we would stick at it. Luke 14:28 comes to mind.
Moreover, the natural families to do this are families with young children and families whose children have just left home; and these people are largely in our 0930 congregation. OK, so that makes for a problem; how do we cover the gap between the end of service at 1030, or the end of breakfast at 1100, and the start of the meal at 1300? It also thins out the number of students; fewer of them will roll up at 0930. (On the other hand, with 20,000 next door perhaps we need there to be a bit of thinning if the task is to be at all manageable.)
These and other matters would need to be thrashed out before taking on something like this. Moreover there's a kind of Gospel logic at work here; were we to take this on then we would need to be ready to change as new people were drawn in. For example our old 7:30 pm service changed hugely twelve years ago as a result of the influx then of young twenties. Christian hospitality and outreach is never just a one-way street; it changes us too, and we'd need to be ready to accept such changes. All the more reason to take some time to consider; is this really a call to us as a community, whether that be the whole church or the 0930 congregation? Might this be one of the adventures to which we are being called in the next couple of years of our Christian journey together? 20,000 souls ...
I would be so interested to hear other peoples' thoughts on this ... do feel free to leave comments in the comment-box!
Practically at our doorstep, here at Holy Trinity Coventry, there is a large university which serves 20,000 students. It's not clear to me whether collectively we at HTC are doing all we should for these 20,000 souls. One might put the point in sharper biblical focus: does this geographical closeness amount to a divine encouragement to lift up our eyes to the harvest, and consider whether we might be some of the labourers being called to assist? Of course, the need is not the call; obedience to our Master is not simply a matter of knee-jerk responses to every unmet opportunity that might come by (that way leads to burn-out). But on the other hand the need can be the signal to open our eyes to a genuine call, something which we should make a real priority. Let us consider together ...
My thoughts on this were given a sharp kick at the end of September. We were approached (by the other nearby university) to see if we might participate together with other churches in a student welcome event. Trouble was, we needed to supply a couple of students or near-students to speak; and that's where we ran into a road-block. HTC has plenty of older people who would be happy to come along and speak at such an event, but is very very short of students. We tried our best, but in the end we had to pass on that opportunity. That gave us pause for thought: as a church we lack people in the early part of the 20-30 age-range. It was a salutary experience for us to have to confess to this unwelcome fact, and to admit that we had no idea of what to do about it.
Now it's possible to overstate the matter. For example, just today I was chatting at the 0930 service to a student who is president of the university mountaineering club; moreover we offer a friendly welcome to several Nexus students each year. But it doesn't exactly match the 20,000 souls studying next door; moreover many of the thriving 20's groups of ten to fifteen years back have now moved on to the next stage of challenge in the Christian way. We need to face facts: we have a gap at that point of our age-spectrum, and that limits us in several significant and strategic ways,
A question one should always ask: is the perceived need actually already being met by someone else? I don't know the answer to this, though I know places to which we might address the question. It is my impression that other churches are in a better geographical position to provide well for the other nearby university, but perhaps this is not so true for our neighbour. Some of us are involved in the work amongst international students, and we should listen to what they have to say. Another of our number is the Anglican chaplain, so for sure we should ask her opinion! Certainly our Christian brothers and sisters at the Cathedral next door do their bit; but one wonders whether our Lord might be beckoning us over too, to take part in the demanding work of harvest: 20,000 souls.
So: if in fact it is right to hear the Lord's call in these facts, how then might we respond? Here comes the second trigger to my thoughts. My son has just started his first year at a university far from home, and has ended up finding himself with the Methodists there. Many things attracted him to them, but one thing struck me forcefully; they invite their students into family homes for lunch on Sundays. As a parent I wanted immediately to send these people a thank-you note for being so kind to my son - and I realized that for me and for my son part of the Good News here is that he is being given loving hospitality when far away from home, right to the direct and tangible point of being fed - rather well! So perhaps one possible ministry for HTC would be to seek to welcome students into our homes after our services for Sunday lunch.
Practical issues abound. If we were to take this on, then it would need to be a shared effort by a range of us, prepared to commit to this over an extended period of time. I talked to someone in the 0930 who had been involved with a similar ministry in his previous church, and he made that point strongly to me. No point in going off half-cock; if we were to do this then we should make sure we would stick at it. Luke 14:28 comes to mind.
Moreover, the natural families to do this are families with young children and families whose children have just left home; and these people are largely in our 0930 congregation. OK, so that makes for a problem; how do we cover the gap between the end of service at 1030, or the end of breakfast at 1100, and the start of the meal at 1300? It also thins out the number of students; fewer of them will roll up at 0930. (On the other hand, with 20,000 next door perhaps we need there to be a bit of thinning if the task is to be at all manageable.)
These and other matters would need to be thrashed out before taking on something like this. Moreover there's a kind of Gospel logic at work here; were we to take this on then we would need to be ready to change as new people were drawn in. For example our old 7:30 pm service changed hugely twelve years ago as a result of the influx then of young twenties. Christian hospitality and outreach is never just a one-way street; it changes us too, and we'd need to be ready to accept such changes. All the more reason to take some time to consider; is this really a call to us as a community, whether that be the whole church or the 0930 congregation? Might this be one of the adventures to which we are being called in the next couple of years of our Christian journey together? 20,000 souls ...
I would be so interested to hear other peoples' thoughts on this ... do feel free to leave comments in the comment-box!
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