Life
We’ ! I’m a CU Leader
from a new perspective
CU Leaders Guidebook
I never know how to start things, I’m much better at face to face stuff so grab me for coffee and we’ll work through leader issues but it needs a start so here you go, here’s the start… Get your hands on a book called “The Chocolate Teapot”. There’s some great stuff in there that can help you out. The following is made up of our own thoughts and ideas from the above book. Get in contact with CATALYST We’ll then arrange a time to coffee! Get a LIST Before we meet up, try and get a list together of all the Christians you know in your school (include staff). Get TALKING Try to talk to some of those people before our meeting Get a MENTOR Talk to your church leader or youth leader and ask them for advice and prayer support. We’ll hook you up with someone if you don’t want to do it yourself. Get HEAD-1ST It sounds scary but in our experience your head teacher is the best place to go unless you know a teacher in charge of running clubs. Get GATHERED get together with the people who were up for starting something, meet up and discuss what you think you should do. Get OUT Discuss how you want to publicise the meeting. Read some of the testimonials from Next Generation to get an idea of some ways you could get it out there Get on your KNEES This should have been at the top really and all the way through. Start praying; get your parents, church, youth leaders, friends praying! Get EXCITED Be enthusiastic, be encouraging, be welcoming and start your first meeting. Don’t be discouraged if there are fewer people than you’d hoped for, explain to the people there what the group is about and what it is for. Make sure you know what’s happening the next time you meet and make sure you keep in contact with them throughout the week. Schools are a tough place, and teenage years are a tough time! I believe Cu’s are vital in school for four main reasons: **Restore** The need when we’ve been knocked down to be restored and built up again by fellowship ** Refresh** The need to get some time to be filled up with Gods healing truths ** Refocus** Where the world has got in the way to refocus ourselves on God **Release** Encouragement to be sent out again into the ‘mission field!’ CU is hopefully going to be a place that encourages the Christians into that behaviour and then gives your friends that opportunity to hear the gospel.
Did you know that there are actually laws and rights on your side when it comes to starting New Generation in your school/university? Before you read through these rights, we ask you to use these only if you have faced problems with your school and the board of governors. It is important that you try to maintain a good relationship with your school and its staff, in order to work well together. Please keep this in mind when you present your group to the school, and do not start by claiming your rights. Does the school board have the right to forbid us from starting a New Generation group? No, starting a group or union of whatever kind is everybody’s constitutional right. (In UK everybody has Freedom of Religion, which is protected by UK law). You can meet freely and speak freely. Some schools may not approve or agree with what you are doing because they want to have a multi-faith policy. However, providing that what you are doing does not affect the run of your school or interfere with the lessons, there is no reason for you to be unable to meet. If anything your meetings and activities improves your “spiritual, moral, social, cultural, physical and mental development, and thus the well-being of the individual” which is stated in the National Curriculum and should be enforced in every school If, therefore, you are not receiving this within your school or colleges, you can suggest that what you are doing is implementing a vital part of the National Curriculum that is currently missing in your school.
For answers to the following questions go to www.newgeneration.co.uk Do we have the right to preach the Gospel and pray for people in our school? Do we have a legal right to have access to a room in our school for our New Generation meetings? Can we advertise in the school?
For a while in my early twenties I worked as a landlady in a local pub. Most of the customers knew I was a Christian, but they also knew my golden rule; on my shift we don’t talk politics, money or religion. This was mainly because I don’t like arguments, and that’s often what those asking these questions want, just an argument, a battle to win… On the other hand there are those who have deeper questions behind these but they need pastoral care time, not me behind a bar! You can spot these people, they will take the time to listen; now you must take time to listen to them, and remember:
Sometimes giving the answer right then and there is not what they need! We do have an apologetics course you can use which will equip you with some ways of answering questions, but if you do it without grace and love then you might as well give up. I’d suggest reading and meditating on 1 Corinthians 2, take time to remind yourselves that some things of God are a mystery, and that’s ok! If we knew everything about Him, He wouldn’t be God!
that is what we are called to be. Now we’re not talking about being a walkover but we must remember not to answer questions as though it were an Olympic sport. We are called to love people, help people understand, reveal Jesus to them, often through relationship and YOUR character. Sometimes this may mean you need to be ready to walk away from an ‘argument’ that is just a distraction playing at getting a grip on your character. I'm not the greatest example of this, I have a lot to learn myself, but the more I listen to these questions outside of a RE lesson context, the more I see many times these questions only exist to reveal hidden stories. I need God’s help, not to win points, but to win people and that is done with grace, prayer, humility and peace. So share stories, share questions, laugh together, get confused together, pray for your friend to see Jesus; and continually with your words, actions and character point them to the real answer.
It’s often thought that the first rule in leadership is gifting and then convenience. God’s Kingdom is run
differently. The thing we are to be MOST concerned with in leadership is your own walk with Jesus, where your heart is and the character He is growing in you.
“I am the vine: you are the branches... if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” I use to read that as a warning, a harsh word from God, now I see that it is a clear yet kind and merciful
encouragement from a loving father. You see what its saying is He is the source of all we need to live the life He won for us. A life full of purpose, adventure but a life that may contrast to that of those who don’t call him father. He has saved you, and you will bear fruit, you will become more like Jesus as Holy Spirit transforms you, sure you join in with this transformation, but even that is because of God’s grace. Without him we can do nothing, nothing that will last or bear much fruit, you see it is Christ who works all things for his glory and our good, it is Christ who strengthens me, it is Christ who can do much more than we ask or imagine and all things are possible through Him. So remain in him, carve our time for you to grow, come along to training, get prayer support, keep in contact.
We don’t have to give Jesus new PR, the gospel is enough. However, you do want Christian Union to be advertised well, and encourage people to come along! First of all (this is actually a marketing technique, but is in line with living in the light too... "Be open, honest and direct with users, about what [you're] trying to achieve," Be authentic.
Create a buzz
But...
Use social media: twitter, bbm, facebook, youtube, text, email But... make it personal too and face to face
Most people are looking for: a sense of community, personal expression and personalization. We can offer this
Be confident in it Sell it in a lift...my old housemate is a major donor charity fundraiser. Her tip from Sir Richard Branson is you should have the confidence, passion and clarity to sell your group in a conversation with someone in a lift! Know your vision, and be confident in the God who gave it to you
Be relevant: look at culture for advertising techniques and design, but do not compromise on Jesus.
Assembly: Why not take the above idea, but ask for a slot in a school assembly... or even ask to take the whole assembly. We can help you do this!
Pray
Branching Out “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” When God snapped us up into his great plan, he chose for us to dwell in him and him in us. As we are obedient to him and follow him, his promise is that we will see the real purpose as our life to unfold. But what does being obedient mean. A friend once said to me “God is most interested in your relationship with him, than even your character development or moral behaviour.” Obedience is as much about walking with him than anything else, “out of the overflow of our hearts the mouth speak” and the hands and feet move. Out of our relationship with Jesus our character changes, so does our behaviour and so does the environment around us. Fruit grows; the Kingdom advances and people are drawn closer to Jesus. But it’s scary, the stepping out… we are not typically confident people, we are scared of saying the wrong thing, upsetting people and looking stupid. That’s where we need to hide our self in Jesus, find our confidence from him, knowing he has created us well, with strengths and weaknesses. We can hide ourselves in Jesus when things go wrong. Jesus is not interested in whether we fail, he doesn’t measure our endeavours by their success rate. It makes him smile that we step out to give him glory, so let’s remember to give him glory whatever happens. Read Matthew 7v 7-12: We need to remind ourselves of the God we serve, we don’t serve him out of him being a harsh task master but out of him being our father who has good things for us. We can reach out to him. Do we want people to know him? To know Jesus? Why or why not? Read Matt 26v 69-75, John 21v 15-25, then Acts 2v 14-41 what changed in Peter? One minute he wouldn’t admit to knowing Jesus then we see him preaching to thousands… what changed? Holy Spirit came and dwelt within him, and Holy Spirit dwells in us: John 14v 16-27
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
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Lollipops with encouraging bible verses/love from CU // TxT A PRAYER POSTER // Cinema lunch // acoustic lunch // donut games // crunchie: its that friday feeling // cake giveaway // pizza lunch // bless the teachers // give out CU flyers // words to encourage people // hot chocolate // sweets give out // random acts of kindness // treasure hunt // pegging // Angel delight dinner // craft workshop // talent show // clothes giveaway / swap shop // random acts of kindness // sports event // finance support session // CU fair // write a magazine // youtube show // prayer room // charity event // bless a teacher who's been ill/had a baby // concert // homeless aid collection // writing tracts // photoshoot // photo competition // RE and Art // singing session
Stay in Contact Website: www.ccswt.org.uk Blog: (updated monthly) www.schools-work.blogspot.com Twitter: @loufunnell (this is a personal account and may not represent the views of the trust and its supporting churches)
Facebook: search for Canterbury Christian Schools Work Trust
For New Generation go to www.newgeneration.co.uk
Churches: Get local* *
Disclaimer: there are other churches, these are those who have partnered with us!
We’d love you to get plugged into a church where you best grow in your relationship with Jesus… here are some we’d recommend: Canterbury: Barton Evangelical Church www.bartonchurch.org.uk Canterbury Vineyard www.canterburyvineyard.org City Church Canterbury www.thecitychurch.org.uk Day Spring Church www.dayspringcanterbury.org.uk Emmanuel Church www.emmanuelcanterbury.org.uk New Life Canterbury www.newlifecanterbury.org St. Mary Bredin (SMB) www.smb.org.uk Trinity Community Church www.trinitycommunitychurch.co.uk ST Andrew’s URC www.standrewscanterbury.org Whitstable & Herne Bay: City Church Whitstable www.thecitychurch.org.uk/whitstable Harbour Street www.harbourstreet.org.uk St Alpheges www.stalphegeseasalter.org Tankerton Evangelical Church www.tecwhitstable.org.uk/ Beacon Church, Herne Bay www.beaconhernebay.org.uk Herne Bay Baptist www.hbbconline.org.uk Faversham: Faversham Community Church www.favershamcommunitychurch.co.uk Faversham Baptist Church www.favershambaptistchurch.org.uk Faversham United Church www.unitedchurch-faversham.org.uk