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A B O U T
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M I S S I O N
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Miriam Swaffield
A Movement for Change Amy Davies
Is Uni Worth ÂŁ9K a Year? Roger Bretherton
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Student Identity
n in s lso t day i h W den Ric stu his
features and interviews 04 Is Uni Worth £9K a Year?
Roger Bretherton
08 Interview: Phil Morton 10 Movement for Change
There are around seven million people who can claim the identity ‘student’ in the UK. Unsurprisingly student culture varies hugely from place to place and whilst there are some common traits, it has become incredibly diverse. This has massive implications for mission and how we engage with students and the cultures they are part of. Like Paul in Athens we need to work a little harder at appreciating what is going on around us in order to present the message of a loving God into a culture of many gods (see Acts 17v16-33). The current generation of students has access to more information than any other in history and colleges and universities remain lands of exploration and opportunity where identities are being formed and generated. This edition of fuse lifts the lid on some of the current trends and changes in the student world as well as catching up with some current and former students.
Amy Davies
14 Interview: Claude Williams 15 Interview: Tom O’Dair 16 What Students Want
CUE
20 Interview: News Wilson 22 Interview: Celia Bowring
fusion 24 About Fusion 26 studentlinkup.org 28 loveyouruni.org 32 Church Connection 36 Student Work 39 Church Networks & Key Partners 46 Church Connection Directory 54 90 Challenge
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Roger Bretherton, a lecturer at the University of Lincoln, attempts to plumb the depths of student identity in a world of nine grand tuition fees.
Every year when I meet my tutorial group for the first time I ask them three questions: what’s your name, why are you studying psychology, and why here… I mean, why Lincoln of all places? Now admittedly, they’ve never met me before. I’m just some jacketwearing geek who’s going to mark their end of year essays. They don’t know each other either. And we meet in a tiny room with limited air-circulation that still carries the faint aroma of the previous group, who, judging by the smell, appear to have spent the last hour doing strenuous lunges. It’s not what you’d call a warm huddle, or an easy place to share and care. So maybe I’m expecting too much, but I’m always disappointed by the answers. The long and the short of it is that most students don’t really know why they’re at university. The mature students usually have a better idea, but on the whole most students rock up at university fresh off an educational conveyer belt that started when they were three and delivered them at eighteen dazed and confused at the gates of Oxford, or Manchester, or Bolton, or Glasgow, or...yes, occasionally even Lincoln. They may not know why they’re there but in some vague way (like syrup
of figs) they know it will do them good and there might even be a job waiting for them at the end of it. But every now and then I meet a student who surprises me. Someone who arrives at university with an electrifying sense of purpose. And while most of their fellow students are still getting over fresher’s flu, they’ve assembled a crack force of elite activists and are well on their way to changing the world. They do all kinds of stuff. One of them started campaigning for the rights of young people with mental illness; another launched support groups for first time mothers who spoke no English; someone else learned to code software to help kids with dyspraxia; another one used her degree to highlight the trauma of orphans in Malawi. It almost doesn’t matter what the cause is, they throw themselves into it with everything they have.
Our student days are a time when we define ourselves. I call them intentional students. Instead of seeing university as just a bigger school, where the teachers have doctorates and don’t work as hard, they recognise it for the opportunity that it is. They realise they have millions of
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pounds worth of expertise and resource right at their fingertips, if only they can summon the nous and the nerve to do something with it. A few of these exceptional students are Christians - they do what they do because they follow a God who does likewise. But most of them aren’t - God knows why they do what they do. The point is that they know who they are and what they can give and why they’re there. They have no time to conform to the pathetic student stereotype of drunken laziness. They’re too busy changing the world for that. Last month I was on open day duty, basically hanging around a psychology pop-up stand in the university atrium, eating university-logo sweets and answering occasional questions from potential students. At the end of the day, a man came up to me with his daughter and asked the inevitable question. Given that sending his daughter to uni was going to cost him nine grand a year was it worth it? I’ve had this one a lot, so my answer is getting pointed: it depends. Why does she want to come? If she comes to uni, works hard, plays hard, makes good friends, and finds out what she’s passionate about - it’ll be the best nine grand per annum you’ve ever spent. But... (pause for dramatic effect) if she comes just to go out, sleep in and skip class, it’ll be the longest, most expensive hangover you’ve ever paid for. I looked at the dad. He looked at his daughter. She looked at the floor. Our student days are a time when we define ourselves. Will we do this by conforming to the world, or by seeking to change it? The choice is ours.
Roger Bretherton Roger Bretherton has lectured psychology at the University of Lincoln since 2007. When he first arrived it was 109 in the university league tables, it’s now 53. He takes personal credit for most of that improvement! His first book, The God Lab, is a guide to the beatitudes for the spiritually curious
Follow him on twitter @thegodlab
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For this issue of Fuse we interviewed current and former students about the impact of their university days on their identity and their faith. We hope they inspire you in your own student days. Phil Morton studied Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield University from 2000-2004. He became a Christian whilst he was a student. How did you become a Christian? One of the guys on my corridor happened to be the leader of the Hall CU. He started asking me what I thought Christianity was. Initially I dismissed it, but it irked me that I didn’t quite get where he was coming from. He gave me a copy of Mark’s gospel. As soon as I started reading it I came out with questions. He also kept inviting me to things: Discover Christianity, Alpha – I went on all of them. For a long time my
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agenda was to understand Christianity then come up with a good justification as to why I didn’t need to buy into it. It took me about a year and a half until I’d explored every question I had and then I just put the bible back on the shelf, content that it was valid as a historical text but no more, much to the disappointment and frustration of my Christian friends. Later they invited me on a weekend away. They didn’t tell me it was their church weekend! Towards the end the student worker asked if he could pray for me and I couldn’t think of anything bad that was going to come out of that so I agreed. He prayed for me to know Jesus in my life. I got back to Sheffield and said ‘okay God if you’re for real as this book says and you want a relationship with me then
come and show me’. I gave him two weeks. Within about two days I knew exactly what my decision was going to be. I just felt a real change of spirit deep in my heart, an enjoyment and excitement within me that wasn’t particularly because anything materially around me had changed. I was still stubborn enough to wait for the two weeks to end before telling anybody! What happened next? I think one of the things that I feared the most when I thought about what the bible meant was the impact on the things that I thought were part of my identity. In particular, on a night out I used to drink way too much and get myself into all sorts of predicaments that I made jokes out of the next day. I didn’t drop all those things immediately; there was a much more gradual
Interview
I gave God two weeks. Within about two days I knew exactly what my decision was going to be.
process of God showing me who I am, who he created me to be and that I don’t need those things. I’ve been teetotal for the last five years. Having studied the bible from a very academic perspective it was great to go back and read it as truth. I also enjoyed my circle of Christian friends. There was a peace about them and they were very open and accepting of everybody. It was lovely to be a part of that for the rest of my time as a student. What impact do you think higher tuition fees will have on student life and identity? I work in manufacturing and we’re already seeing interest in apprenticeships from those who have the academic qualifications to go
to university. They will still do a degree but over a longer period of time and around their work. That’s great for some people, but for me it was really helpful to have the time and space that being at university affords you. I did an engineering degree, which is perceived to be a lot of work but in contrast to having a
full time job I had plenty of free time to really explore things and study the bible. I also had the opportunity to live around people that I just wouldn’t have had exposure to back home working for a local firm. When you choose to go to university you don’t fully understand upfront what you’ll get from it.
Movement for Change Amy Davies
The first time I attended the National Union of Students’ (NUS’) annual conference I was blown away by the energy of the event created by the eclectic mix of over 1000 delegates representing the UK’s universities and colleges. These students were passionately making their case to fellow delegates about the direction in which to take the student movement, choosing the issues that should be the focus of action for the year ahead and electing student leaders to take forward the mandate. As a Christian student I was inspired and challenged by the potential of the student body to influence society and the role I could play in being an active part of the movement.
Students are part of an incredibly diverse body of people, a vibrant mix of worlds in an environment that encourages both the collision and creation of thought. Describing the student identity today is almost impossible because of the multiple layers of diversity, of nationality, sub-cultures, areas of study, age, economic background and belief, to name a few. Often these worlds collide in the Students’ Union, which provides an opportunity for individuals to form groups around similar interests and a space where these groups may mix, and even work, together. Whilst the diversity of NUS’ conference was striking, it was the ways in which the delegates connected and interacted with each other that made the event powerful. Through social
media and live streaming, delegates were connecting on multiple levels, engaging with discussion on the conference floor and online, often at the same time. This transformed what could have been the shouting of the few into a lively debate of the many. That Facebook and Twitter have taken off in such a massive way among university students reveals much about contemporary student identity. Continual interaction with peers and with current trends and having multiple platforms to connect through is an important part of the student experience. NUS and Students’ Unions have harnessed social media to organise a diverse body into movements for social change, most recently keeping going the debate on further and higher education funding and its impact on students and wider society.
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As Christians we may struggle to combine our faith with the diverse yet hyper connected student world I’ve just described. It’s easy to go through your years of study in an insular bubble connecting only with those from similar backgrounds, such as other Christians, and perhaps venturing out occasionally to share your worldview with others and invite them in. For others it may be just as easy to be swept along, your voice getting lost in the many, struggling to find a foothold amongst the views swirling around you.
I started to take an active role in shaping the environment I was in
There is another way. My time at University became a richer experience when I started to take an active role in shaping the environment I was in, working with a diverse range of students united under common goals, yet remaining grounded in my Christian convictions through the church I was part of. If you arrive at university already a Christian then your experience of being part of a church means that you’ll already understand what it’s like to be deeply connected to a diverse range of people and how that creates something both beautiful, as it reflects the image of God, and powerful, as it changes lives through his Spirit. The student movement globally has had a large part to play in fighting for civil and human rights, holding governments to account and standing up for the voiceless. That same movement now has to get to grips with tackling new challenges ahead such as the impact of the rise in fees and increase in digital-based learning. As Christians we should be, and often are, at the forefront of these movements for change. In connecting ourselves with other shapers and in influencing the discussion on the direction of the student movement, Christians will not only make a difference in the lives of others; we will also discover that our experience during our time of study will become richer as we delve deeper into discovering what it truly means to be salt that penetrates the world in which we live.
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Amy Davies Amy Davies studied at Strathclyde University in Scotland where she was Deputy President of the Students’ Association (that’s the Student Union for those south of the border!) for one year. Welsh-born and Zambianraised she now lives in London. Amy is passionate about social justice and international development.
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Interview
Make big pots of tea and use Student Linkup – it’s priceless.
Tom O’Dair is a fresher studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of York. Have you had many opportunities during your first year to share your faith with your friends? It was amazing at the start, the first week people couldn’t believe that I was a Christian and that I actually believed in God. They were asking me lots of questions and four people asked if they could come to church with me – I didn’t even need to invite them! I think the student lifestyle can be quite extreme and when you’re seen to be quite different it really stands out. It’s really difficult to have a night out without talking about God. With my close friends it’s getting to
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the point where they accept that I have a faith. One of my best friends has been coming along to church. We did an Alpha course last term and some friends came to that. What advice would you offer to cash-strapped students about giving? Giving to church is a really big issue for students because you don’t have that much money anyway, and it’s the first time (what you do have) isn’t your parents’. You get your student loan - your first few thousand pounds that are yours - and you have to think about engaging in giving properly for the first time. How much am I gonna give? What am I spending money on? You do have other things you can give. You have time. Lots of people at university just want friends and they’ll appreciate your time. At York, there’s a lot of homeless people who are engaging in our church, so I’ve started meeting up with some of these people
who really don’t have anything and giving them my time. I’d recommend giving regularly to specific causes even if it’s just a little bit, even 50 pence. Then you’ve begun a discipline that you can carry through the rest of your life. What advice would you give to people who will be freshers this year? Meet as many people as you can. Leave your door open and make big pots of tea, ‘cause people like that. Talk to people about Jesus, even when you don’t know them that well. Try and be quite courageous. Get to church in the first week. People don’t go in the first week and then they think ‘oh I’ll go next week’ and then the first term has gone by and they haven’t been. Use Student Linkup*. I got to York and Christians had already emailed me and then in the first week people texted me to go to different churches. That was just priceless. *www.studentlinkup.org
Interview
Be yourself from the very beginning.
Claud Williams is a finalist studying Sport Management at Loughborough University. He has been an entrepreneur since he was in Sixth Form. Aside from your degree you run some businesses. I’m the cofounder of a business called Cosmic Inc which is a parent company for a few projects. We run two photography companies and we’re in the process of opening a studio in my university town of Loughborough. We’re also planning a social enterprise which will launch next year. That’s the business side. I’ve also got involved in university politics. I’m part of the Student Entrepeneur Society, I’ve been
the chair of the Afro Caribbean Society, and I was recently a candidate in the Executive Elections. Sometimes it’s like my degree is the ‘other’ thing I do at university! Higher Tuition Fees are about to kick in. Is business your way of funding university? No because I’ve actually invested even more into the business than I’ve made from them so far. So if anything it’s had a negative impact, but it’s an investment for the future. It could be a way for someone to fund their time at university, but if I’d stopped investing in the first year I might have earned a few hundred pounds, if I keep investing then in a few years I could make thousands of pounds. University is a great place to start a business. You’ve got a massive captive audience they’re all the same age, same interest, very easy to access. You also have a lot of additional help you can access through your university.
What advice would you offer to those about to go to Uni? Be yourself from the very beginning. Don’t feel that you need to be a certain way to fit in or that you have to conform to what everyone else is doing. People will accept you and respect you for not participating in certain things if you don’t want to. Be honest about it. The times people run into problems are when they try to do one thing in Fresher’s Week and a few weeks later they think ‘that’s not what I want to be doing’, but people have already begun to expect you to behave that way. If you try to be honest about what you believe and be honest with yourself about who you are and what you represent, then you’ll be much better off. I guess I would say: remember Who you belong to. For more about Claud visit: photography.claudwilliams.co.uk.
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What Christian Students Want Rob Warner, Kristin Aune, Sonya Sharma and Matthew Guest
the churchgoing habit dies hard once students leave home.
Christianity and the University Experience (CUE) is a three year project set up to examine the interface between student’s faith and their time at university. Now in its third year, the project’s staff have surveyed just over 4,500 undergraduates, both Christian and not, about their beliefs, values and religious practices, and conducted face-to-face interviews with 90 students at five universities. The results provide a fascinating snapshot of the lives of Christian students today.
Church Going Habits Of students who self-identified as Christians 72% attended church regularly before coming to university and nearly 70% continue to attend regularly outside of term time. During term time it’s a different story. Whether it’s down to family or friends, the churchgoing habit dies hard once students leave home; just 27% attend church at least weekly whilst at university. Many explained that this was not because churchgoing was a phase they were growing out of, but rather that term-time was busy and demanding, and they felt they were on a break from church. Some could not find a church near their university that worked for them. Others, whether speaking about university or pre-university experience, described a particular church where they really felt at home. These claims ranged across the board from High Anglicans to Pentecostals. It seems that many students are not interested in churchgoing as a duty, and experience a sense of alienation or distance from the institutional church in general. However, many who do not currently attend in term-time hope to get back involved after graduation, finding once again a church to be at home.
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Prayer is more widely practised amongst Christian students than bible reading. Evangelism There was a time when university was a hot-bed of conversion and de-conversion. Earnest late night conversations were the prelude to significant numbers of students taking up or abandoning their faith. Orthodox Christian beliefs faced intellectual challenges in universities, while Christian Union missions and the less in-your-face approach of chaplaincy events sought to attract undergraduates to the plausibility, opportunities, or necessity of faith. In striking contrast today’s undergraduates see university as a rather benign environment in which it is easier to express a Christian identity than elsewhere in modern Britain. Only 12% of those reached by CUE considered they had become less religious whilst at university, and 10% more religious. Undergraduate faith identities appear pre-formed and relatively static with most conversions pre-dating university years. Since many Christian students attend church less frequently during term time, it is clear that
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many do not consider church attendance the key measure of their faith identity. Students who are members of Christian Unions typically still emphasise the important of annual missions and personal witness. Yet 75% of Christian students have no close friends with a different religious affiliation. Amongst those Christians who do not identify with a Christian Union (89%) this emphasis on evangelism is off-putting. For these students other faith positions should be respected, and all should be tolerated, with no attempt to proselytize.
Habits and Opinions CUE has found that most undergraduates prefer to call themselves ‘Christian’ rather than identify with a denominational label, with the exception of Roman Catholics. They are migrating towards a liberal consensus in contemporary ethical debates. 47% of all Christians have no problem with same sex relationships and 58% want no further restriction on abortion in the UK. 40% of Christians regularly volunteer, but hardly any are active in political campaigns. Prayer is more widely practised amongst Christian students than bible reading. However, the 27% of Christians who do attend church at least weekly during term time are more likely to read the Bible and remain keen on evangelism.
CUE Project Christianity and the University Experience (CUE) is a project of the Religion and Society Programme, a major funder of research into religion in the UK. The Programme recognised that many aspects of religion are under-researched, and that patterns of religious affiliation and practice are evolving significantly. CUE is now in its third year, and the research team comprises Drs Matthew Guest and Sonya Sharma (Durham University), Dr Kristin Aune (University of Derby) and Professor Robert Warner (University of Chester).
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At Uni I began to take myself as seriously as God takes me.
Ness Wilson studied Human Biology at Loughborough University between 19901993. She leads Open Heaven Church in Loughborough, which she helped start in 1994, and which meets in Loughborough Students Union. How did your student days shape who you are today? It was mainly the people that I met. When I turned up to uni all the second and third year Christians had been praying specifically for 10 fired-up Christian freshers and in that first term there was a move of God. Quite a few friends became Christians and that ended up massively
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shaping who I am. My dreams of how God might possibly be able to use me magnified as a group of us responded to a prophetic word about church planting. I started to imagine things that initially seemed impossible. I began to take myself as seriously as God took me. Do you have any specific stories of what God did? Early on my dad had a heart attack and I immediately turned to my Christian friends, who I’d only known for four weeks, for support and for prayer. One of them drove me all the way home. The day I got back my friend Jo said she wanted to become a Christian because she’d never seen the kind of love she’d seen amongst Christians and she wanted to be a part of it. We saw quite a lot of healings. One guy who was a rugby player had an eye injury; it was bruised and bloody. We prayed and all the
Interview
discolouring immediately went and his eye was totally healed. My hall of residence was 22 storeys high. Before I turned up there had been a number of suicides involving people throwing themselves off the top. We had a real conviction to go to the top and pray, which we did, and there have now been no suicides for 22 years. What was hard about your time at University? Realising pretty quickly that there were more temptations than I’d ever faced before having had a sheltered upbringing in a Christian family. I made some mistakes early on, particularly around boys, and then realised that I needed accountability like I’d never
opportunities to share your faith are going to be more than they ever been before, and probably more than they will ever be again.
needed it before! I met with a couple of friends every Monday morning and we would look each other in the eyes and ask each other specific questions like ‘what did you get up to on Friday evening’ and that really helped me begin to be consistent in what I was saying I believed and how I was actually living. What advice would you give to someone who’s about to be a fresher? More than any other time in your life you’re going be surrounded by people who don’t yet know Jesus and you’re probably going be the first real Christian they’ve met. You’ll be eating, studying, hanging out 24 hours a day and you have the most incredible opportunities to make a lifelong impact on people. The
Pray before you get to university about the people God is going to place around you. Ask specifically: who are the people who are already on a spiritual journey and open and receptive. Maybe they’ve been praying already or searching for God in some way. Recognise that their friendship with you is going be a significant step in them finding their own relationship with Jesus. Make as many friends as possible in the first couple of weeks. Get to every party, every special event, stay up for the ‘2am anointing’ when everyone has had too much to drink and wants to talk about the meaning of life. Enjoy the fact that people will be intrigued and they will be curious about your faith; don’t keep it hidden. Be prepared. I had books to give away so that when people were asking questions I could give them some more material to read and think about.
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Interview
One term, one person every week came to know Jesus or odd. One term, one person every week came to know Jesus. We did a lot of praying and sometimes went busking, singing gospel songs on Waterloo station and combining the raising of money for persecuted Christians with talking with unsuspecting travellers. We didn’t exactly get arrested but they did keep moving us on! But although our CU was incredibly important we loved going to church as well. Being with people of different ages and backgrounds helped us not become too insular. And I fell in love with the associate minister there, and that was very good indeed!
Celia Bowring studied to be a teacher at Roehampton, South London in the early 1970s. Today she is Operations Director and Prayer Coordinator at CARE. You became a Christian at university. How did that happen? I was determined to have nothing to do with anything remotely religious. Funnily enough the very first people I met were Christians who were so kind to me and didn’t seem to mind me arguing about what I considered were their old fashioned irrelevant beliefs. Then I read a book called ‘The Cross and the Switchblade’ which had such a profound effect that I decided to go to church and find out what believing in Jesus was really about. I heard the gospel for the first time in my life and knew it was the truth. That night I made the decision to trust in Jesus Christ.
How do you think university life has changed since you were a student? You did feel very different as a Christian and stood out more than today. It was not the same lifestyle as now, there were fewer drugs readily available and as we could only afford a half of beer on a Saturday night there wasn’t much drunkenness! We had grants not loans, so debt wasn’t really an issue. I think there were more lectures and more essays to write! What advice would you give to a Christian who is just starting university? Find friends who will strengthen you. Join a local church. Believe God will do extraordinary things in and through you.
What impact did your faith have on your time at uni? It was life-changing. A group of us grew very close because we had such a deep desire to see God at work. We wanted to share our faith and prove that being a Christian wasn’t boring
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Celia and friends on their way to the Festival of Light in 1971, at which CARE was launched
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[What] 7 million students, 46,000 churches – unleashing the potential [How] Fusion connects student to church and church to student. Not just one or two but serving thousands of churches in reaching and discipling millions of students. We are convinced that local church needs to be at the heart of student mission and students at the heart of local church. [Why] Fusion is committed to catalysing a relentless student movement that sees thousands respond to Jesus and prioritise their lives and ambitions around God’s Kingdom agenda.
Fusion’s values underpin all that we do and outline how our mission is outworked. We are committed to being: Biblical, Relational, Missional, Catalytic and Inclusive Register your church with Fusion:
www.fusion.uk.com/ churches
The Fusion team have been taking part in The 90 Challenge to raise money for Student Linkup.
So what have they being doing?
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Attempting to play 90 holes of golf in a single day - Rich Wilson.
I N F O R M A T I O N
Our core purposes 1.Serving Churches
•
Testimonies of what God is doing amongst students across the UK.
Catalysing and helping to build local churchbased student work and student mission
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Inspiration and catalysing creativity in student mission. “Fusion gave me the foundation to stand strong in my faith through their preparation for Uni seminar at Soul Survivor. Now I’m leading an Alpha course at my new church!” Katie Macintyre, First Year Student, Manchester
Fusion believes God’s mission is best carried out through the local church so we are committed to serving local churches: • • • •
Helping churches prepare school leavers for uni. Equipping churches to connect with new students. Providing resources, inspiration and connections to equip, reach and disciple students. Promoting growth and good practise in student mission.
Wherever your church is located, we believe it can contribute something to this vision. You can connect your church into this mission opportunity. ‘I am totally convinced by Fusion’s model of student ministry that is church-based, empowering, & relational. We want to connect with any students who move into our area & for our young people to connect with churches when they go to uni. I see in the lives of the Fusion staff, a genuine love for God, passion for his kingdom and an abundance of life & joy.’ – Rev. Richard Pennystan, St Chad’s in Romiley
2.Working with Students Facilitating mission, evangelism and discipleship Fusion work with students in local churches in the lead up to and during their time at university providing: •
Access to resources to prepare, connect, equip, inspire and disciple students.
3.Developing Student Workers Fusion works to train, coach and network student workers from local churches around the country: • • • • •
Student Work training encourages church-based student workers. Providing a forum where student workers from differing streams and locations can interact and share information. Offering training and networking three times a year through Student Work Equipping Days. Delivering an annual Student Work Conference. Access to a range of resources and student work consultations.
“Thanks for all your hard work on the Student Work Equipping day. God revealed so much to me personally and about my student group, and many others I spoke to said the same. Talk about equipping us, I ended up re-thinking my student weekend because of the day – thanks!” Dan Leathers, Student Worker, St Alkmund’s Derby
Cycling 90 miles from Loughborough to the edge of the Peak District and back! – Matt Fisher
Whatever your experience of church and God up to this point...
...there is more to
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discover.
‘Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’ – Ephesians 3v20
I always felt that this verse was for new Christians. It was for people who didn’t yet know all the stories, hadn’t yet seen everything that church was. I had been in church since I was a kid and I thought I’d got it. I knew God was big and I’d experienced everything there was to experience in terms of church. He was unlikely to be bigger than what I could imagine because in my imagination he was massive and if there was more it was probably more of the same.
Don’t be an idiot like me. It’s easy to believe that if you want something new at university you have to look elsewhere because, frankly, you’ve experienced God and church already. Paul says in the Bible that he was, “in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless” (Philippians 3:5-6). He knew scripture off by heart, was the most passionate guy around and he never misbehaved. He had done it all but he missed the biggest thing and his life was a shadow of what it was about to become. He knew the scriptures about the Messiah, but he didn’t recognise Jesus. He was willing to kill for God, but he didn’t know what God
wanted him to do with his passion. He followed all the rules, but his experience of God’s freedom and vision for his life was still massively limited. He met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was turned upside down (for the full story see Acts 9). Trust me, there’s more. Whatever your experience of church and God up to this point – good, bad, boring, painful, releasing, inspiring or non-existent - there is more to discover. This is not the end. When you get to university take risks, try new things. If you do these things with God, as a part of church, you will be blown away by the realities you discover. Don’t wait to find a church – sign up to Student Linkup online and get cracking. Find two or three churches you like the look of on our website, visit them when you get there, choose one, and then get stuck in. Don’t be an idiot like me, go in expecting God to surprise you and commit to giving him a chance to do so. If you do that not only will you have a university experience which is more than you can ask for or imagine, but there’s a chance your mates will too. I’d love to hear your stories as they happen!
PIPPA WINTERBURN STUDENT LINKUP DEVELOPER
pippa@fusion.uk.com 07885 761 894 @this_is_pip
90 hours on campus - sleeping on student floors and doing spontaneous loveyouruni mission. - Pippa Winterburn
When we take on the branding of “student”, what happens to our identity? When we leave all we have known at home, school and church do we also leave behind our sense of self? Miriam Swaffield explores the effect of our university days on our identity.
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I’ve seen a few first-days of University, not least my own. I’ve watched the nervous school leavers cross the threshold of their halls of residence and enter the World of Student. I’ve witnessed friends wave goodbye to their families as one person and a week later be someone their mums wouldn’t recognise. I’ve been on the nights out when it’s a waiting game to see which housemate will be the first to drop their sober intentions and end up unconscious on the kitchen floor or not coming home at all. I’ve watched ‘freedom’ break out and seen long term relationships break up, and I have found new shades to my character and how I respond to the world I encounter.
Identity is the biggest thing up for grabs at Fresher’s week.
Fresh Meat
TV series on Channel 4
Yet all the time, the question hanging in the air of misty clubs and unclean kitchens remains “who are you?” to every person you meet and with every glance in the mirror as you crawl into bed at 4am.
up for attack. When Jesus was first tempted by the devil during his forty days in the desert, the first thing Satan targeted was his identity, “IF you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (check out Matthew 4).
Identity Up for Grabs
In the same way, who we are in Jesus - created, loved, saved followers of Christ and co-heirs of the Kingdom of God - grounds our identity solidly in our reason for existence - God alone. It is therefore no surprise that when thousands of us who were brought up as Christians turn up to university without any of the security of home church, youth group
Identity is the biggest thing up for grabs at Fresher’s week. Not the freebies at the welcome fairs, not the new connections you make on the dance floor, not the society memberships, but identity. Identity is also at the heart of our faith and so the biggest thing
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and parents, it is our personal ownership of our faith, our identity in Christ, that becomes exposed and therefore targeted.
Are You Fresh Meat? If we begin university unprepared it can be like walking a goat, fresh meat, into the centre of a lion’s den and leaving it there, hoping the animal will still be in one piece when term ends. Channel Four is running its second series of ‘Fresh Meat’ this autumn, a comedy that documents “the hilarious, and often painful, truths of being a student.” Although the characters and situations are exaggerated stereotypes and it’s not the most wholesome viewing, I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t show anything I haven’t seen before in university life. Whether you’re ‘JP’ who has a chip on his shoulder for not getting into Oxbridge, and an over-inflated ego from his privileged background, or ‘Kingsley’ who has been waiting for university to finally experience as much of everything as he can, the characters are searching for who they are. You might be like ‘Oregan’ who changed her name and reinvented herself to try and be cool upon her arrival, or ‘Josie’ who stumbles between being sensible and studious to outrageous and irresponsible. Perhaps you’re deliberately different like ‘Vod’ who arms herself against showing any true emotion, or you’re ‘Howard’ who hasn’t found his place socially with anyone. They’re all searching for the best-fit life, scrambling to comprise their identity from the pick and mix lifestyle they’re immersed in. The search for identity is one that every student faces. Despite living like the next night out will make our lives complete, or the next relationship, the next good exam result, the next job offer... we all know there’s got to be more to life than these pursuits. They can’t be the reason for it all.
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The only way a student can enter university and not look like fresh meat in the lion’s den is by knowing that their identity is secure in Jesus. Yes we will be shaped, refined and affected by our time as students, but we do not need to be defined by anything other than our faith and relationship with God. And being a follower of Jesus, living-out the radical life we are called to, actually ends up shaping our friends’ experience of uni, informing their identity, and pointing them towards the reason for their existence too.
we do not need to be defined by anything other than our faith and relationship with God. MIRIAM SWAFFIELD STUDENT MISSION DEVELOPER
miriam@fusion.uk.com 07843 142 315 @miriamswaff
Dressing up as an elephant for 90 hours (seven days of waking time). - Miriam Swaffield
Check out our
Resources online! F U S I O N
University: The Big Challenge 360° preparation for uni life Price: £4.97 This resource for parents and youth workers is full of reassuring, encouraging and practical advice for parents and youth workers for how we prepare and send the young adults we know to university.
The Stuff of Life Price: £5.97 The Stuff of Life is the sort of stuff that affects all of us to a greater or lesser extent. It’s stuff that already impacts our relationships and outlook on life, stuff that, Facing challenges, if not faced, can diminish living life well a lot of our freedom and enjoyment of day-to-day living. This book is primarily aimed at students and 20-somethings but will also be of enormous benefit to parents in understanding the pressures their children face, youth workers in suggesting pathways and help for common ‘stuff,’ and teenagers in helping them better understand themselves and their friends.
R E S O U R C E S Student Linkup
TRAINER PACK Price: £19.97 The Student Linkup trainer pack is packed full of resources to help you provide the best possible preparation for school leavers heading off to university. It includes a comprehensive range of resources - University: The Big Challenge, Studentscape and the Trainer Pack DVD, so anyone can deliver fantastic preparation for uni, whatever their own level of experience of university life.
Student Linkup SCHOOL LEAVER PACK Price: £9.97 Perfect for anyone heading to university, the School Leaver Pack includes The Student Alphabet, Studentscape and a DVD. It offers a head start, an insight into what to expect and encouragement to help new students make the most of university. It works well on its own, makes a perfect gift from a parent or youth leader and can also be used alongside a mentor who has a Student Linkup Trainer Pack.
All these resources and more are available at www.fusion.uk.com/ resources
Grounded Identity
Students sometimes struggle to know their true identity in God. Luke Smith believes it’s the church’s job to help them work it out.
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C H U R C H
C O N N E C T I O N
Identity
fuels our activity All churches have problems. the truth in love to this student generation we need the spiritual gift of discernment In fact, we have loads of to help us know what to say to who. them! But the truth is God A Quick Guide to thinks your church is better Identity Issues than you think it is. He loves the church more than you do. Big-head It’s his precious bride after all and in order for the church to be the bringer of hope that it is designed to be, it needs clarity on its true identity. And that, as is the case for all of us, is shaped by how God sees us. Identity defines who we are and fuels our activity. Many students in the UK have an unhealthy sense of identity and this leads to unhealthy activity. A student friend of mine used to believe that he was worthless because he was abused as a child; this led him to abuse his body and mind with drink and drugs. Another student I know believed she had to be successful at everything she did to earn approval; this led to her hating herself as she never felt good enough to be loved. Both of these students had their identity calibrated incorrectly and it is the job of the church to help them to fix that. Yet to speak
A student may come to university with an enormous ego, believing the world revolves around them. They have come from a privileged background and have had all that they could want in life so far. In order to help them root their identity in Jesus Christ, the church can help them see that they are a member of Christ’s body (1 Cor 12:27). As Paul counsels the church in Rome, we would be wise to say to students like this, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)
Low Expectations By contrast, some students will arrive in your town with a sense that they are insignificant, a failure, unimpressive and worthless. The church can remind them that they have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit. (John 15:16)
I am playing 90 golf holes in a day. Exhausting but worth it! - Luke Smith
What are the students that you know going through? How is their identity?
Fear Factor Another student may be heavy laden with fear. Fear of failure, fear of being mocked, fear of other people. They need encouraging that they “have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Fresh Start Many students have done things and had experiences that are not of God. Even after accepting God’s forgiveness it can be hard for them to let go. They will find it helpful to know that they are “a new creation in Christ; old things have passed away and all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
it’s time to meet up with a student for coffee and start to talk about how they view themselves. Let’s encourage our students to persevere while, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) At Fusion we’re working hard to equip churches all over the UK to deal with the tough realities that students face today.
Register your church with Fusion: www.fusion.uk.com/churches
LUKE SMITH CHURCH RELATIONS MANAGER
What are the students that you know going through? How is their identity? Is it determined by how God sees them, as precious and loved, and do they know they have a valuable contribution to make in your church? Perhaps
C H U R C H
luke@fusion.uk.com 07912 361 450 @Luke20Smith
C O N N E C T I O N
Interview with Sky Cady All Saints Weston, Bath
Why has your church recently connected to Fusion? We connected because we send young people off to university every year and we also welcome students who come to study in Bath. Fusion help us prepare our young people for university life and they help us connect to a whole load of freshers.
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How does Fusion help you? I hope to make it to the Student Work Training that Fusion run for churches. We’ve already initiated a brand new student ministry that was motivated through students connecting with our church through studentlinkup. org. Because of their passion for students and communicating the relevant gospel to this generation I’ve invited the Fusion team to speak at our young adult’s service.
Check out our
Resources online! F U S I O N
R E S O U R C E S
Student Alphabet an A-Z of Student Life.
Price: ÂŁ4.97
The Student Alphabet travels quickly from A to Z on everything you need to know about starting university. Its light hearted and practical approach shares hundreds of tips, comments, stories and advice. It covers everything from Alcohol to Lectures to Zzz highlighting 90 other topics along the way. Every new student and parent will benefit from this practical, humorous and challenging collection of insights.
Price: ÂŁ4.97
Studentscape
Studentscape has been written with the 18-25 age group in mind and is a values-based approach to discipleship. It has been specifically written for those in or going into higher and further education and is an essential resource for every young person who intends going onto college or university.
All these resources and more are available at www.fusion.uk.com/ resources
All student workers face a number of challenges that require purposeful strategy and a huge amount of prayer to overcome! 1. Finding and connecting with students This is crucial, both for building your own student work and from a kingdom perspective – we want to get as many students as possible to connect with a church as soon as possible so that they can be loved, equipped and released to make a difference in their university community. Over the summer Fusion’s staff connect with hundreds of students who have been part of churches at home. We make their contact details available to churches so that you can get in touch and begin to build relationship with them before they arrive at uni. Yet there is still a lot of skill and hard work involved for churches to strategically connect with freshers.
2. Releasing student leadership Often the potential of students is underestimated. It can seem easier to simply welcome them into your church community, feed them lots of food and give them a safe place to hide away from the
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S T U D E N T craziness of student life. Releasing them into leadership can be a risk and requires time but it is so worth it! Sociologists and psychologists believe that Generation Y are craving development opportunities. On a spiritual level I believe we are battling the spirit of consumerism that is rife in Gen Y. Ask yourself: what potential does God see in your students?
3. Boldness in student mission There are thousands of un-churched students to connect with who arrive at uni unsure of themselves and in need of God’s love. Universities are a unique place, needing specific models of mission. It is also a unique time for the individuals. It might be the only time in their lives that the students in our churches live, eat, work and play with non-Christians. If we don’t inspire and release them to do mission we are missing a MASSIVE opportunity. We need to get students engaging with their student community in a way that brings in the kingdom of God and sees students come to know Jesus. This takes a lot of focus, envisioning, equipping, releasing, story telling – I could go on! It is something we cannot afford to stop talking about and bringing in as part of our church culture.
4. Commitment Current culture is so focused on the individual rather than the community that sometimes students need convincing that their contribution
W O R K
to the wider community is crucial. If commitment is an issue amongst your students start speaking into their lives their potential and the difference they can make. Let’s help students keep a balance between church community and friendships with those that don’t know Jesus yet. By keeping an eye on our priorities we can give our students freedom to live the lives God is calling them to.
5. Transition into work Graduates are leaving university and entering an uncertain job market. They need help and support in that transition. Like the transition from school to university, this is a lifestage when faith is under pressure and many don’t make it. Churches are beginning to run careers days and offer coaching and mentoring for students to help them prepare both spiritually and practically for life after university. Let’s prioritise time for this in our student work calender! I believe all these things are on God’s heart so let’s keep laying them at his feet and asking for his creative strategies and breakthroughs.
HANNAH BOWRING STUDENT WORK DEVELOPER
hannah@fusion.uk.com 07812 567 248 @hannah_bowring
Serving 90 cups of loose leaf tea at a monster tea party. - Hannah Bowring
student
w ork
Interview with Liz and Alex Liz and Alex are Student Workers at St Peters Church in Brighton Why do you work with students? Alex: I wasn’t a Christian when I went to university, and I didn’t meet a single one while I was there. Now I think it’s amazing that students can live all out for God in such a tough environment. I would love to see students in Brighton living free from all of their baggage and living life to the full. Liz: I think it’s such a significant stage of life; first time away from home, working out things for yourself without the fall back of your parents. I really admire students who stand firm in their faith in the midst of this new life and love to be able to support and encourage them, providing them with a safe and happy community to belong to. I also think it’s a fantastic time for students who aren’t Christian to explore their thoughts about faith, and so providing a fun, non-threatening, friendly environment in which they can do this is important. What is the vision of St Peter’s student work? We want to see students in Brighton getting closer to God while they’re at uni. We reckon if that’s happening then they’ll be inviting their friends to church, they’ll want to help homeless people in Brighton and they’ll want to get up early on Sundays to help
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with kids work. We also want to provide a safe place where they can chat about life, where they can meet with other like-minded students to encourage one another and continue to develop as they approach the world of work. Most importantly we want to see them growing in their relationship with Jesus and in their faith and spiritual gifts. What evangelism are your students involved in? Many of them are involved with CU, charity stuff and social action. What’s more amazing is the way that the St Peter’s students are loving their housemates, looking after them when they’ve drunk too much, answering their questions when they ask about faith and holding firm to their faith when they are challenged. What do you value about your connection with Fusion? We love knowing there is always someone on the end of the phone who has good ideas or has seen something working well elsewhere. We also had Miriam come and do an amazing talk at our student night. She spoke about telling our mates about Jesus – the next night our church Alpha course was full of students’ mates.
Over 90km of gruelling trekking, canoeing and cycling through the unforgiving Scottish highlands in under 48 hours.- Tom
FUSION’S RELATIONSHIPS
Church Networks Fusions serves a number of church networks, strengthening their work amongst young adults and helping them become increasingly effective in sending, receiving and reaching students.
Elim has been serving cities, towns and villages across the UK for almost 100 years. Our 550 local churches often vary both in style and size and are united by a desire to reach the lost and make effective disciple makers. Many of our churches, particularly those in university cities, have worked over many years to welcome and resource students. We are working closely with Fusion to develop this further.
Mark Pugh Mark.Pugh@serious4god.co.uk www.elim.org.uk www.serious4god.co.uk @elimpentecostal
The Ground Level Network is an apostolic movement networked together through regional and relational connections. It exists to support and care for local churches / ministries and also seeks to have a growing influence for good in the nation, affecting society in any way that it can, to be prophetic, to model Word and Spirit, relationship and kingdom. Ground Level also hosts the ONE event (formerly Grapevine).
Pioneer is a network of networks, church hubs and ministries committed to church planting, leadership development, training and the support of innovative caring projects. We are committed to nonreligious Christianity, building missional church and working in partnership wherever we can. We host a variety of gatherings throughout the year - our Annual Leaders Conference, Summer School of Theology and the National Churches Forum - to encourage and support leaders.
New Wine is a growing network of, currently, well over 1,000 local churches working together with one vision: to see the nation changed. God is at work in the world touching hearts and transforming lives – and he’s invited us to be part of it. Come and join us and be part of a movement to see this nation changed!
Carl Belcher
Pioneer
New wine
carl@groundlevel.org.uk
admin@pioneer.org.uk
01522 542166
@PioneerNetwork
www.groundlevel.org.uk
023 8038 5242
info@new-wine.org www.new-wine.org.uk
www.pioneer.org.uk
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FUSION’S RELATIONSHIPS
Key Partners
Key Partners Through the key partner programme Fusion is acting as a doorway to other ministries working with, supporting, serving and resourcing students. Our hope is that areas of specialism that been honed and developed over many years can be much more readily accessible to students. We believe this will lead to greater joined up thinking and action that will better serve God’s purposes in this nation and the nations.
Our Easter event takes place at two Butlins resorts, attracting around 25,000 people for a week of Bible teaching, worship, fellowship as well as a dedicated 18-25s programme called Function. We also run Youthwork the conference – a weekend event designed to encourage, equip and bless hundreds of youth workers from across the UK.
Rebecca Bowater
Our heart is to help young people capture first a vision of Jesus, then to equip, train, empower and release them into his ministry in their every day lives. We do this in many different ways including: conferences, retreats, resources, local church-based events, training events, discipleship courses and mentoring programs. Momentum is our conference for students and twenty-somethings. Come along for relevant teaching, intimate worship, ministry and a whole lot of fun!
Laura McKinney
info@springharvest.org
Laura.mckinney@soulsurvivor.com
@springharvest
@MomentumGB
www.springharvest.org
facebook.com/uksoulsurvivor www.soulsurvivor.com
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CARE’s vision is to see a society that has a greater respect for the sanctity and value of human life from fertilisation to its natural end. CARE impacts the political world and has concern for the vulnerable and needy. The Leadership Programme, launched in 1993 and now counting over 220 alumni, equips graduates to think seriously about the co-existence of faith and culture by combining the study of Christian thought with practical experience in parliamentary and third sector placements.
Anna Campbell
Compassion supports some of the world’s most vulnerable children and, through individual sponsors, helps them break the cycle of poverty, giving them hope for the future. Compassion works through local churches in 26 developing countries to release children from physical, economic, social and spiritual poverty.
We are a network of young people and students who believe the world doesn’t have to be the way it is. We’re not content to tiptoe through life. We want to shout out against injustice, challenging the systems that keep people poor. We want to run towards a new world. A better world. To be love in action. Together we can be the generation that ends poverty. Together we are Collective.
KATE SHARMA info@compassionuk.org
Chris Mead
leadership.programme@care.org.uk
@compassionuk
collective@christian-aid.org
@careorguk
facebook.com/compassionuk
@theCAcollective
www.care.org.uk
www.compassionuk.org
christianaidcollective.org
Student Alpha is a seven week course introducing people to the Christian faith. Over the last ten years Student Alpha has proved to be one of the most effective tools for university students and young adults to explore the Christian faith, with over 600 courses now running worldwide. Its simple format has seen courses run everywhere from churches and halls, to McDonalds restaurants, curry houses and night clubs! It contains the same material as ‘classic’ Alpha, except that it’s been ‘squeezed’ (into seven weeks), ‘squashed’ (into thirty minute talks) and ‘spiced’ (with multi-media ingredients).
JAMIE HAITH
Tearfund are passionate about seeing the world changed through a generation who have the guts to become the kind of people that change the world. We are excited about developing habits, regular patterns in our lives that change us and the world, as we live out Jesus’ values of generosity, advocacy, contentment and connection. We call this Rhythms.
CVM equip the local church to introduce every man in the UK to Jesus Christ. The UK church is haemorrhaging men and a lot of churches have no idea what to do to halt the exodus of Christians, let alone introduce men to Jesus. We have proven strategies to reach outside the church walls and some cracking ideas to gear local churches up for men. CVM is a rapidly growing Band of Brothers across the UK. CVM has made a public declaration to put its shoulders to the plough.
Dot Tyler
ALEX WILLMOTT
jamie.haith@htb.org.uk
dot.tyler@tearfund.org
alex.willmott@cvmen.org.uk
@studentalpha
@TearfundEmgen
@CVMen
facebook.com/studentalpha
www.tearfund.org/rhythms
www.cvmen.org.uk
www.student.alpha.org
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We want to encourage Christian students to think seriously about how their faith and work can fit together after university
KEY PARTNER FEATURE
You’re about to graduate. After all that hard work, and perhaps a few last-minute deadlines, you’ve done it! But suddenly the thought hits you... what’s next? Your confidence nosedives, and your ambition to change the world begins to falter as you consider taking your first step. How do you avoid this crisis of identity and purpose at the end of studenthood? Should you approach life after university with more pragmatism and resign yourself to failed expectations? At CARE, we think that you should do exactly the opposite. We want to encourage Christian students to think seriously about how their faith and work can fit together after university. Our year-long Leadership Programme helps new graduates with an interest in politics and social justice do exactly that. We think through the big issues together in classes every Friday whilst trying to put it all into practise the rest of the week in voluntary internships. The Programme works in collaboration with parliamentarians, charities, theologians and Christian leaders who bring a fresh perspective on what it means to live and work ‘Christianly’ today. For the past twenty years, we have been equipping talented, missional Christians to enter the
working world ready and able to serve. In the words of a participant from the last year: ‘I would recommend the Leadership Programme to anyone wanting to be challenged and equipped as an effective world-changer. It was the perfect step after university, solidifying the foundations of my faith in the context of a challenging work placement, with the support of like-minded Christian peers.’ Whether or not the Leadership Programme appeals to you, I would encourage you to apply its principles to the spheres of life and work that form your calling: •
When you are looking at different opportunities, think about how each one could set the tone of your life.
•
Look for openings that will enable you to give as much as you want to get: volunteer, get active in issues that excite you;
•
See work as a means of serving the Lord and the world; build community wherever you go.
The world may not exactly be your ‘oyster’ in today’s economy, but this doesn’t mean that we are lacking pearls to pursue. For more information about the Leadership Programme: www.care.org.uk/leadershipprogramme.
Anna Campbell Leadership.programme@care.org.uk @careorguk www.care.org.uk/leadershipprogramme
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ENDING
KEY PARTNER FEATURE
This world we live in - the one we see out of our bedroom windows or on our TV screens - that isn’t the world as it was meant to be. Our global society is a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, carbon-smudged and toner-burned, bearing little or no resemblance to the original template.
But because the world’s resources have been hoarded and squandered by a tiny percentage of the world’s population. By us. And this is where my faith cuts into me like a knife or, perhaps more appropriately, a spur. Because I believe in a creator God with a plan for this world. I believe he has charged us, every one of us, as Christians, with the stewardship and protection of the world and I believe the best way to live our faith through action is to scream ourselves ragged in opposition to the apathy we face.
I believe in a creator God with a plan for this world. We inhabit a planet torn apart by war and inter-religious hatred. A planet stitched back together with red tape, afflicted by self-serving nest feathering passed off as policy. We’ve stumbled through the looking glass and into the hinterlands of the mirror world beyond. The crazy thing is we’ve begun to accept this off-kilter existence as the norm! We’ve started to believe that’s just the way the world works. Now I can trot out the global poverty statistics as blithely as the next person. Nearly half the world’s population lives on less than US$2 a day; 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty; 50,000 people die from poverty-related causes every day; every three seconds a child dies from a treatable disease. But what does it say about a society so anaesthetised to the realities that we hear these horrific statistics and do not feel the slightest prick of shame or responsibility? I mean, let’s really consider one of those sentences for a moment. Every three seconds a child dies from a treatable illness. That’s 20 children every minute of every hour of every day with absolutely no end to this scandal in sight. People are dying and that should be enough for us to act. They’re not dying by accident or because they’re unlucky. Their death is a direct result of the way we choose to live our lives in developed countries. Not tsunami or fire or war.
The Christian Aid Collective believes we need to engage with these issues now - prayerfully, openly, dynamically – as Christians and human beings. Because it’s an abomination that people starve, die and rot in a world God created with enough resources to easily provide for its citizens. Everyone deserves the right to live and contribute to the richness of our shared existence. And, like it or not, we are the lynch pins, with the power to bring about real change in the world. We have to be ready to make our voices heard. And we want you to join us. Chris Mead works for Christian Aid. The Christian Aid Collective is a movement for change made up of young people and students who believe that we can be the generation that sees an end to poverty.
Chris Mead youth@christianaid.org.uk @TheCAcollective www.christianaidcollective.org
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C H U R C H Aa Aberdeen Aberdeen Vineyard Church
C O N N E C T I O N
D I R E C T O R Y
Bedford Brickhill Baptist Church
Hope City Church Birmingham
www.aberdeenmethodist.org.uk
Christ Church
www.jesus.org.uk/ja/local_birmingham.shtml
www.aberdeenvineyard.org.uk
Crown Terrace Methodist Church
www.brickhillbaptistchurch.org
www.hopecitychurch.tv
Jesus Fellowship Church Kings Christian Centre
Gerrard Street Baptist Church
www.christchurchbedford.org.uk
www.gerrardstreet.com
King’s Arms Church
www.kingschristiancentre.com
Abingdon Christ Church
www.kingsarms.org
Potton Vineyard Church
www.riverside-church.org.uk
www.cca.uk.net
www.pottonvineyard.org.uk
Alsager Alsager Community Church
Belfast (NI) Belfast City Vineyard Church
Ascot Ascot Baptist Church
City Church Belfast
www.alsagercc.co.uk
www.ascotbaptistchurch.org
Bb Bangor Assemblies of God (Bangor) Pentecostal Church www.aogbangor.org.uk
Bangor Community Church www.bangorcc.com
Hope Church Bangor
www.hopechurchbangor.org
Barnsley Hope House Barnsley
www.hopehousechurch.org.uk
Bath All Saints Weston
www.belfastcityvineyard.com www.citychurchbelfast.org
Fellowship Church Belfast www.thisiscfc.com
Riverside Church Birmingham St John’s Harbourne
www.stjohns-church.co.uk
Vineyard Network Church
www.vineyardnetworkchurch.com
Zion Christian Centre www.zionnetwork.org
Blackburn Global Lancs
Fisherwick Presbyterian Church Belfast
www.globallancs.com
South Belfast Elim
www.stgabriels-blackburn.co.uk
The Church of the Resurrection, Belfast
BlackPool Christchurch with All Saints
www.fisherwick.net
www.southbelfastelim.org www.thehubblefast.org
The Dock Belfast www.the-dock.org
The Abundant Life Church www.alm.org.uk/belfast
Willowfield Parish Church www.willowfieldchurch.co.uk
St Gabriel’s
www.b4me.com/ccas
BOLTON Christian Way of Life Bolton Kings Church www.kingsbolton.co.uk
Deane Church Bolton
BERKHAMSTED Kings Road Church Berkhamsted
www.deanechurch.org
Bath City Church
Northchurch Baptist Church www.northchurch.com
Liberty Christian Centre
www.bathcitychurch.org.uk
Elim Pentecostal Church
Beverley Beverley Community Church
St Lukes Church Bolton
www.allsaintsonline.org.uk
Bath Abbey
www.bathabbey.org
www.bathelim.org.uk
www.kingsroadchurch.org
Farnworth Baptist Church www.farnworthbaptist.org.uk www.libertycc.co.uk
www.stlukesbolton.org.uk
Beverley Methodist Church
Boston Holy Trinity
Hay Hill Baptist Church
Birmingham Bethany Pentecostal Church
Bournemouth St Andrews
Holy Trinity Combe Down
www.bethanypentecostal.com
St Luke’s Church
St Michaels Church
www.calcc.org.uk
St Michael’s Twerton
www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk
St Swithin’s Walcott
www.christianlifecentre.com
Fathers House
www.fathershousebath.org
Freedom Bath and Bristol
www.freedombathandbristol.com www.hayhill.org www.htcd.org
www.stlukebath.org.uk www.stmichaelsbath.org.uk www.stmichaelstwerton.com www.walcotchurch.org.uk
46
www.beverleycommunitychurch.org www.bmcy.org.uk
www.Holytrinityboston.org
www.standrewskinson.org
Birmingham Christian Centre
Bournemouth Vineyard Church
www.birminghamcc.co.uk
www.bournemouthvineyard.com
California Christian Centre
Bowdon St Mary’s
Christ Church Birmingham Christian Life Centre
Church of God of Prophecy
www.bowdonchurch.org
Bracknell Kerith Community Church www.kerith.co.uk
www.cogop.org.uk
This list is current as of Tuesday 12th June 2012. For the most recent list go to www.fusion.uk.com/churches/find-a-church. To edit your website address, and other church details, please go to your church dashboard
Bradford Abundant Life Church
St Mark’s Baptist Church
Life Church Cardiff
Victoria Methodist Church
www.vic-methodist-bristol.org.uk
Woodville Baptist Church
Bradford Aire Valley Church Plant
Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church www.westburybaptist.org.uk
St Mark’s Cardiff
Buttershaw Baptist Church
Woodlands Church Bristol
St John’s Great Horton
www.woodlandschurch.net
Carlisle Eden Community Church
www.stmarkseaston.com
www.alm.org.uk
www.bradfordav.org.uk
www.buttershawbaptist.org.uk www.stjohnsgh.org.uk
Bromley Bromley Baptist Church
Bridlington Christ Church
www.bromleybaptist.com
Bromley Town Church
www.christchurchbridlington.com
www.bromleytownchurch.com
Brighton Church of Christ the King
Southborough Lane Baptist Church www.slbc.org.uk
www.cck.org.uk
St Augustines Church
Church on the Rock
www.st-augustines.org.uk
www.cotr.co.uk
Bury St Edmunds West Suffolk Vineyard
CityCoast Church Brighton www.citycoastchurch.co.uk
www.westsuffolkvineyard.co.uk
City Gate Church
www.citygatechurch.org.uk
Holland Road Baptist Church www.hrbc.org.uk
Cc Cambridge Cambridge Community Church
St Peter’s
www.cthree.org
www.lifecardiff.org
www.woodybap.org.uk
www.stmarks-cardiff.co.uk
www.ecchurch.co.uk
Elim Community Church www.elimcarlisle.org
Carmarthen Bethel Christian Centre
www.bethelchristiancentre.co.uk
Towy Community Church www.towychurch.co.uk
Chelmsford Central Baptist Church
www.centralbaptistchurch.org.uk
Chelmsford Community Church
www.chelmsfordcommunitychurch.co.uk
CGC Chelmsford
www.cgcchelmsford.com
Cambridge Vineyard Church
Elim Christian Centre
Bristol BCF Aardvark
City Life Church Cambridge
Cheltenham Cheltenham Bridge
BCF Resound
www.faithlifechurch.org.uk
Bristol Community Church
www.htcambridge.org.uk
Bristol Vineyard
www.kingsgateuk.com
Christ Church Clifton
www.stbs.org.uk
City Church
www.zionbc.org.uk
East Street Baptist Church
Canterbury Canterbury Vineyard
www.stpetersbrighton.org
www.bcfnet.com www.bcfnet.com
www.bristolcommunitychurch.org www.bristolvineyard.com www.christchurchclifton.org.uk www.citychurch.org.uk www.bedminsterchurches.net/index/Other_Church
Ebenezer Evangelical Church www.ebe.org.uk
Edge Church International www.edgechurch.co.uk
Elim @ Bristol City Church www.elimbristol.org
Freedom Church Bristol www.freedomchurch.co.uk
Highgrove Church
www.cambridgevineyard.org.uk www.citylifechurch.net
Faith Life Church Holy Trinity
KingsGate Community Church St Barnabas Cambridge Zion Baptist Church
www.canterburyvineyard.com
www.elim.org
www.thebridgecheltenham.co.uk
Glenfall Church
www.glenfall.org.uk
Godfirst
www.godfirst.org.uk
St Paul’s Cheltenham
www.stpaulscheltenham.com
Trinity Church
www.trinitycheltenham.com
Chepstow Chepstow Baptist Church www.chepstowbaptist.org.uk
Dayspring Community Church
Chesham Ley Hill Methodist Church
New Life Pentecostal Church
Chester All Saints Hoole
www.dayspringcanterbury.org.uk www.newlifecanterbury.org
St Andrews Canterbury
www.sstandrewscanterbury.org
St Mary’s Bredin Canterbury www.smb.org.uk
www.allsaintshoole.org
Christ Church Chester
www.christchurchchester.com
Hoole Baptist Church
Hope Community Church Bristol
Cardiff All Nations Church Cardiff www.allnationschurch.org.uk
www.thecommunitychurches.org.uk
Ivy Church
Albany Rd Baptist Church
Pip and Jay
Freedom Cardiff
Chesterfield Acorn Christian Ministries
www.pipnjay.org.uk
www.freedombathandbristol.co.uk
RCCG, Garden of the Lord
Freedom Church Cardiff
www.gardenofthelord.org.uk
www.freedomchurch.co.uk
Severn Vineyard Church
Cardiff Vineyard
www.severnvineyard.org
www.cardiffvineyard.org
Simple Church
City Temple
www.simplechurch.co.uk
www.citytemple.info
St John the Baptist Frenchay
The Gap Church
www.chichesterfamilychurch.com
St Michaels Stoke Gifford
Glenwood Church
www.revelation.org.uk
www.highgrove.org.uk
www.hopechapel.co.uk www.ivychurch.net
www.frenchaychurch.org.uk
www.st-michaels-church.org.uk
www.albanyroadbaptist.org.uk
www.thegapcardiff.co.uk
www.hbc.org.uk
The Community Church Chester
www.acm-uk.org/
Christian Life Church Chesterfield www.lifechurch.org.uk
Zion Church
www.lifeworthliving.co.uk
Chichester Chichester Family Church Revelation Church
www.glenwoodchurch.org
47
Chorleywood St Andrew’s Chorleywood www.st-andrews.org.uk/youth
Clitheroe St James Church, Clitheroe Coleraine Causewaycoast Vineyard
Derby Vineyard
www.derbyvineyard.com
The Rock Elim
Haven Christian Centre
www.rockelim.com
St Nicholas Church
Egham Harvest New Anglican Church
www.stnicholasallestree.org.uk
Jubilee Church
www.harvestimechurch.net
www.causewaycoastvineyard.com
St Alkmunds
www.fowm.org
COLCHESTER Colchester Area Community Church
St Barnabas
www.holytrinitysunningdale.co.uk
Trinity Baptist Church Derby
www.hopechristiancentre.org.uk
www.colchesterareacommunitychurch.org.uk
Kingsland Church Lexden www.kingsland.org.uk/lexden
St Johns Church
www.stjohnscolchester.org.uk
Conwy i61 Church www.i61.org
Cork (ire) Dungarvan Christian Fellowship
www.jubilee.org.uk
www.alkmunds.org.uk www.stbd.org.uk www.feedyoursoul.org.uk
Doncaster All Saints, Woodlands & Highfields Dublin (IRE) Cornerstone Church www.cornerstonechurch.ie
Destiny Church
www.destinychurch.ie
Every Nation Church
Harvestime Church Holy Trinity
Hope Christian Centre Staines Morning Star Christian Fellowship www.mscf.co.uk
Jubilee Church www.jubileelife.org
Runnymede Christian Fellowship www.e-runnymede.co.uk
St John’s Egham
www.stjohnsegham.com/
The Journey
www.thejourney.org.uk
www.dungarvanchurch.org
www.everynation.ie
Grace Christian Fellowship
Dundee Gate Church International
www.united-church-of-egham.org.uk
www.graceireland.com
Coventry Christian Life Ministries
www.gatechurch.co.uk
United Church of Egham Epsom Generation Church
The Steeple Church
www.generation.org.uk
www.clmchurch.co.uk
www.thesteeplechurch.org.uk
Coventry Cathedral
Durham Bethshan
www.cccexeter.org
www.coventrycathedral.org.uk
Coventry Vineyard
www.coventryvineyard.org.uk
Elim Pentecostal Church www.elim-coventry.org.uk
Jesus Fellowship Church
www.jesus.org.uk/ja/local_coventry.shtml
Jubilee Church Coventry
www.jubileechurchcoventry.org
www.bethshanchurch.net
Kings Church Durham www.kcd.org.uk
St Nicholas
www.stnics.org.uk
Ee Eastbourne Eastbourne Family Church
Kings Church
www.elimeastbourne.org.uk
Walsgrave Baptist Church
www.churchinthecommunity.co.uk
Westwood Church
www.kingschurch.eu
www.kingschurchcoventry.org www.walsgraveaptists.org.uk
www.westwoodchurch.co.uk
Crawley Crawley Baptist Church
www.crawleybaptistchurch.org.uk
Crewe New Life Community Church www.newlifecentre.co.uk
West Street Baptist Church
www.weststreetchristianfellowship.org.uk/
Croydon Emmanuel South Croydon
Community Church Kings Church
Living Stones Community Church Eastbourne www.livingstoneschurch.co.uk
www.enc.uk.net
Exeter Vineyard
www.exetervineyard.co.uk
Isca Church
www.iscachurch.org.uk
Night Church
www.bishopcc.org.uk
St Andrews Exwick Exeter Unlimited Exeter unlimitedchurch.wordpress.com
Ff Falmouth Oasis Church Penryn Farnham Farnham Vineyard
www.stjm.org.uk
Edinburgh All Nations Christian Fellowship www.ancf.org.uk
Barclay Viewforth
www.barclayviewforth.org.uk
Charlotte Chapel Edinburgh
www.3cint.co.uk
www.cbcequip.org
Community Church Edinburgh
www.farnhamvineyard.org.uk
Gg Gillingham Ebenezer Community Ministries www.ebenezer-ecm.co.uk
Beulah Christian Fellowship www.inn.org.uk/beulah.html
St Mark’s Gillingham
www.stmarkschurchgillingham.co.uk/
The Voice
www.voice-uk.org.uk
Destiny Church
Glasgow Destiny Church Glasgow
Morningside Baptist Church
Glasgow Elim Church
St Paul’s and St George’s
Glasgow Westend Vineyard
www.cce.uk.net
www.epcdartford.com/launch/
www.destinyedinburgh.com
Derby
www.mbc.org.uk
www.communitychurchderby.org
Exeter Network Church
St John the Evangelist
Cullompton St Andrews
Community Church Derby
www.exeterlife.org
www.oasiscornwall.com
www.victoriabaptist.org.uk
Capital City Church International
Dd Dartford Emmanuel Dartford
City Life Church Exeter
Victoria Baptist
www.emmanuelcroydon.org.uk
www.standrewscullompton.com
Exeter City Community Church
www.pandgchurch.org.uk
www.destiny-church.com www.glasgowelim.org.uk www.gwvineyard.co.uk
Register your church for Fusion’s Church Connection at www.fusion.uk.com/churches.
High Wycombe Kings Church High Wycombe
Kirkintilloch Baptist Church www.Kirkiebaptist.com
Queens Park Baptist Church
Lancaster Baptist Church
www.lancasterbaptistchurch.org.uk
Lancaster Free Methodist Church
www.kchw.co.uk
www.qpbc.org
www.lfmc.co.uk
Gledholt Methodist Church www.gledholtmethodist.co.uk
New North Road Baptist Church
www.st.tees.org.uk
One Church Gloucester
North Thames Vineyard
LEAMINGTON SPA Christ Church
Kendal Road Baptist Church
St Brinus and St John
St Catherine’s Gloucester
Union Baptist Church
www.stcatharine.org.uk
www.unionbaptist.org
Grantham New Life Grantham
Hitchin Christ Church
www.newlifegrantham.org
www.christchurchhitchin.org.uk
Grimsby City Church Grimsby
Huddersfield Community Church
Blenheim Baptist Church
Gledholt Methodist Church
www.bridgestreetchurch.org
www.nnrbc.org
www.gcchurch.co.uk
www.nelcitychurch.org.uk
www.community-church.co.uk
Guildford Guildford Baptist Church
www.gledholtmethodist.co.uk
www.guildfordbaptist.org
www.guildfordboilerroom.com www.gcconline.org.uk
RCCG Winners’ Place Guildford www.rccgwinnersplace.org.uk
St John’s Church Woodbridge www.stjohnswoodbridge.org.uk
Leeds Abundant Life Church Leeds www.alm.org.uk
www.blenheim.org.uk
Bridge Street Church Leeds
Huddersfield Christian Fellowship
Gateway Church Leeds
Huntingdon Fenstanton Parish Church
Hope City Leeds
www.hopecitychurch.tv
Leeds Central Salvation Army Mosaic Leeds
www.cottroad.org.uk
Westborough Church Guildford
www.notdull.org
Jubilee Church
Hull Community Church www.community-house.co.uk
www.freshwaterscf.org.uk
Hull Vineyard
Halifax All Saints
www.hullvineyard.com
Ii
www.allsaintshalifax.org.uk
The King’s Church
Ilfracombe Ilfracombe Christian Fellowship Church www.cfchurch.co.uk/
www.thekingscentre.org.uk
Hastings Christ Church Blacklands & St. Andrew www.blacklands-parish.co.uk
Elim Church Centre Hastings www.elimchurchcentre.org.uk
Sonrise Church Hastings www.sonrisechurch.co.uk
Kk Kendal St Thomas Church
Kibworth Beauchamp St Wilfreds
www.bishopshatfieldparish.co.uk
Springs Christian Fellowship
www.stwilfs.freeserve.co.uk
www.stjohnsyeadon.org
The Oak Church
www.theoakchurch.co.uk
The Wharfedale Vineyard www.wharfedale-vineyard.org
Leicester Church of the Martyrs www.martyrs.org.uk
City Church Leicester
Hope Hamilton Church
www.scargillmovement.org
St John’s Hatfield
St Johns Yeadon
St John the Baptist Church Ipswich
www.proclaimers.com
Kettlewell Scargill House Skipton
www.stgeorgesleeds.org.uk
www.citychurchleicester.org
www.saintthomaskendal.net
www.spbc.org.uk
Ipswich Proclaimers Ipswich www.stjohsipswich.org.uk
South Parade Baptist Church St Georges
www.staidans.org.uk
Hh Harlow Freshwaters Christian Fellowship
www.salvationarmy.org.uk/leeds www.mosaic-church.org.uk
St Aidan’s Hull
www.westborough-urc.co.uk
www.gatewayleeds.net
Hull City Life Church
St Saviours
www.st-saviours.org.uk
www.citychurchleeds.net/
www.fenstantonparishchurch.org.uk
Cottingham Road Baptist Church
www.stjohnstoke.com
www.freedomchurch.co.uk
www.stpl.org.uk
Christ Church Upper Armley City Church Leeds
www.citylifehull.co.uk
Hereford Freedom Church Hereford
St Paul’s Leamington Spa
Huddersfield Salvation Army
St Johns Stoke
www.springscf.org.uk
www.stmarysleamington.com
www.huddersfieldchristianfellowship.com
Guildford Community Church
www.kcchatfield.org.uk
St Mary’s Church
www.salvationarmy.org.uk/huddersfield
Guildford Boiler Room
Kings Community Church
www.christchurch.org.uk
www.banjos.org.uk
www.krbc.org.uk
www.hope4hatfield.org
www.norththamesvineyard.org.uk
www.onechurchgloucester.com
Hatfield Evangelical Baptist Church
St Thomas Church Lancaster
Gloucester Gloucester Community Church
Ll Lancaster Christians Alive Lancaster www.christians-alive.org.uk
Father’s House
www.fathers-house.co.uk
Holy Trinity Leicester
www.holytrinityleicester.org www.hopehamiltonchurch.org.uk
Leicester Christian Fellowship
www.leicesterchristianfellowship.co.uk
Leicester City Vineyard
www.leicestercityvineyard.org.uk
Oadby Baptist Church www.oadby-baptist.org.uk
Presence
www.presence-church.com
Trinity Life Church Leicester www.trinitylifechurch.org.uk
Lichfield St John’s Community Church
www.stjohnscommunitychurch.org.uk
Lincoln Grace Church
www.gracechurchlincoln.org
49
New Life Christian Fellowship
Fulham United Reformed Church
South West London Vineyard
Threshold Church Nettleham
Gateway Church Leyton
Shoreditch Tabernacle
Lewes King’s Church Lewes
Greenwich Vineyard Church
St Alban’s Fulham
www.kingschurchlewes.co.uk
King’s Church Harrow
St Barnabas Kensington
Liverpool Devonshire Road Christian Fellowship
Hillsong London
St Cuthberts North Wembley
Hope City Church
His Church Kingston-upon-Thames
St Cuthberts Wood Green
Frontline
Holy Trinity Brompton
St Dionis Fulham
Grace Family Church
Holy Trinity Swiss Cottage
St Gabriel’s Church
Jesus Fellowship
Hoxton Vineyard
St Georges Holborn
Jubilee Church Liverpool
Ichthus Forest Hill
St James’s Church, New Barnet
Mossley Hill Church
Ichthus New Life Greenwich
St James the Less Pimlico
South Liverpool Vineyard
Jesus Fellowship Church
St John’s Hampton Wick
St Andrews Clubmoor Liverpool
Kensington Temple
St Luke’s Kentish Town
St James in the City
Kings Church Kingston
St James Campus Congregation
Kings Cross Church (KXC)
St Stephen’s
Kingsgate Church Richmond
Wavertree Christian Fellowship
Kingston University Chaplaincy
www.newlifelincoln.org.uk
www.thresholdchurch.co.uk
www.hopecitychurch.tv www.frontline.org.uk www.gfc-liverpool.org www.jesus.org.uk
www.jubileechurchliverpool.org www.mossleyhillchurch.org.uk www.southliverpoolvineyard.com www.standrewsclubmoor.org.uk www.stjamesinthecity.org.uk www.stjamesinthecity.org.uk www.st-stephens.org.uk
www.fulhamurc.org.uk
www.gatewaychurch.org.uk
www.greenwichvineyard.org.uk www.kingsharrow.org
www.hillsong.co.uk/young_adults www.hischurchlondon.org www.htb.org.uk/students www.htsc.org
www.hoxtonvineyard.org.uk www.ichthusforesthill.com www.ichthus.org.uk www.jesus.org.uk www.youth.kt.org
www.kingschurch.com www.kxc.org.uk www.lci.org.uk
www.wavertreechristianfellowship.org.uk
www.kingston.ac.uk/chaplaincy
London All Saints Peckham
www.latymer.org.uk
www.allsaintspeckham.org
Antioch Community Church www.antioch.org.uk
Ascension Balam Hill
www.ascensionbalhamhill.org.uk
Bless Community Church, Ealing www.blesscc.org
Brockley Community Church www.brockleycc.org
Catch the Fire London www.ctflondon.com
Chase Family Church
www.chasefamilychurch.com
Chiswick Christian Centre www.chiswick.cc
Chinese Church in London www.ccil.org.uk/so/
Christ Church Cockfosters www.cockfosters.org.uk
Christ Church Spitalfields www.ccspitalfields.org
Church of Christ the King Plumstead www.ccklondon.org
Latymer Christian Fellowship London Community Church www.londonchurch.org
London City Life Church www.londoncitylife.co.uk
Lumen United Reformed Church www.lumenurc.org.uk
Mill Hill East Church ww.mhechurch.co.uk
Molesey Community Church www.mccrefresh.com
New Life Church (North London) www.newlife-london.org.uk
New River Church Islington www.newriverchurch.net
Northwest Church London www.northwestchurch.co.uk
Oak Tree Acton www.oaktree.org.uk
Oasischurch Waterloo www.oasischurch.info
Quaystone Church London www.quaystone.org
Queens Road Church Wimbledon www.qrc.org.uk
City Gates Church Soho
Restore (Peckham)
Every Nation
Holy Trinity Richmond
www.citygateschurch.net www.everynation.org.uk
Equippers Church City www.equipperscity.co.uk
Equippers Church West www.equipperswest.co.uk
www.restore-peckham.org www.thamesidechurch.co.uk
House of Prayer London River of Life ICC Riverside Vineyard www.riverchurch.org.uk
www.swlv.org.uk
www.shoreditchbaptist.com www.stalbansfulham.org www.stbk.org.uk
www.stcuths.org
www.stcuthbertschurch.org.uk www.stdionis.org.uk
www.st-gabriels.org
www.stgeorgesholborn.org www.stjamesnewbarnet.com www.sjtl.org
www.stjohnshamptonwick.org www.slkt.org.uk
St Marks Battersea Rise
www.stmarks-battersea.org.uk/
St Mary’s Bryanston Square www.stmaryslondon.com
St Marks Forest Gate
www.stmarksforestgate.org.uk
St Marks Kensal Rise www.saintms.co.uk
St Mary’s Upper Street Islington www.stmarysislington.org
St Michaels Chester Square www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk
St Michaels Southfield
www.stmichaelssouthfield.org
St Pauls Hammersmith www.sph.org
St Peters Harrow
www.stpetersharrow.co.uk
St Paul’s Ealing
www.stpaulsealing.com
St Paul’s Kingston Hill
www.stpaulskingston.org.uk
St Paul’s Shadwell
www.stpaulsshadwell.org
St Simon’s Shepherd’s Bush www.stsimons.co.uk
St Stephens East Twickenham www.st-stephen.org.uk
The Community Church Putney www.thecommunitychurch.uk.com
The Good Shepherd Mission www.goodshepherdmission.org.uk
The Kings Cross Baptist Church www.thekingscrossbaptistchurch.com
The Space London The Well Camberwell www.thewellcc.org.uk
Tollington Parish www.tollingtonparish.org.uk
Tower Hamlets Community Church www.thcc.org.uk
Register your church for Fusion’s Church Connection at www.fusion.uk.com/churches.
Victoria Park Baptist Church
St Elizabeth Greater Manchester
Westbourne Grove Church
St James and Emmanuel
Westminster Community Church
St Mary Magdalene and Sale West Community Church
www.vpbc.org.uk
stelizabethshorwich.co.uk
www.westbournegrovechurch.org
www.stjamesandemmanuel.org
www.westminsterchurch.org.uk
Loughborough Emmanuel Church Loughborough www.easm.co.uk/emmanuel
www.stmarysaom.org
St Pauls Kersal and St Andrews www.stpaulsparish.org.uk
Vinelife
Elim Loughborough
www.elimchurchloughborough.org.uk
Kings Church Loughborough www.kingschurch.co.uk
www.vinelife.co.uk
Marlow River Church Marlow
Open Heaven
www.riverchurch.org.uk
Junction 24
Melton Mowbray Melton Vineyard
www.openheaven.org www.junction24.com
Luton City Life Church Luton www.loveluton.org
www.hopechurch.co.uk
Stopsley Baptist Church www.stopsley.net
Mm Maidenhead River Church
www.riverchurch.org.uk
St. Peter’s Maidenhead www.real-life.org.uk
Maidstone Loose Baptist Church www.loosebaptistchurch.org.uk
Malvern The Source
www.thesource.uk.com
Manchester Altrincham Baptist Church www.altrinchambaptist.org
All Saints Marple, Stockport www.marpleparish.co.uk
!Audacious Church
www.audaciouschurch.com
Didsbury Community Church Christ Central www.christcentral.org.uk
Elmwood Church Manchester www.elmwood.org.uk
Hope Church Manchester www.the-hope.org.uk
Ivy Manchester
www.ivymanchester.org
Kings Church Manchester www.makingjesusfamous.org
Langworthy Community Church
www.langworthycommunitychurch.com
Lighthouse Christian Centre www.lighthousecc.co.uk
Manchester International Alliance
www.manchesterinternationalalliance.com
Oasis church
www.oasistrust.org/salfordcentralchurch/
Life Church
www.smcf.org.uk
St Chads Romiley
www.stchadsromiley.co.uk
www.bethelnewport.co.uk
Kings Church Newport www.kings-church.org.uk
Newquay Christian Centre www.nccdream.com
The Lab
www.thelabnewport.org
Northampton Broadmead Baptist Church www.broadmead.org.uk
Central Vineyard Church www.centralvineyard.co.uk
Kingdom Life Church Northampton www.klc.org.uk
www.meltonvineyard.org
New Pastures Church
Merthyr Merthyr Elim Church
St Giles
www.methyrelimchurch.co.uk
Hope Church Luton
Newport, Wales Bethel Community Church
Middlesborough Middlesborough Community Church www.middlesboroughcommunitychurch.org
One Life Church Teesside Tees www.onelifechurch.org.uk
Community Church www.tvcchurch.org.uk
Tees Valley Community Church www.tvcchurch.org.uk
MOIRA (NI) St John’s Moira
www.moiraparish.org.uk
Nn Newcastle Under Lyme Newcastle Baptist Church www.newcastlebaptist.org.uk
Silverdale Elim Church
www.elimchurchsilverdale.org.uk
Newcastle upon Tyne Bethshan www.bethshanchurch.net
City Church Newcastle www.city-church.co.uk
Destiny Church
www.destinynewcastle.com
Diocese of Newcastle
www.newcastle.anglican.org
www.newpastureschurch.com www.stgilesnorthampton.org.uk
Storehouse Church
www.storehousechurch.co.uk
NORWICH City Church Norwich www.citychurch.co.uk
Eternity Norwich
www.eccnorwich.org.uk
Gateway Vineyard Norwich
www.gatewayvineyardnorwich.org.uk
Norwich Vineyard
www.norwichvineyard.co.uk
Stoke Holy Cross
www.stokeholycrosschurch.org
Surrey Chapel
www.surreychapel.org.uk
Proclaimers
www.proclaimers.com
Nottingham Beeston Oasis Christian Centre www.beestonoasis.org.uk
Charis Life Church www.charislife.org.uk
Christian Centre
www.christian-centre.org
Eagle’s Nest Church www.eaglesnest.org.uk
Everyday Champions Church Nottingham
Elim Church
www.outreachchurch.co.uk
Heaton Road Baptist Church
www.godsvineyardchurch.org
Hope City Church Newcastle
www.gracechurchnottingham.org
Jesmond Methodist Church
www.lifeatthecentre.com
Newcastle CLC
www.outreachchurch.co.uk
Silverdale Elim Church
www.saviours.org.uk
St Luke’s (New Wine on Tyne)
www.standrewsnottm.org.uk
Tyneside Vineyard
www.stgilesparish.com
www.yourchurch.info www.heatonbaptist.org
www.hopecitychurch.tv
www.jmc-newcastle.org.uk www.mynclc.co.uk
www.elimchurchsilberdale.org.uk www.stlukesnewcastle.co.uk www.tynesidevineyard.org.uk
Newquay Blaze Church
www.blazechurch.org.uk
Gods Vineyard Ministry Nottingham Grace Church Nottingham Life @ The Centre Outreach Church Saviours
St Andrew’s Nottingham St Giles West Bridgeford St Nicholas Nottingham www.stnics.org
51
St Stephens with St Pauls The Rock West Bridgford
Portsmouth
Thomas Helwys Baptist Church
www.langstonechurch.com
Sheffield Antioch Community Church
www.trinitysouthsea.org.uk
Langstone Church Portsmouth
www.the-rock.org.uk
www.thomashelwysnottingham.org.uk
Trent Vineyard
www.trentvineyard.org
www.antiochsheffield.org.uk
Cemetery Road Baptist Church www.crbchurch.org.uk
Rr Preston Preston Vineyard
City Life Christian Church www.citylifecc.com
www.prestonvineyard.org
City:Base Sheffield
Ribble Valley Church
Oo Ormskirk Ormskirk Christian Fellowship www.ocf.org.uk
Orpington Fullness of Christ Ministries
www.ribblevalleychurch.net
www.citybase.org
Radcliffe St Andrews
www.stmarkssheffield.co.uk
The Eccles
www.standrewsradcliffe.org.uk
www.fullnessofchristministries.co.uk
www.the-eccles.com
Reading Abbey Baptist Church Reading
Ossett Trinity Church Ossett
www.abbeybaptistchurch.org.uk
www.trinityossett.org.uk
All Nations Christian Centre
Oxford Oxford Vineyard
LifeSpring Church Reading
www.allnationselim.org
www.lifespringchurch.org.uk
www.ovc.uk.com
Oxfordshire Community Church oxford.occ.org.uk
Greyfriars Church
www.connectgreyfriars.org.uk
Harvest International Church
Jesus Fellowship Oxford
www.harvestinternational.org.uk
Reading Vineyard Church
www.jesus.org.uk/oxford
www.networkvineyard.org.uk
St Aldates Oxford
St Laurence
www.staldates.org.uk
www.highwaychurch.co.uk
Peterborough KingsGate Community Church www.kingsgateuk.com
Plymouth City Church Plymouth
www.citychurchplymouth.org.uk
Mutley Baptist Church www.mutleybaptist.co.uk
Pontypridd Coedpenmaen Baptist Church www.coedpenmaenbaptist.co.uk
www.citygatesalisbury.com
Salford CCM: Salford
Scarborough Ebenezer Baptist
www.family-church.org.uk
Kings Church
www.ebenezerbaptistchurchscarborough.org.uk
Portsmouth Vineyard
www.stmartinandstjohn.org
St Martin’s
www.kingschurchportsmouth.co.uk www.portsmouthvineyard.org
Trinity Methodist Church
www.sttomsstudents.co.uk
www.newgen.org.uk
www.salfordchurch.org
Family Church
St Thomas’ Philadelphia
www.averyhill.info
St. Clements Salford
www.myclc.org.uk
www.churchforstudents.com
Royston Royston Community Church
www.ccm.org.uk
Portsmouth City Life Church
St Thomas Crookes
www.rotherham.ec
Salisbury City Gate Salisbury
www.vinechurchpoole.com
www.ststephenschurch.org.uk
Sidcup Avery Hill Christian Fellowship
www.stmarysaom.org
Vine Christian Fellowship
St Stephens Church
www.stthomashanwood.org.uk
Ss Sale St Mary Magdalene and Sale West Community Church
www.smlpoole.org.uk
www.stjohnpark.org.uk
Rotherham Rotherham Evangelical Church
www.Cnbparishes.org.uk
Poole St Mary’s Longfleet
St John’s Park
www.regerationchurch.co.uk
Rugby Christ Church
www.waterfrontchurch.org.uk
www.kingscentreonline.com
Shrewsbury St Thomas Hanwood
www.holytrinityripon.org
St Andrews Waterfront Church
Kings Centre Christian Church
Romford re:generation Methodist Church
Plymouth Methodist Central Hall www.plymouthvineyard.org.uk
www.jesus.org.uk/sheffield/
www.stpetes.org.uk
RIPON Holy Trinity
Plymouth Vineyard
Jesus Fellowship Church
www.thamesidechurch.co.uk
www.tlc-royston.org.uk
www.plymouthcentralhall.co.uk
www.hopecitychurch.tv
Shipley St Peters
Plymouth Christian centre
www.plymouthchristiancentre.org
Hope City Church
Thameside Church Reading
www.saintlaurencereading.com
Pp Penryn Highway Church
St Mark’s, Broomhill & Broomhall
New Generation Church Slough River Church Slough www.riverchurch.org.uk
SOLIHULL Solihull Renewal Christian Centre www.renewalcc.com/
Southampton Central Baptist Church
www.southamptoncbc.org.uk
City Life Church www.citylife.org.uk
Highfield Church Southampton www.highfield.org.uk
Kings Community Church www.kcc.uk.net
Life Church
www.lifesouthampton.org
New Community Church www.newcommunity.org.uk
Riverside Family Church www.scfchurch.net
St. Mark’s
www.stmarkssoton.co.uk
Southport Calvary Church Southampton www.calvarysoton.co.uk
Victory Gospel Church Southampton www.victory.uk.net
Register your church for Fusion’s Church Connection at www.fusion.uk.com/churches.
Shoreline Church
Parklands Evangelical Church
Winchester Vineyard
Stanford-leHope 24-7 Prayer Stanford
Woodlands Church
Wirral Wirral Christian Centre
www.shorelinechurch.org.uk
www.24-7prayer.com
www.parklandschurch.org.uk www.woodlands.cc
Tt Tadley Taste
St Albans St Albans Vineyard
www.tasteyouth.co.uk
Network Church
www.totnesunitedfree.org.uk
www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk www.networkchurch.org
St Mark’s Colney Heath www.stmarks.info
St Pauls St Albans
www.stpauls-stalbans.org
ST HELENS St Marks Haydock
www.stmarkshaydock.org
Stoke on Trent Breathe City Church
www.breathecitychurch.com
Christchurch
www.Christchurch-alsager.org.uk
Longton Elim
www.longton-elim.org.uk
Stockton-on-Tees Destiny Church Teeside
www.wirralchristiancentre.com
Totnes Totnes United Free Church Tonbridge Tonbridge Baptist Church Thetford Fountain of Life
Church 18-30 Lifespring Church Wolverhampton
TROWBRIDGE St Thomas Trowbridge
www.lifespring.uk.com
St Jude’s Wolverhampton
www.stthomastrowbridge.org.uk
www.stjudeschurch.org.uk
Truro Grace Church
Vintage Faith Wolverhampton www.vintagefaith.co.uk/
www.gracetruro.org
Worcester All Saints Worcester
Uu Ulverston Ulverston Parish Church
www.allsaintsworcester.org.uk
www.ulverstonparishchurch.org.uk
Norton Baptist Church
Majesty Christian Centre Uxbridge
The Vine Teesside
The Crown Church Uxbridge
www.nortonbaptistchurch.org.uk www.onlinevine.org.uk
Stokesley Stokesley Parish Church
www.stokesleyparishchurch.org.uk
Stretton St Lawrence Church
www.crown-church.org
Ww Wakefield Destiny Christian Church www.Destinychurch.co.uk
Walsall The Rock Church
www.strettonparish.org.uk
Sunderland Bethany City Church
www.stmatthewswalsall.co.uk
www.bethanycitychurch.org
Bethshan
www.bethshanchurch.net
Elim Sunderland
www.vineyardchurch.org
Swansea Cornerstone Church
www.cornerstonechurch.co.uk
Elim Swansea (The City Temple)
Worcester Vineyard
www.worcestervineyardchurch.org.uk
Yy York Calvary Chapel
www.calvarychapelyork.com
Christ the Light Church Huntington www.christthelight.org.uk
Clifton Parish Church www.cliftonparish.org.uk www.yorkelim.com www.g2york.org www.gatewaychurch.co.uk
Global York
www.globalyork.com
The Ark
www.the-ark.net
www.openhousewarwick.org.uk
York Vineyard
Watford Soul Survivor Watford
York City Church
www.soulsurvivorwatford.co.uk
Wells Wells Vineyard
www.wellsvineyard.com
Wimborne The Warehouse
Lifepoint Church
Winchester Winchester Family Church
www.lindenchurch.org.uk
www.worcesterbaptistchurch.org.uk
Gateway Church
www.elimswansea.org.uk
Linden Christian Centre
Worcester Baptist Church
Walton-on-Thames Walton Baptist Church
www.warehousewimborne.co.uk
www.lifepoint.org.uk
www.stpetersbaptist.org.uk/spbc/
G2 York
www.walsallcommunitychurch.org
WARWICK OpenHouse Warwick
SUTTON Vineyard Church Sutton
St Peters Baptist Church Worcester
Elim Pentecostal Church
St Benets
www.monkwearmouthsa.org.uk
www.elimresonate.co.uk
Walsall Community Church
www.waltonbc.org
Sunderland Monkwearmouth Salvation Army
Resonate Worcester
St Matthews Walsall
www.elimsunderland.org.uk www.stbenetsparish.org.uk
www.majestycc.com
www.therockchurch.co.uk
Wokingham Sindlesham Baptist Church
www.allnations.org.uk
www.folchurch.co.uk
www.hillypark.org.uk
www.wokingvineyard.org
Wolverhampton All Nations Christian Centre Wolverhampton
www.tbc-online.org.uk
Hebron Church
www.hebronstockton.org.uk
Woking Woking Vineyard
www.sindleshambaptistchurch.com
Uxbridge Hillingdon Park Baptist Church
www.thedestinychurch.co.uk
www.winvin.org.uk
www.winfam.org
www.yorkvineyard.com www.yorkcitychurch.org.uk
York Community Church
www.yorkcommunitychurch.co.uk
St Andrews and All Saints. www.huntingtonparish.org.uk
St Oswalds Church
www.st-oswalds-fulford.org.uk
St Michael le Belfrey www.thebelfrey.org
St Pauls
www.stpaulsyork.org.uk
St Thomas with Maurice York www.stthomaswithstmaurice.org.uk/
53
The 90 Challenge Over 90 days this summer Fusion will prepare and connect 2500 students to churches when they move away to study through Student Linkup. Over the last decade tens of thousands have benefitted from this initiative. Students have found great friends and churches, parents have been reassured, churches have grown. Student Linkup is a positive response to the latest research that shows ‘73% of Christian students don’t connect with a church at uni’.
•
Paul is attempting a ‘Man vs Food’ style challenge and eating 90 sausages in one day
•
Ali, a youth worker, is so stirred by this cause he is giving up his beloved coffee for 90 days.
We salute you all!
A tremendous amount of physical time and emotional energy goes into preparing students for the university experience. So much is at stake in this transitional and uncertain time. The 90 Challenge is a fun way of supporting thousands of new students and encouraging them to Linkup. The challenge is very simple:
We hope you are inspired because we want to invite you to invest in the next generation of students through taking the 90 Challenge. There are loads of ideas on the Fusion site, it is quick and easy to register your interest and we’ll send you some info to cheer you on. The Fusion Team and many others are also taking the 90 Challenge and you can find out more about what they are up to at: www.fusion.uk.com/90.
Will you do a 90 Challenge to sponsor one day of Student Linkup?
If you can’t take part in a challenge, you can still make a donation using the form opposite or visit www.fusion.uk.com/give.
Student Linkup lasts for 90 days and it costs £200 a day to implement. All we are asking is that you use some of your time to do something fun to raise £200. Here are a few challenges that students, parents and leaders are doing this summer: •
Vince is kayaking 90km down the river Thames from Henley to Vauxhall Bridge.
•
Elisabeth is going poetry mad and tweeting out 90 Haiku.
Please help us give Christian students the very best preparation for their university days.
Rich Wilson National Team Leader, Fusion
90 days of www.fusion.uk.com/90
Giving Form Contact Information
Standing Order
Please complete in BLOCK CAPITALS Title and Name
To the Manager Bank
Address
Address
Postcode Postcode
Dear Sirs, Please set up a Standing Order payable to Fusion Barclays Bank, East Street, Chichester, Account No: 00047198 Bank Sort Code Number: 20-20-62
For the amount of
£
Phone Number
.
One off gift Please accept my gift of
£200
£100
£10
£
To be paid on the 1st or the 15th of the month and thereafter on a monthly basis until further notice. Name of Account Holder(s):
Account Number:
£20
To give via credit or debit card please go online to www.fusion.uk.com/give
Sort Code:
Signed:
/
Gift aid If you are a UK tax payer, paying income tax or capital gains tax, you can make your gifts worth 25% more at no extra cost to you. I am a UK tax payer and want Fusion to claim back the tax on all donations I have made in the past four tax years and on all future gifts. Signature
Date: /
Please return forms to:
FUSION UK 18 The Office Village, North Road, Loughborough, LE11 1QJ. Fusion UK is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 36799369 and a registered charity no. 1073572.
73% of Christian students don’t connect to church at uni*
9 90
Please help us finance 90 days of Student Linkup Through a one off gift £200 is what each day of Student Linkup costs. £100 will run a Student Linkup Event. £20 resources a youth worker to prepare their students. £10 will enable one student to go through Linkup. *According to research conducted in 2011 by Christianity and University Experience, 73% of students don’t connect to church or any Christian group at university.
90 days of www.fusion.uk.com/90