Christian Union has lots of great stuff happening. The best way to check it out is by coming to Public Meeting and joining a Small Group.
If you’re an international student, you might want to visit focus.uwacu.org to see what events the FOCUS group is running, but we’d love to see you at Public Meeting and other CU events too.
Public Meeting
The staple diet of a CUer. These thought provoking Bible talks happen every week during semester. They’re a great opportunity to meet other Christians, think about what it means to follow Jesus at uni or find out more about Christianity and explore it. Our Public Meetings happen on a Tuesday at 1pm in Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, and on a Wednesday at 1pm in the Chapel Reading Room. Anyone and everyone is welcome and all you have to do is rock up on the day.
Small Groups
Groups of 8–15 students who gather each week to read the Bible, think about what it means and how to respond to it. We have Small Groups especially for first years, as well as faculty-based Small Groups for upper years. Small Groups are the heart and soul of CU, and they’re a great way to make new friends. Again, everyone is welcome, no matter where you stand. You can sign up using the online sign-up form, or you can sign-up at one of our Public Meetings in week one.
Anything else?
You bet! Heaps of great stuff happens through CU, so if Public Meetings and Small Groups aren’t enough, here’s a few other things for you to get your teeth into.
TEAM
TEAM stands for Training in Evangelism And Ministry, and that’s basically what it’s about. There are two parts to TEAM:
- Common Hour—exploring a topic in a seminar-style setting
- Electives—practical training in things like explaining the gospel to your friends, how to lead a Bible study, and heaps more.
We run TEAM on a Monday, with sets of Electives from 4pm to 5pm and from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. In between is Common Hour from 5pm to 6pm and dinner, over which we share in fellowship and thoughtful conversation from 6pm. All of these take place in the seminar rooms near the chapel. You can sign up for TEAM by coming to Common Hour (5pm) in week 2 of semester, or by handing in a form at Public Meeting.
Prayer Meeting
Christianity is about being in relationship with God, so it is very important that we communicate with Him. It’s great for us to do this together in prayer, and encourage each other, which we can do at prayer meeting. We run our prayer meeting every Monday during semester. We meet at 3pm in Guild Café, then head off together for about half an hour of structured prayer. Even if praying in a group or for that long is something you don’t quite feel comfortable about, please come along and try it out.
One to Ones (1-1s)
1-1s are an opportunity for you to meet with someone else to read the Bible together, pray, and think about how God’s word applies to our lives. It’s also a great chance to build lasting friendships. If you’re interested in 1-1s, contact Ben at ben@uwacu.org and let him know.
MYC
MYC is the Mid Year Conference for over 150 students from all the unis in Perth, where we spend a week digging into the Bible at a depth you’ve never experienced before through talks, seminars, small groups and other activities, as well as having heaps of fun. Speak to any upper year who’s been and they’ll tell you MYC is not to be missed. This year’s MYC was on the 12th-16th of July, and featured guest speaker Dave Starling speaking on the Church. You can download the talks from MYC at the talks section of our website.
Social Events
CU also runs social events regularly to help people in building friendships and networks, creating a community of Christians who care for each other. Info on social events will be posted in News when there’s something organised.
FOCUS
We also run an on-campus Christian group for international students called FOCUS (Fellowship of Overseas Christian University Students). They have their own website, which you can see here. FOCUS do a lot of activities separate from the rest of CU, but we’d love to see you at Public Meeting and other CU events too.
College Connect
Christian students staying in UWA’s residential colleges are met with unique difficulties and opportunities, so for these students we run College Connect. College Connect is a non-denominational group for Christian students and their friends from the UWA residential colleges. We meet together weekly to read the Bible, chat about living as a Christian at college and encourage each other. Feel free to join us at 8-9pm on Monday nights during semester (starting week 2) in the ME Wood Room at St Catherine’s College (access from Park Rd). For more info, contact Matt: matt@uwacu.org or 0429 120 471.
BusTrip and NTE
Every year in December, AFES run their national conference called National Training Event (NTE). NTE itself is a twofold experience, featuring the conference in Canberra with students from all over Australia and a mission in Sydney, serving a church there with other students from all the WA Christian Unions. As West Australians, we get an even better experience, braving the Nullarbor on a bus there and back together, as well as having extra time either side of NTE in Canberra, Sydney and Katoomba. It’s a great opportunity to learn heaps and get to know heaps of Christian students from around WA, and anyone who’s gone will testify to its awesomeness.
NTE and mission this year will be on the 4th-12th of December, and will be featuring Don Carson, speaking on the theme of ‘Entrusted with the Gospel’. Find out more about this year’s event here. For more info on this year’s BusTrip, see Tim.