There is More - Preparing Young People for University 

 

What is your prayer?

In John 17:6-19 we see Jesus spending time with the Father ahead of his arrest. He prays for his disciples and his prayer has this beautiful dance at the heart of it - a dance of recollection, affirmation, looking ahead; of longing, petition and submission. These themes play back and forth throughout the passage, as Jesus reflects on what has been: “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world”, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me”; and looks ahead to what’s coming “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world…”. The verse which stands out to me every time is verse 12:

“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.”

This summarises so much of the tone of this passage, this recognition that Jesus has been present with the believers in a wholly unique way, and it’s all about to change. Being physically manifest amongst them - walking, talking, eating, sleeping, suffering and rejoicing with them - in person, has offered a unique opportunity for discipleship. Now that dynamic is changing.

He has walked with them, taught them, even ‘kept them in you’, but now he is going, and they are not. What is his prayer for them as he readies them (and himself) for this transition? I have so often reflected on this prayer in relation to seeing young people head off from homes and youth groups to university. Many students opt to study from home, but still most home student undergraduates in the UK travel to a new location for university. As we see young adults move away from our physical proximity, taking on a new independence and responsibility for their life and faith, what are our prayers for them? 
 

What are your prayers for those you’re preparing for the transition to university this autumn?

 

Discovering the Kingdom

There is something uniquely daunting and exciting about the experience of starting university as a young adult. You might have in mind your own experience of this life transition, or have family members or young people in your church going through it right now.  You may already be acutely aware of the opportunities and challenges this season presents. You may be convinced of the need for young adults to find friends, community and support at university, to thrive in their lives and their faith. 

Alarmingly, choosing to follow Jesus at university and continuing a connection in the local church, even when raised in a Christian home or youth group, is not a given. There is a pressing need for a different story to emerge than the one we are currently seeing. And that’s just the young adults who are transitioning from church youth groups.

For the tens of thousands of young people starting university each year with no experience of faith or awareness of the good news of Jesus, what hope do they have?  Part of the answer to this question is in the openness we are seeing toward Jesus and church in this generation of students. Part of it is in the age old story of the impact that God can and does make with the few - the remnant.

It may be true that only around 1% of university students are currently engaged in the local church but God does much with little.  As students enter a new culture, with its own traditions, language and worldviews, where life’s rhythms, social dynamics and academic style may all be new and stretching, they have a chance to discover more richly the depth, diversity and power of God and his kingdom.

And students are coming to know Jesus across the nation. Some are taking up the invitation to try church whilst at uni - something which we find a remarkable majority of students open to. Others are meeting Jesus alone, in their room, in dreams, Scripture, via friends’ social media. Some are experiencing release from depression, discovering a peace they’ve always longed for, whilst others are being baptised in bath tubs! 

What’s more, many of the relationships, initiatives, conversations and prayers prayed are flowing out of Christian students’ own walk with Jesus. Deep, meaningful conversations, the evidence of lives lived surrendered to Christ and the authenticity of walking the highs and lows had in hand with Jesus are a powerful witness. We must invite young adults into this story as we look at the transition into university life. University is an absolutely glorious time at which to discover more deeply God and his Kingdom - for ourselves and for those who don’t yet know Jesus. 
 

What is the story you tell to those heading to university? How are your young adults posturing themselves as they journey this transition?

 

4 steps to help a young person prepare for uni life.

Create Space

It can be hard to prepare to go somewhere you’ve never been before. Space and time to process, discuss and look ahead makes such a difference, whether or not that time is particularly structured or containing lots of insight and information. Create a space where young adults can make looking ahead a priority, where they can seek God and start to form hopes and commitments within themselves as to what this next season could hold. 

Share Hope

Whether stories from your own experience, inviting others to share theirs, or making the most of stories captured online, don’t neglect to help paint a picture of what can be with God at university. You can find loads of student stories on the fusion blog or instagram @hellofusionmovement

Some may be intimidated by a new start, and need to know that the same God goes with them, continues to love them, champion them and see them for who they are in this new space. Others are ready for a change and need to hear that God is bigger than their current experience and can take them into new and exciting adventures. 

Make connections

The early days of university life are overwhelming - days are packed with meeting new people and intentionally pursuing healthy rhythms and connections is not easy to do. Help those you know to make connections ahead of time, looking at local churches and being in touch with student workers, so that those relationships can be an anchor and encouragement through the hectic-ness of early uni life. Check out the Student Linkup App for connecting students to churches and churches to students. 

Welcome Home

The first term of university life often brings about huge change for a young adult. The return at Christmas can be equal parts wonderful and daunting. Whatever their posture, the opportunity to welcome home, offer space to process, and give encouragement in their ongoing walk with Christ can make a massive difference. 

As we seek to see young adults step more fully into all God has for them, the blessing at the end of Ephesians is a powerful one to meditate on. God’s power to keep and hold his children, to provide, to reveal himself, is immeasurably more than we could long for. It is he who is at work in the young people we love, and to him we entrust them. And this is a work he has been doing, for generations, and there is even more to come. The student mission fields are white unto harvest, this student generation are spiritually open and desperate for wholeness. These young adults are stepping into wonderful opportunities for their discipleship, for mission and for thriving. Let’s not neglect to be their champions as they do so.

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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Focus: Why Church at Uni? 

For many school leavers, starting at university will be the first time they have ever chosen a church for themselves. Even for those who study from home may find themselves drawn to exploring new denominations or church streams, joining new friends on church searches or taking the opportunity to contribute in new ways to new church communities.

Are your school leavers equipped to discern and pursue great church connections at uni? Like us, students need places and spaces in which they can belong. We know that loneliness has been on the rise and now statistics point towards our younger generations being the loneliest of all.¹ We all need friends of different ages, stages, backgrounds and cultures to help us grow as whole disciples. We need one another in order to reflect the multicultural, integrated, intergenerational kingdom of God.

And this is not a one way street. Students bring energy, cultural insight, ideas, leadership and friends to the activity of the church. Those who follow Jesus already are often great inviters of their student community into small groups, socials and Sundays. Many students are an example to the wider church, especially when it comes to evangelism and building community with new people.

When we are encouraging school leavers to pursue church at university it is not simply as a way to ‘make sure they don’t lose their faith’ or get regular hot dinners (though it’s a great strategy for that). Church is home, church is family, church is sharpening and deepening, an activator for mission and a welcome embrace not just for those who know Jesus but for their friends who are seeking Christ, whether they know it yet or not. Let’s enthuse school leavers for what being part of church whilst at uni can look like, challenging them to make it a priority and see how it can bring light and life to all other areas of their uni experience. 

Getting the church family involved

One of the great gifts of the church is that we get to champion one another across generations. Young people heading to uni from a church family can be sent not just with a parent’s love and a youth worker’s encouragement but with the prophetic insight of the octogenarian, the excited enthusiasm of the question-full 6 year old and the recently-lived stories of the young professional. How might we encourage the whole church to champion these young people as they step into their next season of walking with Jesus?

Prayer partners - Who in your church might partner up with a school leaver and commit to praying for them through their first term at university? 

Commissioning - why not spend a service considering the Sending out of the 72, or even John 17, and make space to publicly commission those heading to uni (and perhaps those more broadly heading out of school into different fields). 

Participation in preparation - what gifts might your wider congregation have to contribute to a young person’s preparation for university? Could it be their wisdom, shared on a Q&A panel; their cooking skills or recipes, taught in an evening of skill-learning, conversation and prayer; their colouring in, used in making cards for those leaving to remind them of their church family cheering them on back home?

Hospitality - how might you welcome back not only those students you sent but possibly those they’ve met whilst there? Whether International Students invited home to experience a British Christmas or uni mates visiting over a long weekend, how can you communicate welcome in such a way that is a blessing to the Christian witness of your school leavers as they seek to share Christ in their uni community? 

Further Reading

"Church and Students" - a great little book to give you more insight into the call of student mission and the church. It will give you insight to guide your discipling of your school leavers into this transition and give freshers a biblical, missional perspective to carry onto campus. Sections of this article are taken from this book. 

"The Student Linkup Box" - a preparation for uni resource designed to compliment your own conversations in this season, giving vision, challenge, encouragement and insight for the pivotal time.

Sections of this article are taken from Church and Students, available at www.fusionmovement.org/resources

¹ See the BBC Loneliness Experiment for extensive data on this across nations and cultural contexts from 2020

Pippa Elmes is Fusion's Training Leader, resourcing and strengthening churches in student mission, to see students find hope in Jesus and a home in the local church. See more at Fusion Movement