More and more, meeting students where they are means meeting them online.
As a result media, and specifically video, is increasingly being used to reach students with the gospel.
‘I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some,’ says the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9.22. He makes a clear effort to join in with the habits of those around him in order that they may be saved. UCCF’s engagement with various media reflects the same intention.
In 2017, 96% of people aged 16–24 were reported to be actively using social media.1 It’s an opportunity too good to miss – thousands of students who would never make it through the doors of a CU event now have the chance to hear of God’s grace through their phones and tablets.
And that is just what CUs have been doing: many are recording testimonies from their members and sharing them online. Here at UCCF, a range of videos is being produced – such as spoken word poems, stories, animations and more – to creatively resource students as they share the gospel.
Creating points of connection
Of course, there is no substitute for the Word of God being preached in evangelism; and there is no substitute for (physically present) personal friendships in evangelism. But videos and other types of media can create points of connection, which lead to more opportunities.
Two students, Amy* and Josh*, recently started going to a seeker course at a local church in Norwich. When the church student worker spoke to them, he discovered that the UEA CU’s mission week 18 months before had made a great impact on them. However, they hadn’t gone to any events during the week and they weren’t friends with any CU members. Instead, they had been struck by the videos and testimonies that the CU had shared on social media. Here they had glimpsed something of the hope Christians have in Christ and had continued to ask questions. Since then, Amy has come to new life in Christ and Josh is still openly searching for answers.
Signposting to Jesus
As part of our Uncover Mark project – launched last month at Forum (our national training conference for CU leaders) – we’re helping create those points of connection from which students can explore the person of Jesus. Students are being equipped with a whole suite of resources: original music, stories, articles and poetic videos have been produced, all based on specific themes found in Mark’s Gospel, such as the identity of Jesus. Rather than replacing the Bible, these media are signposts toward the text.
Mark’s Gospel is a relatively fast-paced series of short accounts, which makes it very accessible to the shorter attention span of Generation Z (those born mid-1990s to mid-2000s). The way that Mark tells his story has also informed the way we tell ours. We’ve produced videos including short clips of students talking about their views on the Bible, Jesus, faith and other big questions of life for the Uncover Facebook page. The hope is that seekers might feel welcome to become part of an online community engaging with these topics.
Our Cambridge staff worker, Mike Hood, has written three poems to go alongside the Uncover Mark seeker Bible studies, designed to help people reflect on what they are reading. There is no replacement for God’s Word, but as Mike describes it, ‘In some senses I think spoken word is like a heightened form of preaching.’ The poetry will be accompanied by videos and music based on the imagery.
Our prayer is that the use of different media will help to connect seekers’ life experiences and questions to the words found on the pages of Mark’s Gospel and, ultimately, we long for people to respond to those words and receive the life that Jesus offers.
Joe Cook is Media Producer at UCCF: The Christian Unions, creating videos to serve the CUs’ work of introducing students to Jesus. Watch the Uncover Mark spoken word videos now at uncover.org.uk/mark/watch
* names changed
