A new generation of Christian Union leaders who have only seen CU meetings online due to the pandemic are taking office across the country. Student organisation UCCF is finding creative ways to train and support them. Ed Preston, UCCF North East Team Leader, reports:
Every spring, the CUs manage a foundational change – passing on leadership to a new cohort of students. Until the world turned upside down last year, UCCF had a tried and tested method of supporting CUs through this vulnerable time – Regional Forum training weekends. Somewhere between 100–200 students from each region would descend on a conference centre for a weekend to receive teaching from God’s word, share meals, reflect with others from different universities about the vision, values and culture of CUs. Many new CU leaders often feel weak and nervous that they are not up to the task; Regional Forums are fun, vibrant and vital.
A Regional Forum weekend can’t be fully experienced through a screen. But this year, supporting students during this transition has been a more urgent task than ever before. Across Great Britain, large numbers of new leaders have never seen CU meetings or outreach events in person – this is the case for 70% of committee members in the North East, for example. There is a great need to support them.
And so, UCCF staff teams have creatively adapted. We exchanged conference centres for cameras and moved training online. Thanks to government guidance and the support of local churches in some cities, CU leaders were also able to safely and legally gather in person, even back in March. More recently in the North East, we had the joy of gathering almost 100 leaders in five separate venues to hear again from Scripture and to begin planning for freshers’ week season in the autumn.
Sam, the new co-president of York CU who came along, said: ‘It was really good to find a way to gather all the CU leaders in one place – it was the first time I’d seen most of the freshers in a CU context. It was great to be able to talk about what we were hoping and dreaming for in the coming year.’
