Why I do CU at my school

For the past 3 weeks I have been doing a Christian Union in the sixth form part of my school, Pent Valley. Over the last couple months I have had the opportunity to get to know people who are involved in running CU at the two grammars schools in town, and after spending some time listening to their ideas I felt encouraged to go ahead and start one at my school. Unlike the grammar schools Pent Valley hasn't got a legacy of CU, so starting out has been really quite scary for me. 

I didn't know what to expect from the Head of Sixth form when I went to his office to ask if I could start CU up. He turned out to be quite enthusiastic, much to my relief, and said to come back to him when I had a better idea of what I wanted to do and he'd give me a room. So I did. My friend, Jim, and I put some posters together to stick around Dyson (the sixth form part of the school) and I got a room. 

An example of our posters ^_^

That first week I was scared stiff. The question going round and round in my head all morning was, "Why are you going this, Laura? Why?!" I was so nervous I barely ate (which is a bit deal because I never skip a meal) and I went into that room half expecting no one to show up. 

Three people came: two of my friends joined me for lunch and another person who was already in the room. We got talking and the fact that I'm a Christian came up. We ended up debating God's existence and who He might actually be, and, as I was a bit tense due to nerves, I worried that I might have come off as a bit aggressive and as a bit of a bible-basher. Thankfully we ended the small debate on good terms and the person I was talking to said, 'Don't worry. This thing might actually become quite big'. Admittedly I felt a bit rubbish after the first go, but when I told my friends and family how it went they were all very enthusiastic and encouraged me to carry on. 

The second week I had mixed feelings. On the one hand I felt like what I was doing was a rude intrusion on everyone's lunchtime; on the other, I had peace and confidence in my heart that begged me to move forward and have another go. In the end a couple of people I know from around school came along and about five of us in all sat down and had lunch together. We had a great time just chatting and sharing our views about politics and faith and what we deem right and wrong. Although a lot of the topics we covered were quite heavy, e.g. gay marriage, no one got angry or frustrated and the time we spent together was really relaxed and laid-back. 

This week was the third go and it really blew me away. Not including me, eight people came along and six people stayed for the whole lunchtime! What really stood out to me was the fact that some of the people in the room didn't even know each other despite going to the same school for years. I have to say, I didn't know three of the people that came along this time and I initially felt kinda awkward introducing myself and being like ''Welcome to Christian Union. Would you like a biscuit?". But it broke the ice and we all got on quite well. 

So why do I do CU? 

Perhaps I'll start with why I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it to create an exclusive club for religious people - you don't have to be a Christian to come along. I'm not doing it to convert people and force my faith upon them. I'm not doing it because I think I've got everything right and everyone else is 100% wrong. 

I do CU because I want to get to know people and I want to provide an opportunity for people to get to know each other. I want to create a space where people can relax and be challenged in a positive way about why they believe what they believe. I want to share the hope I have in Jesus with people and explain to them what being a Christian means to me. I want CU to be a place people can come and be loved as they are. 

This week I asked the group that gathered what they thought of Christians and what they thought makes someone a Christian. I had the unique opportunity to share with everyone how real God is in my life and that I am a Christian not because of my very Christian background, but because of Jesus and what He's done for me. Being a Christian is all about putting my faith in God and nothing to do with me trying to be a good person and doing good things to earn brownie points in heaven. 

I am very honoured to run CU at my school, whether two or ten people come. At the end of the day the most important thing is that people hear about God's love and that CU is a place where they experience it too.