City students vision 2020
In May 2019, I had to do something rather un-British. I had to dream big. I know.
As a staff team, we went to a Relational Mission event called The Gathering and the sessions were all about dreaming impossible dreams for His church. God-sized dreams that are only possible if God does them.
“Now imagine that dream multiplied by 20!”
Hold on now, Mr excitable session leader. I’ve only just started feeling comfortable with the first part - now I need to start putting numbers to this?
Once I calmed down and entered into the whole thing, there was a definite sense that God was saying something about the next season for City Students. Something intimidating, whilst at the same time something exciting.
As a City Students team, we have talked about and prayed into this vision since the summer. We have shared it in our various student contexts since September. And now we want to put it up here for the whole church community and beyond to share in this adventure with us.
There’s three parts to it and they all start with, “Imagine, by the end of 2020…”:
…200 STUDENTS CONNECTED WITH CITY CHURCH
Just imagine! Back in September, we were about 70 students in total, so once 16 months have passed we will need to have almost trebled. Gulp.
But it’s OK. It’s supposed to be beyond what we can do. It’s something we can confidently say only He can do.
What would that look like? 200 students would have to be diverse. This cannot happen simply by adding in the already-Christian students. There needs to be salvation! There needs to be those who have never thought about Jesus or been to church to have a radical encounter with the God of the Bible, repent and surrender their lives to Jesus. Imagine the church filling up with students from all kinds of backgrounds, all types of ethnicity and class. Students from all around the world of different religious contexts, differing world views, varied politics and education. We even need all types of fashion sense and musical preferences and hobby choices. A right hotch-potch.
‘Connected’ is an important word in this. Being a part of City Church means more than simply attending. It means being involved, having relationships, playing a part. And not just to student events, but to the whole church.
We want to see students saved and baptised. We want to see students be worshippers and pray-ers and readers of His word. We want to see students joining teams and small groups and becoming leaders. We want to see students be bold in mission and invite others to encounter Jesus.
Wouldn’t this be such an amazing thing to see God do?!
…20 TABLES AT PURSUIT
If you’ve not been to Pursuit, this might need a bit of explaining as to why this is an exciting thought.
Pursuit is our midweek student night and we spend most of the evening in groups around tables discussing following Jesus.
Each table can hold around 8 people. We sometimes have 4 tables full of people, sometimes 6. We are believing for 20 by the end of this year! You do the maths.
20 tables at Pursuit would mean that our 200 students are being discipled. They would be part of something with fellow students worshipping God, reading and discussing His word, applying it to their lives and praying for one another. This is why we have Pursuit - a weekly chance for us to pursue the likeness of Jesus in our everyday lives.
20 tables would mean not only multiplying attendees but also multiplying leaders. We have an amazing City Students team already, but we would certainly need more leaders. Imagine raising students as leaders to then lead other students in their walk with Christ. How exciting!
We recently moved from meeting in the small hall at St Andrew’s Church to now meeting in their main worship hall. It is a step of faith to be in such a big space - we cannot help but look out at the room and picture it full to overflowing with students living their lives for Jesus. Hallelujah!
…2 MISSIONAL PROJECTS LED BY CITY STUDENTS
Compared to the other two statements, this actually seems doable. This is humanly possible, right? Surely we mean 20 projects? Or even 200?!
Well, first thing first - anyone who has attempted to set up a missional project or event knows it is not so straight forward. There is much that goes into it. 2 in a year - and 2 new ones at that - is plenty.
Secondly, this isn’t to be rushed. We believe this is from God, so we want some time to ask him what this should look like. We want to pray prayers like this:
Where is the need in our city, God? What could we do on our campuses? How could we do this with other Christian student ministries? What isn’t happening in Canterbury that we could do to make a difference? How can we preach your gospel to those who are yet to hear it?
We are growing in being personal witnesses of Jesus - students attending our current Alpha course is just one testament to this. But how wonderful it would be to have something organised and regular in the City Students diary that means we can be on mission together?
And not just one thing - two things! We do not know what these ‘things’ are yet, but we are confident he will hear our prayers, give us dreams and ideas, and then resource us with all we need to get out there and give it a go.
In a city where nearly 40,000 students are registered across the various campuses, this vision looks pretty small. But it’s not that simple. There are many hurdles humanly speaking to overcome.
Today’s student culture prizes individualism over community. It preaches believe your own truth rather than the truth of Jesus. It is the least-churched generation the UK has ever known with only 1% regularly attending church.
These huge cultural differences (and many others) are why we believe this vision is something only God can achieve. We need his kingdom culture to come. We need a move of the Holy Spirit on our campuses and in our city to bring this all to pass.
And we believe him for it! Why not?! He is the God of the impossible. His hand is not too short to save. He is sovereign and he is able.
What an adventure we have ahead of us in 2020. Do it, Lord!
About the Author
Sam Gardner is City Students leader and ID supervisor at the City Church. He is passionate about seeing young adults come to know Jesus and spend their lives following Him.
Sam loves his wife Andi, exercising, having dinner with friends and a good cup of tea in the morning.
