The Church and the Campus

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About the Author - Tom Shaw

Tom is the lead Elder at The City Church Canterbury. He also has responsibility for students and twenties in the UK for Newfrontiers. Tom is married to Josie and they have two young daughters.

This Article

Monday, 16 February, 2009 - 16:35

Our work with students is part of the greater vision to which God has called us as a family of churches: to plant churches, spread the gospel and ‘change the expression of Christianity in the world'. So it is not an isolated project, a standalone, self-sustained ministry, it is integrated with our primary vision; this actually is its great strength.

As Newfrontiers continues to plant churches right across the world, there is an enormous potential for student work to be a key element in our church planting strategy. As we move forward into Japan, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, each nation has at least one thing in common: universities. Where else do people live in such close proximity, asking the big questions of life? University campuses are unique environments where the gospel can be gossiped and spread at an incredible pace.

Currently Newfrontiers has 206 churches and is in process of planting 29 more in the UK. If we are to reach our goal of seeing 1,000 churches planted in this nation then we need to pick up the pace. This will require hundreds of new worship leaders, cell leaders and elders. Where will these leaders come from? A good starting point seems to be the university campuses.

Many significant leaders in the world of politics, business and commerce were formed in universities. I believe that we need to be intentional and strategic about focusing on student work as a major arena for cultivating a reservoir of leaders.

Mobilise and beyond
Mobilise is just one expression of our strategy for student work. Currently this annual conference gathers around 2,000 students and twenties, exposing them to the apostolic vision and equipping them for the mission ahead. It is a context where young men and women can catch a vision for mission, take up God's call to the ends of the earth and, like Gideon, become people of great faith (Heb. 11:32).

Imagine what might have happened had Gideon let his fear get the better of him (Judges 6). Many of our students start out like Gideons: young men who discount themselves from leadership, thinking they would not be able to lead themselves, let alone anyone else! When God gets hold of a Gideon, He can transform him from being a timid wreck into a nation-changing leader.

Student work internationally
This strategic emphasis on student work is currently being picked up internationally. In September 2007 I had the privilege of attending the Together on a Mission conference in Johannesburg hosted by P-J Smyth. One key part of the conference was a gathering of those involved in student work from across Southern Africa. It was so exciting to hear the dreams of a lecturer at the University of Botswana, who was in the process of starting a church with a passion for student work. I was staggered to receive an email from him a few months later saying that they had started a society at the university and within seven weeks had gathered well over 100 students. It was thrilling to see a man who had got the vision for coupling a red-hot student work, impacting a campus with Ephesians 4 ministries and a strong theology of church. What a combination; 21st century creativity with timeless biblical blueprints.

At the ClearVision student conference in St Louis, Missouri, USA, around 300 students gathered from across Newfrontiers' American churches. I was overwhelmed to see the levels of passion, zeal and maturity displayed by this emerging generation. These were students who truly saw their campuses as mission fields for the expansion of God's kingdom.

One of the sessions was spent crying out to God for mercy on the nation of America, and asking Him to use student work as a catalyst for raising up leaders so desperately needed as we seek to plant churches right across this mighty nation.

The future
We are passionate about seeing every church planter going to their city or town with a vision for student work, resources to help them, and with students and twenties in tow. If we want to see thousands of churches planted in this nation and all over the world, we need thousands of leaders willing to be sent. Getting the gospel into the hearts of these young people must be an ever-increasing priority.

I am thrilled to be part of an apostolic movement that is beginning to realise the immense potential of coupling student work with church planting.

This article first appeared in the July 2008 edition of the Newfrontiers Magazine.

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