CU Later
During last term the Christian Union were out a number of times meeting students and getting to know them. On Purple Wednesdays we have been outside Jongleurs and the Union, running refreshment stations where people have been able to grab a glass of water and a donut to keep them going on the way home (until they run out). Some of you may also have seen The Sofa, particularly noticeable at Freshers’ Fayre, and may have even come and had a chat and a cup of tea with us on it.
One of the things we did earlier last term was to use a questionnaire, which we posed to 100 students; we’d like to share some of the results with you all. (Wanna have a go on the survey?)
Firstly, to find out what general ‘feel’ for spirituality there is here in Portsmouth, we asked: “How important is the Spiritual Dimension in your life?” and “What do you think is the meaning of life?” It’s really cool to see, based on your answers, that students here consider themselves to be quite spiritually minded.
We also asked a couple of questions related to some of our beliefs to see what students in Portsmouth think of: “What is your view of the Bible?” and “What is your view of Jesus?” The results from these questions are quite encouraging to see too.
Finally, one of the last questions we asked was this: “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?”
This was an interesting one to ask and drew a number of responses, so here’s a small sample: What do you look like?; Why did you bother?; What do you do on the weekends?; Explain the big bang; Why couldn’t we have wings to fly?; Why do people suffer?; What is the purpose of life?; Have I been a good person?; Why is car insurance so expensive?; What does the next five years hold for me?; Why don’t I feel your presence very much in my life?
Many more answers were given and there were some definite reccurring themes including: Who is God exactly?; God and science; God and suffering; death and the afterlife; and the meaning of life.
So at some point soon we will be looking to answer these questions that students here in Portsmouth are asking. As a Christian Union we don’t want to exist for our own benefit but we want to love our Uni and serve its students, showing them the love of God in real ways. Part of this is that we want to be able to answer questions that people have about Jesus and get into real conversations about life, the universe and everything. So keep an eye out for what we will be doing soon and come and see if you can discover any answers.
For more info on who we are and what we do, email: christianunion@upsu.net.
