We’ ! I’m a CU Leader

Life

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CU Leaders Guidebook

I never know how to start things, I’m much

better at face to face stuff so grab me for

coffee and we’ll work through leader issues but

it needs a start so here you go, here’s the

start…

Get your hands on a book called “The Chocolate Teapot”. There’s

some great stuff in there that can help you out. The following is

made up of our own thoughts and ideas from the above book.

Get in contact with CATALYST We’ll then arrange a time to coffee! Get a LIST Before we meet up, try and get a list together of all the Christians you know in your school (include staff).

Get TALKING Try to talk to some of those people before our

meeting

Get a MENTOR Talk to your church leader or youth leader and ask them for advice and prayer support. We’ll hook you up with

someone if you don’t want to do it yourself.

Get HEAD-1ST It sounds scary but in our experience your head

teacher is the best place to go unless you know a teacher in

charge of running clubs.

Get GATHERED get together with the people who were up for

starting something, meet up and discuss what you think you should

do.

Get OUT Discuss how you want to publicise the meeting. Read some of the testimonials from Next Generation to get an idea of some

ways you could get it out there

Get on your KNEES This should have been at the top really and all the way through. Start praying; get your parents, church, youth

leaders, friends praying!

Get EXCITED Be enthusiastic, be encouraging, be welcoming and

start your first meeting. Don’t be discouraged if there are fewer

people than you’d hoped for, explain to the people there what the

group is about and what it is for. Make sure you know what’s

happening the next time you meet and make sure you keep in

contact with them throughout the week.

Schools are a tough place, and teenage years are a tough time! I

believe Cu’s are vital in school for four main reasons:

**Restore** The need when we’ve been knocked down to be restored

and built up again by fellowship

** Refresh** The need to get some time to be filled up with Gods

healing truths

** Refocus** Where the world has got in the way to refocus

ourselves on God

**Release** Encouragement to be sent out again into the ‘mission

field!’ CU is hopefully going to be a place that encourages the

Christians into that behaviour and then gives your friends that

opportunity to hear the gospel.

Did you know that there are actually laws and rights on your

side when it comes to starting New Generation in your

school/university? Before you read through these rights, we

ask you to use these only if you have faced problems with your school and the board of governors. It is important

that you try to maintain a good relationship with your school and its staff, in order to work well together. Please

keep this in mind when you present your group to the school,

and do not start by claiming your rights.

Does the school board have the right to forbid us from

starting a New Generation group?

No, starting a group or union of whatever kind is

everybody’s constitutional right. (In UK everybody has Freedom of Religion, which is protected by UK law). You can meet freely and

speak freely. Some schools may not approve or agree with what

you are doing because they want to have a multi-faith policy.

However, providing that what you are doing does not affect the

run of your school or interfere with the lessons, there is no

reason for you to be unable to meet. If anything your meetings

and activities improves your “spiritual, moral, social,

cultural, physical and mental development, and thus the well-being of the individual” which is stated in the National

Curriculum and should be enforced in every school

If, therefore, you are not receiving this within your school

or colleges, you can suggest that what you are doing is

implementing a vital part of the National Curriculum that is

currently missing in your school.

For answers to the following questions go to www.newgeneration.co.uk

Do we have the right to preach the Gospel and pray for people

in our school?

Do we have a legal right to have access to a room in our

school for our New Generation meetings?

Can we advertise in the school?

For a while in my

early twenties I worked as a landlady in a local pub. Most of

the customers knew I was a Christian, but they also knew my

golden rule; on my shift we don’t talk politics, money or

religion. This was mainly because I don’t like arguments, and

that’s often what those asking these questions want, just an

argument, a battle to win… On the other hand there are

those who have deeper questions behind these but they need

pastoral care time, not me behind a bar! You can spot these

people, they will take the time to listen; now you must take

time to listen to them, and remember:

Sometimes giving the answer right then and there is not what

they need! We do have an apologetics course you can use

which will equip you with some ways of answering questions, but if you do it without grace and love then you might as well

give up. I’d suggest reading and meditating on 1 Corinthians

2, take time to remind yourselves that some things of God are

a mystery, and that’s ok! If we knew everything about Him, He

wouldn’t be God!

that is what we are

called to be. Now we’re not talking about being a walkover but we must remember not to answer questions as though it were

an Olympic sport. We are called to love people, help people

understand, reveal Jesus to them, often through

relationship and YOUR character. Sometimes this may mean you

need to be ready to walk away from an ‘argument’ that is just a distraction playing at getting a grip on your

character. I'm not the greatest example of this, I have a lot

to learn myself, but the more I listen to these questions

outside of a RE lesson context, the more I see many times

these questions only exist to reveal hidden stories. I

need God’s help, not to win points, but to win people and that is done with grace, prayer, humility and peace. So share

stories, share questions, laugh together, get confused

together, pray for your friend to see Jesus; and continually

with your words, actions and character point them to the real

answer.

It’s often thought that the first rule in leadership is

gifting and then convenience. God’s Kingdom is run

differently. The thing we are to be MOST concerned with in

leadership is your own walk with Jesus, where your heart is

and the character He is growing in you.

“I am the vine: you are the branches...

if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear

much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”

I use to read that as a warning, a harsh word from God, now I

see that it is a clear yet kind and merciful

encouragement from a loving father. You see what its saying

is He is the source of all we need to live the life He won for

us. A life full of purpose, adventure but a life that may

contrast to that of those who don’t call him father. He has

saved you, and you will bear fruit, you will become more

like Jesus as Holy Spirit transforms you, sure you join in

with this transformation, but even that is because of God’s

grace. Without him we can do nothing, nothing that will

last or bear much fruit, you see it is Christ who works all

things for his glory and our good, it is Christ who

strengthens me, it is Christ who can do much more than we ask

or imagine and all things are possible through Him. So remain

in him, carve our time for you

to grow, come along to

training, get prayer support,

keep in contact.

We don’t have to give Jesus new PR, the gospel is enough.

However, you do want Christian Union to be advertised well,

and encourage people to come along!

First of all (this is actually a marketing technique, but is

in line with living in the light too...

"Be open, honest and direct with users, about what [you're]

trying to achieve," Be authentic.

Create a buzz

But...

Use social media: twitter, bbm, facebook,

youtube, text, email

But... make it personal too and face to face

Most people are looking for: a sense of community,

personal expression and personalization. We can offer this

Be confident in it

Sell it in a lift...my old housemate is a major

donor charity fundraiser. Her tip from Sir Richard

Branson is you should have the confidence, passion

and clarity to sell your group in a conversation with someone

in a lift! Know your vision, and be confident in the God who

gave it to you

Be relevant: look at culture for advertising techniques and

design, but do not compromise on Jesus.

Assembly: Why not take the above idea, but ask for a slot in

a school assembly... or even ask to take the whole assembly.

We can help you do this!

Pray

Branching Out “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and

I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you

can do nothing”

When God snapped us up into his great plan, he chose

for us to dwell in him and him in us. As we are

obedient to him and follow him, his promise is that we will

see the real purpose as our life to unfold. But what does

being obedient mean. A friend once said to me “God is most

interested in your relationship with him, than even your

character development or moral behaviour.” Obedience is as

much about walking with him than anything else, “out of the

overflow of our hearts the mouth speak” and the hands and feet

move. Out of our relationship with Jesus our character

changes, so does our behaviour and so does the environment

around us. Fruit grows; the Kingdom advances and people are

drawn closer to Jesus.

But it’s scary, the stepping out… we are not typically

confident people, we are scared of saying the wrong thing,

upsetting people and looking stupid. That’s where we need to

hide our self in Jesus, find our confidence from him, knowing

he has created us well, with strengths and weaknesses. We can

hide ourselves in Jesus when things go wrong. Jesus is not

interested in whether we fail, he doesn’t measure our

endeavours by their success rate. It makes him smile that we

step out to give him glory, so let’s remember to give him

glory whatever happens.

Read Matthew 7v 7-12: We need to remind ourselves of the God

we serve, we don’t serve him out of him being a harsh task

master but out of him being our father who has good things for

us. We can reach out to him. Do we want people to know him? To

know Jesus? Why or why not?

Read Matt 26v 69-75, John 21v 15-25, then Acts 2v 14-41 what

changed in Peter? One minute he wouldn’t admit to knowing

Jesus then we see him preaching to thousands… what changed?

Holy Spirit came and dwelt within him, and Holy Spirit dwells

in us: John 14v 16-27

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is

on me, because he has

anointed me to proclaim

good news to the

poor. He has sent me to

proclaim freedom for the

prisoners and recovery of

sight for the blind, to set

the oppressed free, 19 to

proclaim the year of the

Lord’s favour.”

Lollipops with encouraging bible verses/love from CU // TxT A PRAYER POSTER // Cinema lunch // acoustic lunch // donut games // crunchie: its that friday feeling // cake giveaway // pizza lunch // bless the teachers // give out CU flyers // words to encourage people // hot chocolate // sweets give out // random acts of kindness // treasure hunt // pegging // Angel delight dinner // craft workshop // talent show // clothes giveaway / swap shop // random acts of kindness // sports event // finance support session // CU fair // write a magazine // youtube show // prayer room // charity event // bless a teacher who's been ill/had a baby // concert // homeless aid collection // writing tracts // photoshoot // photo competition // RE and Art // singing session

Stay in Contact Website: www.ccswt.org.uk

Blog: (updated monthly) www.schools-work.blogspot.com

Twitter: @loufunnell (this is a personal account and may not represent the views of the trust and

its supporting churches)

Facebook: search for Canterbury Christian Schools Work Trust

For New Generation go to www.newgeneration.co.uk

Churches: Get local*

We’d love you to get plugged into a church where you best grow in your relationship with Jesus… here are some we’d recommend:

Canterbury:

Barton Evangelical Church www.bartonchurch.org.uk

Canterbury Vineyard www.canterburyvineyard.org

City Church Canterbury www.thecitychurch.org.uk

Day Spring Church www.dayspringcanterbury.org.uk

Emmanuel Church www.emmanuelcanterbury.org.uk

New Life Canterbury www.newlifecanterbury.org

St. Mary Bredin (SMB) www.smb.org.uk

Trinity Community Church www.trinitycommunitychurch.co.uk

ST Andrew’s URC www.standrewscanterbury.org

Whitstable & Herne Bay:

City Church Whitstable www.thecitychurch.org.uk/whitstable Harbour Street www.harbourstreet.org.uk

St Alpheges www.stalphegeseasalter.org

Tankerton Evangelical Church www.tecwhitstable.org.uk/ Beacon Church, Herne Bay www.beaconhernebay.org.uk

Herne Bay Baptist www.hbbconline.org.uk

*Disclaimer: there are other churches, these are those who have

partnered with us!

Faversham:

Faversham Community Church www.favershamcommunitychurch.co.uk

Faversham Baptist Church www.favershambaptistchurch.org.uk

Faversham United Church www.unitedchurch-faversham.org.uk