In a sentence, Theology Network hubs are about coming together as students who are being shaped by the gospel to pursue theology which is shaped by the gospel.
If we’re following Jesus, we want the good news of His death and resurrection to shape and transform every area of our life, including our work and study. Jesus came to reconcile all of creation to himself (Colossians 1:15-20), our coursemates and our very field of study included. How clear this should be when our area of study is all about knowing and speaking about God (theos-logos)!
Shaped by the gospel in community
A huge part of what shapes us as theologians (and people in general) are the communities that we are part of, whether we are aware of their influence or not. Theology shaped by the gospel aims at knowing God as He has revealed Himself in Christ and responding to Him in worship. Our local church community helps shape the whole of our life around the gospel, and this is the primary context in which our theology gets worked out in this way.
However, our academic communities – our university’s theology faculty, our coursemates, seminar groups, etc – play a huge role in shaping us. They influence the sort of questions we ask, our approach to answering those questions, and how we evaluate what a ‘good’ answer is. It is invaluable, therefore, to have an academic community which is in pursuit of those gospel goals of truth and worship.
Theology Network hubs are an opportunity to study theology in such a community. They are Christian communities in your academic context in which you intentionally pursue together being shaped by the gospel in your theological study. They do this around the threefold aim to see theology students supported, equipped, and mobilised to live and speak for Jesus in the world of theology.
This provides a great opportunity to dig deeper into the interface between academic theology and your faith. It also creates a safe space to ask questions, air doubts, and explore some of the more challenging things on your course with others who are going through a similar experience and those who have gone before.
Mobilised for mission in your department
The gospel also leads us to speak about Jesus to others, and this is no different in the context of academic theology. As the CU’s arm in the theology department, Theology Network hubs aim to help you bear witness to the gospel in the academy and to your coursemates. Hubs are a place to encourage one another to put the gospel to work in your studies, in the academic debates you engage with, and in effective personal evangelism in your department.
They are also well placed for evangelistic events aimed at your theology department. Significantly, regular hub meetings can be evangelistic in-and-of-themselves. They can be similar to ‘explore’ groups – helping students from a variety of backgrounds to gain confidence in the truth of the gospel and equipping them to study theology in its light.
These wonderful expressions of the common mission of the CU in your theology department, united around the truth of the gospel, offer the chance to grow in gospel-shaped theology and pursue that shared mission together in and through your course.
Imagine the impact that having a witnessing community of students in a hub could have on your theology department!
What now?
Check out if your CU has a Theology Network hub and get invovled.
Thinking about starting a hub in your CU?
