Want to make the most of the opportunity you have as a theology student to talk to your coursemates about Jesus but not sure where to start? Here are some practical suggestions of ways that you can share the gospel creatively as theology students. (Ordered from least to most organisation required).
Reading with a Friend
There are so many good books that you could choose to read with your coursemate or friend. Here are some suggestions if you’re not sure where to start:
- A Gospel
- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
- Tim Keller, A Reason for God or Making Sense of Faith
- Justin Bass, The Bedrock of Christianity (Theology Network discussion guide here)
What to do:
- Ask your friend if they would be interested in reading and discussing this book or part of the bible with you.
- Find a convenient time and place (your room, a café on campus).
- Read a chapter each week (or a 2-3 if a Gospel) and meet to discuss what you’ve read.
Meal with a Message / Dinner and Dialogue / Symposium
Whatever you want to call it, there is a great opportunity to talk about Jesus in inviting some friends round for dinner for that very purpose. You might find yourself surprised by how interested some of your coursemates and friends are to do that. (This could be a one-off or regular thing that your Theology Network hub do together).
What to do:
- Choose a topic for your dinner. This could be a question you know some of your coursemates have about Christianity, or a juicy bit of theology that connects well to the gospel.
- Find a speaker who could give a five-minute presentation to introduce the topic and point to Jesus. This could be a PhD student, Christian lecturer, your Staff Worker or Relay worker. It could even be you! (more ideas here OR you could even use one of the Theology Network hub discussions)
- Find a venue, date and time, and plan food. A home cooked meal is great, but pizza works too.
- Invite your friends (some Christians some not), and make sure they know that there will be a discussion as part of it.
- On the night, between mains and dessert introduce your speaker and get them to share a brief presentation on the topic (no more than five-minutes).
- Over dessert, encourage discussion on the topic – it might be helpful to prepare some questions to start conversation. Give people a chance to ask the speaker questions.
- At the end of the evening, suggest a next step people could take to keep investigating Christianity. Maybe they could read Uncover with someone, or come along to church or a CU event?
Discussion Group
This is a great way to more regularly discuss issues of theology and faith with non-christian coursemates and friends. If you’re part of a Theology Network hub maybe you could dedicate a whole term to evangelistic discussions and invite lots of non-Christian friends along. Or if you don’t have a hub in your university you could run an evangelistic discussion group with your coursemates.
What to do:
- Choose a time and venue. Lunchtime might work well, as everyone can bring their lunch along and eat while you chat. Go for a venue on campus like a café, bookable seminar room, chapel or the SU. If you’re meeting in the evening, someone’s room would be a great venue.
- Decide what you’re going to discuss during the meetings. You could discuss one of the books recommended above, use some of the Theology Network hub resources, or just chat through topics relevant to the specifics of your course and the gospel.
- Spend a bit of time working on questions to ask that will open up conversation and lead to a point of being able to share the gospel. Maybe different members of the group could take turns leading discussion from week to week.
- Invite friends along. Think about whether you could publicise the group more widely, maybe with posters in your department or a message in your subject group chat.
- On the day, try and create a welcoming environment where everyone feels comfortable giving their point of view. Ask open questions that invite different opinions, and be confident putting forward the Christian perspective and talking about the truth and goodness of the gospel!
Lunchbar / Evangelistic Talk
A lunchtime talk gives you a bit more time to go deeper into a topic, and hear the gospel clearly presented. You could fit a theology-themed lunchbar into your CU’s regular lunchbar or events week programme, or hold a one-off event.
This takes a bit more organisation that the rest to pull off well. Some things to get in order:
- An interesting AND clear talk title
- A speaker
- A venue – a seminar room, lecture theatre or other bookable venue on campus
- Food
- Publicity – a Facebook event, flyers, posters
- A small team to set up the venue and get food there
What to do:
- Find a date and time that works. Plan far enough ahead to give your speaker time to prepare. Choose a time that fits around as many people’s timetables as possible – when are most people on their lunch break?
- Book a venue on campus that can hold plenty of people, but won’t feel too empty if not so many people show up. Make sure it’s close to lecture halls and seminar rooms so that people coming straight from classes can make it on time.
- Choose a title and invite a speaker. You can either choose a title first and look for a speaker who can address that topic, or find a speaker and see what titles they’ve given talks on before. Talk to your staff worker about finding a great speaker.
- Plan what food and drink you’ll have on offer. A free lunch is a great pull! You can make baguettes cheaply and easily, or many supermarkets have sandwich platters available to order. Think about how many people are likely to come – you don’t want anyone to go without lunch!
- Advertise your event. The website Canva is a great, free tool for designing flyers and posters. Check whether you’re allowed to put posters up around your campus, hand out flyers or give a notice at the end of a lecture.
- Invite your friends personally – offer to meet them beforehand, or go straight from a lecture together.
- On the day: get together your team of people to set up the venue and get food ready in plenty of time. Have people on the doors to welcome guests.
- Introduce your speaker, who will speak for 15-20 minutes on the topic.
- Allow some time for Q&A, either by texting in questions or asking from the floor.
- Wrap up the event on time, so that people can get to afternoon classes. Offer them an opportunity to keep thinking about the topic, by taking away a book or meeting up with a CU member.
The key to a successful lunchbar is getting your CU and Theology Network hub to invite their friends – more people will come from a personal invitation than a flyer! Use a slot in your CU meeting and Theology Network meeting to explain the vision of the event, and take the lead yourself in inviting people along.