#connectingyou

Welcome to the summer edition of Connecting You

You may have noticed things look a bit different. We felt the time was right for a bit of a refresh for Connecting You and Scripture Union as whole – to keep us looking modern, contemporary and, above all, relevant.

Our history and heritage will always be a vitally important part of who we are, so what you’ll see isn’t a radical departure, just a bit of a refresh. Our new logo, for instance, is a contemporary reimagining of our historic ‘lamp on a stand’ symbol but also could be seen to include a smile or perhaps even a child with arms raised in exuberant joy! In our 150th year, as we reassert our focus on sharing the good news with the next generation, we want to emanate joy through all we do – the joy of knowing Jesus and the joy of making him known, too!

More than a lick of paint

It’s not just our visual identity that needs to be relevant and contemporary, though. We must find ways of connecting with today’s children. Jesus went to where the people were. He shared a meal, a miracle and a message with a lakeside crowd. He healed a blind man by a city centre pool and preached a sermon on a mountainside. He lived, worked and died in the public eye. SU’s founder, Josiah Spiers, also held meetings in public spaces. And, if we want to share the gospel with the 95% of children not in church, that’s the space we must be in too. That’s why we’ve launched The 95 Campaign. Together, let’s take the Light back out into the world. Yours in his service

Tim Hastie-Smith

If an estimated 95% of children and young people aren’t in church, we must take the good news out to them. The 95 campaign aims to take that message and to make it heard. Will you join the campaign to share the good news beyond the church?

Last edition, we shared with you our heart for reaching those who don’t yet know Jesus, and we’d like to thank everyone who prayed or gave financially to support our fledgling plans to reach the 95. This edition, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve officially launched The 95 Campaign which aims to elevate the cause and encourage even more people to get involved.

What is The 95 campaign?

The campaign aims to bring together all those with a heart for the 95% of children not in church so that, together, we can fly the flag for the vital task of sharing the gospel where children are. Whether or not you’re personally involved in children’s and youth work, if you long for the next generation to encounter the gospel, and you want to see this sort of mission work go from strength to strength, then sign up today (the95.org.uk).

Why is it so important?

SU worker, Sarah Smart, who knew nothing of Jesus as a child, explains how The 95 Campaign echoes many elements that were vital in her own journey to faith. And we tell you how you can get involved. Sarah says, ‘Jesus spoke of the good news as a treasure that a man gave up everything else to own. But I grew up in a home where God simply wasn’t part of the conversation. I didn’t know that the treasure existed, let alone that it was priceless in value

‘My journey to faith took time. I didn’t just hear the gospel and go, “Oh that’s great, I’m in and I’m going to be a mission worker!” There were lots of different touchpoints along the way. And I’m excited that The 95 Campaign will create a wide variety of opportunities for children outside the church to hear about Jesus.

I was 14 when my faith journey started. My best friend pestered me to go to her church youth group until I gave in and went! I had a lot in common with the other teenagers in the group, except they had this vibrant, inspiring faith. I wanted some of what they had. So I started going along regularly.

‘The 95 Campaign is also pioneering new forms of mission. The year after I joined the youth group, we joined with hundreds of other teenagers on an SU Mission in our home town of Deal. Joy, our youth group leader, ran a session one evening on Psalm 139 – it gave me a different perspective on life, and suddenly all the pieces fell into place. Afterwards, I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life.

‘Now I’m an SU mission worker and I work closely with churches. Often they struggle to share the gospel with children that are outside of the church altogether. So I’m delighted that a key part of The 95 Campaign is to research what really works with those children, develop appropriate new mission tools in conjunction with churches, and then share them far and wide.

‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to see a nation where every child knows who Jesus is and all about his message of hope? I think The 95 Campaign could help make that a reality!’

Early signs of success

Because of your faithful gifts, SU is able to run after-school clubs that help children with no church background to discover Jesus. When Colin Meadows’ 8-year-old daughter Jasmine went to one such club at the local primary school in Barnstaple, little did he know that it would be the start of his own journey to faith.

‘Jasmine came home one afternoon with a list of various clubs that the school had going on,’ explains Colin. ‘One of them was Check It Out, an after-school club that Chris Eales from SU helped launch to help children learn about the Christian faith. I wasn’t a Christian, but I thought it would help Jasmine to grow up kind and decent.

‘So she started going. And she loved the games, crafts and stories. And then she asked me and my wife, “Can I go to church? I want to know more!”

‘Andy Dodwell who co-leads Check It Out is also our local vicar, so it’s his church that we visited. The last time I’d been to church (apart from weddings and funerals) was when I was a child. It hadn’t been particularly enjoyable – sitting on hard pews, not allowed to ask any questions and being told to “sit still and be quiet”! But Andy’s church wasn’t like that. He was great with the children and they got to join in the service, have fun and enjoy themselves. So we kept going along.

An incredible faith

‘Jasmine developed an incredible faith. I remember she was asked to do the Bible reading in church. She was nervous about it, but she said, “God’s given me something to do, so he must think I can do it.” And I’m proud to say she did it, and very well too!

‘Eventually I attended church every week, even when Jasmine couldn’t make it.

‘Then Jasmine asked to be baptised. That prompted me to join a course at the church to learn more about the gospel. I was intrigued by it, but I’m also very logical and like to have evidence of things. I’m surrounded by scientists at work (in a hospital) and knew one of them was a Christian. So I asked how he reconciled his faith with science. And he said that even if you felt that science could explain the process, it couldn’t answer the question “But who started that?”

‘So I decided to follow Jesus. And it’s really changed me. I used to lose my temper very easily, but now I feel so much more peaceful within.

We recently had the pleasure and privilege of welcoming His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, to officially open our new national office, Trinity House, in Milton Keynes.

It’s not every day that a member of the royal family comes to your place of work. But that’s exactly what happened when His Royal Highness Prince Edward joined SU staff , volunteers and some young people involved in SU activities to officially open the new SU national office and to launch The 95 Campaign.

During his visit, the Prince heard all about what our mission to share Jesus with the next generation entails, and was interested to explore resources like Guardians of Ancora and Diary of a Disciple.

He also enjoyed hearing about our exciting face-to-face ministries like Lifepath.

It was a pleasure to welcome His Royal Highness and to hear him praise the work of the movement so highly. It’s a day that will be remembered for quite some time by all those in attendance. ‘He loved meeting our staff and some of the teenagers we work with.’ comments our National Director, Tim Hastie-Smith. ‘We were encouraged that he left excited by SU’s great vision for the future.’

A few months ago, we presented The 95 Campaign to our holidays and missions leaders. And we asked two of them to share what they feel about Scripture Union’s new focus.

Sutton-on-Sea

Liz Boland helps to lead SU’s Sutton-on-Sea mission, which last year celebrated its 130th anniversary. She says, ‘It’s great that Scripture Union is planning on “going back to the beach”. In the last few years, many children and young people at the mission have had spiritual encounters with God for the first time.

Now we’re considering how we can proactively reach more of them on the housing estates and in the town centre – going to where they are, rather than hoping they’ll come to us.

Criccieth Mission

Dave Butt has been involved with Criccieth Mission for over 30 years. He says, ‘I’m really encouraged by The 95 Campaign because it reflects our own experience that there are so many young people who haven’t heard the good news of Jesus.

Many children and young people coming to Criccieth Mission have no church connections but there’s a real hunger for the gospel emerging.

To help mark our 150th anniversary in style, there are some special celebration events happening. Do join with us if you can! You can find further details of each at www.scriptureunion.org.uk/150

Global Prayer day

150 years to the day that Josiah Spiers held his first meeting for children, we’re holding our main celebration! It will be a morning of worship and ministry-themed prayer stations followed by lunch and then a Walk of Prayer and Praise, led by SU International’s Director, Janet Morgan.

If you can’t be there in person, you can watch the morning session being streamed live. Find details at www.scriptureunion.org.uk/150. And please join us in prayer – thank God for the dedicated volunteers and staff in England, Wales and around the world, who have cheerfully given their time, energy and skills to enable children and young people to discover Jesus.

2nd June 10am–3.30pm St Mark’s Church, Kennington, London (opposite Oval tube station)

If you’d like to join us at this event,

please email Chris Poch at [email protected]