At Fusion, we help local churches to work with, reach, and understand university students. At the beginning of this academic year, we put together a worldview survey in order to gain a greater insight into how students perceive the world and what it is like to be them.
When we launched the survey, we envisioned student workers and churches catching the vision and the heart behind it and using it as a missional tool not only to learn more about the student generation but also to reach them. We also envisioned students using the survey at the pubs, in lecture halls, in their halls of residence, on campus, off campus - basically anywhere and everywhere with whoever. We’ve seen glimpses of that in some locations already.
In November, I approached someone of student age at a cafe and after asking whether she is a student or not, I introduced myself and the student worldview survey to her and she seemed keen to participate. As she was answering the questions, I picked up on a few interesting responses. I noticed that she used to go to church as a child, that she does pray occasionally, and that she is open to trying church if someone invites her. She then carried on saying she left the church and hasn't been for a few years, but is keen to reconnect. I swapped numbers with her and invited her to church and to my home for food. She has since come back to church, and is on a journey of reconnecting with God and rediscovering her faith. This all happened as a result of a 2 minute survey conversation!
From over 1000 students we’ve surveyed so far, over 70% are saying yes to trying church if someone invites them and yes to personally hearing the story of Jesus. This implies that over 70% of students are waiting to be invited to church. In a context where less than 1% of students are actively engaging with church in the UK, 70% are waiting to hear the story of Jesus.
When are you going to invite them to try church? What real or imaginary things are stopping you from telling them the story of Jesus? How can you start to overcome them?
If you want to give the survey a try, simply click here and share it.
