Over 20,000 students have attended a CU carol service in 2013, with many Christian Unions reporting students wanting to join follow-up courses, meet one-to-one to read a gospel with a member of the CU, and some even professing faith.
One student commented: ‘the response has just been incredible. We know of so many people who have responded to the gospel’. The Durham Inter-Collegiate Christian Union reported: ‘so far we have 202 people who said they are not a part of church or CU, who prayed the response prayer at Durham Cathedral’. Similarly, Newcastle CU reported: ‘135 people who ticked the box to say they are not a part of church or the CU, prayed the response prayer at Newcastle CU carols’.
Christian Unions are often the largest Student Union society on campus, and last year over 22,000 students attended carol services organised by their Christian Union. The Rev. Richard Cunningham, National Director of UCCF believes that while overall church attendance in the UK is dropping, and the Church nationally is lacking teenagers and those in their 20s and 30s, on campus interest in exploring faith has never been higher. He said: ‘Across Britain, our student Christian Union leaders are reporting unprecedented interest in exploring issues related to faith, requesting Christian literature and attending carol services. It seems that aggressive secularism is leaving today’s under-25s with a genuine spiritual hunger for something authentic and lasting’.
