Reflections and Stories | Page 18 | Student Christian Movement

What Can We Do For International Students?

18 Apr 2016

Universities in the UK attract a large number of students from all over the world. Consequently, people have been talking a lot about diversity, the benefits and opportunities it might bring. These include the joys of trying out international cuisine and having the chance to learn languages from...

What Holy Communion Means to a Methodist

11 Apr 2016

John Wesley said that his followers should celebrate Holy Communion as often as possible – ideally daily. The only time this was possible for me was when I was training for the Methodist ministry at the Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham, where there was a Communion service every day. Sorry, Mr...

What the Eucharist Means to a Quaker

5 Apr 2016

As far as I know, there are only two Christian traditions who officiallly don’t celebrate the Eucharist: the Salvation Army and the Society of Friends (Quakers). A fellow student at Queen’s Theological Foundation, where I study Theology, who is a ‘Salvationist’, told me that there are many...

A New Evangelism?

4 Apr 2016

Recently Exeter MethAng held a session on the thorny topic of evangelism, and guess who had the ~~horror~~ privilege of leading it? That’s right, yours truly. To say I was apprehensive would be to misrepresent the facts; I didn’t want to do it at all, but I think that’s why we need to talk...

‘Singing is a lover’s thing’: why I love Choral Evensong

13 Mar 2016

In 2012, the Church of England published a report which revealed that, despite a widespread decline in parish attendance, the number of people participating in cathedral services had...

Representing Young Voices at General Synod

13 Mar 2016

Young people are brimming with passion.

Whenever young people get together fireworks happen. We have grand plans, elaborate schemes and deep understandings. We build community with wreckless abandon and love with everything we have.

Throughout my years as a young person I have been...

Why it's worth telling stories (and telling them well)

29 Feb 2016

At the Greenbelt Festival a number of years ago the late John O’Donohue posed a magnificent question. ‘After the morning you discover that you’re the son of God,’ John said, ‘what do you do for the afternoon?’

Part of why it is such a good...

Time to Talk

4 Feb 2016

I am writing this blog as part of Time to Talk Day 2016, a day to get the nation talking about mental health issues and end the misconceptions surrounding people with mental health issues. I have schizoaffective disorder, which is a...

The Vulnerability of Lent

2 Feb 2016

I’ve lost count of the number of times in the last few weeks that I’ve loudly proclaimed that Lent is my favourite liturgical season. This tends to get a variety of responses; “is that because of all the purple?” being my favourite. The comment on Lent that has most struck me, however, was a...

My SCM Experience has Lasted over 50 Years

25 Jan 2016

I owe a lot to the SCM. After a good Quaker upbringing, which taught me the importance of being of service to others, I joined the SCM at Bristol in 1958. It did two things for me.

Firstly, I was challenged to face up to a commitment in trying to be a follower of Jesus....