What we Believe

Our vision is to give every student on campus the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus and to give them a space to ask questions and respond.

We have members from across many denominations of Christianity and take great joy in sharing how God is working in our lives.

We are associated with UCCF (University and Colleges Christian Fellowship) and our beliefs can be summarised with their doctrinal basis.

Doctrinal Basis

The Doctrinal Basis is a document that states what we believe as a united Christian Union.

There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.
Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so everyone is subject to God's wrath and condemnation.
The Lord Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
Those who believe in Christ are pardoned of all their sins and accepted in God's sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God's act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christlike in character and behaviour and gives them power for their witness in the world.
The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God's just condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.

The Apostles Creed summarises the main points of the Doctrinal Basis and is widely known by many Christians all over the Globe. 'This I Believe' is a song that goes over these beliefs in an amazing way, making it easier to remember!

Testimonies

As a CU we want to share our testimonies with others. Many people come from different walks of life but ultimately are connected through God's plan. We want to share an insight into the wonderful work Christ is doing in our lives.

Here are a few of our stories we would like to share with you:

Adam:

In my teenage years, I relegated Christian stories I'd heard at my Church of England Primary School to the fantasy scribblings of fairytales. The Gospel was no more truthful to me than Jack and his beanstalk and God no more real than the Golden Goose!

I arrived at University closed-minded to religion and unwilling to budge. It at this time God placed a CU member (let's call him Sam) in my first-year flat. The flat gang went to some Christian Union events to spend time with Sam, and I ended up quite liking the stories and morals I heard. Nonetheless, God was still far from real to me.

It was at a CU Christmas event in my second year that a very inquisitive Sam asked where I stood on God, the Bible and everything. I rebutted "well it's all very warm and nice, but I think it's pretty impossible to make me believe a man called Jesus existed 2000 years ago - much less that he was God's son!"

This retort did not have the stunning effect I had expected, Sam calmly reminded me that the famous Julius Cesar lived only a century before Jesus Christ, and I had no problem accepting his existence. After this, the path opened up. One JC opened my mind to the other. I read two excellent books on the historical Jesus (Jesus for Sceptics and A Case for Christ). I picked up a bible and dove headfirst into God's love.

This bible studying began in the infamous lockdown of 2020, here God had blessed me with the time and space to read through his word and personally come to know him. I know this was a rough time for most concerned, but it was a gift for me!

As I look forward, I ask that you will pray that I grow closer to God and the Spirit each day. I will pray that He may bless you with an open mind and an open heart to hear his teachings and receive His love.

Harriet:

I grew up in a Christian family and we went to church every Sunday, it was and still is a big part of my family's life. I have always believed that there is something bigger out there but I have often doubted my faith. There was a period of my teenage years where I was really struggling with my mental health. Unfortunately, I strayed away from church and felt very disconnected from God.

This was a really tricky time of questioning, doubts and overwhelm but looking back, I know that God was with me through it all and put people in my path to guide me back to Him. Coming to University was a really scary thing for me but I knew I needed to get involved with the Christian Union and I am so glad I took that bold step of faith!

Being surrounded by a close group of Christians has been life-changing and it is such an amazing environment to grow in relationship with one another, and most importantly, grow in relationship with Jesus. I am really looking forward to being involved in the committee this year and using my own experiences to help others realise just how great God's unfailing love for us is, even when we might struggle to see it. Our lives have so much purpose and it is so exciting to uncover our God-given strengths alongside one another!

Alicia:

I didn’t grow up a Christian my family aren’t Christian and this was how it was until I went to college. Growing up, religion wasn’t something I thought about or even contemplated. It was something I learnt at school because it was compulsory, but outside that classroom it hardly crossed my mind.

I always knew there was something more to life and this world but I never thought religion would be the answer until I went to college. During college I became friends with a couple of individuals who were Christians and the way they talked about religion and what it has done for them inspired me, so when they invited me to try their churches and even attend their life groups I accepted and my eyes were open to a whole new world.

From here I wouldn’t say my journey was easy I had lots of questions and I didn’t know what this journey would have in store for me. I was scared and confused because this was a serious thing that I didn’t know if I was ready for and I wanted to make the right decision. Coming to university, joining the Christian Union and joining a church and trying to figure this Christian thing out for myself has reallyshowed me that this is what I want. I have absolutely made the right decision to follow Jesus and enter into God’s kingdom. I still have a long way to go, but I’m glad I’m on this journey of faith.