tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post4629389665785715282..comments2023-09-27T04:43:56.663-05:00Comments on Loving Church: Model 1: Local Church Only.Mike Gilbart-Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769957028641055416noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post-4192192434572711802007-01-22T11:28:00.000-05:002007-01-22T11:28:00.000-05:00Gareth,
Yes, I agree with the added opportunities...Gareth,<br /><br />Yes, I agree with the added opportunities of shared resources and unified witnessMike Gilbart-Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01769957028641055416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post-78659546612183407772007-01-22T10:04:00.000-05:002007-01-22T10:04:00.000-05:00This point about the Local Church only model, was ...This point about the Local Church only model, was made in the comments section of one <a href="http://blog.garethrussell.net/2007/01/17/the-cu-question-from-over-the-pond/">my recent</a> posts:<br /><br />"In Leicester where I am, there are a small number of churches with active student ministries. Some of them are great friends of the CU, some run their own student programmes with little reference to the CU. If the CU was gone from campus, I think there would be probably be just three churches with suffiencient resources/finance to be independently at work on the campus. I would fear that students who would come to Leicester under this circunstance would only be likely go to one of these three churches citing their need to fellowship with other students; and not go to any other smaller/less central churches.<br /><br />With the CU in action on campus, consisting of students who go to perhaps 10 of the local churches, I think that the students benefit from the range of local churches, and the local churches benefit from the fresh blood of students"Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06745777527409460145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post-12277853787370532012007-01-22T09:36:00.000-05:002007-01-22T09:36:00.000-05:00How would that work then?How would that work then?Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06745777527409460145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post-85650316446566592882007-01-22T09:23:00.000-05:002007-01-22T09:23:00.000-05:00Again, I think that a missionary arm of a local ch...Again, I think that a missionary arm of a local church could register itself as a student organisation.Mike Gilbart-Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01769957028641055416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988218252384954785.post-10706766180692367202007-01-22T08:57:00.000-05:002007-01-22T08:57:00.000-05:00I think you missed something else bigger, that the...I think you missed something else bigger, that the Local Church only model is unable to do on campus: missions.<br /><br />Each year at Nottingham University, the Christian Union, puts on a mission week. A week of high profile events, with a couple of speakers from around the country. This is an event which galvanises all the Christian students here into one slick machine for the week. If the parachurch Christian Union did not exist, then the mission week could not occur on campus nor other high profile events like it. Local churches cannot host evangelistic lunch time talks in the heart of campus, the Christian Union can, for example.<br /><br />I would also say, that when church ministry is restricted to just the local church, you will have a greater division among the Christian students. This is only natural because students from different churches are less likely to come into as much contact with each other as they would with the CU in existence. I'm not saying that the students would all divide into their church groups and never see other Christians, but that such beneficial mixing from different backgrounds would be reduced.<br /><br />In theory I like the idea of local church only, I just don't think it would work as well as the current model in practice.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06745777527409460145noreply@blogger.com