The Bendigo Christian Union has made a terrific start to season 2012, easily eclipsing LARHC and THE MOB as the most active clubs on campus.

Things looked to begin in shaky fashion for the C.U, being given a stall in Market day right next to the erotic dancers of the Burlesque club, and across the path from the StarBar. However armed with Christ in their corner and the pulling power of a high powered fairy floss machine, the Christian Union ended the week with record signings. Approximately 67 people signed up which not only meant the most successful O’week in C.U history, it also was the best intake of all the Uni clubs; outscoring The Mob (approx 30,)the Burlesque club (0 signups,) and the esteemed rural health club LARHC.

With the emotional and numerical high of O’week however came the inevitable opposition from the University authorities. Because the C.U pride themselves on quality teaching and learning for their students, the faceless people of the University decided that we could no longer meet on the Student Union floor; It’s probably fair though, I mean what sort of proper Uni would want to be known as a place of discussion and education? But again, armed with the grace and sovereignty of God the CUers were able to negate this adversity; moving to the much coveted location of the Circular Lecture Theatre. The CLT (named after Clive Harbinger-Circular, the inventor of the tent peg) holds up to 300 eager learners, or roughly 120 University students. The first game of the season was a success for the C.U, with 45 people attending what looks like being a most successful year on campus.

Preaching of the word has long been a draw card for Christians and non-Christians alike on the campus, and so far this year has been no different. Linguist and scholar Russ Grinter has been expounding and pounding the word like it’s going out of fashion and last week even sported a bad case of gravel rash to appeal to the crowds. Amongst his clear explanation of how to best be a Christian at uni, there were many of the usual trademark moments of a Russ Grinter sermon. These include weekly occurrences such as the bizarre farming references that no one understands, as well as the subtle attacks aimed at a popular social networking website. Coupled with some funny stories and the clockwork-like interruptions from Bryce Hall, the bible talks are always a brilliant application of God’s word into the lives of students.

One of the great initiatives that the C.U has implemented this year has been the formation of bible studies known as Gospel Groups. These meet daily at around lunchtime as a tool so that people can meet Jesus in the scriptures. Mondays group is run by the Christian Union apprentice Joel, the really white guy with blonde dreadlocks. Tuesday’s see Rusty run a group by himself and then on Wednesday he doubles up with his lovely wife Aimee. Each group is definitely cost free and aims to be a chilled out way to study the bible at uni. As a result, at any given time through the week the astute observer may see different groups of Christians praying, reading the bible solo, one-to-one or in bible study groups. In the next two weeks the FOCUS group for international students will look to debut in Bendigo- run by Pakistani-raised Luke Denness. Current president of the C.U Rhys Thorburn had the following to say about the FOCUS group. “I honestly can’t wait for this group to kick-off. C.U is great but I think it will be really valuable for me to study the bible exclusively with other people who are not from Australia.” If you are interested in any of these study groups feel free to jump right in if you see them, or if you are a little bit more formal you can contact any of the C.U staff.

So, you’ve just received some insight into the world of the Christian Union at La Trobe Uni in Bendigo. We would love for you to join us Wednesday nights at 6pm for our Gospel Gatherings, we meet alternative weeks in the Circular Lecture Theatre and the Student Union- although it’s probably just safer to meet us at the S.U and we’ll walk/skip/carry you to our meeting point.

In His Majesty’s Service,

Joel