Students Conference 2008

Introduction

The Student Conference has the aim of helping people to ask the question; ‘Should I go into full-time gospel ministry?’, to demystify what gospel ministry is and to give a feel for what it is like. To this end we provide an environment which has a healthy mix of teaching from the Bible, practical seminars on different types of ministry and particular issues, one-to-ones with experienced church leaders, and time for informal chat with those church leaders and other delegates.

The programme looked like this in the previous years:

Friday

6:30pm Arrive from now
8:00pm Supper
9:00pm Bible Reading: ‘Gospel Motives’ John 13:1-17 (Neil Powell)
Small Groups

Saturday

8:30am Breakfast
(Time for ‘Quiet Times’)
9:30am What is ‘full-time gospel ministry’? (Ian Garrett)
Small groups
11:15am Coffee
11.45am Seminars (1)
1:00pm Lunch
4.15pm Tea
4.45pm Seminars (2)
6:00m Supper
7.30pm How do you know if 'full-time gospel ministry’ is for you? (Ian Garrett)
Small groups
Some light relief…

Sunday

8.30am Breakfast
(Time for ‘Quiet Times’)
9.30am What if ‘full-time gospel ministry’ isn’t for you? (Neil Powell)
10.45am Coffee
11.15am Seminars (3)
12.30pm Lunch
1.15pm Where to from here? (Sam Allberry)
2:00pm Depart

Talks

Ian Garrett, Assistant Minister of Jesmond Parish Church in Newcastle, leads this conference and will give two of the main talks. Other leaders, mainly involved in student work at churches around the country, will give another three talks. The talks will comprise one Bible reading on the principles of gospel ministry, and four talks on gospel ministry itself: what it is, who should do it, what if it isn’t for you and what to do next. This quality Bible teaching from the front forms the backbone of the conference on which everything else is based.

Seminars

The seminars are designed to demystify various forms of gospel ministry and set foundations for a life spent serving the Lord in any context. Seminars last year were:

Apprenticeships & training for ministry

How can we test out suitability for ‘full time ministry’? What opportunities are there to work in church ‘apprenticeships’ to gain experience of, and training in, ministry?

Women’s ministry

What roles in ministry does the Bible encourage women to fill? Where can opportunities to work in such roles be found today? [This seminar is for women only.]

Work & the gospel

Deciding between options in the ‘secular’ workplace from the point of view of God’s priorities, aiming to serve the gospel best - at work and outside work.

Marriage, singleness & the gospel

Applying God’s priorities of godliness and evangelism to the way we view singleness and marriage, and the decisions we make in this area.

World-wide gospel ministry

Why go abroad in gospel ministry? What are the needs abroad compared to the needs here? How do you decide between the two? What are the next steps for pursuing this possibility?

Being a Bible student now

Planning your personal study of the Bible and Christian books. Principles, ideas and resources for becoming a life-long Bible student (whatever else you do).

Learning to pray now

Developing good habits of personal prayer and prayer for ministry now, that will stand you in good stead for the future.

Working at godliness now

Much of what the Bible looks for in ‘full-time ministers’ is godliness. How can we set ourselves to grow in godliness so that we are ‘useful to the Master and prepared for any good work’ (2 Timothy 2.21)?

Delegates choose three seminars after registering for the conference and these are often the highlight for many.

Contact with church leaders

One of the great benefits of this conference is the high leader-to-delegate ratio. This gives the delegates the opportunity to speak to the leaders in a variety of settings; both formal and informal. Firstly, each delegate is put in a small group (generally single-sex) which is a time for prayer, discussion and questions; mainly (but not exclusively) from the content of the talks. Most delegates will also have the chance to meet with one of their leaders one-to-one, which can be a useful time of application and encouragement. The leaders can not give detailed advice as in most cases they will have only known the delegates for a few hours but is can be a vital time to work out which issues need to be thought through, and which questions need to be asked. Finally, there is plenty of time for informal chats and discussions to take place; whether it be over a meal time or at an afternoon tea room or walk.

Church leaders, many of them student workers, from all over the country give up their time to lead on this conference showing their commitment to raising up new leaders for the harvest field and for spurring on the next generation to live for Jesus. Some of the leaders that have come over the last few years are:

Books and audio

For the conference we often manage to secure a significant discount on books, especially those published by IVP/Good Book Company. We also offer a large discount on a range of audio from previous 9:38 conferences (including an exclusive compilation CD of all the best talks from over the years). It is well worth bring some extra money (cash or cheque) to stock up for the next year’s reading.

Musical instruments

In each of our main meetings we like to sing, and rely entirely on delegates bringing instruments to accompany us. If you come, and play an instrument, please do bring it with you (there will be a piano there!).

Conference centre

The conference is held at Cliff College in the village of Calver. This is located between Chesterfield and Sheffield and close to Chatsworth House (directions). All food and accommodation is included in the cost of the conference. There is some free time on the Saturday afternoon, which gives a chance to take in the beautiful setting of the Derbyshire dales, hike up a ‘cliff’, visit Chatsworth tea rooms or play football or Frisbee.

Who should come?

This conference is ideal for undergraduate students in their final or penultimate year who are considering, however vaguely, going into some sort of part-time or full-time gospel ministry in the future. It is equally useful for those who have always considered this as an option for their lives, and for those who have only just tentatively started thinking along these lines. The conference is not designed to put any pressure on anyone into signing their lives away, but rather to present the facts, give delegates an opportunity to discuss their futures with experienced gospel ministers, and apply biblical teaching to their lives. The conference is also a great encouragement and a time of spurring on in the Christian life. Students often return to their churches much better informed and able to make decisions for their future. Postgraduate students are encouraged to attend the Annual Conference.

To back up our commitment to work in partnership with local churches, each delegate must have a recommendation from a church leader if at all possible. It would be well worth talking through your thoughts about full-time gospel ministry with your church leader before coming on the conference, and afterwards as you consult and pray with them to see if this is the right thing for you.

Note to church leaders/student workers

If you are a church leader and you are intending on sending a number of students from your church on the conference, you would be most welcome to come on the conference yourself, either as an ‘official’ leader (one that looks after those from other churches as well as your own, and if we have enough notice), or as a leader of those from your church. It can be a great chance to be away for the weekend, receive the teaching from the conference and to benefit from discussion about full-time gospel ministry. Many leaders find that they can have discussions on a 9:38 conference with those from their churches that they would not normally find time to have back ‘at home’. Please be in contact with the 9:38 administrator, Matt Morgan, with as much notice as possible to chat through possibilities. Even if you can not attend the conference yourself, please do consider sending us any students in your congregation for whom this conference might be a great help. And be assured that they will be looked after by a great team of Bible believing and teaching leaders from across the country, and will probably be sent back to you with more questions than answers!