Arrivals Lounge

So you are coming to Loughborough University, the A-level results have landed on the door mat and you are in! You are feeling a whole range of emotions excitement, fear and anticipation. We have got a few things for you to think about as you prepare to board the plane!

• Pray for your future hall mates, ask God to start working in their lives and to use you to impact them.
• Pray for your course mates that you would make lasting friendships quickly and that your life would be an example to them.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to be present in your life and seek God’s protection over your faith.
• Think about what kind of influence you want to have in your halls, consider becoming a part of your hall committee to begin to change some of the values in your hall.

Finding a church

Picking a church can be as confusing as your first visit to Tesco's deli counter. We want to help give you some (hopefully!) unbiased ideas on how to choose.

Church is a community of believers who stand and work alongside each other, serving, encouraging, teaching and following the call of God in their lives.

Called the body of Christ in the bible, Church is the expression of the life of God in the world. You have a lot of churches to choose from in Loughborough, but ultimately, you do have to choose!

It can’t be stressed too much just what a difference it will make for you to be in a great Church while you’re at Uni. With a bit of willingness on your part to let God take you beyond a comfortable routine, and with the right inspirational people around you, the next few years will see you reach places in your faith you never imagined before.

Alternatively, without meaningful Church, people’s experience of life at university can be reduced to a numb compromise and their spiritual development grind to a halt. Put simply they don’t get connected into a Church, skating instead from one to another, making it just a Sunday morning thing, which by themselves can be about as sociable as an exam.

Not all churches stand equally in how they’ll resource & equip you as a student. When you arrive at uni take time to visit a few churches and ask yourself questions like;

• Will these people invest into me and take my spiritual development seriously?
• Will they love and support me?
• Do they recognise the massive potential for mission there is amongst students?

Enjoy trying out the different Churches, although try to find somewhere to commit to by the 2^nd term. Think and pray about which place you can be most connected into, where you can serve, and where you are going to be equipped to move on in God. Look not for what just affirms and repeats your existing understanding and experiences, but rather for what challenges and expands your faith - maybe in completely new ways. Be open to God through his Holy Spirit connecting you in to a Church community early on.

There is a good level of unity amongst the Churches in the town, with leader's meeting regularly to pray and strategise together. The TownWide Church of Loughborough exists with the vision ‘One Church of Loughborough, multiple expressions. Centred on Christ, to transform our community.’

This happens through events such as monthly TownWide prayer & community prayer cells, bi-annual TownWide celebrations, The Noise social action projects, Christmas Market stalls etc.