Born and bred as a Catholic, I stopped going to church as soon as I went to university - afterall - "church is only for lunatics". So saying, I some friends asked me to come along to church with them one day, so I did. I was so amazed at how different it was to the one I'd always gone to before!! People were happy to be there!! There were songs with drums and guitars, people clapped along with the music, arms were outstretched, and...the seats had massive cushions on them in case you wanted to fall asleep.

Not that you could fall asleep in the services though!! The pastor was so lively and enthusiastic that you couldn't help but listen to every word that he spoke. Perhaps the cushions should have been on the floor for those of us that were on the edges of our seats.

It was an experience that I'd never encountered before, and I actually liked it! I did feel a little out of place though as I wasn't a Christian. Sure, I'd heard all the Bible stories before, and to me that's all they were. Just stories. Being a student of science, I tried to explain God away. "He didn't put the rainbow there, it's just differential light refraction" and so-on.

To be continued later...

During 1998/1999 I frequented the Aston University Christian Union. There were sessions of worship, Bible teaching, prayer and fellowship. Quite a few things were organised such as small groups, prayer meetings etc..

If you'd like to know more then please either contact me or visit the Aston University Christian Union web site.

Oh My Word !!

The CU's fortnightly magazine was called Oh My Word!! and God allowed me to edit it. It was distributed to anyone who went to the CU meetings and also to the chaplains of Aston University and some members of staff who were interested. Basically, it was a newsletter with various articles of a Christian nature, and when the supply was low, articles of a non-Christian nature (but never anything condoning unChristian activities). I am very indebted to the Reverend Fun site from which I used cartoons for the back page and to Christian Herald for Christian news articles.

If you would like to read Oh My Word!! then please visit OMW online to download the word files and print off your own copies. At some time in the future I'll organise these so that they can be read online....

Well, I've only been a couple of times but it seemed OK. There must be over 100 people who go for the talks from speakers, the praise and worship sessions, the prayer and the fellowship. Small groups meetings are on Wednesdays.

Newcastle University Chaplaincy

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