SCU Party Times

With the BIG SCU EVENTS WEEK just a couple of weeks away, we wanted to do something as a CU to get us all excited and focused on the amazing things God’s about to do.

So last weekend we had our CU Houseparty. Think weekend away kind of thing - but really a weekend at home, right in the middle of Southampton in Orchard Lane Church.

We dedicated the Friday night and the day on Saturday to praise God for who he is, learn about what we can do to serve him more and pray for amazing things to happen in our university this month.

We want to see students at Solent get interested in God - ask who he is, ask why we believe in Jesus and ask why we’ve devoted our lives to following him. And with a lot of prayer, we know we’ll see this happen. We know we’ll see people’s attitudes and lives being changed by what we can tell them!

How amazing is that?

So with a weekend devoted to focusing on our powerful God, you can imagine how great it was!

But aside from the talks and meetings, there was plenty of fun going on too. In classic SCU style we had highly competitive cake-off with entries put forward by Matt Thorne, Ryan Galpin and Cheryl Skinner. I’m not sure who was declared the overall winner, but in my opinion the one with the pink sprinkles was a strong contender…you know who you are!

Unfortunately though, our ‘mutual gender film night’ was somewhat corrupted by Ryan. I’ll never know how he managed to persuade a room full of adults to watch ‘Tangled’ but somehow it happened. Though the fact that most of those adults were in cartoon character pyjama bottoms and onsies made it all a bit more acceptable!

And that really sums this weekend up: cake, girly films, amazing nightwear and some great times with God!

Jesus and Lady Gaga

Things are all getting pretty exciting with Solent Christian Union at the minute.

Yes, there’s been cake baking competitions and girly movie nights (inspired oddly enough by the men) – but the main reason to get excited  is because we’re just a couple of weeks away from one of the biggest highlights of our year: our infamous Event’s Week!

It’s an entire week filled with loads of events for Solent students, from acoustic nights to pub quizzes, dramas to film nights. All the events will have a little talk about who we are, what we do and why we believe in Jesus.

Our theme for the week is ‘Jesus And Lady Gaga’ – sound a bit bizarre? Come to our events to find out what it’s all about!

And even if you’re not interested in the God stuff, come along for the FREE fun.

Here’s what’s going on:

Tuesday 21^st Feb:                     Acoustic Night| Top Bar in Solent SU| 7pm

Wed 22^nd Feb:                                  ‘Mark Drama’| HC031|7pm

Thursday 23^rd Feb:                          Pub Quiz| Slug and Lettuce| 7pm

Friday 24^th Feb:                                        Film Night| LT1|7pm

Also, look out for a spontaneous Gaga disco and some free food give aways round uni too. It’s going to be amazing!

Our Basketball Battles

Since last October something ferocious has happened every Sunday.

It’s usually around 3pm, when most people are settling down to a lazy afternoon of naps and Countryfile. The scene; a small playing court in the Polygon area of Southampton where young children happily play. That is, until Solent CU descend.

Each week, a group of us from the CU and a few friends head down to the courts on the Sandhurst Road for an intense, passionate and usually violent game of basketball.

But forget One Tree Hill and any Michael Jordan moves you may have seen, these games have skills like no other. With a few forceful pushes from the girls and some untactful moves from the boys, all manners and rules are left at the edge of the court.

Instead, the game becomes a vibrant, fast paced battle of chaos.

Pre-match posing on the courts. Photograph: Ruth Jones

We usually start with a few warm ups and a match between mixed teams, before finishing with the all-important ‘Boys v Girls’ game. This is where our competitive streaks really shine as the girls try tirelessly to put the guys in their place.

Unfortunately, last Sunday saw a devastating blow to the girl’s side with a 10-0 loss.

However, with a whole new term ahead of us we know this is just the beginning and battle will go on until it’s won. We’ll keep you posted on our progress!

Cheryl Skinner, a keen player for the girls side. Photograph: Ruth Jones

Seriously though, despite our unprofessional play, we have a great laugh playing each week. It’s a chance for us to have some fun together - but more than that, it’s a great thing to invite friends to- just to show them a bit of who Solent CU is.

So no matter what you’re skills are come and join – because really, you don’t need any!! We meet at the SM Building at 3pm each Sunday. And then, the battles commence…

See you there!

A Whole New Year at Solent CU

We've realised our blog has been pretty neglected for a few months, but the start of a new year seems like the best time to start show casing everything our Christian Union is doing, and get everyone excited for what's happening in SCU in 2012.

This term, we have some great things planned - not only in our own meetings but for the whole university. Yes, 2012 is going to bring some pretty darn exciting things to our society and to the whole of Southampton Solent.

From houseparties to events week, pub quizzes to basketball; on top of all the fantastic meetings, worship, Bible studies and cafes we already run - there's going to be a lot going on!

We can't wait for you all to get involved and we can't wait to see what God is going to do for our university this year!

A video about giving to your CU

Here is a video to explain to you how you can help your Christian Union by joyfully giving!

Solent CU Miami Ride

Our very own evangelism coordinator and CU president overcame their fear of the Miami Ride to tell you about the Christian Union!

Walking through fire...

Ok, so we didn't actually walk through fire today, but some members of the CU got to hold the Olympic torch when it came to the Guildhall Square in Southampton! 

Very cheesy pose in front of Tower Bridge

The Scottish person within me got very excited when I saw this picture on my screen!

In front of the Coca-Cola bus...

 Massive thanks to Jamie Gould for getting us all involved!