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The Third DegreeWord Alive: the old has gone, the new has comeFrom March 31 to April 5 around 1,800 students attended Word Alive, making it the biggest student conference in Europe. For over 15 years Word Alive has been bringing ‘Rolls-Royce’ Bible expositions, seminar tracks and workshops to build up the people of God and resource them for mission. With over 130 Christian Unions represented at this year’s conference, Word Alive continues to be a major event in the CU calendar and is a massive opportunity to equip Christian students for mission on campus. The Chronological Bible Overview, Understanding and Communicating the Bible and Using the Bible in Evangelism were among the most popular seminar tracks this year. Ed Mayhew, Small groups’ coordinator on the Nottingham Christian Union Executive Committee, commented: ‘Word Alive has given me a richer love of God, his Word, an excitement to tell my friends and a deeper appreciation of the cross’. Changed livesThere were many similar stories of lives being changed by the gospel. This year’s Bible readings were from the book of Hebrews. One student said: ‘I never really understood why Jesus had to die on the cross before. I knew it was something to do with my sin but I hadn’t really grasped that God was actually punishing Jesus in my place. Seeing the gospel in those terms helped me to understand just how seriously God takes sin and just how much I need the cross.’ Maurice McCracken, UCCF Relay programme co-ordinator and main speaker for the daily Chronological Bible Overview sessions, commented that it was amazing to see God so clearly at work. He also talked about the strategic significance of an event such as this. ‘The 350 Christian Unions in the UK that make up UCCF are basically campus-based mission teams commissioned by the local church to evangelise the universities and colleges. A conference like this is so important because students can go to a wide variety of seminars and workshops specifically designed to help them engage with issues related to student mission in a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the gospel.’ New Word Alive 2008 — Don Carson, John Piper & Terry Virgo! Next year’s conference will be moving to Pwllheli and carry on the tradition of superb Bible expositions, Bible overviews, seminar subjects and main evening celebrations. Dr. Don Carson, John Piper and Terry Virgo have all been confirmed as speakers for Easter 2008. For the whole familyNWA will continue to attract the many hundreds of students who have enjoyed Word Alive for so many years. However, New Word Alive also promises to be an event for the whole family. A vibrant youth and kids programme as well as a wide range of activities on offer for people of all ages to enjoy (e.g. an indoor swimming pool complex, the beach, crazy golf bowling, a boating lake and, of course, the beautiful Welsh countryside) will no doubt make New Word Alive popular with the whole family. Nigel Beynon (New Word Alive Organiser) shares the vision of the new event: ‘We want to empower and equip Christians to live as God’s people and witness to his world. We plan to offer training and encouragement in serving God from leading a Sunday School class, witnessing to my Muslim neighbour, encouraging my Christian friend, improving preaching to exploring mission abroad. And everything in between. It will be a conference designed to lead to action! ‘Our passion is that all confessional evangelicals will feel at home as they sense the centrality of the gospel, respond with heartfelt prayer and passionate worship and enjoy fellowship with like minded brothers and sisters.’ To find out more about next year’s event, visit http://www.newwordalive.org and register your interest. New Word Alive will then keep you up to date and let you know when booking is available. Pod Bhogal,
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