A group of around 30 Christian academics and staff at Newcastle University have written an open letter in the university’s student newspaper confessing their faith in Jesus Christ and encouraging students to take the opportunity to investigate the Christian faith for themselves.
The letter is the initiative of the recently-formed Newcastle University Christian Network, which has been welcomed as a staff network under the university’s work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
Nick Megoran, who is Professor of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University, told Premier:
“Sometimes Christians are worried about sharing faith and being visible at work. So we think this initiative is an exciting example of how Christians can think creatively and intentionally about identifying as a Christian in their workplaces and I hope it would encourage others to do likewise. We can sometimes think of EDI agendas as hostile to Christian faith but this shows they can work for us as well.”
The group paid for a full-page advertisement in The Courier which is accessed by around 30,000 students, and it has been published ahead of the university Christian Union’s annual week of outreach on campus, which begins on 23 February. The letter ends by saying: “We have each examined the life and claims of Jesus Christ and have become convinced that he is who he says he is, and that he has enormous significance for our lives.”
Professor Megoran said: “We wanted to reflect on what it means not just to be lecturers and technicians and librarians who happen to be Christians, but Christian lecturers, Christian technicians, Christian librarians.
“Newcastle University has an amazing array of opportunities, and we say, as well as being a place for friends and acquiring knowledge, it’s a unique place for exploring the meaning and purpose of your lives.
“One of the key parables in the Gospels is the parable of the sower, who scatters out seeds and sees where they land, and knows that the Lord will make some of them grow.
“I hope that by reading this letter there may be some students who have not thought about things, there may be students who are more advanced down the path of faith, and they'll think, ‘goodness me, all of these people, some of these people, maybe they might lecturers. I respect them and they’re Christians. Maybe I should take this seriously, and maybe a seed of faith will be planted that will grow to faith later in life.’ So that's our prayer.”