Catching up with new graduate, Tom Morgan.


What has the early part of 2020 held for you?

I finished my Fine Art degree at home during lockdown, and although it was really disappointing not to be able to exhibit in the normal physical Final Year Degree Show, you can see some of my work here. 

What are you planning to do next and why?


Next year I will be based in London volunteering with a University and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF): 

UCCF: The Christian Unions is a fellowship of students, staff and supporters that aims to give every university student in the UK an opportunity to hear and respond to the great news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Going to university is a formative time for many. Someone has the chance to question the beliefs, ideas, and ways of living they were brought up with. It can be a key time to explore faith and make big life decisions independently. I definitely found this to be the case – I left for university as a Christian, and by God’s grace I am still walking with the Lord, but God taught me much about himself during this time, and I have valued the time to work out my faith in a new environment independent of home and my home church.
Sometimes I also found it to be the case that much of the secular thinking that my friends and peers grew up with at home and school went largely unchallenged by the academy. Plus there can be little to no room to talk seriously about God in an academic sense – at times it is even offensive to do so. Therefore Christian students and the Christian Unions are well placed in university contexts to bring the God of the universe into the discussion by what they say and how they live, so that many people might hear the true gospel of Jesus (sometimes for the first time), repent of their sins, and come to a true and saving faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Being involved with the Christian Union at UCL throughout the 4 years of my degree taught me much about the urgency of evangelism and the need to work together with other people in this task. Perhaps this is best illustrated by a few key things I learned, saw, and was involved in during my time at UCL:
-  CU emphasised both living and speaking in a way that brings Jesus honour and glory
-  We put on evangelistic events with a clear gospel message for our friends and peers 
-  We had a weekly CU prayer meeting (I really enjoyed these), to pray for one another in our evangelism, for our unbelieving friends, and for upcoming evangelistic events  
-  CU also placed great emphasis on opening the Bible in our evangelism for which I am immensely grateful – God’s Word is glorious, true and life-giving. It cuts right to the heart of human experience (after all, God made us and knows us best!). 

So how will you be volunteering with UCCF?

Next year, I will be working alongside the Christian Unions at University of the Arts London (UAL) and some of the other London art schools/colleges/universities. Christian Unions are missional communities, led by students, involving people from different church backgrounds, bringing them together to live for Jesus and proclaim the gospel in a university context. They are supported by Staff Workers and Relay workers – from September I will be one of the latter.
Relay is a 10-month mission and discipleship training scheme for graduates run by UCCF. Its focus is on developing Christ-like character through an understanding of God’s grace, serving alongside the CUs as they aim to bring and proclaim the gospel to the universities of Great Britain, and receiving training that will help me keep living for Jesus and evangelising for the rest of my life.


Get in touch with tom to find out more about his new venture or check out the UCCF website 

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