As the EU has done for the last ninety-five years, each week, hundreds of students and staff gather in small groups to read the Bible, share life, and pray with each other. Such gatherings are an opportunity to remind each other of the very great and precious promises given to us in God’s word, and are one means of the mutual encouragement that enables us to confirm our election and calling in Jesus. This semester, the EU has been offering a streamed small group program, with our first-year groups studying Mark’s gospel and evangelism; our second-year groups being trained to understand and teach the Bible; and our senior groups studying Titus, the LRLR, and Habakkuk.

EU small groups are a central teaching and discipling program that also provides unique opportunities for students to build friendships with others at a similar stage of life in the same Faculty. They are also a wonderful training ground for the future generation of leaders. In the second year, some undertake the assistant small group leader training program, which embeds them in a first-year group to be trained by staff in leading Bible study, providing pastoral care, and group leadership. Many then progress to become senior leaders, where they receive further training and mentoring.

Within the Health Faculty this semester, we are running seven first-year groups, six second-year groups, six senior groups, and two Medicine groups, with nearly 200 students signed up. Our leadership team includes eleven senior leaders, eighteen assistant leaders, and our four staff. Our groups have anywhere from five to eighteen members.

Our Health first-year students are somewhat nervous when starting small groups, unsure if they will know anyone else and hesitant about whether they have time for small groups as they adjust to their academic program. Many come once or twice and then ‘hover’ around the group’s fringe for some weeks. And yet, despite these anxieties, as they commit to attending, they are encouraged by the Scriptures and each other, start making new friends, and appreciate the consistency of the small group each week.

Our second-year groups have been challenged to understand various passages of the Bible by being trained in exegesis and hermeneutics, while also appreciating the broader context of Biblical theology. This is the content that we are using to train our assistant small group leaders, so it means that our second-year groups are keen and enthusiastic – they are a great joy to lead.

With Health students on placement for several weeks during the semester, our senior groups can sometimes feel disrupted. Our senior leaders do a great job of managing the group and leading the studies each week. They are supplemented with weekly training alongside senior leaders from other EU faculties.

As with other EUers, in seasons of heightened academic stress and busyness, our students can skip weeks in small groups and be somewhat unresponsive on WhatsApp. However, Health small groups continue to be rich, welcoming spaces where students are well taught and trained in understanding the Bible and growing as followers of the Lord Jesus. Please continue to pray that our students will appreciate the weekly opportunities to encourage each other and spur one another on as followers of Jesus.

– Paddy Benn, EU Senior Staff