This semester we will be finishing our Public Meetings (PM) program with a series on Relationships. Our hope is to speak life and hope into an area that is often messy, painful, and distorted by our culture.

We want students to see God’s good intentions for us in our relationships and speak his grace where there are wounds. In this series, male and female senior staff have been paired up to share on a topic starting with Sex, Singleness, Marriage, Dating and Should I Marry this Person? On relationship matters it’s wonderful to be able to hear both a male and female perspective. 

Behind the scenes, the staff have been busy discussing hot topics that our students might face, working hard to meet the students where they are at and offer helpful wisdom and guidance from the bible.

One of the hottest topics is the high usage of porn among students. In our digital age where it’s so easy to access content porn is having a serious effect. It seems porn has the power to alter the brain’s wiring for relationships in such a way that can undermine true relationships and marriage. We need to keep helping young people fight this addiction.

The other surprising cultural change has been the rise in voluntary celibacy in wider secular culture for mental health and wellbeing. It’s wonderful seeing a Christian ethic embraced more widely, but may also suggest a growing mistrust in relationships. I’m still intrigued by this one!  

Also, the rise in online dating has sparked a huge cultural change. Rapid rejection online is difficult to process for young people, creating unhealthy strain, and the normal etiquette upheld in a community to treat each other with respect is void online. Poor behaviour is allowed with no accountability. 

Amongst these challenges, God has a message of hope, healing, and a better way forward. We want our students to have rich relationships, find grace when they fail, and be able to share a better way with their communities and friends.

It has been helpful engaging with these hot topics and I look forward to hearing more throughout the series from all the different senior staff.

PMs are a great way for our students to learn deeply from the bible and be challenged in areas of Christian living. PMs are open to the public and held from 12-1 pm every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the semester. We have a 35-minute talk from the bible, pray, and hear about what is happening in the EU. It’s also followed by lunch to keep it social!

Intrigued? Want some ideas to share with a young person in your life? Listen to the talks online as they get rolled out from the 1-31st Oct at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sydneyunieu

– Karen Sowden, EU Senior Staff