The EU Graduates Fund

What We Do

Together proclaiming Christ as Lord on Campus

The Grads Fund works in partnership with the EU in its work.

Grads Fund Staffworkers, therefore, minister in partnership with students in what is fundamentally a student ministry. Their work involves:

• teaching the Word of God through word and example
• ministry training
• offering advice and wise council on the good running and development of the Union by working in partnership with students in Faculty Groups, and Specialist Committees.
• giving personal support to students as they seek to be faithful to Christ and minister within the aims and philosophy of the SUEU.

The Staff are pastor-teachers whose task is to assist the EU in fulfilling its Objects, which are:

1. To present students with the Christian Gospel and to lead them to a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. To strengthen Christians in their faith and witness and to encourage them to continually submit every aspect of their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
3. To ensure that Christians in the University are made aware of the nature, needs and challenge of Christian service at home and abroad.

There are a large number of things we in the EU do together as we seek to live out our three objects, but at the heart of EU's program are the Big Four.

1. Public Meetings: Proclaiming Christ to the University three times every week at 1pm.
2. Small Group Bible Studies: sharing life together around the Bible, every week of semester at a time that suits the students.
3. Annual Conference: soaking in the gospel during the winter holidays.
4. Equip: Training courses

For more information see the EU website.

Building Christian Leaders through the Howard Guinness Program

The EU Graduates Fund's vision is to see Christian Leaders formed for service in God's church. While all our efforts on campus are directed toward this goal, the focal point of training Christian Leaders is the Howard Guinness Project.

Howard Guinness was instrumental in the formation of the Sydney University Evangelical Union, and in his honour the Graduates Fund's two-year apprentice style training program was named. The program involves participants doing real ministry while receiving real training.

Real Ministry

Day to day, Howard Guinness Workers do real ministry. Allocated to a faculty, they run first year small groups and train second year students in small group ministry. Trainees lead ministry training courses, help plan and organize faculty ministry, meet one to one with students, work as evangelists, have opportunities to give bible talks and also raise a financial support.

Real Training

The central component of a Howard Guinness Worker's training comes from actually doing ministry with regular informal and formal contact with Senior Staff. Senior Staff supervision and support helps trainees to review and reflect on the issues and problems that arise in the course of doing ministry. Skills and Biblical foundations are also taught formally through the 3hr weekly "equip" training meeting and in the 6-week orientation period over the summer break.

The Outcome

The EU Graduates Fund desires that trainees leave the project competent in the basic skills of evangelical ministry with a theological framework for thinking about life and ministry, ready to serve as Christian Leaders in God's church whether lay or vocational.

Supporting Christian Leaders

Once students graduate from the on campus ministry, the EU Graduates Fund seeks to continue resourcing, equipping and encouraging graduates as they serve in God's Church.

• Refresh
  The Refresh Conference held in September, is the central time for Graduates and Supporters to re-gather and be refreshed with theological talks and a conference format designed especially for them.
  This year's Refresh Conference will be held on the 7th to the 9th of September 2007 at Deer Park Conference Centre. More info.
• Resources
  An overflow of the EU Graduates Fund resourcing the EU, are the resources themselves. While on campus, students are trained in and regularly minister using the ministry resources of the Fund. These resources can be made available for use in churches and on missions. Furthermore Public meeting and conference talks are available for purchase on CD and some are online.

Partnering with Graduates and Friends to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the work through financial and spiritual support

The support of friends and graduates of the EU is essential to ensuring the ongoing sustainability of the Fund and its ability to staff the EU. Gifts of graduates and friends make up the total budget of the Fund, and without this generosity the work of the EU Graduates Fund could not continue. The Fund provides quarterly newsletters to supporters and seeks to maintain the involvement of graduating students.

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