There’s a New Spiritual Hunger in the Rising Generation
We are hearing more and more extraordinary stories from churches in university cities across the UK - that God is on the move in a powerful way amongst students and young people!
In a recent survey by Fusion, they discovered that 76% of students would go to church if a friend invited them. There’s a new spiritual hunger in this generation, and they are looking for answers.
We caught up recently with Sam Watkins-Smith and Hannah Grout who are Student Team Leaders at Trinity Church Nottingham. Here they share more about the exciting ways they are seeing the Holy Spirit stirring the hearts of students and young people in their community, and the ways in which they are helping to disciple them.
The student team at Trinity Nottingham
It’s hard to keep track!
The student world discovering Jesus is hotting up in Nottingham! Over the last year, we have noticed a substantial increase in students turning up to church with no history of doing so, and for little reason other than ‘feeling like they needed to be here’.
This comes alongside an exciting growth in students coming to church who've been invited by their friends. One particularly encouraging week saw a second-year student preach at our student night who brought along 10 unchurched friends to ‘support’ her and hear the good news of Jesus! These unchurched friends, amongst many others (it’s hard to keep track!), often turn up again on a Sunday, which is so encouraging.
Eden Crossley, student at Trinity
"My non-Christian friends came to Trinity Church and were pleasantly surprised by the wholesome and intimate atmosphere - of people feeling a true connection with God and a sense of family within the community. One of them said “I want to be a part of this, it’s special”.’ Eden Crossley
Getting plugged in
The majority of students who call Trinity home, and even those still figuring it all out, are plugged into a student group. These groups meet in student homes all over the city, and are led by the students themselves. They are cheered on and coached by the student team and wider staff team here at Trinity and they meet weekly to eat, pray, and share. They are a place of real belonging, family, and discipleship.
Student Night at Trinity
Trinity Students can often be found integrating themselves by serving on every team across life at Trinity Church - especially in kids and youth, as well as the worship, compassion, and welcome teams. They serve wholeheartedly and love being part of multi-generational serving teams.
Student night at Trinity
Deep spiritual hunger
It’s difficult to overstate quite how hungry students at Trinity are, and indeed across Nottingham, for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their campuses in this city, and to see their friends come to know Jesus. Twenty students from our community regularly gather for a Night of Prayer in a cold church until 2am in the middle of term-time to contend for universities and students in Nottingham, as well as heading onto campus every week for campus outreach.
Our graduates end up doing all sorts of things after university - whether still in Nottingham or elsewhere, and we have seen a large number of students feeling some sort of call to church ministry. In September 2024, the staff team welcomed seven Trinity graduates onto the internship programme across all ministry areas at Trinity, which works in conjunction with the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. God is on the move, and we are so excited for what he’s doing among this generation!
Get connected
Sam Gristwood, HTB Network Collective Lead
“...people are interested in spirituality, they are seeking experiences and belonging, and there is a hunger to encounter the presence of God.”
Students and young adults are a key focus for the HTB Network, and we’d love to help support what God may be doing in your church with students and young adults. If you’d like to find out more please get in touch with Sam Gristwood, HTB Network Collective Lead by emailing sam@saintmarys.church
