There’s no denying it, binge drinking is a big problem in Britain today, with many teenagers and young people getting drunk on a regular basis. For James Hewitt, a student worker at Fusion, it’s definitely a cause for concern but he also believes it’s an opportunity for Christians to show a different way.

He is helping youth ministry Fusion with its outreach on university campuses under the banner of Love Your Uni. The campaign’s emphasis is on bringing God’s love to universities, and sees Christian students do all kinds of different things to demonstrate this, from fixing bikes for free, to handing out chocolates, to going into halls of residents and offering prayers or even just doing the washing up.

University has long been associated with wild times and being a student ministry, the big drinking nights of the week are something Love Your Uni volunteers are keen to reach out at.

About seven years ago, a girl in a church in Loughborough had a vision to serve the most vulnerable people on the student club nights – the ones who had too much to drink, or maybe a row with their boyfriend, or lost their companions or belongings over the course of the night.

She didn’t want to join students in getting drunk but just wanted to be there to help other people. That started with hanging around the toilets and holding the girls’ hair back when they were being sick, or comforting girls who had become separated from their friends.

When students in another local church saw what she was doing, they too wanted to get involved. In the end, the group grew to a size where they realised they needed to get in touch with the student union and let them know what they were doing. When they did, the response was positive – especially with the security staff.

“They said it was great ‘cos they had security staff to take care of the safety needs but didn’t have anyone to take care of the pastoral needs of students,” James explains.

“When you’ve got students who’ve drunk too much or are really upset, the security people get lumped with trying to sort these people out when they’ve actually been employed to make sure it’s a safe environment.”

The student union made Love Your Uni an official partner and a rotating team of volunteers from the local churches was set up to care for the pastoral needs of the students each Friday. There are even entire nights that have been branded as “Club Mission” nights.

What started as small-scale, informal outreach snowballed into a viral network of ideas that has been picked up and developed into new or similar club mission initiatives by churches around the country.

Some hand out free bottles of water, others hand out flip flops for girls who can’t walk home in their stilettos – or lost them on the dance floor.

In some places, chill out rooms have been set up where revellers can come and have a quiet moment, chat about their night, find a shoulder to cry on, or even ask their questions about God and the Christian faith.

“It’s a movement of students who are saying we don’t just want to be the people who go on about not being drunk, but we want to do something positive and engage with this culture in a positive way,” he said.

Some abstain from alcohol altogether - one Christian friend of his decided to replace beer with milk for his sports initiation. Others will have a drink or two as a way of demonstrating moderation.

For James, choosing not to get drunk is more than just a behaviour.

“It means staying sharp, being the person who can look out for other people and take care of them,” he said.

“Some Christian students don’t get drunk because they truly want to be themselves, not hiding anything, showing what it means to be people who can really live life to the full and demonstrate what that means ... it points to a better way of life.”

That’s not always easy, he admits, when drinking is such a big part of student culture.

“It is a challenge if you are surrounded by friends drinking and maybe drinking to excess. Christian students, just as students who don’t know Jesus, are all going to be influenced to some degree by that culture. The question is how we can help local churches to encourage Christian students and school leavers to think about the values that lie behind the behaviour.”

And the statistics do not suggest a change in behaviour any time soon. In the last decade and a half, Britain has soared up the binge drinking league tables. Figures published in April from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that British girls were the biggest teenage binge drinkers in the western world, with half of 15-year-olds saying they had been drunk on one or more occasion. This was nearly double the average of 29% in other developed countries. The girls are even outdrinking their male counterparts, with 44% of British boys saying they had been intoxicated at least twice.

This trend has prompted Fusion to help churches run ‘preparation for uni’ courses, to help the teens in their midst start thinking about their attitudes to alcohol well before they reach the legal age limit and a life beyond the accountability of home and their home church.

“Some Christian school leavers have done some thinking about it, but many haven’t and it’s simply an inherited behaviour. We want to help them create a better framework of understanding, that it is genuinely about a better way of life and that the life that Jesus demonstrated and lived to the full was not an arbitrary set of rules that makes us stand out as different.”

In addition to modelling positive approaches to alcohol, James sees it as important to help people deal better with some of the things that may be driving them to drink to excess, such as self-image issues, peer pressure, or stress.

“Students getting drunk is not the main issue but what’s going on behind the scenes. We need to be asking why students are getting drunk.”

While keeping well away might be the instinctive response, one thing James feels very strongly about is Christians getting out there and being a presence in the culture. With teenagers and students largely absent from Britain’s churches, the club mission nights may be the only time the students ever encounter Jesus.

“There is a bigger issue at stake here. There are millions of students in the UK who don’t know Jesus yet, who are desperately trying to find significance, meaning, purpose, happiness and joy.

“It isn’t about getting people to behave according to particular set of rules. It is about how can we share with students - whether they know Jesus or not - a pathway to real life and we believe that path is through Jesus.

“People might seem like they’re not really interested in Jesus because they’ve not met anyone like Jesus but the more Christian students we’ve got genuinely embodying in word and deed what it means to be a follower of Jesus in student culture, the more people are going to be interested.

“It’s like 21st century feet washing.”

























Following their recent sell out performance at the Royal Festival Hall, the world famous Harlem Gospel Choir are set to return to the UK on their 25th Anniversary Tour!

The Harlem Gospel Choir has travelled 3 million miles to share their unique Gospel music with audiences in their thousands. From China to Australia, Russia to Alaska, the Choir have performed for royalty, presidents, Nelson Mandela, the Pope and perhaps most famously, at the internationally broadcast Michael Jackson Memorial.

Founded in 1986 and inspired by the work of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Alan Bailey formed the original choir after attending a celebration of Kings’ life at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Today’s choir presents the best vocalists and musicians that Harlem has to offer, sharing the joy of faith through music whilst bringing both people and nations together in order to give something back.

In this new era of hope and change, the Choir reflect the renaissance of Harlem’s culture. Their harmonious songs of love, hope and inspiration will touch the depths of your soul, lift your spirit and take your breath away!

The Harlem Gospel Choir is the original ‘real deal’ direct from New York.





















A History of the Harlem Gospel Choir

The world famous Harlem Gospel Choir are the most famous gospel choir in America today. The Choir travels the globe, sharing its joy of faith through its music and raising funds for many different charities.

‘The Harlem Gospel Choir are tremendous!’’ - Sir Elton John
The Choir, founded by Allen Bailey in 1986 were established after Bailey attended a celebration in honour of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the world famous Cotton Club in Harlem. The Choir continues to evolve and presents the finest singers & musicians from Harlem's Black Churches & the New York/Tri-State area.
The Harlem Gospel Choir has shared their message of love and inspiration with hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Due to a consistently high demand, the Choir have racked up an impressive ‘three million miles of Gospel’ throughout their vast touring schedules. The Choir continuously strives to educate and share their African-American culture and the inspirational relationship between Gospel and the black church. The theme of every Harlem Gospel performance is ‘bringing people and nations together, whilst giving something back’

‘It's more than a show, it's a feeling!’
- Pope John Paul II

Throughout their history the Choir have performed with a wide range of contemporary and traditional artists such as Diana Ross, U2, Scissor Sisters, John Legend, Madonna, Gorillaz, Razorlight, Lisa Marie-Presley, Jon Hendricks, Cyndi Lauper, Whoopi Goldberg and Josh Groban. Similarly, the Choir have performed at many public and private events for companies such as AOL, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and individuals such as The Pope, Nelson Mandela, President Obama and Sir Elton John. Their performances at Michael Jackson Memorials across the US, lead to their ‘Remembering Michael Jackson’ Australian tour throughout 2010.

The Harlem Gospel Choir, winners of American Entertainment Magazine's 2007 Best Arts Performance Award are also renowned for their charity work across America. ‘Singing God's Work’ the Choir’s book about their work and their founder Allen Bailey is available to buy on Kindle.
‘They are Angels in Harlem!’ - Bono, U2
In this new era of hope and change the Choir's voices reflect the renaissance of Harlem's culture. Their songs of hope & inspiration will touch the depths of your soul & lift your spirit to angelic heights. Highly acclaimed by Bono, The Pope and Sir Elton John amongst others, The Harlem Gospel Choir is an infectious musical experience to remember.

HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR -TOUR DATES SPRING 2011

16th May SWANSEA, Grand Theatre - www.swansea.gov.uk
17th May READING, Hexagon Theatre - www.readingarts.com
18th May DERBY, Assembly Rooms - www.derbylive.co.uk
20th May DUNFERMLINE, Carnegie Hall - www.fifedirect.org.uk
21st May GLASGOW, Pavilion - www.paviliontheatre.co.uk
22nd May INVERNESS, Eden Court - www.eden-court.co.uk
24th May BRADFORD, St George's Hall - www.bradford-theatres.co.uk
25th May BRECON, Theatr Brycheiniog - www.brycheioniog.co.uk
26th May SOUTHSEA, Kings Theatre - www.kings-southsea.com
27th May CRAWLEY, Hawth Theatre - www.tickets.hawth.co.uk
28th May CARDIFF, St Davids Hall - www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk
29th May CAMBRIDGE, Corn Exchange - www.cornex.co.uk
30th May SALFORD, The Lowry - www.thelowry.com
2nd June DARLINGTON, Civic Theatre - www.darlington.gov.uk
3rd June LLANDUDNO, Venue Cymru - www.venuecymru.co.uk
4th June ST ALBANS, The Alban Arena - www.alban-arena.co.uk
6th June WOLVERHAMPTON, The Grand Theatre - www.grandtheatre.info
8th June NEW BRIGHTON, Floral Pavilion - www.floralpavilion.com
9th June HULL, City Hall - www.hullcc.gov.uk
11th June DURHAM Gala Theatre - www.galadurham.co.uk
12th June TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Assembly Hall Theatre - www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk
13th June NORTHAMPTON, Royal & Derngate - www.royalandderngate.co.uk
14th June BIRMINGHAM – Town Hall Symphony Hall – www.thsh.co.uk
15th June CHELTENHAM, Town Hall - www.cheltenhamgownhall.org.uk
16th June CATFORD, Broadway Theatre - www.broadwaytheatre.org.uk
17th June CARLISLE, The Sands Centre - www.thesandscentre.co.uk
18th June DARTFORD, Orchard Theatre - www.orchardtheatre.co.uk