Nottingham William Booth Memorial Halls: Side by side with students

Majors Julia and Robert Jepson explain how the corps is journeying with students.

Doing Kingdom ministry

We’ve been the corps officers here since 2020. Major Robert, a University of Nottingham chaplain, sets aside appointments each week that students can book themselves.

It’s important to have pastoral conversations with them and it’s very much a Kingdom ministry. As a church we should be there and be supportive to students who really need us at this time in their lives, in many cases just to listen and naturally encourage.

Resourceful outreach

We have a pitch at the annual Discover Nottingham fair each September and reach around 1,300 students. We take our marquee with resources and useful freebies. Last year we gave out T-shirts with our postcode and the Nottingham skyline on. This year we’re giving out reusable cups, with the Army’s details and the university’s chaplaincy QR code. Working together with the chaplaincy team is mutually beneficial.

THQ set up a QR-coded questionnaire for us to ask students whether they are aware of The Salvation Army, what they know, whether they’d be interested in a Christian faith discovery course and coming to our breakfast or other student clubs. From the contact data we collect, we can invite them to things that interest them.

The sky's the limit

At our Freshers Week fair, students can participate in a competition to do a fundraising skydive. Our last group raised £6,000. We meet with them regularly through the year and encourage them.

They hold their own fundraising events and collections and then do the jump around April or May. Afterwards we invite them to church to receive a certificate and a Bible. Most are not from a church background; it’s about making those links. At least four recent skydivers came to our student Alpha course in 2023, which we ran in the university’s chaplaincy department.

Max, an aerospace engineering student, said: ‘University can be daunting at times. Through finding a friend in Rob, I have come closer to finding my place in university and the world. I have found new friends in Alpha through whom my faith has flourished.’

Sophie, a liberal arts student, said: ‘Alpha is an insightful course, well led with interesting prompts and conversations. I have massively enjoyed this course and feel like I have had so much personal development. I’d like to bring my friends to one in the future.’

International integration

There are so many halls of residence being built around our hall that we’re commencing a weekly term-time brunch with a wellbeing focus to encourage integration between UK and international students. We have previously taken a pre-cooked breakfast out to the university site and served up to 130 students. Majors Robert and Julia were assisted by corps member Margaret and student Kaike. It was good to bring students together.

International students often stay on beyond term-time and that’s when they feel the loneliest. They can find it hard to settle into a new culture, leading them to group within their own cultures. This can help, but is often not what they desire; we provide something to help them learn a new culture and make friends.

Journeying with students

Major Robert has represented the chaplaincy team at six graduation ceremonies, silently praying for each student as they walk across the platform. We accompany students along their journeys – not in front of them trying to pull them in any specific direction but next to them, valuing who they are.

Programme is good for making initial contact, but it’s about relationships. If you’re not maintaining contact, seeing how people are getting on, where will it lead?

Students will remember their time at university and their engagement with us. Knowing someone was interested in them and valued them brings them a taste of God’s love. Our hope is we lead people to finding and knowing Jesus. That’s our mission.