Why would a good God allow a pandemic? What’s the point of being a good person? Will I ever be satisfied?
Trinity’s Christian Union is offering a week of spirited events dealing with these questions of faith, humanity and personhood. The University Times spoke with the society’s President Emma Bowie and Evangelism Officer Audrey Bang to see what it’s all about and what’s in store for attendees.
The theme of the week is “missing peace” – a play on words and a metaphor for the role that faith may play in satisfying some of life’s discontements. However, whilst coloured by a Christian ethos, Bowie and Bang are keen to stress that the Christian Union is a place that is accessible and friendly for all demographics, not just those of Christian faith. It’s a diverse community of students of differing traditions and Christian denominations who come together to explore some of life’s big questions in a safe and friendly environment.
Bang is eager to dispel many of the mistaken beliefs that people have about the society. “One of the big misconceptions about the Christian Union that people have is that it’s this Christian bubble where Christians meet with their Christian friends to talk about Christian things and do Christian stuff. This is really unfortunate. We’re a society, not a church, and a society is primarily a place to come and make connections.”
They want to present a different, more modern story of the Christian faith to Trinity students – one of a Gospel that is rooted in grace, compassion and genuine love for your neighbour.
“Coming from Ireland and the volatile relationship that we have between the state and the Catholic church, many students have grown up with a version of the Gospel that’s rooted in judgement, hypocrisy and abuse. We want to present a different story. This week is all about spreading that message.”
They have built the week’s programme with the aim of tackling many of the questions that students have about religion. With the pandemic having totally upended most people’s lived realities, they hope that this week will address some of the emotional gaps that were created in all of us during the last two years of intermittent lockdowns.
There are two daily talks related to the day’s theme which pinpoint a particular avenue for attendees to ask these questions related to the umbrella idea of “missing peace”. Some of the daily themes include “missing joy”, “missing satisfaction” and “missing truth”. However, Bang is insistent that they don’t have the answers. She says that the aim of the week is not to create lecture-type scenarios where people just talk at attendees – events will be dynamic and personal, with icebreakers, games and opportunities for students to share their stories about how the theme of the day relates to them.
Indeed, for the more socially anxious among us, Bowie assuredly says that people can submit questions anonymously to the speaker at each of their events. The two hope that this will encourage more debate and analysis on the topics being discussed. There will also be follow-up forms for people interested in further dissecting some of the meaty questions at hand, or for those looking to get more involved with Christian Union.
If the promise of deep philosophical debate still isn’t entirely enticing to you, the prospect of free meals and snacks at each of their events may be. Today’s talk was replaced by a MasterChef of sorts, where budding culinary students came and showcased their brightest claims to sandwich making superiority.
It sure looks to be a week full of interesting debate, lots of food, and plenty of existential, outer body moments of deep internal crisis. For those interested in attending some of the society’s weekly meetings, the Christian Union gathers every Monday at 6:30 in the Uí Chadhain Theatre, followed by a group foray to one of Trinity’s many local pubs.
