Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Encyclopedia
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. It is affiliated with, and in 1947 was a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students is an association of about 136 evangelical Christian student movements worldwide, encouraging evangelism, discipleship and mission among students. The goal of the organisation is to establish local autonomous student movements in every country...
.
History
The young English evangelist, Howard Guinness, toured Australia in 1930 to encourage university students in evangelism. He helped form campus student groups starting in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, then Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, including Sydney University Evangelical Union
Sydney University Evangelical Union
The Sydney University Evangelical Union is a student led Christian group that has operated at the University of Sydney since 1930...
(SUEU) and Melbourne University Christian Union (MUCU - originally the Melbourne University Evangelical Union), which celebrated their 75th anniversaries in 2005. Guinness returned in 1933-1934 and founded groups in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.
These groups, led by the SUEU and the MUCU, joined together to form a network in 1936 as the Australian Intervarsity Fellowship or IVF, which later changed its name to the AFES in 1973. It had over 2000 members by 1959 and today has groups in over 50 campuses across the country in every state and territory, and employs over 100 staffworkers who look after the students on their various campuses.
In 2005, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first student groups in Australia, AFES ran a "Year of Tertiary Evangelism" involving coordinated events on university campuses throughout the country and the printing of 40000 copies of Mark's Gospel to be freely distributed throughout the year. The theme of the year was "For Christ's Sake", a phrase normally used in swearing, though used here to promote the Christian message itself. Besides the events on specific university campuses, the AFES ran various evangelistic rallies with many Christian groups from different universities attending.
Mission and Theology
The theologyTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
of AFES is evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
in character. AFES attempts to be inclusive of people from all Christian denominations who profess a conservative Christian
Conservative Christianity
Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...
faith.
Activities
AFES groups run a variety of activities, such as regular public Bible talks, smaller Bible studies, prayer groups, mid-year conferences and evangelistic outreach events. These activities are organised and run by both staff and students.Each year in December, the AFES runs a National Training Event (NTE). This consists of a four to five day training conference, followed by several days of mission. The most recent NTE conference was hosted at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), and was attended by up to 1400 students from around Australia. The mission aspect of the NTE takes place in conjunction with churches around Australia.
Staff
As of 2007, the national director of AFES is Richard Chin. He was preceded by Kerry Nagel.Staff are employed through AFES for the particular university campuses. Each staff member must raise his or her own financial support, which is sent to AFES by supporters and paid out to staff as a salary. (Many supporters of AFES staff are former AFES students who are now in paid employment.)
Staff usually are Long Term Pastors (LTPs) and Trainees, who usually work for a two-year "traineeship". After completing the traineeship, they may move to theological education and a more senior position.
Related pages
- International Fellowship of Evangelical StudentsInternational Fellowship of Evangelical StudentsThe International Fellowship of Evangelical Students is an association of about 136 evangelical Christian student movements worldwide, encouraging evangelism, discipleship and mission among students. The goal of the organisation is to establish local autonomous student movements in every country...
- Campus Bible StudyCampus Bible StudyCampus Bible Study was established in 1975 at the University of New South Wales by the then Anglican chaplain Phillip Jensen...
- Christian UnionChristian Union (students)Christian Unions are evangelical Christian student groups. They exist in many countries and are often affiliated with either International Fellowship of Evangelical Students or Campus Crusade for Christ. Many Christian Unions are one of the societies affiliated to their universities' students'...
- Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship