i.Types of student christian

In what will surely be regarded as a landmark study, now published as Christianity and the University Experience (2013), Guest et al have uncovered a detailed anatomy of those university students who elect to describe themselves as Christian. Though only purporting to be a snapshot at one moment in time (the North American context has the benefit of longitudinal studies of the same nature) the results of the survey stem from surveying some 4,500 students across a diverse range of thirteen universities. This was then followed by structured interviews with a further 100 students to both test out the implications of the survey and provide more details. What they have discerned, therefore is worthy of serious consideration.

“…Christian students – much like UK Christians in general – comprise a sizeable and diverse population of individuals. They are unified neither by doctrinal assent nor moral conviction, and engagement in the institutions of the churches is uneven and often tentative. “ (Guest et al, 2013, p.3)

This general overview is borne out in the following intriguing analysis (p.33). Of those students who self-identify as Christians:

• 4% view themselves as ‘religious’
• 2% as ‘not religious but spiritual’
• 4% as ‘not religious or spiritual’
• 13% as ‘not sure’

The self-identifying label ‘Christian’ is therefore being used a variety of ways, some of which are clearly grounded in a more ‘cultural’ self-understanding that one rooted in belief and practice. In fact, to be frank, many of those who identify as Christian would not be regarded as such by, I would hazard, the majority of university chaplains. More help in understanding what is going on is provided by a useful five-fold typology. It suggests the presence of a ‘polyvocal’ Christian culture with more similarities to the Second rather than the Twentieth century (Robinson, 2007, p. 159). On the basis of the regularity of church attendance both at home (in vacations) and at university (during term time), Guest et al suggest the following categories of ‘Christians’ are present (pp.41-49) as a proportion of the student population:

• 9% ‘Active Affirmers’ (attending frequently in both domains). Significantly 70% of this group see themselves as evangelical with a corresponding emphasis given to the significance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. However, the predominance of evangelicals seems to emerge not because evangelical churches are more successful at recruiting new members, but because they seem better able to retain active members that other forms of Christianity (p.91). Those so retained tend to frequent Anglican and neo-Pentecostal churches (pp.202f)).
• 9% ‘Lapsed Engagers’ (attending regularly at home, but little or not at all at University) This group is marked by a large proportion of Roman Catholic and Anglican students (on the basis of home attendance). They tend to emphasise a personal relationship to God, love of neighbour, and the following of Jesus’ example.
• 9% ‘Established Occasionals’ (attending infrequently in both domains). This group are theologically literate and demonstrate a general degree of respect for church authority.
• 2% ‘Emerging Nominals’(attending infrequently at home, opt out at university). This group tend to exhibit a selective appropriation of Christian beliefs and a show a critical attitude to the Bible. For them issues of personal conduct, following Christ’s example, are more significant than church attendance.
• 9% ‘Unchurched Christians’ (attending nowhere). For this group the essence of their understanding of Christianity is highly distinguished from an institutional church. More, some view what commonly counts as Christianity as either absurd or dangerous. Christian identity essentially means being a ‘good’ person.

Many of us will recognise that the most visible forms of Student Christian expression display a shift in belief from an intellectual and doctrinal emphasis to an affective and participative approach( Guest et al, 2013, p.196, c.f. Robinson, 2007, p. 159 ). While this helps explain why the university environment is not perceived as a major challenge to religious identity (the observation of Guest et al, 2013,p.114), it also sheds light on why it is that attempts to create opportunity for the exploration of the intellectual issues faith raises – which seem to naturally belong in a university context – meet with little demand. Thus sometimes those of us who find the university such a stimulating environment in which to practice one’s ministry can also find ourselves at some distance from what appears as the majority student expression of that faith.

What will give pause for thought to many university chaplains is the statistic that only 10% of students self-identifying as Christian belong to a Christian Union (and of these 75% are ‘Active Affirmers’, p.149). This means that there exists a vast hinterland of Christians (even excluding the ‘unchurched’) for whom chaplaincy might already hold some potential significance. Yet where are they to be found, and how often do they intersect with one’s ministry?