Welcoming New Students

The new academic year for universities has begun! Newly enrolled students are greeted by a flurry of activities, each school club trying to catch their attention as they look around with wide-eyed wonder at the spread before them. Our CFs did no less, each waving their Welcome Tea posters on the internet space, hoping to connect with students who are looking for a Christian group on campus.

SUSS CF Welcome Tea

Welcome Tea events are an opportunity for newcomers to get to know the CF’s activities in more detail while interacting with CF members and experiencing the atmosphere of the CF. Student leaders often share their direction and plans for the year. Some are simple, such as SUSS CF’s, which drew around 20 participants, and focused on facilitating connections between the CF members and newcomers. Games and conversation starter cards helped to break the ice and led to lively chatter at the post-event supper.

CVCF Welcome Tea

Some take a more reflective and missional approach. NUS CVCF’s Welcome Tea, which drew 35 students this year, spurred newcomers to consider the question, “What do you feel is the reason God brought you to NUS for your studies?” Even if not all the newcomers decide to stay, they were invited to consider the deeper significance of their time in university.

NTU ISCF Welcome Tea and church visit (picture below)

Others, especially the larger universities or those catering to international students, were more elaborate. For example, NTU ISCF’s welcome tea was themed “Angkringan”, a popular Indonesian food stall offering a diversity of dishes that mirrors the wide range of churches represented in the CF, and the students even put up a skit around the theme. It drew over 40 newcomers, and much laughter filled the room as they played games centred on their campus, styled after a popular game show, Family Feud. Their welcome tea was followed up three weeks later with the CF Orientation Programme; it was the first time all three language sections of NTU-CF collaborated to organise an orientation programme. As its members are mostly international students, NTU ISCF also holds church visits in the first few weeks of school and brings the newcomers to visit a different church every week to encourage them to settle in a church.

While Welcome Teas are an avenue to recruit new students to the Fellowship, existing members also hope that it would meet the needs of the many Christian students who are new to the university. Through the process, our students also learn to empathise and extend hospitality to others. Orientation period may be winding down, but the doors of our CFs are always open, ready to welcome someone new.