‘Events Week’ may be a good way for your CU to speak internally about what is being planned, but it is a bit dull… and doesn’t tell you anything about what kind of events are happening!
The term ‘Mission Week’ would be an even more unhelpful way of communicating to the rest of the university! To the average unbeliever ‘mission’ is a negative concept, and it is certainly not a politically correct one!
It is important, therefore, to pick an attractive and engaging theme for the week, by which it can be publicly known. Not only will this theme be prominent in all the advertising, but it can be consistently used whenever the week is referred to.
You need to liaise with your speaker about this — both you and they need to feel comfortable with a theme before you move forward.
What you do want in a theme
- The theme should give an idea of what the whole week is about. In this sense, it is more than just a title — it is a description of the purpose of the week.
- It should be something that connects with the students in your university.
What you don’t want in a theme
- Something that is too ambiguous, or confusing. If it takes major explanation as to why you picked it, then it is too complicated! It should be very obvious why the week has the theme that it does.
- Something that is too specific on one topic and doesn’t allow for a breadth of talk titles.
The CU in Cambridge University picked ‘Pursuit’ to be their theme for the week. They came upon this title as they reflected on their context. Students in their university are very driven and are in pursuit of many things — success, career, popularity, etc. The theme also reflected a key aspect of the gospel — that God pursues us in love and wants to have a relationship with us.
Other examples:
- Perspective
- Story
- Rethink
- What if…
- Real
- Searching
- Wonder