It was a great pleasure to host around 40 school leavers and their teachers for our inaugural student conference, UP, on Thursday 24 June.  Students from both Elim Christian Schools in Mt Albert and Botany, and KingsWay School in Orewa, came for a day of tackling some big questions about what is going on in the world. These schools are significant partners of ours, and it was great to have them on site to build these relationships and for us to help be a part of the conversation at an important time in the lives of these young people.

Throughout the day we talked about important societal changes around belief, the prevalence of conspiracy theories, our bicultural journey as a nation and the ways we can understand identity theologically. We were really impressed with these young people and their engagement throughout the day. It was intense stuff! It’s encouraging for us as a theological institution to see young people thinking well about what it means to wrestle with their faith meaningfully and wanting to be involved in redemptive change in our country. Tino pai guys, thanks for coming!