It´s Wednesday morning, but Tuesday Club has only just let out.
A group stand waiting in the freezing cold; armed with nothing but bottles of water and a desire to lend a helping hand, as the stumbling students begin to make their way out from the Union and into the street.
Two club nights a week, the members of the University´s Synergy society make it their mission to ensure students reach taxis, re-hydrate and have a friendly face waiting after a long night out.
It was created as a way for Christian students from different churches to come together as an alternative to a weekly meeting similar to their church experience.
Members of the society strive to “love as Jesus loved” and term their campus initiatives Agape, which in Christian theology means ‘God’s love for mankind.’
The group was founded by former University of Sheffield student Peter Clarke, who aimed to encourage a campus-wide evangelical approach that did not “require anything of people.”
“Agape is a way of showing love being as unconditional and indiscriminate as possible,” Isabel Edlin, Synergy society’s executive secretary, said. “And that’s what we aim to do through Agape – bring unconditional beauty and joy in a practical way.”
Synergy Society brings together Christian students who have “a passion about a certain way of showing love and could not help but do something about it.” The group’s other initiatives include club outreach, free hugs and homeless outreach.
“By looking after other people, we are trying to do something that is both good and practical,” said Synergy society member Daniel Furlong.
On a typical night out, the members of Agape will distribute about five crates worth of free water bottles to students leaving from the Union’s club nights. The group members also monitor the scene at the Union entrance in order to immediately assist the students who get kicked out of the Union nights.
“The water bottles are great to hand out, but they are really just an excuse for us to be here for the students,” Furlong said.
The group members said they often get very positive reactions from students on their nights out; a “validation of success” for the organization.
And while the group does not “ask people to talk to us or listen to us” when it comes to promoting their Christian values, will not hesitate to talk with interested students about God.
“I listen to what their need is – whether they just want to talk about God or whether they want prayer or whether they want to be connected with a church,” Edlin said.
“We then try to fill that need with God’s guidance.”
And for the group members, asking for God’s guidance primarily occurs in the form of prayer.
“We begin each night out with a prayer that is mostly just for peace,” Furlong said. “We also pray for protection for the students, for ourselves, and for the security and staff.”
Furlong said the group members often face a range of both predictable and unpredictable reactions when students learn that the organisation has Christian affiliations.
Most students gratefully accept the bottle of water, turn down the assistance in calling a cab, and leave without another word.
“If someone handed you a free bottle of water, would you turn it down?” one student said in response to the group’s presence outside Tuesday Club.
But still others want to challenge the group members and often question whether or not accepting a bottle of “Christian water” opens them up to a potential conversion attempt.
“I don’t want just water; it’s boring,” one student said to Furlong’s offer of free water. “Plus, it comes with your Christian values.”
But Edlin said even some of the most difficult and intimidating moments to openly talk about God can be some of the most rewarding.
“I remember a guy was offended at God and he was shouting a lot and I was a bit scared,” she said. “But afterwards, he came and apologised to me and opened up about why he was so angry at God, so it kind of turned into a good experience for both him and me.”
The group’s notoriety regarding their Christian foundation can prove to be both a blessing and a curse; especially in light of the group’s struggles of dealing with a drinking culture that Furlong said has “gone past the line.”
“It is great that people have the freedom to drink, but our binge culture is strange,” he said. “Crying, throwing up, and getting kicked out of clubs have become the norm.”
Edlin also said she believes the drinking culture is “a bit sad, but understandable.”
“What upsets me is when people think they have to do it to fit in and it’s not a choice they would have made otherwise,” she said.
But, ironically, it is because of the drinking that the members of Agape have the opportunity to make a name for themselves as living a very “Christ-filled and inspired life.”
“I just love that people recognise us as the Christian water people and coming bounding up to us to get their free bottle,” Edlin said. “I am privileged to be part of a huge network of Christians, uniting churches.”
As for the future outlook of the organisation, Edlin said the Synergy Society is hoping to get more manpower and money to expand their club outreach to more than just two nights.
She also said the group wants to become more recognisable as well as build stronger relationships with the Union security staff.
But for now, the group will continue to provide free advice, assistance and water bottles every Tuesday and Friday night at the students’ union.
“No matter how many water bottles you carry, you always find that you needed to have carried just one more,” Furlong said.