Welcome to Sheffield !

Exactly 30 years ago my mum drove me past the Tinsley twin towers, past a newly gleaming Meadowhall and into Sheffield. It was a different city then. I was shocked to drive between the belching smoke and imposing walls of the Forgemasters factories, like a scene out of The Full Monty that would be released a couple of years later. The heart of the city housed the council’s ‘egg box’ offices, and the Peace Gardens were still an architect’s dream.

Yet, I felt welcome and at home, like I’d never experienced before. Sheffield has a simple, safe, homely feel, which other cities should be jealous about. It’s been my home ever since.

Freshers Week at both universities is just drawing to a close. 15,000 new students have arrived in expectation of a better life through their studies and experiences. The church I lead is on Ecclesall Road, right in the heart of student-land, and I love the vibrancy which students bring to our neighbourhoods (but not the litter).

Yet, I wonder why so many young people still flock to university and colleges? We live in uncertain, unstable times. Britain has a stagnant economic future, and this is the first generation likely to be poorer than their parents. By moving to university, the majority of students take on a debt burden that will last their whole working lives.

So why do it? I believe it’s the human drive to improve oneself, to learn, to discover.

In short: hope.

People will defer pleasure, people will endure costly sacrifices and short-term struggle when they live in sight of a better future. The Bible Proverb 24:14 agrees: “wisdom is like honey for you: if you find it, there is a future hope for you.”

As a Christian Minister, I spend a lot of my time instilling hope in people’s lives. Over the past 30 years, I have witnessed the message of Jesus bringing incomparable peace, purpose and passion into thousands of people’s lives. When you have something to believe in, you have something to hope for and build for.

St Paul put it plainly. Above all the experiences of Freshers’ Week, above of all the virtues and vistas of life, three things remain:

“Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Freshers, welcome to Sheffield. May you experience all three in your years amongst us.