Contexts: evangelicalism, Campus Bible Study,
University of New South Wales
Mid Year Conference (MYC) is an annual 5-day conference run by
Campus Bible Study (surprise) during the July recess at the
University of New South Wales. The main content of the conference is
shamelessly Bible studies, either in the form of small groups,
semiars or talks. First-year students, while initially reluctant, tend to
attend because they were told by their friends (and sometimes their pastor)
that it is a Good ThingTM. The attendance of upper-year
students is generally unquestioned. (No, MYC is not a cult.)
Mid Year Conference began its life in 1976 as part of Phillip Jensen's
ministry at the University of New South Wales with about a dozen students.
Since then, the conference has grown to about 1 200 students
(~600 from UNSW) attending over the
two weeks. It has been credited in being substantially influential in the decision-making of
large number of now full-time ministers and missionaries.
In 1993, at the request of several other universities, another week of MYC
(now known as "MYC 1") was established, eventually involving the
Cumberland College of Health Sciences (University of Sydney), the
University of Western Sydney, the University of Wollongong, TAFE Bible Workshop
and the Fellowship for Evangelism of Visual Arts. Since 1995, MYC 1 and
MYC 2 are identical conferences held over two consecutive weeks.
In 2002, a conference for recent university graduates (creatively known as
"Graduates Conference") was established, to be held in the weekend
between MYC 1 and MYC 2.
MYC 1976-2002
Since the mid-1990s, the topics presented in MYC runs in a regular
3-year cycle.
Sources:
MYC 2000 Reunion: Past, Present Future
MYC 2000 conference materials
The Briefing 259/260.
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