Appeal letter 2024

Dear ASCM Friends and Supporters,

Greetings and best wishes from ASCM! This letter brings news of our movement and our annual request for your financial donation, essential to our growth and outreach to students. 2022–2023 brought further consolidation and renewal for ASCM, with this period seeing:

  • Two representatives attending the World Student Christian Federation General Assembly, held in Berlin, Germany, in July 2022;
  • A representative from Queensland attending the World Student Christian Federation Asia Pacific Regional Committee Meeting, held in Jakarta in June 2023;
  • 19 participants attending our online Annual General Meeting, held in September 2023;
  • Our first ever female student elected as national Chairperson – Caity Cameron, who is an undergraduate student at the Australian National University;
  • 35 videos uploaded to our YouTube channel since February 2022;
  • Commencement of a refresh of our website, which remains ongoing;
  • Regular online meetings of the National Executive; and
  • The return of in-person events after several years of lockdowns.

We are in the process of finalising the refresh of our website, including migrating previous versions of the ASCM Magazine/Jubilee Grapevine across – stay tuned! Please note this means that previous email addresses are no longer active. For all email communication, please email our Treasurer directly (treasurer.ascm@gmail.com).

Please let us know if you have any news that might be of interest to the SCM family.

 

Financial Appeal

ASCM has annual expenditure of about $47,000, which we would like to expand through increased staff hours. This financial year, we will be financially supporting SCM Timor Leste, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and we appreciate all donations to help support the growth of other SCMs who have limited funds available to them. Please note that under our Constitution, Trust funds can only be used for state and national ASCM work, meaning that we rely on the donations of our senior friends to ASCM for international support.

Our main sources of support remain our Friends. Friends include people who were members of ASCM while at university and still wish to keep in touch with the movement, and some who were never ASCM members but support our aims. Friends offer varying levels of support and involvement. Some are on Area Councils, others are Trustees, another maintains the membership contact list. Others support us through prayer and donations and conversation.  ASCM has many Friends, and it is always a pleasure to receive their news. We ask that if you have any news please let us know at any of our listed contact points.

To make a donation:

  1. PayPal and credit card: The easiest way to support ASCM financially is through this link:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YTSVEQAF85F7J or using the QR code here.

  1. Bank transfer: Australian SCM, BSB 082-902, Account Number 25-968-2776 (NAB)
  2. Cheque: send to GPO BOX 1195 Canberra ACT 2610 ACT-Australia. Payable: Australian Student Christian Movement.

 

Please consider a regular donation.  If you wish to make ongoing contributions, we suggest you choose recurring (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) donations online so that the donation will be automatically debited from your account.   Donations to the ASCM or the Trust cannot be used as a tax-deduction.

 

Operating the ASCM requires ongoing financial support for staff, and in normal times for travel. If we had more funds, we could do much more to support student involvement. Meetings and conferences and conversations and publications build leadership capability of our members for the benefit of both ASCM and the broader community.

The ASCM Centenary Trust Fund was set up in 1996 at the ASCM Centenary Conference to improve our financial security. Donations are always very welcome to the Trust, which is managed by our experienced Board of Trustees and has wisely placed all funds in ethical investments. Donations to the Trust can be made from the same form as for ASCM donations.

For further information on ASCM finances, please contact the National Treasurer, Andika Mongilala by email to treasurer.ascm@gmail.com.

ASCM Mission

ASCM seeks to be honest to God and to the spirit of Christ in the world, affirming the power of love for transformation and liberation and justice. We look to foster conversations to produce deeper understanding of Christian faith, to find ways to offer spiritual support for all who are struggling for a better world.  The role of universities as thought leaders in our society makes public conversation about tertiary ministry and engagement essential.  ASCM aims to bring people together for broader-based conversations, respecting faith while grounded in reason.  Our mission is as timely and relevant as ever, as we work to enable university students to develop an active, open, critical and ecumenical Christian faith.  Christ calls us to recognise and respect the least of the world as the first in the Kingdom of God, seeing our salvation in our shared work and vision together to do the will of God on earth.

ASCM Staffing

The National Executive thanked our outgoing National Directors, David Hale and Robbie Tulip, at the September 2023 AGM, for their work growing and building the movement during a difficult few years of COVID-19 lockdowns and restricted movement. Robbie Tulip will continue in a voluntary role on the National Executive. The National Executive also thanked outgoing Membership Officer Christine Ledger for her work.

 

A search committee has been formed to identify candidates for the role of National Director.

 

Please get in touch if you know of anyone looking for a part-time role in a Christian Left organisation.

 

The AGM also discussed the importance of Indigenous engagement through a research project of walking together with Indigenous people to educate ourselves and others on what that means, including reconciliation, and appointed Rev Dr Sandy Yule as Walking Together Convener.

 

 

 

Becoming a member of the ASCM Association

If you would like to become a formal member of the ASCM Association, the legal entity representing SCMs around Australia, and be invited to attend our AGMs, please provide the following information by email to robbietulip@gmail.com (ASCM Membership Secretary):

 

I wish to become a member of the Australian Student Christian Movement Association.

I support the open, critical, ecumenical and active Christian ethos of ASCM.

Name:

Address:

Email:

Phone:

 

All applications will be reviewed by the National Executive.

While our current activities on campus are limited, we are well placed to engage wherever opportunities arise.  Our National Executive includes a number of long-term ASCM senior friends, who are providing wise counsel for our strategic direction and priorities.

We look forward to sharing further news about the ongoing work of ASCM, and thank you for your support.

 

Best regards

Andika Mongilala

National Treasurer/Finance Director

Australian Student Christian Movement