How are we already at Day 6 ?!!! It’s very odd as it feels like we have been here forever and life outside CU! is but a distant memory – but at the same time it seems like we are barely 1/2 way through the week – not preparing for our final full day together!

Today was (as you probably guessed) another packed and brilliant day at CU!2019 !

Today was also our last “normal” day – Day 7 (Saturday) brings the Tech and Dress Rehearsals and the final theme night!

But before we get to that – Day 6 !! This morning we had a great set of workshops putting the final touches to things that we want to share during the final performance. The Crew are really positive about this as things seem to be dropping into place really well.

This morning we also had another of our study group times – this has been a great time to spend in smaller groups discussing and learning more around our theme of the week. These also seem to be going really well with some great questions being asked – most of the relevant to what we are looking at during the sessions !

This afternoon we packed in three workshops. It was a great mix of finishing off pieces ready for the final performance – vegging out to veggie-tales in The Green Room (possibly the only time the TV has been on in there .. ), sing-along-a-musical and then some great seminars.

As I write this my phone has just pinged a notification for todays bible verse – it seems quite timely so I thought it would be worth sharing here:

34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Matthew 6:34 MSG

Point For Prayer

• That the Tech and Dress rehearsals will go smoothly tomorrow – its a new space for everyone so it may take a little while to get used to it. But hopefully the process will still be valuable for those that haven’t yet experienced it – but also that it will help create a great snapshot of what we have been up to this week at CU!2019.
• For Em, Naomi and Salome as they put the final touches to the last evening meeting – “Jesus is Alive”
• For the Cast that they will choose to listen to what God has to tell them in these last few days here.
• For the Crew as we prepare the final things and start to tidy up and shut down the site. That we will have the energy to cary everything through and that we will have the Grace we need when stress levels go up and caffeine levels drop !
• For the final performance – that it will be a great snapshot of the week we have had here at CU!2019.
• For Susie and her team as they finalise the final theme night – our murder mystery ….

Thanks again for your support this week – we will hopefully be posting updates tomorrow and Sunday but with the busyness of these times it may be that we might miss one. But we really appreciate your prayers – without God this wouldn’t be possible.

Matt and the CU!2019 Crew

Today was another packed day at CU!2019 ! as a result this update will be slightly shorter than normal!

Today saw the return of one of our most popular one off workshops – The One Shot Music Video!

This year our long standing (suffering?) camera operator couldn’t make it to CU! but he was there in spirit as we named the Camera we used “Rick” … We had great fun with nearly all of the CU!2019 Cast putting together this years video! It will be shown for the 1st time in the performance we put together at the end of the week for the people coming to pickup the Cast.. It’s looking good ..

Today was also the second of our three theme nights – History Night. Naomi and her team ran a great evening as we traveled back in time through the various eras of time – back to the present day just in time for the evening meeting! As always the costumes that the Cast created were outstanding! Some of the cast were genuinely unrecognisable!

This evening Mel, Mark and the Understudies led the evening meeting. The Understudies is the name we give to the Crew who have joined us for the 1st time after being Cast with us in the previous year. They get a separate time together during the week to help them with the transition from Cast to Crew.

It has been a fantastic day but with thoughts already turning to the the end of this year we are very aware we want to make the most of the time we have here.

Friday brings our last “normal” day and then on Saturday, in a 1st for CU!, we move over to the fully equipped theatre onsite to put together our final performance. We are really looking forward to it as it’s a beautiful little venue.

Points For Prayer

• That the preparations for the end of the week go well and that we listen for what God wants to happen in the last few days together.
• For Heidi, Lucy and Saira as they prepare Day 6 (Friday’s) evening meeting looking at the Jesus’ Trial and Crucification
• For the Cast as they come towards the end of CU! – that they will take time to spend learning what God wants to teach them this week.
• Energy for the Cast and Crew!!
• For the Mini Crew Team (an amazing bunch of folks who come to look after the children of the Crew who are too young to come along as Cast). Sue and her team run a fantastic set of activities for the Mini-Crew for the whole week – its an exhausting task but we are so blessed by the work she puts in.
• For the site staff – they have looked after us so well (no plumbing miracle yet)

Thanks again for your continued support

Matt and the CU!2019 Crew

Today it rained … Actual wet rain .. for about 5 minutes … so apart from the start of an outside Drama workshop warm up that quickly turned into a “find some shelter” drama exercise … its didn’t really affect what we were doing!

Today was a “normal” day here at CU!2019… Well I have to be honest there is not really such a thing as a “normal” day at CU! but today was about as normal as it gets !

We had our Workshops As and Study Groups this morning and then this afternoon some of us continued our Workshop B or had some time in another set of workshops – Workshop C is our final set of workshops for the day where the Cast get to pick what they want to do. We had a wide range of options including Pizza making, making props for our next theme night and a monologues masterclass.

It is all still going really well. As I have been saying the site here has been fantastic! We have a small issue where the showers on the boys corridor don’t have any hot water due to building works – we have got alternative showers for them elsewhere! But the lack of convenience isn’t great – especially for some of the boys who need no excuse to not shower… The site are working really hard to fix it and keep us updated. That said prayers for a miraculous plumbing event would be great!

The food is again fantastic – the biggest issue is that its so good that some of us need a post dinner nap due to the amount of great food provided!

The study groups seem to becoming a great place to share and discuss – with some great conversations happening. There wasn’t any bread making in todays study groups (unlike yesterdays) that said they did get to eat the bread they made yesterday! Well … I’m not sure the “Romans” study group managed that. They somehow appear to have made a brick rather than a loaf of bread ….

Tonight in the evening meeting Rachel, Sue and Sam are exploring Matthew 18:1-4, 20:20-20 – “Who is the greatest?”. As I write the meeting is still going on but I can hear the sounds of the Cast and Crew being led in Worship by Susie, drifting across the site. Really wonderful.

Its really great to be spending time with the fantastic Cast and Crew of CU!2019. They are an amazing bunch of people and it is so good to see God working in and through them this week.

Prayer Requests

• For a miraculous plumbing event resulting in hot water for the boys showers.
• For Mark, Mel and the Understudies – sadly not the name of a band – but actually our team leading Night 5’s evening meeting “The Rich Young Man”
• For Naomi and the team as they prepare the “History” theme night … which may have a “horrible” theme ….
• For energy for the Cast and Crew – we pack so much in and people have so much fun – often people get quite tired due to not wanting to miss out. Energy and also wisdom for working out when it may be best to head for a nap or early bed!
• That we will all make time to listen to what God wants to whisper in our ears week. Also that we will have the wisdom to discern that it is God.
• For the Crew who are going onto lead on Centre Stage our sister holiday that runs immediately after Curtains Up! Not just for energy so that we can make Centre Stage as awesome as it can be but also for wisdom to help us as the final things are put in place for the week

If you would like to support Centre Stage in prayer and keep up to date with what we get up to the remember to sign up for the Centre Stage prayer email.

Thanks again for your continued support!

Matt and the CU!2019 Team

Today it rained…. FUN …

Sorry the exhaustion is starting to set in!! It did actually rain but only for a little bit and only during the second part of our 80s theme night – which actually helped to cool us all down a bit!

Not to sound like a broken record but it has been ANOTHER great day here at CU!2019 !!

The Cast and Crew continue to have a great time. We are all settling into the site and are not getting lost as often! The site continue to be really supportive and the food continues to be fantastic.

This next point may come as a shock for any parents reading this … but tonight we asked if they could cook us some MORE vegetables as we realised during dinner serving that we were about to run out! Apparently the CU! Cast and Crew consume a surprisingly large amount of vegetables … !

The workshops continue to go really well and lots of fun seems to be being had! Our study groups have been going really well – I have heard lots of positive comments from the Crew. It was great today to wander about the site and see it scattered with our awesome Cast and Crew sitting in small groups, Bibles out, chatting things through together. The study groups session today started with bread making ! It was a great team activity – and will hopefully have a tasty outcome !

Today was out 1st theme night. Alex was in charge for the awesome 80s night. Depressingly for some of the Crew a significant chunk of the Crew have not experienced the 80s in person … but we think tonight the Cast and Crew were given a taste of some of the highlights of the era! Alex put together a great evening with an observation round based on the film Back to the Future, there was a human version of Pong … match the song to the intro … and of course a mini 80s disco !!

This being Curtains Up! we turned the meeting room around and within 45 mins of the end of the 80s night we were back in the meeting room for the evening meeting. The sounds of the Cast and Crew dancing and singing along to some 80s classics were replaced with the Cast and Crew singing along with Susie and the band worshiping God together. Great stuff.

Points for Prayer

• For the final issues with the site to be resolved easily tomorrow.
• For continued energy for the Cast and Crew to make sure they have the best possible CU! that God wants them have this week.
• For the study groups – that they will be a really special time to spend together learning more about God and how we can continue doing this after we leave this week together here.
• Thanks for all of what God has done in the lives of the Cast already – and praise for what he will still do.
• Wisdom for the Crew so that we create the CU! that God wants this week – not just the one we want.
• For Rachel, Sam and Sue as they put the finishing touches to their Day 4 evening meeting “who is the greatest?”

Thanks again for your continued support

Matt and the CU!2019 Crew

Another day is drawing to a close here as CU!2019. It has been another great day (as you would expect!!)

The Cast and Crew all slept … Judging by some of the faces this morning at breakfast I think some may be sharing rooms that people that snore … But this doesn’t appear to be dampening their employment! It may be increasing the crews caffeine intake however!

Day 2 is our 1st full day. Its also our 1st day of workshops and study groups. It all seems to be going really well – we have a FANTASTIC Crew keeping things running smoothly this year! Also our Cast for CU!2019 are an AWESOME group of young people.

The staff on site are helping us out with the few remaining little things we need to run an even better CU! they are a really great team and its been a real pleasure to work with them this year.

This evening Helga, Laura and Sophie have been leading the evening meeting looking at the parables of the treasure and the pearl. They have transformed the meeting room into a TV studio for an exclusive new show (that looks quite a lot like the price is right ….)

The weather is still quite warm – and the very small amount of rain hasn’t affected what we have been getting up to!

Points For Prayer

• Energy for the Crew – the excitement of the start of the holiday has now passed. Cast and crew energy to sustain the activities that we have for the eat of the week would be great!
• Day 3’s evening meeting is looking at “Jesus feeds more that 5000 people”. Please pray for Adam, Skye-Marie and Susie as they put the finishing touches to their meeting.
• Day 3 also as our 1st Theme Night – 80’s Night !! Please pray for Alex and the team as they finish the preparations and then run the evening!
• Please also pray for the Cast – that they will continue to have fun! But also that they will learn more about God and experience His love this week.

Thanks again or you support!

Matt and the Curtains Up! Team

As I write this Day 1 of Curtains Up 2019 is starting to draw to a close. It has been a fantastic start!

This is our 1st year at Luckley House School but having moved last year from our long term home of Rendcomb up to Lancaster – we are getting quite good at moving sites!

The site here has been fantastic!! We are quickly settling in and finding our way around. It has some great spaces and we cant quite get over how nearby all of them are! We are quite used to moving around the site taking a good 4-5 mins to get from one area to another. Now if it takes that long you have gotten lost, chatted to some Cast, found the correct route, chatted some more and arrived!

The Crew have now been onsite for just over 24 packed hours of training, preparation, getting lost and setting up the site. The Cast all arrived safely this afternoon and after a bit of time to get unpacked we kicked off in our “Meeting Room” with the Official Welcome – this then went straight into our welcome game.

The teams had 7 areas with various five minute tasks ranging from create a team theme song to ask a Holiday Leader any question… We had questions like “Where do we put the biscuits we brought” to ” What kitchen utensil do you most associate yourself with” to “why are you a Christian”

The evening meal was a really lovely homemade curry with a selection of alternatives for all of our various dietary requirements! A very yummy start to the holiday.

Tonight Alex led the evening meeting exploring the Parable Of The Sower. The Crew put together a great sketch looking at this and it revealed we have at least one very talented artist on the Crew this year…! Suzie and her band led us in excellent sung worship – its always a huge privilege to watch the Crew who often haven’t led worship together until today settle so quickly into a fantastic band.

We are really excited about CU!2019 and can’t wait to see what God will do during the week!!

Points for prayer

-Thanks for the safe arrivals and great start to CU!2019 at Luckley House
-Quick and easy resolutions on the few practical issues with the site that are outstanding .
-For the Cast and Crew as they start Day 2 – specifically workshops and study groups which run for the 1st time on Day 2.
-For the Helga, Laura and Sophie running the second evening meeting looking at The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl

Thanks again for your support and encouragement

Matt and The Curtains Up! Crew

Last year was “All Change” but the event itself was only the start of that – we are really pleased to let you know that we will be running not one but TWO events in 2019!

And we will be moving to a lovely new site. 🙂

Curtains Up! 2019 -> The Kingdom will return to (almost) its beginning in terms of age group. Officially this will be for those aged 14-17.
As a special arrangement, if you were part of the Cast in 2018 and will be 13 by the end of next Summer, you will still be able to sign up to make sure you don’t miss friends that you’ve already made at CU!

Centre Stage is the brand new holiday for those aged 11-14.
There is deliberately a duplication in ages as we have often had Cast members who brought a friend in a different school year group.

Both holidays will be running at Luckley House School in Wokingham – we went on a site visit recently and it looks like a brilliant venue for us. 

Curtains Up! will continue to be led by Alex Taylor, Em Rogerson and Matt Rogerson.
Centre Stage will be led by Rachel Vallance and Em Rogerson.

And the dates are provisionally booked in as follows (all times are to be confirmed):

	Curtains Up!	Centre Stage
Age Range	14 – 17	11 -14
CREW Arrive	Saturday 3rd August 2019 (early-afternoon)	Monday 12th August 2019
CAST Arrive	Sunday 4th August 2019 (mid-late afternoon)	Tuesday 13th August 2019
Everyone Leaves	Sunday 11th August 2019 (12 noon for Cast but trains need to be from 1pm to allow for getting to the Train Station; later for Crew)	Sunday 18th August 2019

Please Note:

• Cost is still to be confirmed. 
• There is no provision for Cast to arrive early or stay late – and if Cast choose to book into both events, there is no provision on site for them between the end of CU! and beginning of Centre Stage (the only exception is where Cast have a parent/guardian on Crew)

We are really excited by this development! We are working to get as many of the details confirmed as soon as we can. If you do have questions feel fee to contact us but at this stage we might not know the answers yet

We have just launched a new version of the Green Room!

Following feedback about the original version we have rebuilt it so that it works more like a mini Facebook – but just for Cast and Crew from CU!

If you came as Crew this year or if you came as Cast AND gave us an email address during the sign up process you should have received an invite.

If you haven’t received it yet – or if you didn’t give us your email address then please send us a message here and let us know the email address where you would like the invite sent to AND the email address of the person who signed you up to CU! this year – so we can confirm who you are !