2024 October Update: The Grove and The Getaway

The year of the rebrand continues on as we attempt to embrace Gen Z as they are and rather than push them to be something they're not, meet them where they're at and bring them towards Jesus. The Grove continues to build momentum as students are excited about coming together and fellowshipping with one another. They've loved the challenging teaching, the new song repertoire by the worship band, and the care we put into establishing the Grove as a place to rest from the week and reorient towards Jesus.

The Getaway

We also rebranded our annual fall retreat to The Getaway. Historically, it's been a small group-oriented event that deepens bonds within the small groups that come. However, challenges arise when some small groups have few to no members who end up coming. This year, we decided to rethink our goals and that resulted in a new vision of wanting our larger community to form and deepen bonds with one another, without a focus on the small groups. As individuals get to know others in the community beyond just their small groups, their dedication to showing up and participating increases as well. They end up encouraging one another, feel empowered to reach out to one another for support and for advice, they spur one another on to love and good deeds. This new emphasis on the importance of God's greater community has been taking root in our community and hopefully will bear great fruit as the year continues!

Baptisms!

The baptisms keep rolling. Every week there seems to be another baptism. God is pulling us out of the muck and into his saving grace. Whenever we study the Bible with anyone, we make our intentions clear, that not only are we reading the Bible to get to know Jesus but that they'll be brought to a decision point on whether they want to follow Jesus or not. Jesus is not a museum exhibit that we learn more about, he's a person who has extended an invitation, "Come, follow me." And we cannot ignore that invitation, we can say yes or no. And praise God that people are saying yes!

Thank You!

Without your support, I could never be a part of and bear witness to what God has done at this campus and in this community. Thank you so much for all your support, for the prayers and the donations that enable me to serve these college students every day. After nearly 10 years, God continues to show up for me and for them to make us more like Jesus every day.