Small Group Begins!

Small Group girls at Grassroots Coffeehouse in Thomasville, GA

Our small group Bible studies started three weeks ago. I was asked to lead a women's small group this year, so about a week before we kicked off, I began thinking of different topics I could address. Different ideas came and went, but the one that stayed was the reliability of God's character. Studying this topic is not something I have been challenged to do before, so I knew I would be learning right along with the girls I would be leading.

The first night, we ate cookies and ice cream and got to know one another through ice breaker games. The second night, we discussed what it means to be reliable, why it's important for us as Christians to be reliable, why it's important for us to know that God's character is reliable, etc. We had good group discussion, shared prayer requests, enjoyed warm, gooey, brownies and spent some time just hanging out.

Tonight, we're taking a little trip to get out of Tallahassee for a few hours. We're driving up to Thomasville, GA to a little coffee shop called Grassroots. Thomasville has become a favorite place of mine because the little town reminds me so much of Farmville (where I went to college) and Grassroots has the best coffee there. We'll also begin our first lesson, looking at the story of Noah and the flood and how God proved his reliability throughout the story. While I was planning, reading, and researching for this lesson, I realized there is so much more to the account of Noah than the simpler version I learned as a child. God's reliability shines throughout this story and I'm excited to share this lesson with my small group tonight. I'm also excited to hear their reactions and feedback.

Some of these girls were in my small group last year and some of them are new to Chi Alpha this year. For me, it's great to see them bonding together to form one cohesive group who care about one another on a level deeper than the surface. My
prayer for this group is, not only will they learn and grow in their walk with Christ, but that they also will form a tight-knit community and friendships that will last well beyond their college years.

First Chi Alpha Live of the Fall 2011 Semester!

Last night was our first Chi Alpha Live gathering of the semester! We spent a lot of time praying and preparing for this meeting since we typically have a good number of new students attending.

We also launched our small group Bible studies; we have groups available for both guys and girls on Monday and Tuesday nights. I was asked to plan how to present the groups during our first meeting. I wanted to find a different way to introduce our group leaders; the only way I saw as a student and on staff was to invite all of the leaders to the front and each group introduces themselves and tells a little about their group. I wanted something different, something new and that would allow our students to have a conversation with the leaders. I saw another campus pastor at UNC Chapel Hill advertise a "small group fair" for her Chi Alpha on Facebook. The wheels started turning in my mind and I talked with the other staff members. We decided we would try the fair approach and see how it worked.

Thursday, we set up the chairs in the sanctuary and left the back half open. We put out small tables, one for each small group with Monday groups on one side and Tuesday groups on the other. We encouraged our leaders to stand beside or in front of their table and talk with students, to tell them what their group was going to be studying, when they would be meeting and where. As students began to arrive, we explained what the tables were for and encouraged them to visit the groups and talk with the leaders. I was very pleased with our students, how they stepped out and began conversations with new and returning students and talking with them. I also was pleased with the results of the fair; we had several students sign up for each group, with the plan to continue the fair approach for the next few weeks.

Since one of our core values in Chi Alpha is discipleship, we believe it is very important for our students to get plugged in to a small group. These groups allow the students to interact in a more personal level than our large group meeting (Chi Alpha Live) allows. I have heard many testimonies and know from my own experiences that small groups are where the closest friendships are formed in college, friendships that will last for many years beyond graduation. I am very excited to see how God is going to use our small groups this year and what He is going to do through them.