So, this summer has been very exciting. There have been some additions to the events of last year, and sadly enough, some subtractions. But there are many cool and exciting things to look forward to, invite your friends to, and even expand your bubble. The outreach team has come up with the idea of having smaller events in which we'll be having more often, like the addition of sports days where we'll get some people together and play football, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and the like. Also, there will be LAN "parties" or game parties that will include getting your laptop out and playing a cool first person game with a bunch of people. Finally, something for those girls out there that like to sit, relax, put some make-up on for fun, or just watch movies and have some girl time, we're going to have girl's night out/in, where the girls can get together and talk about boys, God, and the like. Not that I'm comparing boys to God, which they're so far apart it's not even funny, but that you can go there and talk about whatever you'd like without having boys around. So, keep an ear out for some awesome wickedly fun activities.
Brett Mace
Outreach Coordinator
Monday, September 10, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Large Group, and Groups!
It's that time of the year again! Small Groups are about to start up!
"What are those?" you might ask, and I'm going to tell you. Small groups are awesome. Period. They offer the opportunity for a few people (hence 'small') to gather around God's word and explore it together. They are tight-knit groups where anything is up for discussion, any question can be asked, and no one will be ignored. Small groups offer Christian community and accountability, and are a part of our that we can always turn to. Members should challenge one another, and strive for growth in their relationship with God.
A full list of this semester's SGs will be available online (rca.union.rpi.edu) as soon as I can get a hold of our webmaster, and the groups will be starting up Saturday the 15th of September, right after the Men's Retreat.
One of my visions for SGs is to have a Small Group Newsletter, kind of a "What's Happening?" email sent out to all of RCA every other week. I am hoping this will make all the members of RCA aware of how God is working in small groups, and encourage inter-SG prayers and edification.
Still confused? Shoot me at email (shaffe@rpi.edu)
All for Him!
-Eric
"What are those?" you might ask, and I'm going to tell you. Small groups are awesome. Period. They offer the opportunity for a few people (hence 'small') to gather around God's word and explore it together. They are tight-knit groups where anything is up for discussion, any question can be asked, and no one will be ignored. Small groups offer Christian community and accountability, and are a part of our that we can always turn to. Members should challenge one another, and strive for growth in their relationship with God.
A full list of this semester's SGs will be available online (rca.union.rpi.edu) as soon as I can get a hold of our webmaster, and the groups will be starting up Saturday the 15th of September, right after the Men's Retreat.
One of my visions for SGs is to have a Small Group Newsletter, kind of a "What's Happening?" email sent out to all of RCA every other week. I am hoping this will make all the members of RCA aware of how God is working in small groups, and encourage inter-SG prayers and edification.
Still confused? Shoot me at email (shaffe@rpi.edu)
All for Him!
-Eric
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Large Group Ensues
Hey everybody!
If you had not known, our Large Group meetings have started up again! They're typically in Sage Labs Room 3510, but if they're elsewhere, there'll definitely be posters. Worship starts at 7:00PM, and then the rest of it start at 8:00PM.
It should be an exciting semester- we're planning on exploring a lot of topics that will expand what and who we think about, and also the ways in which we think about them. If you have any ideas for a topic that either you want to know more about, or you think people in general should hear more about, let me know! My contact information is on the RCA website (http://rca.union.rpi.edu- I'm trying to avoid webcrawlers).
There's not a whole lot to say here right now- come on Friday if you want to know more! One of our goals is to meet more people and hear more viewpoints, so invite your friends!
-Dennis
If you had not known, our Large Group meetings have started up again! They're typically in Sage Labs Room 3510, but if they're elsewhere, there'll definitely be posters. Worship starts at 7:00PM, and then the rest of it start at 8:00PM.
It should be an exciting semester- we're planning on exploring a lot of topics that will expand what and who we think about, and also the ways in which we think about them. If you have any ideas for a topic that either you want to know more about, or you think people in general should hear more about, let me know! My contact information is on the RCA website (http://rca.union.rpi.edu- I'm trying to avoid webcrawlers).
There's not a whole lot to say here right now- come on Friday if you want to know more! One of our goals is to meet more people and hear more viewpoints, so invite your friends!
-Dennis
The Presidential Letter
Yes Hello,
I'm back. Man, so summer was really sweet and relaxing and to be honest, Exec didn't communicate too well over the summer. But we're making up for lost time like crazy at the beginning of this semester. A LOT is happening RIGHT NOW! New Student Outreach has been incredible this semester thanks to Taylor Lehman and his team. We have had events coming out our ears! Our First Meeting (this past friday night) we had around 100 people show up and most of them played Hodgeball afterwards which was pretty sweet to see happen.
This semester is also going to look a bit different than ones in the past. Our theme is Expand Your Bubble and we are going to be pushing ourselves and the chapter to start to look beyond our own comfort zones are start to look out for those around us (this concept is also the definition of love defined by God himself). We really want to start engaging our campus and drawing more people into our group since there is so much going for our group this semester. Still a little confused? Feel free to shoot me an email at deamec@rpi.edu or even give me a call and we'll chat. Thanks for reading!
~Cd (el presidente)
I'm back. Man, so summer was really sweet and relaxing and to be honest, Exec didn't communicate too well over the summer. But we're making up for lost time like crazy at the beginning of this semester. A LOT is happening RIGHT NOW! New Student Outreach has been incredible this semester thanks to Taylor Lehman and his team. We have had events coming out our ears! Our First Meeting (this past friday night) we had around 100 people show up and most of them played Hodgeball afterwards which was pretty sweet to see happen.
This semester is also going to look a bit different than ones in the past. Our theme is Expand Your Bubble and we are going to be pushing ourselves and the chapter to start to look beyond our own comfort zones are start to look out for those around us (this concept is also the definition of love defined by God himself). We really want to start engaging our campus and drawing more people into our group since there is so much going for our group this semester. Still a little confused? Feel free to shoot me an email at deamec@rpi.edu or even give me a call and we'll chat. Thanks for reading!
~Cd (el presidente)
Prayer
So first of all, daily prayer has started up again (woo-hoo!). I encourage all of you to experience it at one time or another. If at any time you feel you could just use prayer, stop by Union 3510 at 4 pm Monday through Thursday and someone will be there. If they're not, let me know, and I'll hunt them down. We can pray for anything we feel led to or that has been on our hearts: ourselves, each other, our campus, the world.
Now, you say, "I don't have any desire to go to daily prayer". (We'll talk later) That's fine, the idea of praying in a group didn't interest me for a long time. However, I do encourage you to pray. Our theme this year is "Expand Your Bubble" - be ready for God to answer your prayers, but also expect Him to require something of you, that you may not be comfortable with. You may even consider making prayer a part of your daily life (more often than before tests): between classes, before eating in the dining hall, saying grace when eating with a bunch of friends, talking to God about your plans, etc.
Now, as a group, we pray a lot. Why? "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing..." (John 15:5)
If we try to do all the things we've planned this year without God, it's nothing. All our amazing NSO events, our large groups, our outreach events, and even the mysterious unnamed Week coming up would all be chasing after the wind without God. With that in mind, I leave you.
-jon
P.S. I still pray for you all.
Now, you say, "I don't have any desire to go to daily prayer". (We'll talk later) That's fine, the idea of praying in a group didn't interest me for a long time. However, I do encourage you to pray. Our theme this year is "Expand Your Bubble" - be ready for God to answer your prayers, but also expect Him to require something of you, that you may not be comfortable with. You may even consider making prayer a part of your daily life (more often than before tests): between classes, before eating in the dining hall, saying grace when eating with a bunch of friends, talking to God about your plans, etc.
Now, as a group, we pray a lot. Why? "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing..." (John 15:5)
If we try to do all the things we've planned this year without God, it's nothing. All our amazing NSO events, our large groups, our outreach events, and even the mysterious unnamed Week coming up would all be chasing after the wind without God. With that in mind, I leave you.
-jon
P.S. I still pray for you all.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
More of Karen's Thoughts
There would be little point in my writing a blog post about my VP duties - stuff hasn't heated up for me there yet - so instead I think I'll write about the mentoring program, and why I think it's important enough to start up again even though I'm not convinced I'm the best person to lead it up.
When I came to RPI there were two women trying to start up a mentoring program that ended up not lasting more than that year - perhaps even that semester. But that mentoring program got me through a difficult freshman year and in a community that could help me along and support me while I also got involved. My mentor Amelia knew the people I could ask for rides when I needed them and what RCA stuff was happening, but she also showed me how to be genuine in who I was and not afraid to be less than perfect when other people were watching.
We can't be so involved in our own worlds that we fail to help others along in what can be a difficult college journey. I know I don't have it all together by a long shot, but I have different problems than some others (as well as some of the same). Part of being a community is having other people to support you and supporting others. The mentoring program is just another way of doing that.
Mentoring as an RCA program has been tried and failed many times as RCA has taken different forms and been led by different people. But in all honesty, programs don't matter. All the programs and planning that we do could be summed up entirely by a group of not-so-perfect people following after God in different ways - whether it's through Bible studies, prayer times, praise nights, or fellowship. If mentoring can happen without a mentoring program, then I'm all the more happy. But lately in our fellowship it hasn't been happening nearly as well as it could. The need is there, and the best way I can see to encourage us to meet that need for everyone who could benefit is to set up a program to match people up in deliberate mentoring relationships.
When I came to RPI there were two women trying to start up a mentoring program that ended up not lasting more than that year - perhaps even that semester. But that mentoring program got me through a difficult freshman year and in a community that could help me along and support me while I also got involved. My mentor Amelia knew the people I could ask for rides when I needed them and what RCA stuff was happening, but she also showed me how to be genuine in who I was and not afraid to be less than perfect when other people were watching.
We can't be so involved in our own worlds that we fail to help others along in what can be a difficult college journey. I know I don't have it all together by a long shot, but I have different problems than some others (as well as some of the same). Part of being a community is having other people to support you and supporting others. The mentoring program is just another way of doing that.
Mentoring as an RCA program has been tried and failed many times as RCA has taken different forms and been led by different people. But in all honesty, programs don't matter. All the programs and planning that we do could be summed up entirely by a group of not-so-perfect people following after God in different ways - whether it's through Bible studies, prayer times, praise nights, or fellowship. If mentoring can happen without a mentoring program, then I'm all the more happy. But lately in our fellowship it hasn't been happening nearly as well as it could. The need is there, and the best way I can see to encourage us to meet that need for everyone who could benefit is to set up a program to match people up in deliberate mentoring relationships.
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