Small groups produce big results

Gonzaga's University Ministry is preparing to kick off its second year with Christian Life Communities on campus.  Ministry coordinators and student assistants have been working side-by-side to restructure the CLC program for the 2011-12 academic year.

Janeen Steer, University Ministry coordinator, said she still considers the program to be in its experimental phase.

"From what I'm gathering, the University Ministry office feels intimidating.  This office is meant to be where you can walk-in and talk about your faith," Steer said. 

There is no record of how students responded to the CLC program last year.  Participants filled out evaluations, but they were misplaced in the ministry office.  To compensate, Steer has been running interviews over the past week, particularly with students who said they didn't want to participate again this year. Through these interviews, Steer said she has been able to find out what should be changed.

The CLC small groups are generally composed of about 10 members, including their leader.  "You don't want anything higher than that because people get lost," Steer said. 

Stephanie Vogel, a senior at Gonzaga and a CLC small group student assistant, said she prefers the small group aspect as well. "They go deeper, too, and have more substantial conversations. If you're a group of 20 people, you might not want to share your story and why you're there," Vogel said.

Each week, the CLC small groups meet for an hour of discussion. Topics include faith, life, college, struggles and joy, among other things. The leaders of each group are given topics and ideas to start with, but the goals and schedule are all very flexible, said Sarah Fallan, a senior at Gonzaga and a CLC small group assistant.

"It's really open to what you can do. We want people to be open with it," Vogel said.

This year, Steer said a new element  will be added to the program. If a student has an interest in a specific study or another religious background, CLC is prepared to support that. 

"It's always helping people's faith go deeper, particularly in the Christian tradition, but if there are other faith traditions too we are going to try and help equip them in their small groups," Steer said.

What the student assistants are most concerned about is making sure the student body is aware that everyone is welcome.  "We want everybody to do it. We don't care if you're a senior or a freshman," Vogel said. 

"We don't care if you're not sure what your faith is, or if you're a skeptic, or if you like Jesus but you hate the Church," Steer said.

The idea behind all of the restructuring is to build a program that will foster a strong foundation. "When I come back and visit in 10 years I want this program to be strong and I want it to continue to build," Vogel said.

"When people come from high school they either have a strong God presence in their life, or they don't really have one at all," Vogel said. 

Vogel came to Gonzaga from a strong youth group, and when she started at the university four years ago, GU didn't offer any programs like CLC. She missed the consistency of meeting with a group each week. 

Fallan, on the other hand, didn't come from a faith-based school, but when she found CLC she enjoyed that people were listening to what she had to say. 

"A lot of times on campus it's so rushed and you don't really get a chance to sit down and talk deep with your close friends," Fallan said. "It's a cool place to go and be comfortable and talk about anything and feel loved, wanted and respected."

"I believe Christ can change lives.  He completely changed my life and I just want to change that with other people too," said Scott Parmely, a senior at Gonzaga and a CLC small group assistant. 

Parmely focuses on small group formation.

"Faith is so huge in my life, and I just love being able to share that with others in a small group fashion, because when you're in a small group you can be real with people.  You really get to know people, see what they're passionate about, what they struggle with," he said. 

Steer said she believes that Gonzaga students want to be known in a smaller group. "It was through a small group, a group of people that loved me no matter what that changed my life."

Steer wants Gonzaga students to feel safe and know how much they're loved. She thinks they will find that in a small group.

Steer said she considers her job to be the best job in the world and she plans to be here for the next twenty years to help lead the CLC program.  Steer hopes that in the next four years, at least 10 percent of Gonzaga's population will be in small groups.

This year, the small groups will be meeting in their new house, which is located on Dakota Street between Alliance and Goller.  Steer plans to have open hours for the house on the weekends for students that want a place to hangout and avoid the party scene on weekends.  The house has yet to be given an official name and is referred to as "the house" by CLC members.