With Campus Ministries continuing to grow, groups have been reemerging. Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC) was an active group in the past and is becoming active once again.
As a whole, the goal has been to increase fellowship on campus between students. Each of the groups has a different goal and different activities or meeting setups.
BASIC was brought back by popular demand by students and university employees. There are now four groups beginning and
being led by Dr. Randy Keeler, Alyssa Eby and Jessi Samuel, Sarah Lehman, and Dr. Jackie Wyse-Rhodes. Each of the groups have between six and 10 student members.
Amy Marshall, a senior social work and psychology major, is heavily involved in Campus Ministries, a president’s ambassador, and a ministry assistant in Ropp. While doing all of these activities, Marshall found the time to start BASIC with the help of Holly Metzger.
“Our saying has been ‘It’s 90% fellowship and 10% bible study,’ ” said Marshall. “The purpose of it is not necessarily to be going deep in the Bible, unless they choose to do that, but it’s really just a time to fellowship together and be in community.”
The small groups meet in faculty or staff homes or on campus. Some factors go into choosing the groups including availability, groups on campus, majors, and different years. Mentorship is another aspect that some of the groups will be working on whether it be faculty or student based.
Community is one of Bluffton’s values that BASIC is largely trying to procure. Because many of the group meetings are hosted off campus, the intimate setting conjures a closer relationship. Students and faculty alike are excited for the groups to become closer with each other.
Samuel, the annual fund manager at Bluffton University, is a co-leader of one of the groups. The group has now met twice, and they are still getting to know one another. Samuel has a few goals for the group, along with activities chosen within each group.
“We just want to get close to each other and make everyone feel comfortable, so if they have something they want to talk to us about they can,” said Samuel. “I think that providing that outlet for students to go and talk to people about something they may be struggling with or something they have questions on, especially with their faith, can be really difficult to find that outlet. So I think creating that atmosphere of you can tell us anything you can talk to us about what you need if you’re struggling with something is all I have planned so far.”
If you have an interest in joining BASIC, email campus ministries at CampusMinistries[at]bluffton.edu.
