(2.12.17) By Maggie Ganley – It’s 9:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night and there’s a group of students meeting on the second floor of the library. They discuss different aspects of their faith and the highs and lows of their lives in a safe, judgment free environment. This is what Starting Point Bible Study is all about.
Starting Point Bible Study was created in the fall of 2016 by sophomores Molly McInnis and Sarah Sadler. Since then, the group has grown to around eight members.
“At our church they need different leaders and they encourage, ‘If you are Christian you should be out on your campus making disciples. It’s not the pastor’s job to make disciples, it’s your job to make disciples.’ … So our goal is to reach those people that won’t necessarily go into a church or reach people that don’t want to go to church,” said Sadler as to why they started the group.
As McInnis said, they see themselves as the Hand of Jesus on campus. To spread God’s word, they created Starting Point with the intention of creating a fun and welcoming environment for people that further want to explore their faith.
People’s faith is their own for the first time once they’re a freshman on campus. McInnis knows what some of those freshmen are thinking when it comes to faith.
“I don’t really know. I don’t really know who Jesus is, I don’t really know where my faith background is, I haven’t grown up with it, but I want to know more,” explains McInnis.
They want to make sure the people who don’t know much about their faith or know nothing about the Bible still feel like they are welcome to come and learn more.
Last semester the two explored a book called Starting Point, hence the name. They saw people losing some interest, so they decided to follow their hearts and move in a different direction. This semester, they will be exploring The Book of James, the Bible, and a sermon series.
They see themselves continuing their Bible study or something similar to it throughout the rest of their college careers.
Leave a Reply