Chapter Planting at Goldey-Beacom College

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This document is part of a larger cluster of articles about InterVarsity
chapter planting at https://www.intervarsity.org/mx/page/chapterplanting

The Campus

Goldey-Beacom College is a small business-oriented private college in a
suburban setting of Wilmington, DE. Many of the students are urban in
culture, with a significant African-American representation and also many
international students.

The Challenges

It’s primarily a commuter campus with a mix of age ranges among the
students as well as ethnicities.

The Opportunities

Two Christian faculty co-advisors to the group have contacted IVCF staff at
University of Delaware which is nearby. (Will Metzger has then drawn in
Nonie Bell to regularly visit the campus.)

Most of the fellowship students were attending the same very small church
which appeared to be a problem, and resulted in a recent division of the
group. The pastor was very controlling of the students.

What We’re Doing

The students initiated an annual Basketball Tournament on campus which
brought out about 150 students to participate. Besides the elements of
sports competition and door prizes, gospel literature was distributed. The
event began with prayer and included an evangelistic message with a call to
commitment.

The students meet weekly for prayer and a preaching-style presentation of
Scripture. They have also spoken with fellow students on campus and have
distributed copies of Daily Bread devotionals.

Our Vision

The students are zealous and energetic. The group has dwindled to two
students from ten, due to the aforementioned church conflict and some sharp
words among them. The hope is that the one student who will return to
campus next year will have the vision and motivation to start the group up
again, and will work alongside the faculty advisors to create a healthy
group.

What God is Doing

These students are growing in ministry experience that will be easily
applied to the local church setting.

Help Needed

The group has been dominantly African American, but there are other ethnic
groups on campus, and possibly some other believers who wouldn’t be drawn
to a Pentecostal-style experience that the group has developed over the
past two years or so. There needs to be a better understanding of black
urban culture and church backgrounds, and how to train students to reach
out to other ethnic groups.

Chapter_Planting_4yr_Sm_Goldey-Beacom.doc