InterVarsity's StudentSoul.org

We were ready for change in our chapter at UNH. Recognizing that our group had become a monument, we now desired becoming a movement, dynamic, responsive, advancing and alive. We describe our growing “holy dissatisfaction” in part 1, and in part 2 we describe structural changes we made to start the change process. In this part, we explore how “catalytic moments” helped propel us forward.

This is part 3 of the story of how God did a major makeover on our group, moving us toward becoming a genuine witnessing community. Our story has four parts; you might want to back up and read part 1 to get oriented.

Chapter makeover part 3: Building momentum

Momentum is a difficult thing to define. P=mv, you science folks would tell me. But what does that really mean when talking about a group or community?

One thing I know about momentum is that when you have it, you just know it. You can feel it, even if you cannot articulate it. In the famous 2008 Olympic 4 × 100 meter relay, American swimmer Jason Lezak chased down the French anchor in an unbelievable comeback to give the Americans the gold and, more importantly, keep alive Michael Phelps’s quest for eight gold medals in one Olympics.

As you watch Lezak swallow up the French anchor, the noise in the pool area begins to rise. The announcer starts yelling, incredibly, “Can Lezak do it? Can he come from behind?!” People feel something. Lezak is gaining ground, yes, but there is something intangible happening, too, this indefinable feeling that significant movement is occurring. And it’s exciting! In the final leg of that race, Lezak had momentum. Everyone could feel it. He had momentum because he was moving.

Monuments that stand still and solid don’t have momentum. But movements do.

The first sign of momentum for UNH took place at Summit, our annual chapter camp in August. Scripture was the catalyst. Everyone at camp spent three hours each morning in manuscript Bible study looking at the first four chapters of Acts. As we studied the Scriptures, it became clear to us that, from the beginning, the Christian movement had been just that – a movement. Think about the difference between what Jesus’ followers expected and what the Lord intended: There was no static monument erected to the risen Lord, even though the disciples may have wished there were! (See Acts 1:10-11 — “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky?’”).

Instead a movement of people was born from the Ascension, a movement that increased in number — yes, in number — by the thousands. Our study of Acts showed us that the healthy, normative life of the Christian movement involves engaging the world, taking the Word and a witness into the world, and desiring God to bring both numerical and spiritual growth.

Then, at our second large-group meeting of the year, God showed up. It felt new. It also felt catalytic. The large-group team and I interweaved a talk and a skit together on the topic of identity and the image we present to others. At the end, we invited students to write their constructed false identities on a felt mask and bring it forward to leave at the cross we placed in the room. That night, we had 55 students there, and 46 of them responded by bringing a mask forward. Students encountered the risen Christ at that meeting! As simple as it sounds, this was ground-breaking for us.

Momentum added to momentum

More momentum began to build on this initial momentum:  

• In October, the Uganda-inspired outreach (read about it in part 1) took shape with two interactive proxe stations. As a result, a witness and the Word set up shop right in the middle of UNH under the office window of the university president.
• The next week, 75 students showed up to a large-group event centered on the issue of body image and Jesus’ desire to redeem our university culture in this area.
• At our annual fall conference, two students made public professions of faith for the first time and entered the Kingdom, helped along not by staff or the speaker, but by fellow students.

And each Sunday night, our consistent core group of 25 missional Christians (MCs) [See a further definition below.] met at The Edge, the name for our core gathering and planning time (described in part 2) to celebrate how we had seen God’s kingdom advancing and to pray for more.

This all culminated in a public call to faith at the last large-group meeting before Thanksgiving. Using the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-32, we invited “prodigals” to return to the Father’s family. Three people made decisions to trust Christ for the first time, publicly standing to make the commitment in front of our wide-eyed community.

One of these students, Dave, was talking about his experience with InterVarsity to a friend the next week. “Yeah, you ought to come try out this InterVarsity thing,” he commented. “The first week, we talked about politics and the election, the next week we watched the Patriots/Jets game, and then the week after that I gave my life to Jesus!”

All semester, momentum seemed to build upon momentum as God gave us more of himself, and then a little more, and then a little more. The result was transformed lives — and a transformed community — happening, very literally, right before our eyes. By the end of the semester, we were starting to dream big, wondering what God would do next.

—Ben Humphries

Read more about how these students changed their chapter structure and took risks in their mission to the campus:
Chapter Makeover at UNH:

• Part 1: From monument to movement
• Part 2: Moving to the edge
• You are here: >> Part 3: Building momentum
• Part 4: Dreaming big

  
Missional Christian: In the InterVarsity planting context, a missional Christian is defined as a student or faculty member who is motivated by their relationship with Jesus to advance the gospel on their campus, someone who is willing to devote time, resources and take risks for Jesus’ sake, to engage with cynics and seekers in order that they might be moved to belief. [Go back up to continue reading.]