We are very encouraged by all that the Lord is doing this semester! We are learning how to contact students, and in particular freshmen. The first week of school we had several welcome events. On the first day of school (Thursday) we had a BBQ at a park nearby campus. This established initial contact with many freshmen. The following day (Friday) a few of those Freshmen joined us for “family dinners” in the homes of the saints. On Saturday we hosted a half-day event called “Christians on Campus Connect” (Similar to a Freshmen Connect event) at the meeting hall of the Church in Arlington (the sponsor church for the UTA Christians on Campus club), and concluding in the homes of the saints. The church hosting the event and the event being on Saturday provide a simple segue to personally invite the students (who were brand new to the area and looking for a church) to join us the next morning for a welcome meeting.
The first 3 Lord’s days of the semester, we have “porch meetings” to welcome new students, friends, co-workers, etc., as Solomon’s temple in the Old Testament had a porch to welcome the people. We begin the porch meetings with a meet and greet time over a light breakfast. Then we gather, sing one song, and a brother shares a brief summary of who we are and the items of the faith. Following this, another brother shares a 30 minute message, concluded by a few minutes for anyone to overflow. (One example of a message given this semester is “The Recovery of Eating Christ”. We all need this word!) We end the meeting early to give the saints more time to have others into their homes for lunch.
