Many fellowship groups available at I.U.

By Eric Seymour

Four years (or more) in college is possibly the most important time in a person's life. In those years, we are exposed to many opinions and cultures, largely determine our career, and find life- long friends. We also determine much of who we will be, and what we believe for the rest of our lives. To help students along this journey, many Christian student organizations exist at I.U. for the purposes of teaching, training, and fellowship. Here's a list:

Baptist Student Union: http://php.indiana.edu/~bsm/iubsu.html; bsm@indiana.edu--According the their web page, you don't have to be Baptist to participate in the BSU's events ("like Kentucky Fried Chicken--you don't have to be from Kentucky to eat the chicken!") In addition to their weekly meeting, they sponsor Bible studies, small fellowship groups, and a spring break mission trip. Since their web page hasn't been updated in awhile, I would suggest emailing them to find the times and locations of these events.

Campus Crusade for Christ: http://php.indiana.edu/~iuccc/; iuccc@indiana.edu--Campus Crusade is "an interdenominational spiritual resource for students" at I.U. Their weekly meeting is always on Thursday evenings, currently in Woodburn 100 at 9 P.M. They also offer Bible studies, fellowship events, and prayer. For those times when you need to get away from campus, there are weekend, Christmas, and spring break conferences. Finally, Campus Crusade offers summer mission projects both in the U.S., and overseas.

Christian Student Fellowship: http://php.indiana.edu/~iucsf/; csf@indiana.edu--CSF is "a non-denominational outreach to students at I.U." Their weekly meeting is at 7:30 P.M. on Thursdays in Fine Arts 102. They also have two campus houses (707 and 713 E. 8th St.), which are home to 16 students, and where they have small groups and Bible studies on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. CSF "provides transportation to [their] events and assists students in getting to local churches." They sponsor retreats, missions trips, and volunteer activities, as well as Christian music concerts on campus.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship: http://www.indiana.edu/~ivcf/; ivcf@indiana.edu--InterVarsity has been busy with many activities to welcome new students to I.U. Their weekly meeting (of usually 60-80) is at 7 PM on Fridays in Business 223. They have Bible studies in many dorms, and off-campus. IVCF also offers prayer throughout the week, and frequent social events.

Navigators: http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~tyee/navs.html; kelarson@indiana.edu--According to Director Ken Larson, "The Navigators were founded in 1933 and have been at IU since 1960...Our motto is 3To Know Christ and to Make Him Known'." Their weekly meeting is "Thursday at 7pm in the basement of the University Lutheran Church on 7th street across from the Union." The Navigators "cultivate small group Bible studies and personal discipleship where students can dig into the Bible and share insights and struggles."

Student Life in Christ: http://www.indiana.edu/~slic/; slic@indiana.edu-- According to Larry Howard, SLIC is "a ministry of the New Life Campus Church. Our focus is Jesus. Our aim is simple: dispel misconceptions, emphasize relevancy and instill faith." SLIC "consists of small cells' of 5-15 people that function as mini-Christian communities." The emphasis is on these groups living together and ministering to each other, rather than on activities. They do plan to meet together on Sunday mornings in the School of Education auditorium in mid- to late September for a series of discussions.

This is not a complete list. Many other options exist at I.U. for Christian students, especially the outreaches of local churches.