Today, we are featuring another of our amazing SLU alumni, who has taken the lessons learned at SLU and applied them toward achieving his God-given dreams. We hope that you are encouraged and inspired by his story!
Garrett Spangler attended SLU 101, 201, 301, and 401 as a student and has served with SLU Summer Staff in San Antonio and Washington, D.C. Currently, Garrett is a junior at Menlo College in California, studying International Management, and has recently stepped into a role as the primary leader for Menlo’s on-campus ministry called Menlo Reach.
Menlo Reach is a completely student-run college ministry on the Menlo College campus. Formed by an alumnus about three years ago, we began as a small Bible study. That study grew into a club, and currently 10% of the student body attends Reach’s weekly meetings.
We are excited about the growth of Reach, as attendance at the weekly meetings has tripled since the beginning of the school year.
Our biggest challenge so far is dealing with logistics from the school—space is limited, so if we get much bigger, it will be hard to find a space that will accommodate everyone!
To "reach" new people, we primarily focus on building on organic relationships, but we also spent the first month of the academic year getting the word out through events, such as the club fair and a free BBQ for the student body. I can confidently say that nearly everyone on campus has at least heard of us.
Our focus is on genuine community, and we support that by having our main body broken down into small groups. These small groups allow the leaders and the attendees to debrief on our weekly lessons in greater detail and allow for deeper and more genuine conversation to take place. My personal priority is to support the small group leaders and to define the direction of the group by orchestrating event partnerships from our mother church (Menlo Park Presbyterian Church) and by deciding how to handle challenges as they come our way.
In essence, Reach is about "reaching out" to our campus to provide a sense of deep, Jesus-centered community that hasn't really been around at this secular school before.
"Like" Menlo Reach on Facebook and keep up with how they are impacting their campus!
If you're an SLU alumni, we’d love to hear more about your journey and dream! You can submit your SLU story here.
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