Since stepping into his position at Kentucky Wesleyan just two short years ago as Director of Campus Ministries, Shawn Tomes works tirelessly to brainstorm ways to create new opportunities for worship and growth in faith that are easily accessible for both students and faculty alike. A few of these opportunities includes Wednesday Chapel service at 12:12 P.M., Worship in the Grove, and Stories at 8:08 P.M.. This year, Campus Ministries came up with a new way for all students and faculty to dive even deeper into the word of God. This is through Grow Groups, referred to as “Ggroups” for short.

“Campus Ministries exists on our campus and within our community to impact the lives of others by serving sacrificially, loving unconditionally, and relating to where people are in life in order to build meaningful relationships,” stated Tomes, our Director of Campus Ministries. The idea for Ggroups spawned from the Ministries Team wanting to provide an equal opportunity for spiritual “growth,” while taking into account the crazy schedules that we all have. Between work, class, and sports, finding time for scripture and reflection becomes a nearly impossible task.

Because of this constant battle for time, each individual group decides when and where they meet throughout the weeks. These groups will start meeting the first week of October, and will continue to meet every other week for an hour, excluding Christmas Break and Spring Break. Each group, led by co-leaders, will use the exact same books, so, this way, everyone will be covering the same material.

When asked about Ggroups Tomes stated, “We hope to take our servant leadership culture into the next two semesters and add a very specific focus to what we have been doing in ministry to our campus community. We are adding ‘Ggroups’ to our ministry plan. ‘Ggroups’ is a term (which is short for grow groups) that we are using for small community groups that focus on growing spiritually from where a person is to whatever that next step may be for a person. Everyone is at a different place in their respective faith or belief. We hope to offer a place where a person—faculty, staff, or student—can be surrounded by a small group of peers who will support, encourage, and relate to where a person is and ‘grow’ spiritually with each other.”

There will be a variety of groups to choose from so that both students and faculty can find what is comfortable for them. For example, there will be all male, all female, and combined Ggroups. If you are interested in being a part of a Ggroup, contact Shawn Tomes or anyone on the Campus Ministries Team and they will get you connected with the right group for you! This is an amazing opportunity to share and grow in your faith, and a great way to connect with other people on campus.

“We know everyone is busy,” Tomes added. “We also know life is hard. We respect the demands on our time. We are also aware of the struggles that come with living. We desire to provide a ‘doable’ place and space for each person to grow spiritually…in a safe peer community.”

The Campus Ministries team is very excited to get this started! If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask a Team member. We are excited to see growth on our Wesleyan campus!