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Justice Leslie Dean 10/20/2013 ENGL 106 Aria Halliday Spark Campus Ministries Final Draft: Ethnographic Essay

When people hear the word Christian in todays society, many things might run through their heads. Some people might think of Jesus, God, and Church. Others might think of bad memories with Christians, or feel hatred towards a religion. I have been researching a group of college students at Purdue University that feel Christianity is very important to them. This group of students has started a brand new club on campus, called Spark Campus Ministries. I am a member of this community. I want to get a sense of the kind of discourse practices that goes within it. To get thorough notes and results, I went to Sparks weekly meeting, asked several questions, completed follow-up interviews, and took several notes. I wanted to find what kinds of texts and language the people in the community use and what it says about the community. Spark Campus Ministries meets every Thursday at 8 pm at the McDonalds on campus. When they meet they have a Bible study. Bible studies are simply trying to learn more about the Bible and what it means. This bible study is full of interaction that one student called uplifting. I met the group at McDonalds at 8 pm on October 17th, 2013. We had eight students and two non-students. The two non-students were the Pastor of Christ Memorial Temple in Lafayette, IN and his wife. Jordan Parnell and Dacia Parnell attend every meeting every week. Jordan teaches the bible study using lessons he made himself.

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At first the students just did some small talk, concerning school, homework, and what they are doing for the weekend. Jordan then led the group in prayer. He asked God for guidance and that the students would have a good time and understand what he was teaching. I learned a few things about Jordan as I talked to him after the bible study. He just became Pastor of Christ Memorial Temple this year. Over the past several years, he has been very involved in campus ministry at Purdue University. He usually has a group every year, but this year he started over because most of them had graduated. All of the students are first year college students except one. Three of the students attend his church, while the others attend various churches around the area. Jordan and Dacia have a son named Roarke, who is not quite 1 year old yet. Dacia said that they help the students with whatever they need help with, but the students are the ones that drive the organization. Jordan led the Bible study using his lesson he had prepared. He passed out worksheets for the students. Each worksheet had key things about the lessons and blanks for the students to fill in. At the beginning of the lesson, Jordan read three promises to the student: 1. We will not discuss the teachings of any church or denomination as right or wrong. All we are seeking to learn is what the Bible says. 2. I will not ask you to join a church. I may invite you to visit or come to Bible studies only. 3. There are no arguments, only respected and respectful discussion. All opinions matter. After he read off the three promises, he went into teaching the lesson. The lesson was titled, The Unromantic God. He taught about how God creates and destroys and how He is merciful. As he taught, the members filled in the blanks. They would discuss certain topics, and ask questions about things they did not understand. At the end of the Bible study, Jordan asked one of the students dismissed them in prayer. However, most students stayed and fellowshipped with one another for about thirty minutes.

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I conducted a quick survey for some of the members after the bible study was over. I asked how they would describe the communitys overall goal. After hearing all of their responses, I concluded that the overall goal of Spark is to help students learn about Jesus Christ and the Bible. I also asked what they believe to be the most common word used during their meetings. Their answers varied, but all had to do with Christianity. I have attached a table with the members exact answers to my questions. See Table 1.

I conducted an

Table 1

interview with the President of the club, Chelsea Lewandowski. She was very excited when she came to Purdue to be a part of a Christian organization. She decided to become a member because she had a desire to learn more about the Bible and connect with other Christians on Purdues campus. Chelsea has been involved in a few other campus ministries as well. However, she said, Other clubs on campus dont study the Bible like we do. We talk about different viewpoints, have discussions, and talk about Jesus! She also said that the group uses text messaging, Facebook, and Twitter to communicate with one another. I also interviewed another member of Spark, Rheann Weaver. She is currently the Secretary of Spark Campus Ministries. Rheann is a sophomore who transferred to Purdue this

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year. She believes that being a member of Spark Campus Ministries has helped her stay strong in her faith at a public university. Rheann said, I know that having a group of people with similar values and beliefs will help to encourage me as I continue in my college career." She also let me know that the group has parties and get togethers, so that the community can bond as a group. She emphasized that they try to focus on the Bible and learn more about it. The Bible study is one of the vital texts of the group as well. Spark Campus Ministries has several discourse practices. They study the Bible and use biblical terms very often. From what Ive researched, the communitys main goal is to connect with other Christians on Purdues campus and learn more about the bible. The group chose McDonalds because it is a space where they dont have to ask for permission to use. I was a little skeptical about using McDonalds as a meeting place for a bible study, but it actually didnt hinder it at all. The setting reflected that the students want people to know what they are doing. Spark Campus Ministries use several resources available to them, including setting, Jordans Bible studies, and their Bibles.