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Vision Statement

The vision statement of Stanford InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship addresses four areas:

Spiritual Formation - We are committed to encouraging each other to know God better and to become more like Jesus.

Christian Community - We want to understand what it means to be a community and to be the Body of Christ for each other and as Christ's ambassadors on campus.

Integration of Faith and Learning - We are committed to fostering discussion on the integration of faith and learning so that we may enable our members to discover further what it means to be a Christian in a graduate community.

Witness and Service - Our graduate fellowship seeks to encourage and support each other in the manifestation of our faith in Christ through the sharing of the Gospel and the service of the needy.

Development of the Vision Statement

We took as our starting point the broad areas outlined in the vision statement of the National Graduate InterVarsity ministry. Then we fleshed out how each area might be applied to our group, both now and in the future.

Part of the National Vision Statement reads:
"The Vision of InterVarsity's Graduate Student Ministry is to build Christian graduate fellowships which engage the university in all its ethnic, social and academic diversity with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and which develop biblical disciples.

That vision is best seen in terms of four areas of our vocation within the university -- Spiritual Formation, Christian Community, Integration of Faith and Learning and Witness and Service. The following section describe what these are in more detail...

Spiritual Formation

A key element of the national IV vision statement is the desire to see students grow spiritually. This is also one of the Stanford graduate fellowship's main goals.

What is spiritual formation?

We believe that each individual has a personal relationship with God which is fostered in the same way as any other relationship; by devoting time and energy towards getting to know God. We also believe that the main God-given purpose of every person's life, whether acknowledged or unacknowledged, is to become like Jesus in character and actions. Spiritual formation is the process through which every individual grows more like Jesus. Developing spiritually happens in different ways with some activities being especially helpful for spiritual growth. These are often called "spiritual disciplines" and include [not an exhaustive list] prayer (meditation, intercessory prayer, worship, corporate prayer), reading and studying the Bible, fasting, and serving others (giving our time, money and abilities).

It is easy to think of spiritual development as a very private thing. Spiritual formation does not happen to us alone and in a vacuum, however. Even though ultimately it is the individual who stands before God we realize that it is the community of God's people who are the Body of Christ. It is often through others that we hear and serve God. Since spiritual formation is something intimately connected with the life of the Christian community, we strive to give it a central place in our fellowship.

Why is spiritual formation important?

Spiritual formation is important because it concerns who we are. In becoming like Jesus we are becoming transformed people. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore is anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" In Christ we are already made new. But that does not protect us from difficulties. ".. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith... " (Hebrews 12:1-2) We are committed to helping each other escape the things that entangle us and fix our eyes on Jesus.

We believe that the Stanford graduate fellowship, as a relatively small group of people, is especially equipped to serve one another in our spiritual development. We also strive to work together to identify those things about graduate student life that are particular hindrances to spiritual growth and help each other to develop ways to overcome these.

How can we foster spiritual formation and development?

It is important that every member of the fellowship receives encouragement in his or her relationship with God. This means that we (tactfully) ask each other about our spiritual journeys, even those of us whose journey has not yet reached the stage that could be called a "relationship with God". Encouragement should take the forms, among others, of talking with and praying with each other about our spiritual lives, praying for each other and hearing from others about how God has helped them.

What specific activities involve these forms of encouragement?

Christian Community

History

The Stanford IV Grad chapter has always been concerned with promoting a sense of community among its members. Between 1989, when the chapter started, and 1993, this was fairly automatic since the group had relatively few members, seldom more than 20-25. However between 1993 and 1996, the group grew with large group meetings attended at times by up to 50 people, and with 70-80 people on the mailing list in 1995 and 80-90 in 1997. With this growth, the need to address issues of being a community has become more important.

The group has always had a sense of openness; anyone could be a part of the group whatever their level of commitment to the group or to Christianity. A different aspect of the group's openness is exemplified by the many non-students who have been an integral part of the group and have enriched our community life.

What is a community?

A community is more than just a group of people. A community provides a place for people to develop friendships, have emotional, spiritual and physical needs met and to use their gifts to meet other people's needs. A community is not exactly the same as a group of friends either. A community must share a goal or vision, or have some other characteristics in common.

Close community takes commitment on the part of members. One of the major commitments is to spend time with people in the community. But being in community should also involve a sense of responsibility for the well-being of others whether physical, spiritual or emotional. We should expect to go out of our way to help and support each other.

What makes the Stanford IV Grad group a community?

We have the following things in common:

It is important to us that we are not a church. We do not intend to be able to provide the kinds of things that a church provides. We do not have a large range of ages in our group, nor do we display the balance that comes from people of different social backgrounds and with different jobs which ought, ideally, to be a feature of a local church.

Who makes up this group?

It is worth recognizing that community is almost impossible to build if people are not willing to commit themselves to the effort to a certain extent. However, it is also important to us that anyone feel free to join the group and take part in any activities that are going on.

The group is primarily composed of Americans. Of the non-Americans, we have often attracted proportionally high numbers of international students from English speaking, British Commonwealth or European countries, but not so many from Asian, African or South American countries. The lack of ethnic and national diversity is something we would like to change. One goal for the future is to have an increasing focus on international students. We would also like to be a welcoming group for minority ethnic groups.

We have always had a large range of denominational affiliations within the group. We value the different perspectives this brings. We strongly encourage members of the group to be involved with local churches and would like to see group members making the transition out of our group and into service in their local churches as their graduate studies come to completion.

Vision for community in our chapter Our priorities are:
  1. To see each of our group members getting to know a few other people in the group well. Broadly speaking we would like to know that each person has a network of friends and is in touch with people who can support and encourage them. Specifically, this may take on different forms in different years as needs arise.
  2. To see that each of our group members knows the rest of the group. Broadly speaking, we would like everyone in the group to know each other's names and something about each person, even if they are not close friends. Our aim is to ensure that everyone feels they belong and they are able to share their frustrations and joys with the others in the group.
  3. To imbue the group with a sense of purpose and vision. We recognize that community alone is not what we are about. We want to use a strong and vibrant fellowship to reach out to the people around us. The particular form that may take can vary according to the circumstances the chapter faces at any one time.

What specific activities promote community in our chapter?

One of the central activities for community building is our small groups. Properly used, these ought to be places for people to get to know each other and places for people to share needs and for others to meet those needs. Social activities are another key way for people to get to know each other. Our aim is to provide places for people to become friends. Finally, prayer meetings are essential for us to be able to grow together into the Body of Christ.

Integration of Faith and Learning

As a group established to foster "Christians in the Graduate Community" the Stanford chapter of the InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship is intent upon aiding graduate students in the integration of their academic discipline with their Christian faith. This integration is done in two distinct and complementary ways: general and specific.

General integration is not exclusive to a graduate community or even to the setting of education. Rather it is the integration that every Christian is called to perform by living and functioning as a Christian in their vocational environment. We are all to be seeking a righteous lifestyle wherever we find ourselves. Part of integrating faith and learning involves intertwining our faith with the way we live our lives in the community in which we learn. For a graduate student this kind of integration asks the question: "Am I acting Christianly in this University?" while a carpenter asks, "Am I acting Christianly as I construct this building?" Both are called to a lifestyle which exudes the fruit of the spirit, the only difference is one of environment.

The specific integration of faith and learning as it applies to graduate work calls us to actively seek the common ground between Christianity and our specific discipline. The student asks: " How am I, as a Christian, to approach my discipline differently from my secular colleagues?" The degree to which a particular student is involved in specific integration is highly dependent on his/her area of specialization.

Some students may find the teaching of Christianity in direct agreement, or disagreement, with the current thought in their discipline. In this instance, the integration of faith and learning would be a very exciting and active pursuit as the student attempts to reconcile the differences between the two camps. Often Christianity and one's discipline will paint complementary pictures, neither one giving sufficient information to function as a complete human being.

However, some students will find that religion has little to say about their discipline and their academics have little to bring to Christianity. For these students the integration of their faith and learning will be primarily of the general form, although it may take some serious discussion and thought to realize that this is in fact the case. It is a goal of our chapter to provide a forum for this kind of discussion to occur.

Certainly it has been one of the main foci of our large group meetings. We have accomplished scientists, authors, and medical professionals address us on how they personally reconcile or complement their career with their faith. In addition, the occasional "Roundtable" discussions, in which we read several articles pertaining to a certain topic, have been an area in which we could examine how we can bring our disciplines and our faith into harmony.

The most beneficial function of this group toward the end of integration has been simply bringing together Christians who find themselves in similar situations. Whether it is the large group meetings, the various small groups, the Roundtable discussions, or a game of Ultimate Frisbee in the Oval, our chapter has succeeded in bringing together Christians and allowing them to build on-going relationships with each other. It is within these relationships that we discuss the issues of integration with others who are in the same situation. Our goal for the future is nothing less than to continue to foster these opportunities which allow individuals to think deeply about how their discipline and their faith interact.

Witness and Service

What are Witness and Service? Witness is the sharing our Christian faith with others by relating the impact of the Gospel in our lives and teaching how Christ's character and commandments can be applied in their lives. Service is the demonstration and celebration of our faith through the meeting of the needs of others.

Why are we called to witness and service? Jesus has commanded us to make disciples of all nations, "And Jesus said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.'" (Matthew 28: 18-20)

Jesus taught us that by serving the needy we are serving him, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." (Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40)

How does our fellowship perform witness and service? As Christians we are called to spread the gospel through our witness and our service. Our fellowship seeks to provide mutual encouragement and support of individual outreach efforts. Additionally, group efforts are planned to accomplish goals that could not be achieved individually and foster a group spirit of cooperation.

We seek to engage the campus community in dialogue regarding the importance of Christ in our lives. Individual members have a significant impact on the campus, both among their graduate student colleagues and among undergraduates as teaching assistants. Group efforts to encourage dialogue include the periodic scheduling and publicizing of large group speakers on relevant topics with appeal to non-Christians. Additionally, we seek to make our fellowship a welcome place for students from other countries.

We seek to help our members celebrate their faith through serving the community. Members take part both in the ministries of their congregations and in those of other charitable organizations, such as Bayshore Christian Ministries. Periodic efforts are made to schedule group projects, such as a recent two day project the Habitat for Humanity and a past visit to a nursing Home by a choral group.