Literature Review

The community I chose to research, Disciples on Campus, is a college ministry branching off of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC). In order to even begin understanding the relations between members of the Disciples on Campus community, one must first study their community on a broader scale and understand the church they come from.

The ICOC is a fairly modern church, founded primarily in 1979 by a man named Kip McKean. McKean had a vision for a Bible based church in which the members were deeply devoted, fully committed “disciples” of Christ (as the word “disciple” is described in the Bible). The first church led by McKean was a branch off of the longer established Church of Christ. Within the next few years, however, McKean split from the Church of Christ and officially founded the International Churches of Christ (ICOC). Since then, the ICOC has spread rapidly, setting up churches in cities all across the U.S. and around the globe. Their goal is to have a church set up in every world city with a population above 100,000. (I gathered this information from a number of articles, chiefly “International Churches of Christ Got Its Start in Massachusetts” by the Associated Press).

There is much controversy that has surrounded the ICOC over the years. While some have found it to be a welcoming environment and chosen to become members of the church, many others warn that it is actually a cult that uses mind-control methods to draw members in and ultimately take control of their lives. The article “Campus Crusaders; The Fast-Growing International Churches of Christ Welcomes Students with Open Arms. Does it Let Them Go?” was printed in the Washington Post. It was upon discovering this article that I first realized there was a whole different side to the ICOC. I then found countless online sources (such as cultsoncampus.com, apologeticsindex.org, cnview.com, cultwatch.com, carm.org, and more) that warn against cults and also give testimonials from ex-members who share about how the church guilted them into joining and were mentally and spiritually abusive. There are many websites that even provide support groups for those trying to leave the ICOC, such as www.reveal.org. This website gives a background of the church, the definition and warning signs of a cult, and ways to get out of this cult by using their tips and/or using their crisis hotline number.

After discovering the excessive amount of articles and websites about warning signs of cult like practices within the ICOC, I realized that many of the practices going on within the Bible study I was in with Disciples on Campus fit right in with these descriptions. While the community had seemed very welcoming and close-knit to me at first, the more I had become involved in it the more I was becoming less and less encouraged by the community and more and more feeling condemned because I was not readily willing to turn my life over to their church’s beliefs. The feelings of guilt and unease that I had been experiencing aligned right with what former members described feeling. I have since left the Bible study and separated myself from the community. However, I feel that there is still a significant amount of research that can be conducted on this community. In the book Awesome Families: The Promise of Healing Relationships in the International Churches of Christ the author Kathleen E. Jenkins shares her research on the ICOC. Her research mainly focused on how the church can build up or destroy families and relationships. Her book is the only book in the entire library database that even mentions the ICOC.

I would like to further the research on this community. Some people have had horrific experiences within the church, while others have had amazing experiences. I would like to take my own experiences and field work and find out more about the ICOC at Virginia Tech in particular.

interview

I interviewed one of my leaders, Nicki, after small group on Tuesday.  I had a long list of questions planned out, but I only ended up having to ask a few that served more as prompts-- she just talked openly and shared a wealth of information!  She said she is not an expert on the history of the church, but she gave me some references to check out that might help me in that area.  She was really excited to get to talk about what the community meant to her because she feels so passionate about the subject.  It was funny for me having to type extremely fast while she was talking though-- it makes conversation slightly awkward when a computer screen is in between you and there is a constant tip-tapping noise while they are trying to talk to you.  I definitely do think typing it was the way to go though-- I have done interviews before where I just had a notepad and pen, and it's always extremely hard to record accurately everything they're saying and even harder to read my hurried hand writing afterwards!  So all in all, it was a great interview.  I still want to talk to more people in the community though to get more points of view.

site visit...s

Well, I've already been a part of my community for a couple weeks, so I've had multiple unofficial "site visits".  I've been going to the women's Bible talk meetings on Tuesdays for the past 3 weeks, as well as having a few discipleship sessions at other times throughout the week.  These are both led by my leaders Nicki and Maral, who attend Roanoke Valley Church and are part of their Disciples on Campus ministry.

So here's a glimpse at a typical Tuesday night:

I grab my Bible and a notebook and walk up to the third floor of my dorm.  There are usually about five or six other girls gathered in this one dorm room, along with our two leaders Nicki and Maral.  We all sit in a circle and eat the batch of cookies that has been placed in the center of our group.  We spend the first ten to fifteen minutes just eating, talking and laughing-- catching up on how our weeks have been going, sharing funny stories, etc.  Eventually, Maral or Nicki will offer to open us in prayer, and then we will begin with the "Bible talk".  There is a certain topic with pertaining verses that we will focus on for that week.  We take turns reading passages aloud, then we all share what we think about the verse, what it means to us, and ask questions if we are unclear or disagree with anything being read.  By all sharing and talking it out together, we are able to look into God's word and focus on how the Bible says to live out our lives.  Though most of the girls in the group have only known each other for a few weeks, they all seem very open and willing to share personal stories and struggles with each other.  There is a level of trust that has already been formed between these new friends.  We are all able to encourage each other and challenge each other in our faith.  After an hour or so, we will close the Bible talk in prayer, then continue chatting and laughing and grabbing a last cookie or two on our way out of the room.

Since my main focus in the community is my particular Bible talk, I used this as my site visit. However, Bible talk is only one part of Disciples on Campus, which is part of Roanoke Valley Church (RVC), which is part of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC).  I plan on attending a Sunday church service at RVC, and hopefully a conference of ICOC churches from all along the Atlantic coast.  These additional site visits will hopefully serve to broaden my view of this community.

My Goals and Questions...

My goals for this semester are to walk away from this class:

a) being a clearer, more concise writer

b) having a well-developed portfolio of papers/research/writings

c) further developing an objective writing style

d) all of the above?? :)

As for the upcoming interview, here are the questions I have planned so far:

-Why Roanoke Valley Church?  What sets it apart from other churches for you?

-How long have you been attending this church?

-What drew you to the Disciples on Campus ministry and how long have you been involved in it?

-What are you trying to achieve by leading this Bible study?

-How do you plan/prepare for the Bible studies? Where does the "curriculum" come from?

-What's your favorite part about being a leader?

-What's the biggest challenge you face being a leader?

-How long have you known Jesus?  Tell me about how you were "saved''.

-Who were the key people in your life that had an influence on your faith? How did they influence it? 

-What are some struggles you have been faced with in your faith and how have you overcome them?

-What would your ideal Bible study small group look like?  

-What is your ultimate vision for the girls in the group?

Those are just some ideas for now...more to come...

What I Learned from Sitting on an Anthill

I sit beneath the shade of a tree, pen and paper in hand.  Dozens of ants crawl in and out of their little holes in the dirt, across the gnarled roots of the tree, up my leg, onto my paper.  I casually brush them away and focus on what is happening around me in the common area...

There is a constant buzz of human activity amidst the courtyard, though no one stays here for long.  Students with backpacks in tow are on a mission.  They walk quickly down the sidewalks that cut across the grassy field.  Other students are not in such a hurry, their feet shuffling along slowly, keys jingling as they twirl their hokie passports around and around their finger.  Doors can be heard slamming shut frequently as people come and go from the dorms that enclose this green area.

Two boys of short, shrimpy stature walk side by side, heads face down, staring awkwardly at the ground as they stroll along and murmur a few words of polite conversation.  Freshmen.

A few yards away from these boys a skateboard speeds down the sidewalk.  Its rider is tall, buff, with an achieved air of perfectly practiced non-chalance as he attempts to do various flips and tricks on his board.  He meets no one's gaze as he rolls past them, darting in and out of people, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.  He finally halts to a stop in front of a group of other similar looking guys, kicks his board up, and pauses to talk.  One of the boys from this group has a strong, confident voice that carries across the courtyard.  His shaggy hair flips out from beneath his backwards cap.  Although it is late afternoon and he stands mostly in the shadows, he must have an acute sensetivity to the sun since he feels he must still wear dark sunglasses that block people from reading his facial expressions.  His arms are folded across his chest and his feet are spread apart, planted firmly on the ground in a confident, assured stance.  He leads the conversation for the rest of the group.

In the grassy field next to the skaters, three boys with lacrosse sticks in hand are casually batting the ball back and forth.  Their friendly banter travels across the field: 

"Oooh!  That bounced right in!" "I know, right?" (laughter)

(ball goes flying into a tree) "My bad."

(five minutes later) "Dude, I went to West End today..."

Scattered across the common area, people sit alone talking on their cell phones.   Animated chatter emerges from a girl in bright pink gym shorts sitting on the steps in front of her dorm.  On the opposite side of the field, a guy sits on a picnic table bench.  His body language speaks differently than the bubbly girl's.  He is hunched over, arms resting on knees, chin in hand.  He looks down as he speaks in low tones into his cell phone.

While all this is going on, people are constantly cutting through the courtyard-- some are determined to get to their destination and do not look up as they hurry by.  Others look up at the sky, over at the lacrosse players, down at their feet, over at me.  Uh oh.  Now one of the lacrosse players has spotted me beneath my tree as well.  He turns to look at me every now and then.  Even the concerned guy on the cell phone has shifted positions on his bench and now faces me directly.  I suppose I am growing less and less inconspicuous.  It's time for me to collect my notes and move on.

I stand up from the ground and brush the dirt off the seat of my shorts.  I gaze once again at all the little holes in the dirt that the ants have been crawling in and out of.  I haven't noticed any one colony of ants here-- just a bunch of individuals crawling along by themselves, some really tiny ones, some of the larger ant variety.  Each does their own thing, seemingly unaware of the others' existence; yet they are all coexisting, sharing the same shelter from the same shady tree.  At first glance, they may seem as if they are all loners, just part of their individual colonies-- but this separated seemingly non-community is in fact a community in itself.

"You Can't Handle the Truth"

I really enjoyed the group discussion we had regarding truth.  When sharing our answers to the discussion questions, everyone in our group had similar answers.  We all had stronger opinions on some statements than others, but for the most part we were able to agree on a few fundamental truths about Truth:

1.  There is an ultimate, absolute truth.  Just because man doesn't always understand it or fully grasp it, does not mean that it does not exist.

2.  Truth is multi-faceted.

3.  Fact and opinion are two different things that apply in different situations.

4.  Truth can be proved by personal experiences and observations.

5.  There may be multiple "right" answers for one certain situation.  What one person knows to be true may differ from what another person knows to be true based on their experiences.  They are both "right" based on their experiences.

The statements I agree with the most are #1 and #5.  However, looking back on them, it almost sounds like they contradict each other.  How can one believe that there is one absolute truth and then turn around and also believe that there are multiple right answers differing from person to person?  Let me clarify the way I see it.  I do not hold the belief that everyone in the world and all the different religions are true.  If all religions are true, then by their very nature they would all be false since all their gods would contradict the other gods.  I believe that there is one absolute truth that holds the "meaning of life".  I do not believe that mankind is ever supposed to be able to fully grab ahold of this truth, though.  That's what keeps us learning and discovering-- life is an ultimate quest for truth.  If we all knew the ins and outs of the universe, then what would be the point on living and learning anymore?  I do believe that there is enough evidence to grab at the truth, but we won't ever be all-knowing.  Now, this may seem like it contradicts statement 5 that multiple people can have different answers that are all true.  I don't see this as multiple people with multiple religions or explanations on the meaning of life all being correct, though.  I think this statement applies for more ambiguous and less absolute truths-- more like human experiences and matters of the heart.  Everyone goes through different experiences and has different attitudes and opinions.  For example, what one person believes to be true about love may differ from what someone else believes about it.  Maybe one person has had a great experience with love and found someone they can share their life with, while the other person was also in love but had their heart broken.  They have both experienced love, but in different ways.  Therefore, they have each grasped a corner of the truth about love and are both right, though different.

To conclude, I believe in an absolute truth (regarding science and God) that man will never fully understand (we really can't "handle the truth" after all).  I also believe in individual truths within each person for certain situations.

my community!

So I took a total turn around from the Skydiving Club and decided to use Disciples on Campus as my community.  They are a ministry stemming out from the Roanoke Valley Church that leads Bible studies and fun events for students at Virginia Tech.  I had never heard about them until one day last week when this girl randomly came and knocked on my door and invited me to come to a Bible study upstairs.  I went on a whim and ended up loving it.  I felt such a strong sense of community in the first night that I met those leaders.  They were so welcoming to everyone, and the students in the Bible study seemed really close to each other as well.  I thought this would be an interesting community to get involved in and also do my research on.  I talked to Nicki, one of the leaders, and she said she would be more than happy to let me do my project on them!  I will be meeting with her at least once a week anyway so she said we could do the interview whenever I want.  I'm excited that things seem to be falling into place...

Potential Communities...

I think it will be better for me to do my research on a community located on campus where I have more ready access to them.  I went to www.vt.edu and followed the links to get to the student life page.  On that page there is another link that gives you a full list of all the clubs and organizations here at Tech (there are a LOT of them!!  Everywhere from the Bellydancing Club to Korean Christian Fellowship!).  I used this list to research some clubs that looked interesting to me.  One of the clubs I am considering for my community is the Skydiving Club at Virginia Tech.  From what they have projected of themselves from their homepage, they look like a lively, adventurous group of people who would be really fun to get to know.  Maybe I'd even get to go skydiving with them at some point...?

Hey, hey!

Welcome to my blog!  There will be plenty of incredibly interesting posts to come, as soon as I can think of something incredibly interesting to say...