Orbit is a summer weekly small group for college age young adults.
Why is a small group like this important for your current season in life?
[ From Kennedy ]
Meeting at Orbit each Sunday night is a great way to connect with and regroup with other Christ followers our age. Whether they went off to college, stayed here for college, or didn’t go to college at all, meeting with other “college” aged people makes for an easier way of connecting, learning about, and discussing the hardships, struggles, and blessings that life has brought us over the course of the past few years since high school ended.
[ From Clara ]
A small group like this is so important for this season of my life as I feel like I have made my faith my own at college. I have an amazing support group of friends and church in college, and this small group has helped me continue to have a community of Christians I can relate to and be real with. Going home has been hard for me, but being surrounded with other students who are going through the same thing has really helped me.
[ From McKenna ]
As a high schooler, small groups played a huge part in not only the development and consistency of my faith, but also gave me the opportunity of new relationships and to make other connections. In college it’s not as easy to make those connections. We are in a stage of where for a lot of us we feel stuck, not knowing what the future holds, and wondering if we will “mess up” God’s plan for us by making the wrong decision. So many young adults abandon their faith in college, and we must fight against that. So with a college group we can sit with each other, lean into the fact that we are not alone and be reminded that God has a beautiful plan for our lives.
What’s something you’ve already been excited about (people, conversations, God showing up in a fresh way, etc…) in your initial meetings so far?
[ From Kennedy ]
Even though there have only been two meetings so far, this summer is looking like it is going to one of loads of connection and community where we learn things from and grow in our faith with each other. In our second meeting, we sat down and briefly shared some of the struggles that we have been met with over the course of the past year and some of the goals we have for the next year. Being able to open up and hear that others have struggled with similar things to me have allowed to me to realize that I’m not alone and that messing up and having hardships are a huge part of life. If in the first two weeks of meeting, lessons and relationships begin to form, then so much more can come within the rest of the summer.
[ From Clara ]
Since day one, I was surprised at the number of students who showed up- especially those I haven’t seen for years! The initial spark showed me that there is something special here and that all of us value the friendships we’ve grown up with at Pulpit Rock and that these people who have been searching for a place to plug in (myself included) can now have a place to just be with each other. On the other hand, last week we had two new people show up who have never been to Pulpit Rock before, which was extremely encouraging that not only is Orbit a place that welcomes the old, but the new. I am so excited for what this summer has to hold, and my main prayer is that Orbit becomes a sustainable group that meets even outside the summer.
[ From McKenna ]
In the initial meetings so far I have seen so many people from many years ago. I’m glad that this is still a place where they can come and feel joy, but also a place where they feel safe to express whatever they are feeling. It’s good to see that our college age students are not getting lost, but that they have a place to come back to. And hopefully for the future we can have a college program so that after high school you feel like you have a place to go.
