Large Group Meetings

What is Large Group all about?

Map to Calvary Lutheran Chapel Click for larger image

In short, Large Groups are our biweekly Friday night meetings, at 7:30pm, where our whole chapter (hence the name "Large Group") comes together for worship, community, and learning. We meet at the Calvary Lutheran Chapel (701 State St - see the map on the right). Be sure to sign up for the e-mail list so you can get all the latest updates.

Large Groups are a fun and insightful way to wrap up a long week. We typically worship together and hear from a speaker about a topic in our theme. We also love to have dinner together beforehand, and enjoy a time of fellowship after Large Group, possibly through an "After Hours" activity or just through hanging out at the Chapel. We also incorporate elements of student testimonies or corporate prayer at times.

Large Group is not church or another lecture. It is a uniquely grad-student-focused event where we can learn and grow together. At this point in your life, you may find yourself asking, "What does it mean to be a Christian grad student? How does my faith impact my work? How can I exalt God through what I do and attract others to Him through my actions?" If so, then you're in good company! We look forward to seeing you!

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Next Large Group

2007 Fall Retreat

Our next Friday Night Large Group will be:

What is our Large Group theme this year?

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42, ESV) As an exec, we have a three pronged focus for the year: prayer, evangelism, and fellowship. By looking at stories of Christian communities throughout history, we will focus on these unifying themes while learning and growing through diversity of expressions thereof.

Why stories? Stories shape the way we think about the world. As children, we ask our parents for stories. These are then supplemented by the stories that some children get from cartoons. As we get older, the source of our stories changes, but people still interpret the truth through stories. Musicians think about the story of their music, painters convey either a story through a painting or a story behind the painting. Scientists think about how to tell the story of their experiments. Literary critics, well you get the idea. It is for this reason that we have chosen to use stories as the medium of choice of Large Group this year.

Why communities? As graduate students we are trained to become experts in a (sub)field. This narrows our focus to the point that we can lose recognition for the wholeness of the body of Christ. The triune God takes individuals and uses them to shape communities at the same time as He uses those communities to mold the character of those individuals.

Why not just read a book about these people? Because gathering together and interacting with a speaker as a community is part of our worship. The ability to be shaped by the Sprit working through rest of the community requires interacting with that community.

Come and check us out!

Large Group Schedule: Spring 2008

• At the Calvary Lutheran Chapel

• 7:00 at the Pres House

Large Group Schedule: Fall 2007

• At the Memorial Union

• Charles Yu - UW Hebrew and Semitic Studies Department
• 6:00 - First-year students: Dinner at the Pres House
• 6:30 - Non-first-year students: Dinner at Chipotle

• Nate Clarke - Director, 2100 Ministries (IV's media production group)
• 6:30 - Glass Nickel pizza at the Pres House (bring a few bucks to contribute)
• 6:45 - Movie: Le Fils (The Son), a French/Belgian movie from 2002
• 8:30ish - Nate will close the evening with teaching.

• Eric Carlsson - Finished grad school in 2006; currently teaching European History at Edgewood College
• Sharon Gartland - Director, IV's Ministry for Women in the Academy; formerly Professor of Occupational Therapy
• Dave Milovich - Grad student, UW-Madison Department of Mathematics; Deacon, Geneva Campus Church

• Steve Turley - Dissertator, UW-Madison Department of History; M.Div., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

• Terry Morrison - Former Staff Worker and Director of Faculty Ministries for InterVarsity USA

Large Group Archive

Check out our Large Group Archive, with links and resources from past Large Groups.