This summer, the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists created Connections Café, a new ministry geared to fostering relationships between church members and Southern students. This ministry is one of several designed by the church to help grow the community between itself and the university.
During SmartStart, Dave Ferguson, senior pastor of the Collegedale Church, hosted a Connections Café lunch in the Iles Gymnasium. During the lunch, students connected with church families who offered to host smaller gatherings at their houses throughout August and into the school year.
Ferguson said that one of the goals of Connections Café is to provide relationship and support for students, especially those who feel they lack either.
“The body of Christ is relational,” Ferguson said. “One of the big drives for us is community. I believe we’re called to add value to the students’ lives.”
Connections Café is similar to the Adopted Family ministry that the church has run in previous years. Adopted Family also focused on church families inviting students over for lunch periodically throughout the school year. However, Ferguson said that Connections Café focuses more on one-at-a-time events instead of yearlong commitments, so that families and students can have more autonomy and meet more people.
Connections Café is part of a multi-ministry effort by the church to connect more with Southern students. Over the summer, the church took Southern’s Campus Ministries team on a retreat to help prepare them for the coming school year. Ferguson also preached a sermon series titled “Generations” to help explore biblical examples of different generations of believers working together for Christ.
This coming Sabbath, Sept. 9, the church, in conjunction with the Southern Union, will be hosting The Great Haystack, an after-church lunch in Iles Gymnasium as another opportunity for students to find different Connections Café groups.
Ferguson said that he is excited about the future of Connections Café and church-university relations. “I’d love to see us reach a point where we have a spot in the church where the families who want to have students over can meet up with other students on Sabbath and have them over after the service.”
When asked how he felt about Connections Café, Student Association President Philip Warfield, said, “Connections Café is an innovative re-branding and redefining way to connect multigenerational and even multicultural students and church members. This program is special to me because it feels like there’s an unlimited amount of resources at my disposal and even more wisdom to gain from people who are way more experienced.”
