Texas A&M GAD

The TAMU CSO held their third annual GAD - Gathering of Active Disciples. The theme this year was "The Desserts of Life" and a number of discussion sessions were held, some with theme related titles, around that topic:
* How to break the ice - cream: Discussing CS with others
* Whirled Peace: Praying for the world
* Sin, baptism where do we fit in?
* Recipe for a Sweet Life: Finding balance in life
* Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll: Removing Temptation
* Being Perfect in a Material World: Evidence of a perfect you.
* Having a Sweet Heart: A look at relationships
* Life is Like a Box of Chocolates: Being grateful for the good already received

We also had Ryder Stevens, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship give a talk on true Manhood and Womanhood. The title of his talk? Apple Pie: a la Mode

The weekend provided for an incredible opportunity to get ideas out and to gain inspiration on difficult topics. TMC Youth was there to do some filming so, look for an update on TMCYouth.com.

Thanks TAMU CSO!

Madison CSO Meeting

Madison CSO meeting
Originally uploaded by offyonder

Ginger Mack moved up to Madison, WI to work as the CSO and residential manager from Chicago. She's organizing weekly meetings and is bringing some fresh energy to the campus. Tonight's meeting was on Love and Relationships. The students shared what they are working on and members of the group brought new ideas to the table.

Ginger is keen to see this amazing space they have get more use and is keen to host a DiscoveryBound event at some point and she's meeting with the interfaith community in Madison to learn more about what is going on around campus and to put Christian Science on the map for spiritual seekers.

Before this meeting, Ginger took me out for a sail, which unexpectedly turned into a swim... but we were undaunted. Once we got some help to pull the mast of the 14' sloop out of the mud, we were off. We did opt not to pop up the jib as it was pretty blowy... small whitecaps and all, making me guess we were dealing with 12-15 kts of wind. It was a blast however.

Post Lecture Chats

Daniel, Whitney, Holly & Cameron
Originally uploaded by offyonder

After Ryder's lecture I had a chance to meet some of the folks from the area and each time I introduced myself as working with DiscoveryBound, a look of appreciation was reciprocated to me.

I promoted the meeting coming up in a week where Aaron from A/U will be talking about the camps and I'll have a moment to see if there is interest in getting a DB Chapter going.

After the lecture I went out with Daniel, Whitney and Holly. Daniel is a Junior at the University of Texas and Whitney and Holly came up from Texas A&M. They're all involved with their respective CSO's and they seem eager to support DB.

I chatted with them about how middle school and high school might pay them more attention than folks their parents age and how DB is a natural feeder to get students interested in getting involved with the CSO of their college when they go off to study.

Marissa in San Antonio is about to have her last Sunday School class and she's kinda bummed about it. She's just getting the CSO started at Trinity College, but I told her that was a perfect environment to help buffer the transition from talking about God for an hour to sitting still and listening about God for an hour. The CSO has a great opportunity to even invite local HS seniors to come and participate and to understand what a supportive community is available.

We all had a great time talking about this stuff... not to mention some good snacks like my root beer float, Whitney's chocolate chip cookie a la mode and very liberal and decorative whipped cream while Holly and Daniel split some cake. Good times.