Questions from a Spec! Answer as you please.

Andrew,

Thank you so much! It's so great to hear all your insight about Christianity at Swarthmore. Of course you can post everything on the Fellowship blog, and I'd love to see what everyone else says too if you'd share the website with me. If I'm ever out in PA again this year, I will be sure to contact you so I can drop by a meeting or something. Thanks again for everything, and I look forward to applying to Swarthmore soon!

Sincerely,

Tori

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From: Andrew Cheng

To: Tori Greaves
Sent: Thu, June 10, 2010 2:30:33 AM
Subject: Re: Questions about Faith at Swarthmore

Hi Tori!

Thanks for emailing me about this. I'm happy to tell you that yes, there are several thriving Christian groups on campus! The largest is Swarthmore Christian Fellowship, which is a branch of InterVarsity USA. I'm a small group leader for SCF, and a member of SPC the Swarthmore Progressive Christians. SPC used to stand for Swarthmore Protestant Community, but they changed that a while back. SPC is an independent group run by one of our religious advisors, Joyce Tompkins. A third group is the Catholic Newman group, run by religious advisor Father Ed.

WIthin these three groups, there is a lot of overlap in membership and participation; however, even together they do not at represent the total number of believers on campus. A lot of Swatties consider their faith to be personal, and will go to church on their own but never feel the need to join a community such as SCF, SPC, or Newman.

SCF plug time! We definitely strive to build a community on campus. We find that our strengths lie in the small groups we form for weekly Bible study (the freshmen get their own special small group each year). Besides weekly small group meetings, we also have a large group meeting, when everyone in the fellowship (somewhere between 20-40 people) gathers to listen to a message from an alumnus or local pastor, and have communal worship, games, and fun stuff like that. There are also weekly prayer meetings, a few weekend retreats each year, and lots of hang-out time outside of our scheduled events. SCF members get very close, though we are a very diverse group of people both on the spectrum of Christianity as well as in personality, lifestyle, etc. So it's always lots of fun to be around them, and a great learning experience, too.

Most SCF members go to church or mass regularly. On campus or very close by, we have Catholic services, a Presbyterian church, an Episcopalian church, and a Methodist church. We also provide van shuttles to go to BlueRoute Vineyard in Media, Renewal Presbyterian in Philly, and Grace Covenant Church located at UPenn, every Sunday.

As for what it's like to be a Christian at Swarthmore... well, no one can really say. Everyone's experience is so different. I have seen friends who were very active in the faith when they came decide that they'd really rather not spend their time in college chained to all the "burdens" of religion they had to face growing up. Others might be interested in exploring Christianity more deeply but don't find what they really need, perhaps a strong mentor such as an on-campus pastor, or a community more like the one they were used to at home. For some of us, it's very hard to be in an intensely liberal and non-religious campus. However, I personally did not have too hard a time adjusting to the environment. I find that Swarthmore is not anti-religious, but simply passive, in a way, about religious life, to the extent that most people will grant you the freedom to worship however you please and never question it or care any further. That can be frustrating, because it means that religion is rarely brought up in conversation, unless, of course, you are taking a course in the Religion department. But there's never any reason to feel lonely in your faith, because SCF is always there, and lately we have been gaining more "attention", if you will, and are seeking to grow both in number and influence on campus next year.

Please keep in touch! It would be wonderful if you came to visit again and visited SCF during a small group or large group meeting.

Also, with your permission, may I post your question and my answer on the Swarthmore Christian Fellowship blog? I think it'd be great if the other members could answer the "What's it like for a Christian at Swat?" answer with their own stories.

Cheers,
Andrew

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On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 1:44 PM, Tori Greaves wrote:

Dear Andrew,

My name is Tori Greaves and I am a rising senior in high school looking to apply to Swarthmore. I went on a tour a couple days ago, and I really enjoyed the school and the campus. However, I have been looking into a lot of Christian schools because I'd like to have the opportunity to really grow my faith during my college experience. Holly Kinnamont talked with me and gave me your email because she said you are part of the Christian fellowship at Swarthmore. And I just wanted to connect with you to find out whether or not Swarthmore, as a secular school, had an active and thriving Christian group on campus. Are there a large number of believers on campus? Do those who are there form close relationships with each other and are you all able to actively serve God on and off campus? Are there groups that go to church together off campus on the weekends? What does it look like to be a Christian at Swarthmore? And are those who aren't believers at Swarthmore respectful of the Christian viewpoint? I found the school to be incredible, but I'd really like to know whether or not it would meet my goals for my college experience. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tori Greaves