Christmas Celebrations

We’ve reached the end of the semester! Students are now finished exams and those from out of town are heading home to their families and finishing their Christmas shopping!

I’d love to share with you a conversation I had with Vanessa about how the semester has been for her:

A: How has it been being president this year:

V: Well, it doesn’t feel that different than being a general exec member, we’ve all really worked well together the four of us. In community meetings and exec meetings I have an overall picture of what we’re doing, and making sure we cover what we need, it’s a bit of an extra responsibility but it’s been a really interesting experience. Exec meetings and planning have gone really well. The biggest difference is in the large group meeting where I am opening and closing meetings and directing the group more than just participating and more aware of how each individual is responding and engaging to the study or how certain people are reacting to different things; often I feel like a third party viewer and feel a little bit at a distance at times, but at the same time it’s been amazing to see the things I have gotten out of the studies as well.

A: What has been your favourite thing so far this year for this semester:

V: It’s been interesting getting to know people, especially since the group is lots of new people, even the “regulars” are people that first started coming to the group occasionally last year. It’s been exciting not knowing what to expect each week, and we are getting more into a groove with things. It’s great doing study, as many are experiencing manuscript for the first time and are enjoying it. It’s been interesting doing the social events and having a chance to relax and get to know people, it’s less like hanging out with old friends but more about getting to know them and getting closer to them, and getting close in a way I wouldn’t be outside a group like this.

A: What has been the coolest thing that God has done this semester:

V: It’s been cool to see how application of passages has hit personal things for me. I was worried that being part of the planning and exec team would kill the life and connection with God that the group has been offering me. There have been times when I have come to meetings really tired and God has consistently met me and by the end of our time together I am so excited by the stuff we’re talking about and don’t even notice how long we’ve been talking  –  a complete 180 to how I entered in.  So it’s been really exciting despite having a busy semester and a very different responsibility and relationship with the group this year. He’s met me in that journey and brought great excitement in what I’m doing.

A: Tell me about the Banquet Vision, as it looks very different to how it’s been done in the past. How did the brainstorming happen, how did you feel as you were putting it together:

V: Initially, we were planning a typical potluck, and share what we experienced this semester. But then we began thinking of different ways we could fundraise, not for a particular event, but it would be nice to have something extra for different events we plan, and also the school is more willing to give us grants and funding if we make some efforts to raise funds on our own. And we wanted to start thinking early about fundraising for city/script as that’s something that is a consistent event we attend, but the cost of it is hard for some students. And we can’t plan to do that a few weeks before the conference, we need to start thinking sooner; so we started to think of ideas to do as a fundraiser, and thought of a bake sale or a raffle, and we wanted to do this with some sort of larger point, so we thought of combining it with our Christmas banquet. Initially we were planning to do this all in one day, but then thought to break it up so people could enjoy the bake sale and buy the raffle ahead of time. We figured we’d reach more people and invite more people. It was really interesting to see how it evolved after that. It was a nice break after being really busy and having an intense study, and it was a good idea to invite people to come celebrate the end of the term with us. We were really excited that while everybody else needed to be careful and politically correct about holiday celebrations, we were able to say we are a Christian group and we are going to have a Christmas party, and we can say that and we can do that; it was a little cheesy and contrived in some ways, but mostly it was a lot of fun; we had our own little mini holiday.

A: How did people use their skills and talents:

V: The exec did the brainstorming. Moses designed the poster. Vanessa did some baking. Brian was the representative to the Ryerson Student Union, he organized booking the spaces and logistics of getting a table and the other audio/visual equipment we needed. We had a sign up sheet for members of community to help; some signed up to cook or bake or help staff the table. Jenna brought lots of decorations for the table, as we wanted to dress it up a little.

A: What are you most excited for second semester:

V: I am hoping the core group that has been established continues to come out to fellowship meetings and bible studies. I hope to plan a retreat for the reading week, maybe for one or a couple days. I am really excited about city/script, and given extra fundraising would love if we had a good group of people attend. I’m trying not too focused about end of year, because I am very excited about what will happen up until that point too.

A: Tell me more about the talks of a joint event with OCAD and U of T:

V: We had a joint thanksgiving dinner with the fellowships at University of Toronto St. George and the Ontario College of Art and Design; the students from our fellowship who attended had good things to say. Since then, we’ve talked about doing something or joint events in second term. We figured a good way to do that would be to fundraise for city/script together, as its less about taking away from what each individual campus is doing and is appropriate to get to know the people you will be seeing and studying scripture together during city/script that you wouldn’t normally be spending a lot of time with, and since it’s a larger event, it might be helpful to have more minds working together to pull together a larger fundraising event.  We haven’t gotten anything in particular yet, but that is the hope.

Poster designed by Moses for the Ryerson IVCF Christmas Banquet.

Merry Christmas! Please remember the students in prayer as they are resting from a busy semester and celebrating the birth of our Saviour.