Grove City College students will be focused on what it really means to “love your neighbor” this week.
The College’s fourth annual Focus Week, a campus-wide spiritual and intellectual deep dive into a critical question facing students in a Christ-centered living and learning community, begins Monday and runs through Saturday, Feb. 17.
This year’s theme comes from Christ’s commands to love God and our neighbors “with actions and in truth.” Students will be guided and enlightened by discussions led by faculty, alumni, staff and special guests throughout the week. Each session explores a different aspect of theme.
“We want to look more fully at who our neighbor is and how we love as Christ commands,” Devayani Wintrode, director of Campus Ministries, said. “Loving others is not optional. Jesus commanded us to love others so we need to learn how to do it well. Focus Week is an opportunity to learn more about how to do this and be challenged to think more deeply about this command and how well you are loving others.”
At the end of the week, students will put the heart of Focus Week 2018 – loving neighbors though thoughtful and intentional action – into practice with service opportunities in the region. More than a dozen projects are planned on campus and throughout the region, including working with the Grove City Food Pantry, Downtown Ministries in Greenville, Pa., Urban Impact in Pittsburgh, and City Rescue Mission in Youngstown, Ohio.
“Our hope is that our campus community will be transformed because students’ hearts would be transformed to love others better, truly following Christ’s command,” Wintrode said.
Saleem Ghubril, executive director of The Pittsburgh Promise, will speak at Chapel at 9:25 a.m. Thursday and deliver a lecture “Talk is Cheap, Love Costs” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Crawford Hall Auditorium on campus. The Pittsburgh Promise provides scholarships for students in city schools and works with colleges and universities to empower scholarship students. Grove City College is a Preferred Promise Partner school.
Nathan Rittenhouse of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries will speak about “Love: Where is It From and Where Does It Lead?” at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Crawford Hall Auditorium.
Alumni speakers for the week include: Eliana Satterlee ’14, outreach coordinator of The Glory Shop, Salvation Army Time Square; Cindy Stewart ’94, automation systems engineer with Data Science Automation; and Rev. Nick Prugar ’04, youth pastor of Grace Church Harmony. Faculty and staff speakers are: Dr. Seulgi Byun; Dr. T. David Gordon; Dr. Ryan West; Dr. Suzanne Houk; Jody Vernam; and Ben Meekin.