Spiritual Formation Moves Forward

The spiritual formation department is expanding and bringing new changes to better serve the Vanguard community. Both the chapel and outreach programs will be welcoming several new projects, as well as expanding current activities.

Bryan Rounzoin has taken over the role as chapel coordinator, and starting 2013-2014, Vanguard will have five chaplains and interns on staff to keep the flow of chapel and also create a more intimate environment for students.

Spiritual formation will also take part in Story Shapers, a new mentoring program. They will offer several groups discussing topics such as women in ministry, groups for men, and ways to deepen our faith.

The groups will be led by a host of spiritual formation staff, including Dr. Mike Beals, Jonathon Murillo. They will provide a one-on-one experience for anyone on campus who wants someone to help them in areas like accountability, or having someone to confide in at any time. These groups will also help students socially and enable them to exercise their faith.

Furthermore, Outreach has been divided into two separate sections to better accommodate these ministry programs and be able to provide students with more options. Global outreach, which will be headed by Kim Ulm, and Local Outreach, which will be lead by alumna Kayli Hillebrand.

Ulm, who has been leading both local and global groups for the last year and a half, is excited to see how much the outreach department will grow by having another person look after the Local Outreach Department. “For me, this opportunity was a ‘coming home’ experience,” Hillebrand said.

Local outreach will begin to have more of an emphasis in the spiritual formation department and the split will help staff dedicate more time to helping students. One of Hillibrand’s main goals for the local outreach program is creating new partnerships that will provide opportunities to serve, as well as meet spiritual and educational needs of the VU students, staff, and faculty.

For the Global Outreach Department, summer mission trips are underway. This year, students who are going on mission trips are required to take a one-unit class during the spring semester to prepare for their trips. Students will also be hearing from different speakers about their experiences.

The changes happening in the spiritual formation department will enable more local involvement alike the overseas ministries.

“The thing that I love is that God is in charge of this department and we will all get to see where he takes this university and what new opportunities he opens for us,” Hillebrand said.