GCF's Unique Purpose
Best met by church
- Church services/weekly corporate worship
- Sacraments
- Ministry to all age groups
- Pastoral counseling
- Sending missionaries
- Family
- Community-oriented (networking, evangelism, service to needy)
- Broad (v. narrow)
- Ministry training
- Theological instruction
- Generational mentoring
- Preaching
- Permanence/longevity of members
- Maintaining
- Doctrinal specificity
- Comprehensive/generalized spiritual formation
Appropriate to Graduate fellowship
- Integration of faith & learning/vocation
- Specific age group
- Apologetics for intellectuals/academics
- Interdenominational fellowship
- Support in face of ?intellectual persecution?
- Release from pressures of research, perspective, balance
- Evangelism/witness to graduate students
- Vigorous intellectual discussion
- Accountability, peer discipleship/co-mentoring
- Leadership development
- Prayer support in areas particular to setting
- Stability of group (despite turnover) amidst transient population
- Current academic issues, authors, resources
- Community service on a student?s schedule
- Focused Bible studies