Lingos speak during first lecture event of the semester
By Jack Davis · Contributing Writer
The Faith for Life Lecture series kicked off Sept. 9, calling students to pursue Christian discipleship.
Hosted by the Christian Formation Office and attended by President Bradley Lingo and his wife Yvonne, the event centered around educating students on how to achieve their spiritual callings while creating a campus united around building one another up.
Don Opitz, senior director of Christian formation, began the lecture by talking about spiritual calling and sharing the “discipleship quad” model, also known as the “walking the quad” model. The model, which Opitz first introduced during a Wednesday chapel, is based on four biblical principles: learn, love, lead and live.
Each building upon the other, these principles make up a circular pattern that challenges students to learn from Scripture, serve God and others and live faithfully. According to Opitz, the “walking the quad” model is meant to help guide Grove City College students through their academic years and eventually carry into post-graduation life.
“There is a calling from the first page (of your life) to the last,” Opitz said.
Opitz elaborated by explaining how calling can be fully understood through a walk with God. He explained how callings can be dynamic and change during life stages yet still reflect God’s will.
“It is love on the move,” Opitz said.
The lecture continued as Opitz interviewed President Brad Lingo and Yvonne Lingo on how different stages of life impacted their faith, namely their early and college years. The Lingos emphasized the role of community within spiritual growth. They spoke about how their community contributed to the development of faith in their lives.
They particularly highlighted mentors in their spiritual growth journeys during transitional periods in their lives. Mentors, according to the Lingos, helped them realize their spiritual calling. The Lingos encouraged students to find purpose through their spiritual calling and discipleship, as it glorifies God.
“Discipleship is not a man-made idea: it comes from the Lord,” Yvonne Lingo said. “Look to be discipled; look to disciple.”
Daniel Snoke, the worship coordinator, and Virginia West, the director of Christian formation, ended the talk by promoting other ministries on campus, the foremost being Red Box Global Outreach, which funds short-term outreach projects. Snoke encouraged Grove City College students to donate to this longstanding ministry and help support missionaries and their goal.
Snoke and West also reinforced the need for community in calling, emphasizing how community nurtures spiritual growth. They highlighted the relationships between classes, where upperclassmen mentor the underclassmen as the staff mentors them.
“Discipleship happens in community,” West said.
For students like sophomore Noah Morgan, the lecture motivated a desire to pursue more intentional relationships, where one can both be blessed and bless others.
“There’s definitely been some upperclassmen who have mentored me,” Morgan said. “I’d hope that I can do the same for others.”
