Greek and Christian

But, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship‘s Ellaine Ursuy, campus staff minister with Greek InterVarsity in West Michigan, says this is not the case. Many Greek students are hungry for Christ—this is why Greek InterVarsity exists.

(Header photo and photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship–Greek InterVarsity)

“Greek InterVarsity is an organization that seeks to see fraternity and sorority students’ lives transformed through the Gospel. So, we do that really practically by starting Bible studies in fraternities and sororities that are led by fraternity and sorority students.”

In college, some of Ursuy’s sorority sisters helped introduce her to Christ. She knows firsthand how reaching Greek students with Christ can have an impact on more than just the personal level.

“Nationally, we focus on fraternity and sorority students as a part of InterVarsity because we know that a vast majority of senators, a vast majority of CEOs and other people in high power jobs will come out of fraternities and sororities,” Ursuy shares.

“In universities themselves, it’s around 70 percent of the student leadership or the student body itself is Greek. So, we hope to see students make decisions to follow Jesus before they get in positions of power and before they get into jobs of power so that ultimately they can change the world.”

Engaging Students With Christ

Greek InterVarsity has a couple of taglines to start engaging with Greek students and invite them into a conversation. One of them is ‘Would Jesus go Greek?’. The answer? Probably yes. Ursuy says Greek fraternities and sororities were set up by Christians. Many of the values recited for rituals and ceremonies come from the Bible.

“It’s a matter of helping them re-find their roots. So, we’ll do what we call “ritual Bible studies” where I’ll send students off to go read all of their initiation ceremonies and pull out all the Bible verses out of that and then they’ll do a study on those within their fraternity or sorority house,” Ursuy says.

For this reason, Ursuy says it’s easier than some realize to live out a Christian faith in the Greek setting. But, being a Christian in a Greek sorority or fraternity doesn’t mean students withdraw from Greek activities. They still attend social events and parties, but they are doing it a little different now.

Ursuy jokes with her students by telling them to go to the parties and have fun. She wants them to have the most fun, but with an iced cappuccino in hand. From the sounds of it, students are doing this and more.

The Impact of One Student

“A student I had a few years ago who I had met on campus and over the course of three weeks, I shared the Gospel with her six times, just trying to fish for what exactly is it that maybe we’re missing in this explanation to help you fully understand who Jesus is,” Ursuy shares.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship–Greek InterVarsity)

During their sixth meeting, Ursuy dug a bit deeper to discover why this student was holding back. She was unsure how life changed after a commitment to Christ. Once Ursuy found this out, she said it was an easy answer.

She described a Christ committed life as one involved with a community, reading the Bible, investing in friendships and outreach. After committing to Christ, this same student lived into the answer Ursuy gave her. She began leading a Bible study in her sorority for three years.

“After the first semester of leading Bible study, I was gathering some information from her and realized she had led 16 other women to faith. And I was tearing up and freaking out about how amazing of a job she had done, I just asked her ‘how did this happen?’,” Ursuy recalls.

“She explained that she thought that’s what she’s supposed to do, is to just share the Gospel every single week she led Bible study. As long as there was somebody new in the room, she shared the Gospel, and as she shared the Gospel people responded.”

Find Your Place in The Story

Ursuy’s dream is to see a revival in college Greek communities. She wants to see every West Michigan fraternity and sorority impacted by the Gospel. Then, she hopes to see the same thing happen across the United States. However, to accomplish this dream, it is going to take the hands of the Church.

“We long for church partners to come alongside of us and we long for volunteers that are inspired by what we’re doing to come alongside of us and help us do things on campus,” Ursuy shares.

“But also, I would just invite everyone to sit at the table with sinners and tax collectors or whoever you perceive the sinners and tax collectors to be, because the reality is Jesus shared a meal with them, and it changed their lives.”

Pray specifically for Greek InterVarsity in West Michigan to get the church partnerships it needs to continue serving students. Ask God to raise up volunteers and financial partners who are passionate about seeing Greek students encounter Christ.

“We’re in a spot right now where the Lord is doing a new thing, and the Lord doing a new thing means that a lot of support is needed in every way,” Ursuy says.

Do you enjoy golfing? Do you want to support Greek InterVarsity?

If the answer is yes, Greek InterVarsity is holding a golfing event in West Michigan on September 15 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Get more details on the event here!

Find ways to come alongside Greek InterVarsity here!

It was part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Greek Conference circulation. This was the first Greek Conference to be held in Long Island, and only the second exclusively for that northeastern region of the States.

The conference was filled with fun, dancing, training, learning and talking as students engaged each other in spiritual discussion. Conference speaker Lauren Mann led sessions on who Jesus Christ really was.

In an interview before the conference, Mann told Mission Network News, "The Northeast is an interesting culture group. It's really post-Christian, very similar to the West Coast, where a lot of students don't grow up with any church background–or if they do have a church background, it's usually been hurt in some way from having a negative experience."

Sure enough, Greek IV's Eric Holmer says students either thought this way or frequently ran into people who do. "They did express that the sentiment on their campus is this skepticism, or the prevailing thought is on their campus, ‘If you want me to believe something, you're going to have to prove it to me.'"

Over the weekend, Holmer says students were the ones who were able to actually share their stories of God's work in their lives and on their campuses. Small group time allowed them to go even deeper with who Christ is.

By Sunday, seven students had accepted Christ, and several more were thinking much more seriously about these issues.

The conference was more than a time to justify Christ to nonbelievers, though. Christians were mutually encouraged by their time, affirming that it's possible to be Greek and be Christian, an idea that is rarely given credence.

Believing students were encouraged to go back to their sororities and fraternities and begin Bible studies and small groups, but mainly, to live out Christ's love.

"The difference is when they can actually show the love of Jesus, and not just speak about it or help people reinforce their stereotypes, but actually love sacrificially, and really love the people in their fraternity and sorority house," says Holmer. "Love like that will stand out in the Greek system."

The challenges faced by these students are many. Many at the conference were the only Christians in their sorority or fraternity, and some were the only Christian Greeks on their campus. All of them know that it's not easy to be a believer in the Greek system, and yet they desperately want to reach these overlooked brothers and sisters with the Gospel.

Pray that the students who attended the conference would not be discouraged as they return to their campuses. Pray in fact that this weekend would have set a tone for the rest of the year, and that Christ would come alive in their Greek systems. Pray also for the seven students who accepted Christ and the others who are considering Him for the first time; pray for genuine transformation and for growthe in their love for the Lord.

InterVarsity has been a beacon of hope on college campuses for decades. To learn more about their work, visit intervarsity.org.

"Greek" to a college campus ministry like InterVarsity, however, doesn't refer to a person from the ancient nation, but rather someone who has pledged themselves to a fraternity or sorority on a United States university campus.

InterVarsity's outreach to this group–which is often stereotyped as pagan party-ers who are uninterested in spiritual things–has stretched wide, but one consistent building block implemented to reaching Greeks has been Greek Conference.

In 2011, the kick-off conference for the school year is in Long Island for students at schools in the northeast region of the U.S.

"The Northeast is an interesting culture group," notes Lauren Mann, the main speaker for the September conference. "It's really post-Christian, very similar to the West Coast, where a lot of students don't grow up with any church background–or if they do have a church background, it's usually being hurt in some way from having a negative experience."

Mann adds, "They need to hear who Jesus really is. I think a lot of them have different perceptions of maybe things that they've heard, or even inaccuracies of who Jesus is."

Greek Conference Long Island will allow students to hear this primarily through Mann's daily sessions, which will focus on giving an accurate perception of who Jesus is according to the Bible. Students will also participate in daily seminars of their choice, which include topics ranging from leadership as a Christian in a fraternity, to what it means to follow Jesus for those who never have.

Music, testimonies, games and fun will top off the weekend to provide a fun but Christ-focused weekend, which primarily exists to train Christian Greek leaders.

Mann says, "[These] are my hopes: that we would have students that leave the conference beginning a relationship with Jesus and starting a whole new life from there on, and [that we would] equip and give students confidence to reach out to their loved fraternity brothers and sorority sisters with the message of the Gospel."

The conference is both evangelistically-focused and discipleship-minded. At a Greek Conference in October of 2010, 17 students came to Christ. Those who were already Christ-followers were able to take back practical ideas on how to better share with their brothers and sisters.

"It's a beautiful picture, when you think about it, because [Greeks] already have genuine relationships with one another, whereas many Christians can feel like, ‘I don't know many non-Christians; I don't have many true relationships.' Our fraternity and sorority students would say, ‘I'm surrounded by non-Christians.' And we think that's great: you already have the relationships, now you just need to bring in the faith component."

Greek Conference trains Greeks how to do that. Greek Conference Long Island will be September 30 to October 2 in Melville, New York. It's $120 per student, but InterVarsity is working hard to raise funds to underwrite the costs for students to go who wish to grow in their faith, or who are just interested in what it means to follow Christ.

Anyone in the Greek system–or even those thinking of joining–is welcome at the conference. "We've seen God powerfully use this as a catalyst to start ministry on campuses when even just one student comes to this conference," notes Mann.

If you or a student you know would like to join Greek Conference Long Island 2011, or any of the subsequent 2011 Greek Conferences, visit gc.greekiv.org and register today.

InterVarsity's outreach to fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters is more commonly referred to as Greek IV. By the end of the 2010-2011 school year, Greek IV will have hosted three Greek Conferences. Last weekend marked the first: Greek Conference NE.

Samantha Spencer, an InterVarsity campus staff member at DePauw University and last weekend's conference speaker, says Greek Conference serves several purposes.

"The tag line of Greek Conference is: 'Connect with God; Learn to Lead; and Change the World,'" explains Spencer. "We design Greek Conference to be a safe place for students to investigate Jesus and Christianity. We hope students can grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, as well as be trained to lead ministries in their fraternities and sororities. We also have concentrated time for seniors to consider how God may be calling them to be a world changer in the communities they will enter post-graduation."

Students at Greek Conference had a great deal of fun during the trip as they played games, enjoyed dance parties and built relationships. More importantly though, they engaged in deep conversation and were challenged by Spencer's talk of Jesus and His life. As a result, many were motivated to trust Christ for the first time.

"It seems like every campus brought students who would either identify themselves as non-Christians or who were asking significant questions about their relationships with God," Spencer says. "And we actually had 17 students make decisions this past weekend to follow Jesus."

Although Greek Conference certainly serves as a means to outreach throughout the weekend, it's particularly geared toward future outreach done by the students involved. Greek IV staff is well aware that few fraternity brothers and sorority sisters will be reachable in conventional ways, so small group leadership is vital.

"They're probably not going to walk across campus and go to a Christian meeting that has singing, or wake up early on a Sunday morning and walk into a church," says Spencer. "But they might go downstairs to their formal, or after a chapter meeting meet together in their room, and enter into an investigative study about Jesus."

Spencer says last weekend's conference gave many students the encouragement and bolstering they needed to commit to leading a small Bible study or GIG (Groups Investigating God), which will be imperative for new believers, in particular, to get involved in as they go public with their faith amidst Greek society.

Spencer reminds us that being Greek and being Christian is not always an easy dichotomy to juggle. Students will need to get plugged in with a strong Christian community to hold onto the decisions they've made. "[Pray] that these students would become connected: they would become connected with their Christian communities, their Greek IV communities. Pray that they would continue to figure out what this means to follow Jesus," says Spencer for new believers. Pray for the Greek believers that have chosen to follow Christ's call in leading the way as well.

There are still two more Greek Conferences coming up, each bigger than the first. Pray for the next conference which begins February 11 in Indianapolis. The final conference follows quickly, starting on February 18 in Charlotte. If you, a college-age son or daughter, or someone you know would be interested in attending Greek Conference, click here to learn more.

"We found that it's often kind of an overlooked segment of the campus, and it's a place that, if you're not involved in the Greek system, you tend not to tread," says Eric Holmer with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, regarding fraternities and sororities on college campuses.

Convinced that this is an important mission field, InterVarsity started a separate ministry to these Greek brothers and sisters several years ago. "Greek InterVarsity was created to reach out to this place that seemingly has it all together, but on the inside has a lot of needs, a lot of brokenness, and can often times be one of the darkest places on campus."

The stereotypes that go with Greek life are many, which may cause Christians to back away when it comes to outreach. Many Christians may even refrain from Greek life for themselves, but Holmer notes that many fraternities and sororities were originally built on Christian foundations, searching to create a strong community. Throughout their ministry, Holmer says Greek IV has watched many people realize not only that it's possible to be both Greek and a follower of Christ, but also that it's a wonderful opportunity to reach out in an intimate setting.

"The Greek students are worth it," explains Holmer. "God sees them as just as valuable as everyone else on campus, even though they have these stereotypes of being the partiers or the people who want nothing to do with any sort of relationship with God. But it's precisely because of that that they're worth any and every effort that we can extend to them."

Efforts in Greek IV look a little different than perhaps they might in a general InterVarsity chapter. Although many Greek IV chapters do combine with a larger InterVarsity chapter on campus, their ministry tends to have a more specific focus since students within Greek life are not as likely to join in large group InterVarsity events.

"Students in fraternities and sororities probably won't ever step into a large group meeting on campus. They won't go to church on a Sunday morning, but they will sit down with their fraternity or sorority brother or sister and have a spiritual conversation, read a Bible together, pray together, and do things that only in the relationship that exists in a fraternity or sorority they would do."

Knowing this, Greek IV encourages its members to get one-on-one with someone in their fraternity or sorority and study the Bible. They also urge students to invite their brothers and sisters to one of three annual Greek Conferences for various regions of the country.

Greek Conference has a number of purposes, including getting Greek Christians to a place where they understand that they can be followers of Christ in their setting, despite what others may say, and that other believers are in fact doing the same. The conference is also an exciting opportunity to invite nonbelievers into a relationship with Christ.

So is there fruit in that? Holmer says Yes. "Greek Conference is a jump-off point where we see a lot of people make decisions to come to faith."

The first Greek Conference of the year is for schools in the northeast part of the country, held October 22-24. Greek Conference will be filled with learning about the Lord, but also filled with games, dancing, and a whole lot of laughter.

As students involved in Greek life head back to school, pray that the believers among them would be bold enough to invite their peers to study the Word or to go to Greek Conference. Pray that more and more students in fraternities and sororities would come to the Lord as they see their brothers and sisters reach out to them intentionally and lovingly. Pray also specifically for more fraternity men to get involved with Greek IV, since it seems to be more difficult to get them involved than it does sorority women.

If you're interested in Greek IV but have no chapter on your campus, e-mail Eric Holmer at eholmer@intervarsity.org or head to the Greek IV facebook page and send them a note. To simply get resources to start a Bible study in a sorority or fraternity, click here. If you're interested in registering for the October Greek Conference, check it out at greekconferencene.com.

More like worship.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Greek Conferences will include hundreds of fraternity brothers and sorority sisters, some strong in their faith, others investigating for the first time. The annual conferences will both take place in February, one to Indianapolis – February 11-13, and one in Charlotte – February 18-20.

Members of the Greek world are not generally known for their commitment to Christ, though. Despite their mostly Christian roots, most frat houses are known for beer over Bibles. So how does Greek IV get all of those students to worship? InterVarsity's Eric Holmer says the students take care of that themselves.

"It's focused on the idea of fraternity members and sorority members within their house, reaching out to those people in their house that nobody else can reach out to the way that [they can]. Somebody just knocking on their door wouldn't have the same impact as one of their brothers or sisters inviting them to something. So using that same principle, and also using the principle of the bid card…we invited everyone to Greek Conference this year. We passed out bids, so the people in the Greek system could give out bids to their brothers and sisters to this weekend experience."

A bid is essentially an invitation to a person after the Greek Rush period to enter into a sorority or fraternity. Getting a bid to the house you were hoping to get into is an exciting honor. Basically, Greek IV used the idea of hand-written, personalized bids to get people excited for Greek Conference.

And a hand-written invitation from a person they trust can go a long way to get even nonbelievers to the conference.

"A lot of them are not even Christians coming to these conferences, but they take a chance because they trust their brother, they trust their sister," says Holmer. "They know that it's something at least worthwhile to investigate because they've already got an existing relationship that's a deep one and a good one, and this conference only takes it deeper."

When the students finally make their way to Indianapolis or Charlotte for Greek Conference, they will get to choose a concentration: from leadership workshops for seasoned Christians, to exploratory sessions for seekers. They will also listen to large group speakers–former fraternity brothers themselves–engage in worship, and dance, dance, dance.

At Greek IV's last Greek Conference in October, 17 college students came to Christ, and that was a small conference. The Indianapolis conference will boast at least 375 students. Who knows what the Lord will do?

Your prayers are needed. Pray that the Lord would use this conference to ignite a fire in the hearts of Greek Christians; it wouldn't be the first time.

"It can start with just one person in a house that can change the whole Greek system. We've had a lot of stories of students coming to Greek Conference with this same experience of bringing it back to their house, and then from their house it goes to another house, and then all of a sudden there's an all Greek Bible study going."

Pray of course for the students who do not know Christ but are attending Greek Conference to grasp for the first time who Jesus is, and cling to Him. Pray not only for the invited: pray too for the inviters.

"So often they don't even think to ask [people to come], because they assume the answer is already 'no.' And we've found that sometimes the last minute invitation can go a long way, and people that come on a whim end up having their lives change that weekend, and they meet God for the first time."

These conferences have meant life change for so many. If you or a student you know sounds like a good candidate for Greek Conference 2011, check out their Web site here. The early-bird registration period for the Charlotte conference ends on Sunday, so act fast if you know you want to go. If you still need time to decide, don't worry. Registrants can register all the way up to the day of the conference.

Many wind up carrying their connections through their
professional lives after graduation. Greek Alumni make up 30% of Fortune 500 company executives, 48% of all U.S. presidents, 40% of
all Supreme Court Justices, 30% of all U.S. Congress, and 42% of the U.S.
Senate. It's clear that the Greek system
trains young people in leadership qualities.

Yet, it's an area largely untouched by para-church
organizations. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship asks this question: What if these students commited
their lives to Christ? And what if these
students were equipped to be Christian leaders, parents, and members
of tomorrow's society?

If these young people were reached early on, think of how
that could effect the nation in the advance of Christ.

Christians
in fraternities and sororities are confronted with daily challenges to their
faith. They need encouragement and guidance to walk
through the pitfalls and vices they encounter through the Greek system. That's
where InterVarsity comes in.

InterVarsity's Andy Dalton says once the students get involved with InterVarsity, the
ministry carries its own momentum. "If we can come
along and show students the fact that their brothers and sisters and friends are
actually lost–that they don't know Christ and don't have a future, their
hearts actually change, and they get excited about reaching their friends
with the Gospel."

This week, the 15th annual InterVarsity Greek Conference is being held in Charlotte, North
Carolina. The conference provides students opportunity to discuss issues of
life and ministry in fraternities and sororities on U.S. college campuses.

It also provides training for students who want to do
ministry in their Greek system on campus. Because of the interest, Greek Conferences have also been held in Southern California and  Indianapolis. Greek Conference Charlotte begins today and wraps up on Sunday.

Fraternities and sororities are most commonly known as social organizations
for higher education students.  Many  of those connections follow the
student into post-graduate life and into a professional career.  Many were
originally founded on dedication to principles such as community service, sound
learning, and leadership qualities, though some have become purely
"social".

It's that social angle that led to the stereo-type that plagues many of the
fraternities and sororities.  They are often depicted as populated by
over-indulging young people.  Frequently, as they grapple with their
upbringing and newfound social freedoms, many reject religion.

Yet, para-church ministries are reaching a
minority of them.  To that end, fraternity and sorority students will be
meeting this week for the 13^th annual InterVarsity Greek Conference
in Charlotte, North Carolina. The conference begins
February 16^th and runs through the 18^th.

 It's a place where students discuss real-life issues and ministry
action on U-S college campuses.  Even more important, it provides training
for students who want to do ministry in their Greek system on their campus, as
well as a place where they can invite their friends to hear the Gospel.

In addition to the Charlotte, North Carolina event, InterVarsity holds conferences in Los Angeles, California,
and just wrapped up the Indianapolis,
Indiana meetings.  There are
hopes to expand their conferences into other areas.  If you'd like more
information on InterVarsity's Greek Ministry or the Greek Conference schedule,
click here .