PHASE 1
SPIRITUAL FORMATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER – DECEMBER
Phase 1 is centered around community and spiritual formation. Students are rooted in the west side of Grand Rapids, living intentionally together. The year starts with a spiritual retreat where students share their stories and begin to connect as cohort and community. This emphasis on community is carried throughout phase 1 with rhythms of shared meals, prayer, bible study, and community life events. Students learn what it looks like to do life with each other, to bear each other’s burdens, and experience a taste of the community described in Acts 2. Beyond the connections built with their classmates, students connect with the neighborhood around them, learning what it looks like to live incarnationally and intentionally in a community as Jesus did.
As a community, students are immersed in a robust educational experience rooted in the ways of Jesus. Students sit under a diverse group of ministry leaders digging into a different topic Topics include Overview of the Bible, Nature of God, Prayer, Race and Social Justice, and many more. The educational experience only begins in the classroom, students also have the opportunity to learn through book studies, mentors, community conversations, and even attend the national Christian Community Development Conference.
The community and educational pieces of Phase 1 are all building towards something, and that’s mission. Here at Bridge Year we are rooted in the conviction that true spiritual formation sends us out into the world around us for the sake of others. Students have the opportunity to put what they are learning into practice as they serve as Youth Empowerment Intern’s, engaging their neighborhood and serving as the hands and feet of our Resurgence Youth Program.
WE SHOULD CONNECT
