Many campus activities at Northwestern provide opportunities for advancing a relationship with Christ. Although there are numerous groups for this purpose, few focus on a time of quiet reflection. A new prayer group, The Vine, focuses wholly on an intimate and thoughtful time of worship.
“The goal of The Vine is to promote spiritual growth by providing an environment where people can stay connected to Jesus,” said senior Jeremy Bork.
The Vine is a prayer group that meets Wednesday nights from 9-10 in the North Suites basement. It originated when Bork began thinking about the campus ministries and what they had to offer.
“Last summer, I did a lot of reflection,” Bork said. “I recognized that there are a ton of opportunities to gather as a community, but I hadn’t noticed a lot of promotion for a one-on-one connection with the Lord.”
Acting on his reflections, Bork started The Vine. Initially it was a men’s prayer group, but it has grown into a campus wide organization.
“People will come and go pretty much the whole time,” Bork said. “It’s more of a gathering of people worshipping and connecting with God in their own way.”
“I found myself really connecting to God and that’s the closest I’ve felt to Him in a long time,” said sophomore attendee Malea Hill.
The Vine creates a place where students can slow down and focus on a more intimate relationship with Christ.
“I think communication with God is huge,” Bork said. “Prayer isn’t limited to talking to God or speaking to God. Prayer is both speaking and listening. Sometimes prayer means just existing in the presence of the Lord.”
Students have different reasons for going to The Vine each week.
“It’s a time for me to stop, and that’s hard for me to do,” said sophomore, Brett Gudeman. “It’s a time of reflection that I haven’t experienced in any other way since I’ve been here.”
Although some students enjoy a time of reflection, others prefer to focus on solitude and the refreshing aspect of this meeting.
“I just really like it because it is a place to go to have a one-on-one time with God,” said freshman Taylor Bork.
“For me it is a nice day in the middle of the week that’s relaxing. I can go for just 20 minutes and get refreshed,” said sophmore Hillary Haden.
Bork’s ultimate goal is for The Vine to go beyond NW’s campus.
“I hope that it will have a long-term effect with students at college and maybe, more importantly, when they leave college, they will learn the importance of solitude,” Bork said.
If interested in more information, visit The Vine’s Facebook page, theVINE, or email Jeremy Bork.
