The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Elizabethtown College hosted Text-a-Toastie on campus Nov. 18. The event was a way for the organization to reach out to E-town students in a different way, “and love them wherever they are” according to Kathryn Joe, who is on leadership with Intervarsity. Toasties, similar to grilled cheese sandwiches, are filled with cheese or Nutella.
During the event, InterVarsity members encouraged E-town students to text questions they wanted to ask about God, Jesus and Christianity, along with what flavor of toastie they wanted and where they were. Members involved with the event gathered in a residence hall lounge and divided into teams to fulfill these requests. One team prayed over the questions they received and the answers they gave people. A think tank team was charged with discussing and researching possible answers before replying to questions. And, finally, there were teams of cooks and runners to get the toasties and answers to participants.
Joe said that they received over 70 text messages before the event ended with questions ranging from the silly to the serious. For example, she said they received questions such as “how do you prove that God exists?” and “what is Jesus’ middle name?”
The idea for Text-A-Toastie came from Intervarsity Christian Fellowships on other south-central Pennsylvania campuses, such as Ursinus and Dickinson colleges, but E-town’s InterVarsity wanted to be able to make the event their own. They took the idea of texting for a toastie and implemented their division of the labor into teams so all of their members could get involved. “It worked really well and we’re excited about it,” Joe said.
We’re just thankful for a good response, for people being open to asking questions.”
The Text-A-Toastie event received positive feedback outside of just the text messages, including social media. “We’re just thankful for a good response, for people being open to asking questions,” said Taylor Luckenbill, another member of InterVarsity. “We weren’t expecting a lot of people to text in.”
InterVarsity is a student-run Christian fellowship, and its goal is to love the campus community and to help build that community in the name of Jesus. A large group of students meets every Tuesday in Hoover 110 for Bible study, and InterVarsity also hosts events such as corn maze trips and movie nights. Many of these activities involve collaboration with Christian Fellowship communities on campuses in the region.
Events for students outside of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship also are a big part of the organization’s goal of bring communities together. The group hosts a sexy pizza night during the fall semester and a coffee house in the spring. Sexy pizza night involves free pizza, which, Joe and Luckenbill said, makes the event popular among students. A panel composed of a married couple, a single woman and a single man discusses topics of sex and faith, and there is an anonymous question and answer system for students to learn more. The coffee house always has a social justice theme, and topics have included malaria and human trafficking awareness. One of the main goals of these events is to give students a chance to become more aware.
“We just love giving to E-town,” Luckenbill said.
Joe and Luckenbill said they were excited the Text-A-Toastie event was popular among students. “For me, it helped get the pulse of campus,” Joe said, noting that they’re hoping to host one again soon. Luckenbill added that it was great getting to talk to people from varied backgrounds and that it made them think about their own questions of faith and learn from others. “It was awesome to be a part of such a collaborative experience,”