Discipleship at Sattler

Spiritual Growth at College

Many Christian youth lose their faith at college. Atheistic professors and negative peer pressure can challenge and break young people's faith. 

Sattler College aims to be a safe, God-focused environment for students to learn academically while growing in their faith. Sattler's discipleship program involves the following:

> Tea Time
> Journey Groups
> Growth Panel
> Mentors
> Statement of Christian Discipleship

Check out these articles to learn more about Sattler's vision for discipleship.

Tea Time

Every weekday at 10:00, Sattler students gather for Tea Time—a short time of worship, rest, and social connection in the middle of the busy school day. The time is considered to be a mini-Sabbath for each and every workday. Every Tea Time opens with a song and, on Tuesday-Thursday,  a student, faculty member, or guest speaker shares a “pearl of wisdom.” Sattler “pearls” are short bits of practical wisdom or Scriptural meditation that inspire and renew the Sattler community. On Monday and Friday, there is no pearl, and Tea Time is used mainly for free socializing, tea-drinking, and ping-pong playing. 

Journey Groups

Sattler Journey Groups play a big role in Sattler’s discipleship model. Every student participates in a Journey Group, and this is a core feature of student life at Sattler. Journey Groups are small, same-gender groups of 3-5 students who meet together weekly to disciple and pray for one another.

Every week, Journey Groups are open and accountable to each other in areas of Scripture-reading, prayer, fasting, purity, outreach, and community. Students also come ready to teach, encourage, and exhort each other, following an “Each one, teach one” model seen in 1 Corinthians 14:26. Students care for each other, build each other up, and pray for each other in Journey Groups.

Journey Groups push students to deepen relationships with their peers and learn to be accountable for their Christian life. Students get an opportunity to disciple and be discipled in a safe, stable environment. Many students find that Journey Group is a highlight of their week.

Growth Panel

Growth Panel Day is an opportunity for students to receive personalized feedback from an assembled team of Sattler leadership, faculty, and staff. The Growth Panel meets together at the end of the semester and collaborates to give each student feedback on their growth and development over the semester. The panel presents the feedback in a framework of things to keep, stop, and start.

Growth Panel exists to help students grow in their vocations and refuse spiritual stillness and receive constructive and critical feedback from “360 degrees”. The panel is an extension of the discipleship principle that each one should teach one. It gives the mature disciples on the Growth Panel team an opportunity to speak personalized words of exhortation to every member of the student body.

Mentors

Mentors are a key element of discipleship at Sattler. The mentoring relationship is between a student and a mentor of their choosing either from a home community, a local church, or a future field the student is interested in. Students meet with their mentors once a month to discuss goals, receive feedback, and cultivate a relationship. The goal is for these relationships to be life-long sources of wisdom and guidance.

These mentoring relationships provide a space for students to be regularly discipled by a mature Christian who is ahead of them on the path of following Christ. It also gives students an opportunity to receive help navigating all the growth and challenges of college with someone from their home community or another person outside the Sattler community. Being mentored and providing mentorship are activities that will reap benefits for a lifetime, and it’s a key part of the process of making disciples who make disciples.

The statement of Christian Discipleship

The culmination of Sattler’s discipleship program is receiving a Statement of Christian Discipleship signed by the Growth Panel on graduation day. Students receive this commission with their diploma upon the completion of their bachelor’s degree and it serves as a launching point for students into their life as disciples after graduation. The statement summarizes the path of discipleship that each student participated in over the course of their studies. The letter also includes personalized reflections on each individual's growth and development into diligent disciples of Christ. Finally, the letter ends with an exhortation to strive for an abundant life that rejects complacency and pursues a faithful presence in each student's context.