One of the key ways to engage with students during the year is through the opportunities offered by The Office of Spiritual Life at California Baptist University. Whether it is discipleship or compassion ministries, the overall purpose of these groups
is gospel outreach and fluency.
Discipleship ministries have Tribes, which are usually 20–60 students who meet weekly on campus. Then there are Challenge Nights, where the Tribes come together monthly to celebrate what God has been doing. From these events come self-formed discipleship groups, which are groups of three to six
students who meet regularly to encourage and challenge each other.
Brian Zunigha, director of discipleship ministries, has been a part of discipleship groups at CBU since he started working at CBU nine years ago.
“There have always been people that are trying to invest in others on campus,” Zunigha said. “We want to point people to Christ and we want people to live out the gospel.”
Jennifer Ginoza, senior marketing major, has been in two discipleship groups and said she enjoys the encouragement and the focus on Scripture.
“D-groups are beneficial to students because they create a small community to where students can be real, equipped and supported,” Ginoza said. “There is an aspect of accountability when it comes to reading Scripture, memorizing it and living it out.”
The reality about discipleship groups is that it is the most student-led program Spiritual Life does on the CBU campus, said Zunigha.
“There are a lot of ways to receive mentoring on campus, but one of the ways we do it is through Tribe,” Zunigha said. “We invest in people that either show up or are a part of the community on campus and are intentional. We want to push people who have grown spiritually and have gospel fluency to start discipleship groups.”
Zunigha said he encourages students to join a Tribe if they seek discipleship. For more information, visit the Office of Spiritual Life in Lancer Plaza.
