College and Career's outreach incorporates diverse talents

Story by Richard Scales

Or"ne of the most important decisions made by each student ishischoice ofa Christian Service. In a church of 19,000 members with Christian Services ministering tonearly every agegroup,thequestion of "Where do Ifitin?" isdifficult to answer.

Many students choose theCollegeand Career Christian Service which serves Thomas Road's second largest Sunday School class.Its 78Christian Service workers are under the direction ofCollegeand Career Pastor Doug Randlett and College and Career's Intern Leader Dave Wood Their goal istodevelop a vehicle through which every 18through 24-year-old Lynchburg resident will hear the Gospel inan understandable fashion and have the opportunity tospiritually mature

Thomas Road Baptist Church's College and Career class has an average attendance ofover 700and is asdiversified as it islarge.There arefour major areas of service available to its workers and class members, giving everyone ample opportunity for involvement and outreach

One area of involvement isthesinging group, Priority Priority has approximately 60 members and isdivided into twochorales.As a combined group, Priority sings every other Sunday inThomas Road's 8:15 a.m service As two chorales, Priority sings in various TRBC classes andalso in area churches

Another area ofoutreach andservice is College and Career's visitation program that divides thecity into several regions Workers goout bytwos tovisitthepeople who have attended theclass forthe first time. Onemember said,"Ifeel thatvisitation gives it (C& C)a personal touch. You know, 700people isa bigcrowd, and it's easy to get lost in there The visitation program makes it more personal, more down to earth."

The third major area of service available is the athletic program Basketball and footballare its two main sports,with cheerleading and volleyball fortheladies The athletic program was emphasized more this year than inpast years and provided an outlet forfun, fellowship and involvement

Chi-Alpha Bible Studies arethe fourth area of service andthe hub of College and Career's outreach program The department presently operates two Bible study groups andhas plans to expand. The goal of College andCareer andthe goal of ChiAlpha are the same — outreach and spiritual maturity. However, Chi-Alpha is the vehicle through which thegoal is accom-