Christian clubs on campus promote relaxed religious environments

Each Friday after lunch, a dozen empty pizza boxes are stuffed into the recycling bins outside science teacher Lisa Cochrum’s room 1017 — the remains of a successful Faithwalk meeting. Students pour out of the room to head to their sixth-period class, satisfied by the relaxed religious environment they are able to experience on campus.

In the mix of the 65 clubs on campus, two clubs are especially meaningful in the lives of many students. With religion being such an integral part of many students’ daily lives, Impact Christian Club, which has an average of 20 people per meeting, and Faithwalk, which has an average of 45 people per meeting, aim to bring students together, even though the two religious clubs accomplish this goal in different ways.

“I went to both clubs during freshman year,” said senior Geena Zhou, a member of Impact Christian Club. “Faithwalk likes to do skits and presentations, and Impact seems to be more close knit.”

Despite the differences between the clubs, both reach out and promote the virtues of the religion.

“For me, Impact is pretty important because it allows me to meet up with fellow Christians every week,” Zhou said. “I really like the fellowship.”

The Impact Christian Club hosted the school’s annual “See You at the Pole” (SYAP) event on the morning of Sept. 26, in which the club prayed and worshipped for the school and the community. Christian clubs around the nation participated in the event as well, meeting in front of their schools’ flagpoles. Club members congregated at the flagpole next to the McAfee Center.

Senior Christopher Lee, an officer for Impact, felt the event was a success and had good attendance.

“We prayed for one another, for the school and for all other schools,” Lee said. “We also had praise where we played worship songs.”

The club meets every Friday lunch in science teacher Janny Catahol’s room 1016.

“We always have a prayer and a lesson for every meeting,” Lee said.

The club is led by seniors Lee, Kiki Shim, Wesley Park, Michelle Won and junior Gloria Breck. All are equally crucial to the club, unlike most other clubs, in which different officers hold different positions and responsibilities.

“The overall aim of the club is to come together as Christians at the school,” Lee said. “We grow and develop fellowship as friends.”

At meetings every Friday, Faithwalk, occasionally hosts speakers, shows videos about the beauty of religion, facilitates discussion about religion and puts on its annual Christmas play event during the lunch meeting closest to winter break. Recently, Faithwalk has been showing a video about an ex-mob leader named Michael Francissi.

“He lived a really scary life with no empathy, and he just talks about how God completely turned his life around,” Chu said. “It’s a pretty amazing story.”

Faithwalk is known around campus not only as a popular religious club, but also as a place to go for great food.

“During Club Day, we give out free root beer floats, which is always a hit for everyone,” Faithwalk leader senior Priscilla Chu said. “At our meetings, we always have free pizza and drinks to anyone who shows up, because everybody is welcome, no matter your belief!”

The popular club is more than just a free food distributor, though. Students meet to promote a relaxed environment where, according to Chu, students can learn about Christianity.

“Faithwalk is a casual and friendly place to learn more about Christianity and just hang out,” Chu said. “All religions are always welcome!”