SGA Seeks to Give CGLs More Options

Liberty University’s Student Government Senate tabled a resolution at a meeting Feb. 6, that would make it possible for Community Group Leaders to lead with their own material.

Last year, the Office of Spiritual Development implemented a new structure to community groups requiring CGLs to use an app with an overview of each week’s Campus Community sermon and review questions.

CGLs and students who participated in community groups felt that this requirement was not in the community’s best interest.

Sophomore Chris Porter, the original sponsor of the resolution, said that he saw the need for more freedom in his community group his freshman year.

“(My CGL) kept saying, ‘I’m required to do this. Even though I’d like to go off and do more, I’m not supposed to.’ And so, I thought about it,” Porter said.

As the chair of the committee for spiritual affairs, he saw a complaint in the student body and resolved to fix it.

“I felt it would have been a better community group if there was more leeway, and I knew a lot of other community groups felt the same,” Porter said. “That’s why I felt I needed to write it, because it wasn’t just my community group, it was quite a few other people that I knew.”

Porter submitted the resolution at the end of last semester and it was passed by both the House of Delegates and the Senate but lost momentum when it hit Jack Heaphy’s desk. When the semester finished, it ended up getting sent back for re-evaluation.

When it popped up again in the first Senate meeting of this semester, it merited attention from the senators.

The Senate meeting eventually erupted into a shower of opinions, as the senators jumped in with a variety of opinions. The discussion focused on whether this resolution was necessary and how much this would enhance the quality of community groups.

One of the senators, Jacob Page, was a CGL last year and said that, in his group, he saw the need for flexibility.

“Sometimes, someone would say their testimony, and it would change the entire group,” Page said. “I’m obviously not going to read off the questions.”

But other senators were concerned that too much freedom would open up the possibility for theological error. A proposition to amend the resolution was made, and it was tabled once more.

After the meeting, Morin, who is now a resident assistant, spoke of his previous experience as a CGL, and why he hopes to see this resolution get passed.

“I think for me personally as a (CGL), having the autonomy to plan things that I present made it a growing experience for me as a leader,” Morin said.

He felt that there needed to be more of a connection between the leaders of the group and the material that they were presenting, describing the current set-up of CGL to Campus Community material as simply “a proxy function.” Morin believes this resolution will provide an opportunity to increase the community group experience of both CGLs and students.

“Allowing the CGLs to have that freedom helps the other students be able to make it more applicable to their lives,” Morin said.

In spite the multitude of differing opinions, the senators all seemingly agreed on one thing — this was one of the most important legislations discussed that night.

“If we’re passing anything, this is what stands out because it really impacts the spiritual component that Liberty has to offer,” senior nursing student and Senate member Paige Seeber said.

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