Taylor's Ministry Updates! (2021-2025)

Hi everyone! I hope you've been able to enjoy the warmer weather recently. Thank you for taking the time to read about what God has been doing on SMU's campus this month! Toby Speaking of warmer weather, ministry has also been heating up this month! I want to introduce you to my friend, Toby! He has a great story! He and I have been studying the Bible since the fall. Last year, a FOCUS student invited him to check out an event, but since Toby had grown up around Christians and never had much interest in God or faith, he turned the student down. After the summer, he decided to reach back out and ask about checking out a FOCUS event just to see what it's all about. He checked out my small group, and has since become a consistent part of the community! His interest in Jesus has absolutely blossomed and he has become the most enthusiastic member of the group! (Ironically, I think he had just left for soccer practice right before we took this picture) He's started hanging ou...

Hi everyone! I hope the first month of 2024 has been going well for you so far. I'm excited to share some of how the semester has kicked off in Dallas! Retreat (Round 2) I mentioned last month that there was another retreat coming in January, and we made it through! It was incredibly successful, and we had about 600 FOCUS students across the metroplex come out for the weekend! Dr. Daniel Lee is a professor of theology in Fuller Seminary and flew down to be our guest speaker! He did a great job and the SMU students told me he had a profound impact on them. Enjoy a clip from our Gospel worship night! Greatest SMU/UNT crossover in history Would you believe within 48 hours this whole area would be covered with snow? Snow day Speaking of which, Charli got to enjoy her first snow! Dorm Outreach Our new Dorm Outreach initiative has begun! I've been spending 3 hours per week in the lobby with a sign, inviting students to talk. The hope is that after a few weeks, enough familiarity and ...

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful holiday season and feel some amount of reinvigoration going into 2024. There's so much I'm excited for in ministry this year. Bass Christmas But before we move forward into the new year, I wanted to share some pictures of Erin's and my Christmas! Christmas with Erin's side of our family! Oreo ball chefs Gingerbread extraordinaire Girls vs Boys  (Who won?) My nephew (Elo 3000) helping me win chess 4th Annual family Disc Golf tournament! I'll let you guess which one is my brother. Also, this was my first year taking the W! I plan to make it an annual occurrence. Christmas on Campus SMU Focus also through our own Christmas party! Here are some of the highlights. Catering courtesy of Olivella's! Had a solid turnout! You'll notice Luke a couple chairs behind me. He's a freshman and has been a part of my small group this year! He has a habit of beating me in chess. Retreat (Round 1) One perk of running a few days behind...

Hi everyone! I hope the first round of holidays were joyous for you and your families, and that you're looking forward to the second round throughout December! I have to confess that Erin and I have already had our Christmas tree up for a month. Commons Outreach I have an exciting strategic move to share with you all! SMU has 11 residential commons (dorms) that nearly all underclassmen live in across campus. The SMU FOCUS team got together and we decided to heat up outreach efforts in those commons, specifically, rather than trying as hard to pull students out from their dorm to a conventional meeting space. SMU has revealed itself (from our observations as well as other seasoned ministers across campus) to be a very unique beast to do ministry at. Chiefly, campus is highly segmented and besides classes, students tend to either be out at parties, or holed up in their dorms all the time. I'm excited to get to be at the cutting edge of experimentation, figuring out how to best me...

Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the start of the holiday season! I know it's been especially sweet so far for my Rangers fans. 👀  I've got my fingers crossed for tonight!! (No shade to my Astros and Arizona friends) Surgery & Recovery  Speaking of the Rangers, I myself have also been out with injury. I had a procedure done a few weeks ago that was meant to be a 1-week recovery but has turned into a 3.5-week recovery. God is good though! He's brought Erin and me a lot of comfort during the difficult moments through friends and family members coming and spending time with us, and even buying us meals and cleaning our home! We are very grateful for the people the Lord has blessed us with over the years. Enjoy some post-op anesthesia Ministry, naturally, has looked very different this month but by God's grace, I've still gotten to keep up my regular meetings with students over the phone, and they streamed me in to our small group via FaceTime. It's felt...

Happy October! The past month has been so great. In August, we spread the net wide, trying to invite as many students into community as possible. Now, in September, we're getting back to our bread-and-butter which is building deep individual relationships with one another, and experiencing God together through those relationships. Bear with me, I have fewer pictures and more words this month because there's just so much to share! (Also I've been forgetful when it comes to taking pictures haha) I hope you find this month's update to be a blessing to you, amidst the requirement of a longer attention span. Inzwi This is my friend Inzwi! He's from South Africa and transferred to SMU this semester as a Junior. He's a crazy good soccer player and is planning to try out for the NCAA team here next year! He decided around a year ago that he'd like to more seriously consider God try to understand him better. He and I have recently gotten to start studying the Bible t...

Happy September! Hopefully the hottest days are behind us. I hope you enjoyed the sun and are as excited for cooler temps as I am! Welcome Week SMU's Welcome Week has also been coming in hot! We just finished and have been in full overdrive mode. We've met hundreds of students and are now in the stage of inviting them into deeper relationships! Here are a ton of pics! Hopefully they'll give you a taste of what God's been doing on campus the last couple weeks. Waffleopolis was a complete hit! First worship night! Every seat was packed in! Charli out here doing the Lord's work A couple of our student leaders cooling off! SMU should pay us for this pic This one too Not this one Core New year, new core! If you're also new here, Core is what we call our small groups in Focus!  We had a wonderful turnout. From left to right we have Jonathan, Ethan, Craig, myself, Antonio, Victor, Nicolas, and Quinn! 4 of those who came were freshmen! Can't wait to see how the next...