Taylor's Ministry Updates! (2021-2025)

Hi everyone, happy October! I can't wait for the temperatures to drop, and for all the holidays to start rolling around. Ministry on campus has been so encouraging this month! I'll share more throughout this update but in summary, lots of guys are getting involved and diving deep into faith and community. Tim Meet Tim! He's from NJ and started his freshman year this semester. He's in the process of joining a Christian fraternity called BYX, and has been coming around FOCUS as well. We started a weekly 1-on-1 bible study a couple weeks ago called Focus on Jesus, and it's already been a blast. He has a hunger to grow in his faith, and is inquisitive and driven. I'm so excited to watch how God uses him to impact BYX, Focus, and the rest of SMU over the next several years. Since there are so many guys getting involved, I'm thinking I'll share about 1 or 2 specific students each week and share a little about them. I have a feeling you'll be hearing more a...

Hi everyone! We're nearly to fall. I hope you've been enjoying the cooler temperatures in the meantime. I have lots to share from the last month! (really the last 2 weeks) The semester is in full swing, and we have been out there hustling for the kingdom! God has already brought such neat new students into our ministry. Worship Nights We've had 2 Worship Nights so far! We had great attendance to both and got the chance to invite the attendees to join small groups, which you'll hear more about further in this update. This event is a brand new one to SMU! There was a similar event hosted last year, which is planning to be merged with ours. This is a worship service hosted by students from several different ministries on campus. So far we already have around 10 organizations who have expressed interest in partnering. It was such a cool experience uniting across organizational and denominational divides to praise the Lord in one unified voice. We split the service into 3 se...

Hi everyone, and happy new year! At least that's how it feels in FOCUS when August 1st hits. Welcome Week is around the corner, brand new pastoral apprentices are joining our team, and a whole new wave of students are coming to DFW to begin or continue their college careers, and will hopefully encounter Jesus while they're here. Last Summer FOCUS of 2024 Tonight is our last Summer FOCUS, where all the local students join together for a weekly worship service.  We took a group picture last Thursday, and you can see just how many students make the drive each week, some from all the way across the metroplex. One of the most special moments this summer was when a group of Hispanic students & ministers led worship together in both English and Spanish throughout the night.  It was a really cool way of experiencing the first fruits of the Biblical promise that we will witness a "great multitude from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the...

Hi everyone, I hope you've been staying cool in the heat, and staying safe if you live along the coast. If anyone suffered any damage and there's anything I can do or people I can connect you with, please don't hesitate to reach out! Praying for y'all. Summer Growth Just because students are taking a break doesn't mean that God has been! He's still been moving and maturing them as disciples, getting them ready for this coming school year! Two students in particular come to mind. I've gotten to keep up with Jaden and Luke over the summer. Luke is in town taking summer classes, and Jaden and I have been Facetiming from California to Texas, continuing to study the Bible together where we left off in May. You may remember Jaden - I shared a bit of his story and his coming to know Jesus this semester in a ministry update a few months ago! A wise man once said, "If you make your life about climbing the ladder, you'll pass Jesus on his way down." Jad...

Hi everyone! I hope you all stayed safe during the storms this last week. A bunch of trees got knocked down near us but luckily we didn't suffer any damage. Erin's summer did start a week early due to power-outages so I guess that's a silver lining! SICM If you've been following FOCUS's ministry for several years, the name SICM may ring a bell. SICM is an annual campus ministry leadership conference up in Bellingham WA. Each spring, we'll invite a handful of students who show a lot of promise and have demonstrated a love for God and for people to a week-long conference where they learn how to lead their classmates and make disciples on the college campus. This year, we had the largest group to date (in 25 years)! We brought about 150 college students across DFW! SMU's ministry also had our largest group we've ever sent, with 8 students! From left to right, we have Zaria, Toby, Luke, Benji, Joy, Sharon-Sue, Sierra, and Sofia. This was a REALLY solid group...

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed my very creative and original title to this month's update. I'm excited to share some of the final things we've done this semester before students embark on finals week and start their summer breaks. While they've all been slowing down, God certainly hasn't! The Eclipse I hope you get to enjoy the eclipse last month! Whether you saw it in person or not, enjoy some pictures of SMU Focus watching it together alongside thousands of other students on campus. One of our seniors, David, got some incredible pictures with his professional camera! Note just how many people showed up to watch. Several thousand! Upon seeing it, Garrett voiced the good hope that that's only a fraction of the people who will soon join together in unity from every nation to praise our Lord! EOY Banquet We had our end of year formal last week, which went great! We spent time honoring our student leaders, our graduating seniors, all over a nacho bar donated by C...