Chi Alpha is a Christian ministry organization that welcomes all college students to come together to grow their relationship with God and find community on campus.
It was founded in 1953 at Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University. Since then, the organization has grown and has groups at more than 300 college campuses nationwide.
Each person who identifies as Christian takes on the role of being “Christ’s ambassador,” which translates to christou apostoloi in Greek. Taking the first letter of “Christ” and “ambassador,” the name Chi Alpha (XA) was coined.
The TCU Chi Alpha chapter was founded in the 1980s by Andrea Heitz, who graduated from TCU in 1989 and is still with the university as a Senior Advancement Research Officer.
Chi Alpha has many opportunities for students to meet throughout the week. There is a large worship service that occurs every Monday at 7:27 p.m. in the Robert Carr Chapel. During the service, there is a teaching, followed by a discussion and a closing prayer.
There are also men’s and women’s Bible studies throughout the week called “Life Groups” that allow students to connect and learn from each other.
“I genuinely felt God lead me and my friends to start Chi Alpha,” Heitz said. “We really thought bringing our specific form of Christianity to TCU was the best way for us to help other people know Jesus, and the desire came from a place of love for TCU and its community.”
TCU Chi Alpha is now led by pastor Andrew Youngblood.
Youngblood said that during high school and college, he struggled to maintain his relationship with God and was encouraged to reestablish his faith by the Chi Alpha pastor at San Angelo State University, where Youngblood attended college.
“There was a need for someone to come and basically restart the club,” he said. “And we sensed that Lord was calling us in this direction.” This is his eleventh year as pastor for Chi Alpha at TCU.
Chi Alpha provides a space for TCU students to navigate moving away from home and explore their self-identity and beliefs.
Youngblood said that his role as the Chi Alpha pastor is to help students find themselves and guide them throughout their college years.
“My role is not to tell you how to live but to help you navigate what you believe and walk with students as they’re in this transition period to discover what it is that they are called to do,” he said.
Jun Ha Seo, a junior business information systems and supply chain management major, said Chi Alpha has helped him build a community of like-minded people that he can trust.
An international student from Korea, Seo struggled to maintain his faith during his transition to college life.
“When I came to TCU, I realized that I really didn’t have the desire to pray, and that I didn’t love God and love Jesus as much as I thought,” he said.
Seo prayed his entire first semester for God to send him a group of Christians that would reignite his desire to follow God.
When Seo and his current roommate, junior mathematics major Isaiah Nicely, were eating lunch at Market Square on campus, Nicely introduced him to Chi Alpha.
“Joining Chi Alpha was a pivotal point for me to interact with Christian Americans and learn about different experiences,” Seo said.
“I’m a very shy person and I don’t tell people my secrets,” Seo said. “But I feel very comfortable doing so in Chi Alpha because everyone is genuine and doesn’t judge.”
To get connected with Chi Alpha, view the organization’s page on TCU Engage.
