Fostering a Christian community in a secular world
How a ministry started by college women, for college women is changing college culture
The night of Oct. 25, 2023, was dreary, the kind of night that made Fort Worth feel like Seattle.
Rainwater pooled in every pothole. Thunder roared through the sky. Trees danced in the wind.
A mile from TCU’s campus, young women dashed into The Vintage Rail, an event venue behind TCU on Stanley Avenue. They were looking for more than shelter from the storm.
Nearly 200 women had turned up at Vintage Rail, a popular venue for weddings and parties, for a worship night hosted by As You Are ministries.
TCU As You Are facilitators, McKeever Wright and Emily Rose Benefield, along with various volunteers and As You Are staff greeted the young women as they rushed in from the storm.
It was a night of no expectations.
There was no expectation to drink alcohol and no expectation to dress a certain way.
There was no expectation for the women to be anyone other than themselves.
As You Are
The women were drawn by the welcoming nature of the growing ministry for Christian, college-aged women that began as a Bible study group at the University of Georgia. As You Are aims to help women use their faith to face social and personal challenges.
A study in 2012 found that young adults who frequently use passive coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse, avoidance and self-blame have higher anxiety levels.
Among those young adults, a study published in Plos One in August, 2021 found that females deal with a higher stress rate than males. As You Are is trying to address how they handle that stress.
It is common in college culture for young women to deal with stressors in secular ways, like alcohol, drugs, casual sex or self-blame.
“Where are you taking your pain?," Anna Butler, As You Are’s executive director, asked the those gathered.
She went onto speak from the scriptures.
“The world called her defiled and Jesus calls her Daughter,” Anna said. “The Lord is making beautiful things out of us and there is beauty in our brokenness."
Women sang, listened, cried and hugged one another while listening to Anna's messages.
Christianity at TCU
Photo by Kiley Beykirch
Photo by Kiley Beykirch
Religious preference "unknown"
The number of college students with no religious preference has tripled in the past 30 years, according to a survey done by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP).
At TCU, 63% of students listed their religious preference as unknown, seven times more than in 2011.
The Rev. Todd Boling, TCU’s campus minister, said the change could be reflective of the national trend.
“I think unfortunately religion has become really divisive in our country, and so sometimes people, rather than take a side in any of it, they just withdraw from it," Rev. Boling said. "Because it doesn’t feel like a place of peace, and it doesn’t feel like a place you can find community.”
Rev. Boling also added that a lot of students, who grow up in Christian homes, are expected to go to church on Sunday morning with their family.
Yet when they go to college, no one is making them go.
TCU students (left to right) Grace Flesher, Nina Larsen, Paxton Crews and Molly Curran at the As You Are worship night on Oct. 25, 2023.
TCU students (left to right) Grace Flesher, Nina Larsen, Paxton Crews and Molly Curran at the As You Are worship night on Oct. 25, 2023.
As You Are
Even though young people are walking away from religion they’re still searching for something, and that is where As You Are can step in to lead people back to the Lord, Anna said.
With more ministries on campus, it could create a competitive environment.
There are 20 identified religious organizations at TCU, and out of those 20, 17 are Christian. They all vary based on their purpose and function, Rev. Boling said.
Anna emphasized that As You Are is not trying to supplant any other ministry.
"There are campus ministries that are wonderful and are doing a great job and it's been sweet to partner with them," she said. "We never want to put other campus ministries down, but something unique about As You Are is that it was started by college women, for college women and most other ministries haven't done that."
McKeever's story
McKeever Wright enrolled at TCU in August of 2021. She was an excited and eager young first-year who wanted to be plugged into a Christian community.
Except that wasn't as easy as she had hoped.
Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, McKeever and her childhood friends were very involved in their church and youth group. She was part of a strong biblical community.
At TCU she couldn't find the same sense of community, despite getting involved with different groups.
"They all felt very separate from the people I did life with," McKeever said. "I wanted to find community with people I went to class with and the people I saw in the dorm."
McKeever had followed As You Are on Instagram for over a year. She said that's what she wanted at TCU.
"I could just see it flourishing among women here," McKeever said. "I think there is a need and a want for that."
She messaged the group and asked them to consider expanding their ministry to TCU.
Initially, the group was booked with worship nights at schools such as the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina.
McKeever didn't give up.
She kept messaging back and forth. In January of her sophomore year they let her know they were ready to expand to TCU.
It took many Zoom calls, phone calls and FaceTime calls to settle on what As You Are would look like at TCU, McKeever said.
She spent her summer and the fall semester of her junior year planning for the event, working out a date and a venue, gathering volunteers and spreading the word.
McKeever said she needed a partner to lead As You Are with her.
"I prayed a lot about it, and the Lord made it very evident to me that I needed her to be a year younger than me," McKeever said. "I also thought that this would be a good idea because I am a junior, and I graduate next year, and I think that having a younger person already leading and being involved in the ministry keeps it rolling."
McKeever knew a sophomore, Emily Rose Benefield, who was also from Alabama.
Emily Rose had already stepped up, was passionate about the Lord and was passionate about the ministry at TCU, McKeever said.
Together they facilitated As You Are’s first worship night at TCU on Oct. 25, 2023.
Carley Dudley (right) and Virginia Adair (left) their first year of college at UGA.
Carley Dudley (right) and Virginia Adair (left) their first year of college at UGA.
The very first Bible study group led by Lainey Young (left front) and Simms O'Quinn (right front).
The very first Bible study group led by Lainey Young (left front) and Simms O'Quinn (right front).
Carley Dudley and Virginia Adair's Bible study their senior year of college.
Carley Dudley and Virginia Adair's Bible study their senior year of college.
The night the seven original leaders decided to host their first worship night.
The night the seven original leaders decided to host their first worship night.
Looking for something more
As You Are grew out of a Bible study that began at the University of Georgia in 2018.
“There was such a gap between Christian culture and college culture,” Carley Dudley, co-founder of As You Are Ministries, said. “There was nothing for the women who love the Lord, but also wanted to experience college. There wasn’t a place where the hub of sorority life felt like they belonged in a Christian culture."
As a first-year student, Carley said she desired a ministry in which she felt fully seen, known and pursued.
In the second semester of their first year, Carly said her friend, Virginia Adair, felt similar struggles to her. Virginia reached out to Simms O’Quinn and Lainey Young, two sophomores.
She asked them to start a Bible study for first-year women struggling to find a balance between college culture and their faith.
Initially, the Bible study consisted of four to five women, Carley said. By the end of the semester, they were averaging around 12-15 women.
Sophomore year, Carley, Virginia and their friend Caroline Ballou started a Bible study for first-year women, modeling what Simms and Lainey had done for them.
The next year, sophomore women from Carley and Virginia’s study started a new one for the younger women.
The older women continued their groups, establishing Bible studies for juniors, sophomores and first-years.
Every week, the seven Bible study leaders, Simms, Lainey, Carley, Virginia, Caroline, Piper O’Quinn and Lily Nichol met weekly to discuss what was working and how to better reach women.
At one of their weekly meetings, in their favorite coffee shop, the seven women felt a calling to host a worship night in the fall of 2019, Carley said.
FIRST WORSHIP NIGHT
2019 - The University of Georgia
The birth of As You Are
“We had no idea how it was going to go," Carley said. "We had over 200 girls come. The Lord is really doing something neat here, we aren’t quite sure what, we just felt it in our spirits. Like, 'Oh wow, there is really something to this.’ ”
They made plans for the spring semester but the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
During the shutdown, they made an Instagram account to share scripture, encouragement and maintain their connection with one another.
The first post, on March 25, 2020, launched the UGA Bible study into something bigger, and As You Are Ministries was born.
"Our hope is always that any girl, no matter where she is in her walk with the Lord, no matter what kind of lifestyle she's living, would feel welcome at As You Are and would not feel like the door is closed to her or that she's disqualified because of what she's doing on the weekends."
A light in a dark room
As a student herself, McKeever said it is evident that female students need community.
"I think a lot of women don't even know that they need it, because they've never known it, they've forgotten about it or it's a thing of the past," McKeever said.
McKeever added, "At TCU, it can be harder to find community, but it's sweeter when you do find it. It puts you in a unique situation to be a light."
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