Jakaela Davis is a recent graduate of Tuskegee University; however, her impact and service in the Auburn community are immense. Davis is currently an Outreach Intern for the Auburn Wesley Foundation—a United Methodist campus ministry, open to college students from all religious backgrounds. In her position, Davis goes out around campus to meet new people and find out how they are doing spiritually. She says, “The more I grew in the position, the more I realized that God does things for a reason and he calls us out of our comfort zone, just so that we can be stretched more in growing towards Christ.”
This past week, Davis set up a chalkboard on the Haley Concourse, with the question, “What does the Church look like to you?” written on it. The rest of the board was left blank for any passerby to write their answer.
Davis, right, last week on the Haley Concourse.
“The question came about when I was noticing that more of my generation and younger was just not interested in “church,” and I kept wondering where the church has gone wrong. I think we as Believers of Christ have forgotten that the church is not the actual building but that we are the church, and I believe that in order for us to get back to this place filled with hope, faith, joy, and love, we have to remember that we are all sinners in need of grace and love,” says Davis.
For Davis, when she thinks of the question, she turns to 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, a passage on unity and diversity in the One Body, because the message here serves her as a reminder that the church is not simply a building, but rather “the very people that cross our paths.”
Davis finds it important to ask this question to college students because, “we are currently living in a society where there are divisions among people due to politics, social media, status, etc. I believe that we have forgotten that we are all in need of that love that comes from above.”
Pictured above are some of the answers students wrote on the board.
Ultimately, Davis’ goal is for students to start a conversation about this question—for us to think and talk about something more and meaningful than ourselves.