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Koinonia 2020-21 Leadership Applications

Thank you for your interest in Koinonia and for your thoughtful consideration of this experience.

Please read the following information before completing your application to ensure a full understanding of the responsibilities and expectations of a Koinonia leader.

Vision Statement

Koinonia is a network of student-led small groups at Loyola that meet weekly to share questions, experiences, insights, and commitments in an atmosphere of prayer.

Koinonia groups are intentional communities that meet for the unique purpose of sharing faith and spirituality in light of the many aspects of the college student experience.

Koinonia is rooted in the Jesuit model of Christian Life Communities (CLC) and thus is distinctly Ignatian in its striving toward the Jesuit ideal of “finding God in all things;” members aim to identify God’s presence and action in their everyday lives at Loyola.

Koinonia welcomes all students, regardless of how certain or uncertain one might be about his or her faith at this particular time.

Koinonia invites each member to consider growing deeper in his or her unique faith by building meaningful relationships with other students.

Group Components

While each Koinonia group will look unique in many ways, certain aspects of Koinonia are true for all groups. These include:

  • All groups will incorporate prayer into each meeting. Shared prayer is an essential component of Koinonia, and therefore, should be present within all groups. Groups may use traditional or original written prayers, spontaneous verbal prayers, music, art, silence, or other prayerful mediums depending on the interests and preferences of group members. Groups are encouraged to rotate prayer leaders in order to empower all members to express their unique spiritualities.
  • Each group will commit to a specific and relevant theme of their choosing for the semester. General themes might range from relationships to Scripture, social justice to transitions, for example. While weekly conversation topics and activities will vary and should leave space for the Spirit’s guidance, the theme will provide a common thread that should weave through the semester’s conversation topics.
    • The basic purpose of Koinonia is faith-sharing; therefore, leaders are responsible for creating an appropriate and welcoming space for that type of conversation regardless of the chosen theme. How that faith sharing comes about in each particular group is up to the leader pairs to develop with the theme they select for their group. Leaders will be responsible for choosing their theme before groups begin in late September.
  • All group leaders will be expected to develop a structure and content for their meetings. Leaders may choose to use published materials provided by Campus Ministry or create their own with guidance from Koinonia staff. Again, while each group’s specific structure and content will vary based on choice, they will all support the vision of Koinonia by including prayer, faith-based conversation, and action.

Leader Qualifications

Koinonia leaders serve as group facilitators, role models, and ambassadors for Campus Ministry. To serve successfully in those roles, Koinonia leaders must be:

  • aware and supportive of the vision of Koinonia;
  • attentive to and engaged in their own spiritual journeys;
  • able to collaborate in leadership with another student and meet on a regular basis to plan group meetings;
  • capable of creating a welcoming space for students with various backgrounds and interests;
  • open to leading peers in discussions of faith and spirituality;
  • respectful of the various spiritual journeys of their group members and peer leaders;
  • comfortable leading prayer and conversation with their group members and peer leaders;
  • interested in offering time and energy to build new relationships with group members and peer leaders during and outside of Koinonia meetings;
  • ready to commit to the Koinonia program and their group members throughout the ’20-‘21 year.

Leader Expectations

All Koinonia leaders will be available to:

  • Participate in the Koinonia Leader Training Retreat in the Campus Ministry Office in September 2020 (date TBD- likely the Sunday after Labor Day).
  • Participate in monthly Koinonia leader meetings and prioritize these meetings over other activities.
  • Participate in and help coordinate Koinonia events once per semester.
  • Maintain weekly group meetings and actively retain members with regular contact and encouragement throughout the year.
  • Assist Koinonia staff in promoting Koinonia campus-wide and recruiting participants at the start of each semester.