Posters scattered around campus and slides in chapel are advertising the “Tuesday Talks.” But what exactly are they?
In January of this year, the talks were organized by Stephanie Formenti, Covenant’s Chapel Associate for Discipleship, and Hannah Bloomquist, Andreas RD. They are the result of a number of conversations Formenti and Bloomquist were having with various students.
Formenti said, “[Both of us had been talking to] students about the silence around issues involving sexuality, either from their families or from churches—or they were coming to Covenant and getting introduced to these things for the first time. We just felt that maybe opening that door for conversation would be a worthwhile thing to do.”
The idea originally began as a four-week series of discussions. Formentti and Bloomquist covered topics such as sexual purity, pornography, dating and physical boundaries, and gender roles (specifically, the role of women in the church).
The study stretched to eight weeks, and by the end of the semester, the Tuesday Talks included both male and female students.
As Formenti explained, “I think Tuesday Talks evolve[d] the same way they were created: by just listening to the conversations, listening to the needs, listening to the questions of our students. [During one Tuesday Talk], a student had the idea of having guys come [and discuss gender roles with us].”
As a result of the eager approval from other students, Bloomquist and Formenti agreed to open the group’s doors to men. The following Tuesday, both men and women gathered in Hannah Bloomquist’s apartment to discuss the role of men and women in the church.
Tuesday Talks’ invitation to all students continues this semester as Formenti and Bloomquist begin a series on the “theology of the body.” Alternating between joint and separate talks with men and women, Formenti and Bloomquist lead this semester’s talks with the help of Brett Borland and Stephen Dillon, the resident directors of Founders and Carter, respectively.
The response to Tuesday Talks has been a positive one.
“Students are very affirming here,” said Bloomquist. “Last semester, between 25-60 students came to these conversations and it’s so encouraging to me because their presence shows a desire to grow in Christ and to grow in their ministry, in the way they want to be shaped.”
Formenti has shared a similar experience. “I’ve gotten a general sense that the [Tuesday Talks] conversations were helpful for [students] in friendships or on the hall. I’ve even had women from churches be like, ‘Hey, what’s happening on Tuesdays? I keep hearing about these Tuesday Talks from [students they were mentoring].’ It’s just always nice to know that you’ve hit a nerve and the students have been really encouraging in that way.”
For Cammie Messer ’21, the talks have created a safe place to discuss hard topics in a group setting.
“One of the reasons I love Tuesday Talks is because it’s such a good place for hearing a lot of different ideas from people who all love Jesus,” said Messer. “This semester we’ve been talking about body image, and there have been so many different ideas and opinions on what it means to be healthy and what it means to love food and things like that—but despite all the different opinions, you can assume the goodwill of everyone in the room.”
Messer said that the practical application of these discussions can often be a hard pill to swallow. “Sometimes listening to what Hannah and Stephanie have to say makes me check myself and that can be really hard. At the same time, though, that’s really good because I don’t want to go just to hear things I already know; I want to go and be challenged.”
Students like Messer find that Tuesday Talks aren’t just challenging, but genuinely enjoyable too. Mixed in with the more difficult applications are blessings of fellowship and understanding.
For Messer in particular, “there’s just something really cool about being able to walk into a room where all four buildings are represented, athletes and non-athletes, people who consider themselves conservative or liberal—all of us just discussing what a healthy relationship looks like or how we view body image with the goal of seeking truth.”
“It’s a unique opportunity for inter-generational conversation,” said Formenti. “That doesn’t necessarily happen super easily in the church. When we take the time to sit down with people of different generations and talk about important things through the lens of Scripture—that’s experiencing the Body of Christ in a very unique way.”
For interested students, Tuesday Talks meet weekly from 11:00-11:50 AM in Hannah Bloomquist’s apartment on the first floor of Andreas.