Delight for Women on Campus

Delight, a Christ-centered nationwide non-profit organization which involves discipleship groups for Christian college women, has now become an official D-group at Point Loma Nazarene University. D-groups are discipleship ministries led on campus by students and offer small groups and events to the student body. Since Delight is a nationwide group for college women, lead organizers from PLNU worked with PLNU’s Associated Student Body and the Delight headquarters to start the ministry group on campus last year.

Tori Vatcher, second-year psychology major and Christian studies minor, is the co-team coordinator for Delight. Vatcher initiated making Delight an official chapter group at the university.

“This whole experience of making Delight a chapter group at PLNU has involved working with the school and Delight Headquarters by being in contact with them,” Vatcher said. “It was so awesome having those resources and also gaining wisdom from the people in charge of Delight as a whole.”

Delight Headquarters creates the curriculum and the official book for their discipleship programs, and highly encourages members to purchase the book to follow along with the messages and scriptures it has for each chapter. Delight groups are established at varying universities across the country.

“Schools around us have a chapter group, so knowing that all of these women across the country are reading the same thing [as us] is so cool to me,” Vatcher said.

Vatcher and her co-leader, second-year Christian studies major Jazmyn Collins, handpicked a group of women to lead different aspects of PLNU’s Delight group. The leaders of Delight are assigned their own unique leadership roles based on their passions and skills. 

“Each leader has an amazing story of how God has worked in their lives and prepared their hearts to use their passions and gifts in the specific area they are leading,” Vatcher said.

Kendall Gray, second-year cross-disciplinary studies major, is the Delight day coordinator. Her role involves individually connecting with members, and setting up intentional events with the members of Delight. 

“God was cultivating and growing in me last semester with my love of people and Him,” Gray said. “This leadership role came up that He was stirring in me all of last year, and now is available through Delight.”

Gray said that all-women’s groups like Delight grant space for more vulnerability within ministry groups.

“Delight has the potential to break down stereotypes or walls of who you can talk to, like for older or younger women in different grades,” Gray said. “We can help and relate to each other, but also just be there for one another which creates a common ground everyone is comfortable with.”

Abigail West, a first-year pre-nursing major, became interested in the ministry group after seeing their mission statement through their Instagram page.

“They said their mission was to create a community focused on Christ where women at PLNU could come and be vulnerable and grow in their faith with others,” West said. “I really wanted that for myself so I decided to come and try it.”

Delight plans activities for members to do together, such as coffee and donuts provided for the group on a weekend morning. 

“The meetings and community events have been so much fun and have filled me up with the Lord’s love so much!” West said. “I really love how much the leaders try to connect to you and how open they try to be with their faith.”

With Delight just beginning its weekly meetings, the leadership team has their own hopes and goals for this year as it continues.

“My ultimate goal is to bring people to God and to show people that you can be going through struggles and God is still with you,” Gray said. “We have these goals because of God and what He has given us.”

Vatcher has her own goals for Delight also.

“One of my biggest goals is to create an invitational community for women,” Vatcher said. “I have been learning that creating a safe space for women on campus starts with us as leaders sharing what we are going through so that they know they can be vulnerable too”

Delight meets every Friday at 7 p.m. in Smee Hall. 

To learn more about the ministry group, visit their Instagram at @delight_plnu