Street Level is meeting for the summer on Monday nights at 6:30pm at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. From week-to-week, we are doing a variety of things: book studies, work nights, hangout’s, etc.
Additionally, this summer we have a few events planned. In June, we took a trip to Kansas City for a conference at All Nations. In August, we will have our yearly summer camp out for UW Stout, UW River Falls, and UW Superior.
Below are some photos of what we’ve been up to.. Enjoy!
Street Level is currently in the middle of UW Stout “winter break” – halfway through the 2024-2025 school year. We are looking ahead to students returning for the Spring, 2025 semester. A few of the things that we have in the next few months:
We appreciate everyone’s continued prayers and support! Please continue praying as we move forward.
Lastly, please enjoy some photos from our Fall 2024 semester! (below)
Street Level held our meetings on campus on Monday nights this semester – something that we hadn’t done since 2017. Our mid-week church service at The Street Level House on Wednesday nights included dinner together at 6pm, followed by worship and a bible teaching at 7pm. We had a Fall Summit with guest speaker (Te Smith) from New Orleans. We rebuilt the wall in the backyard at the Street Level house. Former UW Stout graduate and Street Level student leader, Brittany Menor, hung out with us for an evening to tell us about her 7 years as a missionary in the Philippines…
It was a really good semester! God is good!
Street Level just finished the Spring, 2021 semester at UW-Stout. The spring semester was eventful! Besides working through all the logistics and considerations for Covid-safety, we continued to meet new people each week and got to know many of them week-to-week over dinner and the bible discussions. As the school year came to a close, we saw some members graduate and move away, others head out for summer jobs / travels at large, and some move on to other pursuits.
There are also many of us who remain in Menomonie for the summer. Our plans include continued weekly bible studies in the Gospel of John, camping & canoeing trips, bonfires, and other random happenings. For those of college age who are interested in getting involved, we will meet at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse at 6:30pm on Monday nights.
Our weekly dinners gave us many occasions to get to know each other better. As the weather improved we made our way outside to the patio to enjoy the warm air. Prior to that, all of our activity was indoors in the friend confines of The Blind Munchies. We ate together, read the bible, watched short videos, and had lots of small group discussions about life with God. The current college students also met on campus for prayer and discussion, as they read through Jon Bloom’s book Don’t Follow Your Heart. (*Jon Bloom spoke at the Blind Munchies back in 2018)
Outside of the Monday night routine we had: winter bonfires, sledding, two one-day college summits, more sledding, a Spring Break mission trip to Tennessee, Saturday morning breakfast’s at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse, bonfires, french fries, etc. We continue to stay connected with the other Street Level campuses at UW River Falls and UW Superior with a variety of video and in person events.
Lastly, Street Level greatly appreciate the prayers, support, and guidance of Believers Church! As a campus ministry, we are incredibly blessed to be directly connected to a church with all the opportunities to pursue God in the fullness of what the bible intends for Christians. We appreciate the support of our pastors and the people who belong to Believers Church.
Please continue to pray for God’s opportunities for us to engage with the UW Stout students.
As with many, 2020 brought joys and challenges to Street Level, looking back over the last year of Street Level as we move into 2021- I think we can truly say that it’s been a wild ride. The fall semester brought it’s own need for creative solutions, which we are learning from the pandemic (and it might be a good thing). We moved into the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse due to campus restrictions. We wondered if anyone new would still come with the change in venue, the approach and the restrictions, and they did!
Throughout the semester we have been holding an official on campus “meeting” which every Monday at 5pm the Student Leaders have been going through the book “Don’t Follow Your Heart” by Jon Bloom and then praying with the students who come week to week. Afterwards, they come over to the Blind Munchies to join the “Blind Munchies Bible Discussion” hosted by the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. This allows the opportunity to still offer a free dinner and to get to know the students that come week to week.
Over the fall semester three students began serving in the radio and coffeehouse ministries and became official members of Street Level. With the new normal of video calls we were even able to join up with our sister branches in the Philippines and Superior as they joined our regular meeting and then even split off into small groups with us! River Falls also came and joined us for our last night of the semester in person.
More recently we took a two week break from our regular meeting so we could enjoy a New Year’s Day Jeopardy hang out at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. We learned Street Level history (although some of our more tenured members couldn’t even answer some of the questions), drank coffee and enjoyed what seemed like a long time since we just hung out and were together in fellowship.
In early January, three of our Student leaders joined up with Superior and River Falls’ student leaders for a day retreat. Focusing on the topic of Disciple Making at the Street Level garage in Superior. It was pleasantly surprising how mild the temperatures were in the Great North, but it was an even better day of sharing what each campus has been learning since the start of the pandemic and how to continue the mission despite the circumstances.
The last few weeks before the semester began again on Jan 25th, we hit pause from the normal course of materials on Monday nights to read blog articles and discuss as a large group with our Superior friends joining us virtually.
We are looking forward to what God is going to do with the next semester- crazy to think that we are nearly a year into the pandemic, but God’s been faithful and we have been ready to move accordingly to what he wants. Pray for new students, outreach opportunities to campus and also for those that are in our group to desire discipleship.
Street Level has started back up for the Fall, 2020 semester! The UW-Stout students returned to on Labor Day weekend, with classes beginning last week. Street Level welcomed returning students back to Menomonie with a backyard hangout at the Street Level House.
This fall we have a new location and time for our weekly meeting on Monday night. We will gather weekly at 5pm in The Commons (Elk Creek Room) for on-campus prayer. The plan is to read a short devotional together and spend time praying for our classmates, the campus, and other current needs.
We have also been invited to join The Blind Munchies for a weekly college dinner and bible discussion. The dinner is free and begins at 6pm. The bible discussion will follow at 7pm. All college students are welcome!
The rules of engagement may have changed. But our goal is the same: to build God’s kingdom through discipleship of university students at Stout.
Street Level provides opportunities for college students to serve God in through our varied ministry outlets. You can become a member of Street Level and begin serving God in our magazine, radio station, coffeehouse, or creative team. We also go on retreats, mission trips, etc. We have a discipleship house. And we are supported by a great church.
God wants you to grow in your Christian faith. Even during your time in college.
May 16, 2020
Street Level College Ministries
This past Monday was the final Street Level meeting of the UW-Stout semester. By the time you read this, finals week will be over, and a few Street Level members will be graduated.
We’ve been meeting via conference call for the past few weeks, continuing our discussions from before all the social distancing. We have been going through material about what it means to be a radical follower of Jesus in this present time. The semester ended with us reflecting on our own walk with God. To ask whether we are distracted by our own life and desires, or are we focused on pursuing Jesus. This was an appropriate analysis given the time and situation we are all in.
It is crazy to think that it was two months ago that we were still doing meals at the Street Level house, welcoming in strangers to join us, and having a full group conversation together. We then moved to meeting in small groups at various locations, video calling between the groups to ‘stay together’ and now we are completely in the digital realm for meetings. Each transition felt like a hard one, but it also provided a new way to connect, reflect, and realize who we each really are when we are on our own. This has proven difficult for us all, but God is no doubt speaking to us.
This entire situation has really tested and allowed us all to ask a lot of questions. Why are we here? What is our goal? Who is our goal? What is a campus ministry? What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What is our purpose? Do I want to be part of it? Do I want to follow Jesus? Where is He going?
Asking ourselves these questions can be tiring, but it’s good. It has forced us to think and to lean on God. He wants to give clarity, not confusion. So we are trusting that God will lead and speak, and we will be patient and faithful in the meantime. This time apart gives us time to draw near to Him, and to let Him speak, convict, encourage, and guide rather than just trying to copy or get the answers from each other. Most of all, this time apart has made us realize how much we need each other. Having time to rely on God has been good, but relying on God, and walking together, is better. We are excited to get back together again.
As the restrictions for gathering are lifted, it is still unclear how we will proceed with being a campus ministry over the summer months. The summer is always a good time for fellowship, restoration, and preparation for the next year. Please pray for vision as we figure out how to do ministry on a campus after it has been empty for months. This is unclear, but also exciting. God is still ministering, He is still loving, finding the lost, meeting the lonely, and training His disciples. We are excited to see where He takes us this summer, and into the fall.