The office of Spiritual and Intercultural Life is committed to the spiritual formation of students during their time at Fox. Students have opportunities to grow in their faith through bible studies and weekly chapel services. The office also serves students by creating and sustaining a supportive intercultural campus life. Through programs, events and resources SpIL is developing leaders to strengthen the campus community with a multicultural perspective and voices.
Spiritual Life
The first Student Christian Union meeting was in 1967, where the students sponsored weekly prayer meetings on campus. Also in 1967 was the first mission conference on campus that focused on missions in Peru and Bolivia through the Oregon Yearly Meeting of Friends.
Spiritual Life has four main outreach ministries which include Christian community development. These are Embrace, Shalom at Home, Shalom Abroad, James Project. Embrace is a ministry that is involved with the program Fosters Parent Night Out, which involves George Fox students volunteering for childcare so that foster parents in the community can have a night out of rest and fun. Embrace is also involved in the program called Little Bruins which gives children in the surrounding community a mentor/George Fox student to look up to and develop a relationship with.
Shalom at Home is a ministry that focuses on homeless outreach in the Portland area, allowing for students to become involved and volunteer. Shalom Abroad is a ministry that focuses on Shalom chapels, which is an elective chapel that meets on Tuesday nights on campus. Shalom Abroad also focuses on international outreach and mission trips all over the world that students and faculty can participate in. Mission/serve trips are offered to students and faculty to participate in throughout the year. They travel to places internationally such as Romania, Nepal, and Mexico plus Washington State and California.
The James Project is a ministry involved in community outreach in Newberg which was started in the late 1990’s-early 2000’s, this is student lead and works alongside local ministries.
Intercultural Life
The Office of Intercultural Life oversees the coordination of diversity inclusion and the scholarship programs. Their vision is to create and maintain a Christian university community known for welcoming, supporting and empowering all students to lead and achieve exceptional outcomes together. The office serves students by creating and sustaining a supportive intercultural campus life. Through programs, events, and resources, they are developing leaders to strengthen the Fox community with a multicultural perspective and voice. They offer various events aimed at reconciliation such as the Voices Project, a multi-ethnic leadership conference.
Starting in 2008, the university has launched several initiatives to increase the attendance of minority students on campus. The Office of Intercultural life oversees various scholarship programs. The first was the Act Six scholarship program, a leadership scholarship that gives full funding to students of diverse backgrounds and leadership abilities to attend GFU. The group is known for its affiliations with racial reconciliation and multicultural affairs. Also, the Bridge Scholars: The George Fox Bridge Scholars program is designed to provide quality programming that prepares first-generation college students from under-resourced backgrounds to make a successful transition from high school to college and establish a strong foundation for college success.