Digital Campus

Why are we starting a digital campus?

Hello, my name is Pastor Kaloma Smith, and I’d like to personally invite you to the Digital Campus for the University AME Zion Church of Palo Alto.

In the eight years that I’ve served as senior pastor at University, we have continuously looked for ways to reach our community, care for our congregation and neighbors, and grow in Christ. Our world changes dynamically and drastically each day, and University has long focused its mission on fostering care in a modern context. Previously, this has included partnering with Google and the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) to close the digital divide within our population, providing weekly livestreams for members who couldn’t regularly attend church, and raising funds to support Bay Area families facing economic challenges. The recent pandemic has accelerated patterns we’ve seen before, but we’re rising to meet the challenge.

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Vision & Purpose

Our current moment, as well as Scripture, demands that we give our initiative a global focus and preach to the ends of the earth. Largely, this means leaving behind the notion of “church” as stuck in a particular “time and place.” Before 2020, you had to physically appear at a particular place (Palo Alto, CA) and a particular time (9:30 am) to experience worship and discipleship. But now, with our new Digital Campus, our brothers and sisters on the East Coast and in Singapore and in Kenya and Europe have the ability to come together, unbound by time and place. I know it’s an audacious dream, as well as a massive one. But we believe God calls us to reach our community—which is the world—to care for each other and grow deeper in Christ.

How will the Digital Campus Operate?

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Meet The Team!

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Who Should Participate in the Digital Campus?

Scripture tells us that where two or three are gathered, Jesus is most certainly there. This is evidenced whether we are worshipping in the sanctuary or online on the livestream. University welcomes anyone and everyone to participate in our Digital Campus, as our primary goal is to create a community. University is for those who are craving connection, interaction, and encouragement, who have questions about faith or satisfied with the answers God has given them on their journeys, who live in the same time zone or across the globe. No matter your experience, we are creating a space for you to have a healthy, fulfilling, and inspiring community.

Why Should I Participate in the Digital Campus?

One of the exciting things that I find in the Bible is that although there were prophets, apostles, and leaders, God designed everything to happen in a community. The reality is that none of us can succeed on our own, and in today’s world, loneliness—for singles and families alike—preceded the distancing of the pandemic. Feelings of isolation may have arisen from the hectic nature of 21st-century life, from uncertainty about how to raise children, from traveling for business, from wondering who we are and who God had meant for us to be. Over the past nine months, as University leaders sat together and envisioned our plan for the church, we asked: How do you create a space that can give people community in the messiness of life?

Throughout its history, University has learned that community arises from its people, and ours is a community of love. Because our church is tied to Silicon Valley and Stanford University, where people move in and out of the area for school or employment, we have practice with creating lasting bonds, even when separated across time and space. University has been incredibly meaningful for those who have passed through our doors, even after they’ve moved not just across the United States, but all over the world—and our members still find ways to connect! The miracle of God providing us with a Digital Campus is an extension of the work He’s already begun in our church.

The thing is, our community comes from people like you. Scripture says that where your treasure is, your heart will also be, and we treasure you. Every person who participates and every sibling in the faith contributes a piece of the living beating heart of the University Digital Campus. It is a place where we can grow, question, and explore our faith that is so deeply rooted in the heart of God and embodied to us in the person of Jesus.

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How Will I Know that the Digital Campus is Safe to Join?

I know some of you might be a little hesitant about building community on an online platform. I want to reiterate that ours is Christian-based, loving, and meant to encourage. What’s said inside the group stays inside the group. Our dedicated team moderates our group to prevent trolls or bullies.

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What Are the Digital Campus Values?

Fellowship: Jesus invited his disciples to go out and preach the Word. It’s easy to simply talk about faith, but what does it mean to walk with His disciples as they try to figure out how to be in a deeper and better relationship with Christ? This Digital Campus offers an opportunity to get to know people who are trying to be better at reading the Bible, at spending more quiet time with God, and at connecting with other Christians through real relationships. We can talk authentically about what we’re going through, about our challenges and dreams, and about what we’re hoping to get from this space. Ultimately, we are all created in the image and likeness of God, and I hope that this Digital Campus will allow us to reenvision how to love our neighbors.

Engagement: One of my absolute favorite pages on Instagram is Humans of New York. (If you have not checked it out, I encourage you to do so.) The beauty of this page is that it invites people to share their life experiences, and what’s amazing is how so many people can connect to those stories from different angles. That’s what this Digital Campus is going to offer us, an opportunity for us to share our own stories, stories that we find meaningful, stories that tell parts of our lives that we don’t often share. Sometimes you can walk with somebody for years without really knowing them, and yet this Digital Campus space is not a place to perform who’s the best “Bible reader” or “worshipper.” It’s a place to get to know each other as human beings, from the nitty gritty of your childhood to things that make you laugh, from your day-to-day experiences to who you are as a human being beyond work, class, or church. We want to see you for the beautiful creation that God created you to be.

Worship: The Bible calls us to worship God in spirit and in truth. This Digital Campus is a space for us to really hear how the Spirit is calling us closer to God. Join us on this journey if you’re looking for a different way to worship God through your own talents and your own interests.

Email me if you need somebody to hold your hand, to help you figure out some of the big questions, and—more importantly—to enjoy being in company with the Lord who has called us to salvation and redemption and joy.

I can’t wait to begin this journey with you.

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Making a difference for jesus

EMAIL

[email protected]

PHONE

650-272-6742

Address: 3549 MIDDLEFIELD RD, PALO ALTO CA, 94306