Feb 15, 20223 min read

SPO 2022: Ascend Conference with Maeve

Starting in the summer of 2021, Maeve stepped into a new role investing in the community's youth bridge efforts. With a focus on SPO and Compass environments, Maeve began attending additional SPO events, sending even more texts than she normally does and being a connector of people and programs. This is exciting stuff! Strengthening and supporting the relational bridge between SPO and Compass is a key need. With half the ministry year already behind us, we wanted to share about this new work she is doing and see how things have been going so far.

As a community, the People of Hope has been blessed to support the Saint Paul’s Outreach (SPO) chapters in New Jersey at both Seton Hall and Rutgers University for several years. We’ve been privileged to provide guidance, family relationships, mentors, and a model of what covenant life looks like through our “Adopt a Missionary'' program as well as through an open invitation to be part of our small groups, teaching nights, and pastoral support through our young adult environment, Compass

In recent years SPO has taken steps to build stronger connections between SPO chapters and their local covenant communities. The People of Hope has always been a “community of disciples on mission.” In the 2.5 years that I have worked for the People of Hope office, while my responsibilities have been varied and widespread, I have been grateful to know that my work has served this wider mission, a mission which SPO shares: bringing Christ’s light to the world of college campuses. In addition to my work at the office, I have been working one day a week with SPO at both Seton Hall and Rutgers connecting and building relationships with the students and missionaries. My more direct relationship with SPO demonstrates our commitment to continuing to build a stronger bridge between SPO and the People of Hope. Building personal relationships is so important and is key in this mission.

Everyone I work with at SPO has warmly involved me in the many events and opportunities of their ministry and I was privileged to be able to attend SPO’s National Ascend Conference at the beginning of the new year in Orlando, FL with part of the Compass leadership team. It was an opportunity for me to again be reminded of SPO’s big picture vision, reconnect with friends who work with SPO around the country and meet new people who attended the conference. There were over 600 people in attendance with people from SPO chapters spanning the country. It was also a great time to continue to build relationships with the missionaries and students at Seton Hall and Rutgers. It was truly a wonderful opportunity to continue to build relationships and to continue to strengthen this partnership between SPO and the People of Hope.

I was not the only one from People of Hope attending Ascend. It was a gift to be able to be joined by Mark and Annie Cantine and Sofia Margiotta at the conference. Attending as POH leaders connected with Compass and youthbridge efforts, they were able to simply attend, meet with SPO leaders from around the country and just get an experience of SPO from this unique, national perspective. Annie was even asked to give the women’s session talk to fill in for their speaker who was unable to attend at the last minute and she crushed it! Ed and Daria Moccia were also one of three couples who spoke at one of the outbreak sessions in a marriage panel. The panel was given in the perspective of the three married couples sharing advice to their younger selves on their wedding day. It was inspiring and very impactful. Seeing these friendly POH faces on Ascend was a cool witness of the People of Hope on mission in this SPO environment.

SPO has welcomed me onto their team, as they see this role as crucial in moving forward with the new vision of connecting students to covenant community post college. I’m happy to fill this role!

- Maeve