Lee 1 Ui Jeong Lee Michelle Parsons English 106 3 April 2014 Little Spark At the club fair in the

beginning of my freshman year, I found out about the student organization called Little Spark. Little Spark is an organization that consists of Christian undergraduates of Purdue University and seeks to worship God and promote faith in Christ. Little Spark is part of Purdue Presbyterian Church located close to Purdue University Research Park. One of my favorite parts of being a member of Little Spark is that its members have strong bonds with one another, are motivated by a common goal, and are striving towards a bright future. Based on my personal experience with Little Spark and my interview with our group leader, I will discuss why Little Spark is an example of a discourse community. Little Spark has common public goals, which fit into one of the six criteria of John Swales discourse community (Swales 24). Members of Little Spark meet every Friday to worship God. In addition, they participate in Bible studies, which is an important component of worshiping God. Through Bible studies, we aim to learn more about God and ways we should live our lives. Short interview with Amy Lee, who is a member of Little Spark, she expressed her feelings toward Little Spark: Every week, I cannot wait until Friday, I get to meet all of my Christian friends at church, share my week, comforted by Jesus Christ. Going to Church every Friday and meeting with Little Spark members became big portion of my life. Now I am about to graduate Purdue, every Friday I will miss Little Spark services (Lee personal interview). Every Friday, members in Little Spark sacrifice their time to come to church. In order to achieve our goals, worship God and learn Bible every Friday, members of

Lee 2 Little Spark are devout Christians. They try their best to keep the time of the service every Friday. Little Spark has specific mechanisms of intercommunication within its group (Swales 24). On weekly basis, we share Bible verses through Facebook: leaders from Little Spark upload Bible verses throughout the week. Leaders from Little Spark have a formal meeting every Monday in order to pick Bible verses. They pray together, look through Bible and choose the best Bible verses for Little Spark members. For example, Bible verses I received through Facebook was the wording from New International Version Bible follows: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John.3.16). I usually check my Facebook more than 67 times a day. By opening up the Facebook page, by just clicking the Little Spark page, I get to see Bible verses and this helps me not to forget Bible in busy life. Little Spark members also text each other to let each other know about the timing and location of meetings on Fridays. In addition, useful Christian information such as beneficial Christian websites, YouTube videos and podcasts are uploaded on the website of Little Spark. Little Spark is an example of a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales 26). Little Spark members are divided into levels. The pastor (who preaches Bible to members of Little Spark), Adult leaders (who looks after student members and communication sources with outside of the church), Student Council (Central leadership of Little Spark. Consists of student members) and Student Leaders (Represents each year from freshman to senior). Usually, a pastor is someone who graduated from a divinity school and was ordained by the church leaders, and preaches, teaches, and counsels people about faith in God. Adult leaders are those who are knowledgeable about Bible and are familiar with the culture of Church. The Student Council and Student Leaders are those who were elected by members of Little

Lee 3 Spark. They plan out and oversee member activities, such as retreats. I had a chance to interview with president of student council of Little Spark, Richard Lee. When I asked him what are the goals of Little Spark want to achieve, he said The goal of Little Spark is to bring together Christian undergraduates of Purdue University to worship God, share Christian faith, and promote Christianity in Purdue community (Lee personal interview). The rationale he joined Little Spark is To become part of the warm community of Christian friends in Little Spark and to share my experiences with fellow Christians (Lee personal interview). When I asked Richard how he communicates with other members of Little Spark, he said I communicate via Facebook, Little Spark website, and text messages (Lee personal interview). Richard told me what Little Spark do and how many times whey group together in order to achieve their goals by saying: We have services every Friday and hold Bible studies on weekly basis. Every Saturday, I participate in an outing (fellowship) with Little Spark members. At outings, we go hiking, play bowling, and/or eat at famous restaurants. This is how members of Little Spark get to know each other and share personal stories in Jesus Christ (Lee personal interview). Members of Little Spark not only get to know each other, they communicate with community outside of the church and Christian organizations. Richard said We have community service events once a month, at which we volunteer at homeless shelters and nursing homes around Purdue University. Through community service, we strive to promote the mission of Little Spark. In addition, we participate in the club fair at Purdue University once a year, where we set up a booth and recruit new members. We also fundraise for Christian organizations across the world, such as Compassion and World Vision (Lee personal interview). Richard told me how Little Spark members use specific lexis as a group and he said some cannot understand since it is so religious lexis. He told me examples of lexis: lexis we use are BS, S, and Double B. BS is short for Bible Study, S is short for Service, and Double B is short for Bible (Lee personal

Lee 4 interview). He added comment that There are no strict qualifications, members of Little Spark must be Christians or those who are interested in becoming Christians. In addition, members of Little Spark must be students of Purdue University. We are open to anyone at Purdue campus! (Lee personal interview). In summary, I came to conclusion that Little Spark is a discourse community by the definition of John Swales. The group Little Spark has common public goal worship God. In order to achieve its goal, members form a meeting every Friday and give worship to God. Little Spark has its own mechanisms of intercommunication within group by using Facebook, own website and text messages. In addition, Little Spark members have suitable degree of discoursal expertise and use specific Christian lexis representing activities and elements at church. These facts perfectly fit into discourse community. I define Little Spark as the most strongly bonded community at Purdue University. As I deeply research about Little Spark, this group perfectly fits into discourse community.