illinoisGCF.org

October Large Group
2023-10-20 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Hessel Park Church, 700 W. Kirby Ave, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States
We welcome you and your friends and colleagues to join us for a potluck and more! Details to come as to the “more,” but it’ll be good!

November Large Group
2023-11-16 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Hessel Park Church, 700 W. Kirby Ave, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States
Hello! We invite you to mark your calendars for our third large group gathering of the year! We will have a potluck for dinner, so come hungry (rumor has it there will be pizza)! We are excited to welcome Dr. McNamara as our speaker, looking at what it means to follow Christ as an academic.

Christmas Party
2023-12-09 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | TCBC, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Celebrate the first coming of Christ with festive activities together! 🙂 Bring some desserts to share and come and go as you need! Games, snacks, and hot water for tea or cocoa is the plan!

Winter Retreat
2024-01-12 18:30 - 2024-01-14 12:00 (America/New_York) | Camp Manitoqua, 8122 W. Sauk Trail, Frankfort, IL, 60423, United States
2024 GCF Winter Retreat! January 12-14.

The retreat will be held at Camp Manitoqua.

You can go here to register!

Some notes from David:

(1) The first ten students of any fellowship to register get a $50 discount, and the next 10 to register get a $25 discount. You’ll know if you’re in one of these groups by whether you see the discount on the page or not. The fee covers housing, food, conference costs, but not travel (see note 4 below).

(2) This is for 2 nights (Friday and Saturday nights, January 12-14, 2024) and we finish mid-day Sunday. Monday is a university holiday for us.

(3) The sleeping will be dormitory style and there will be shared bathrooms (by gender). The sleeping will require bringing a sleeping bag and pillow, or bedding for a twin-sized bed—which also means bring a pillow and blanket. Maybe plan ahead while you’re home over Winter Break to bring a sleeping bag or bedding for a twin bed!

(4) Someone in our GCF will coordinate rides. Riders are strongly encouraged to pitch in for gas for the driver.

Contact Anna Jackson with any questions at anna.jackson@intervarsity.org.

February Large Group
2024-02-15 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | TCBC, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
We invite you to join us for a large group meeting, complete with a potluck and time with Ned O’Gorman! We are excited to spend this time together over food, worship, and learning. Come prepared to build relationships with one another and with Jesus!

All Campus Worship
2024-03-01 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Just like it sounds, this is a night for all of campus to come together and focus all our hearts on God in worship (does not matter what organizations one may or may not be a part of – all are invited!). Bring your friends!
We will meet in the Foellinger Hall.
Speaker: Dr. Ken Cuffey from Urbana Theological Seminary
Here’s a link for parking and location information, if needed: https://foellinger.illinois.edu/lincoln-hall-theater/

Building-up Believers’ Connections “Mini-retreat”!
2024-03-02 12:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Orchard Downs Community Center, 510 W George Huff Dr, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Do you find it difficult to share your faith with others?
Do you feel that you lack the tools to effectively disciple others in their faith journeys?
We invite you to join us (and bring your friends) for a free mini-retreat on Saturday, March 2nd, from 12:30pm-4:30pm here in Urbana at the Orchard Downs Community Center, 510 W George Huff Dr, Urbana, IL 61801. Building-up Believers’ Connections (BB Connections) is designed to help you gain more confidence by giving you the opportunity to develop these skills in a supportive environment of fellow believers. Through a small-group format in an upbeat interactive experience, you will have the opportunity to share and refine the telling of your faith story while listening to others’ stories at the same time. The format will also be applied to Scripture engagement, giving you the opportunity to practice clearly and concisely communicating God’s Word with Grace and Truth. We anticipate that you will be encouraged to see various ways God is at work among His people!

March Large Group
2024-03-28 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | TCBC, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Come one, come all and enjoy a taco bar themed potluck/carry-in/pitch-in together (options for people with gluten/dairy/sugar sensitivities), a time of musical worship, and hearing from Chris Williams with One Mission Society speak on “reviving the passion for a life of purpose.” We will start at 6:30PM at Twin City Bible Church. Looking forward to seeing you there!

April Large Group
2024-04-18 18:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | TCBC, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
April 18! It is a big night, y’all. We will gather to worship God, fellowship over food (potluck/carry-in style), and hear from Janine Giordano Drake about “What is the Kingdom of God and to what extent is this the Church?” We will start with food at 6:30PM, at Twin City Bible Church, and go from there! All are welcome!
You can learn a bit more about Janine Giordano Drake here.
And because books are cool and you might be interested, here is a book that our speaker wrote:

Hope you can make it!

Graduating Seniors Sendoff!
2024-05-01 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Orchard Downs Community Center, 510 W George Huff Dr, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 1st, at 6:30pm. We want to celebrate graduating members of GCF with desserts and prayer! This event will be held in the Orchard Downs Community Center: 510 W. George Huff Dr., Urbana, IL 61801 (free parking). Bus station close as well.

Quad Day 2024
2024-07-25 12:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
GCF will be at the University of Illinois Quad Day on August 25th from 12-4pm. If you are interested in being connected Christian community of graduate students, come by and talk to us!

Ice Cream Party
2024-08-28 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Twin City Bible Church, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
We are having an ice cream party in the basement of Twin City Bible Church this Wednesday! Come by and get to know the GCF members and learn how to get involved.

GCF Potluck
2024-09-29 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Twin City Bible Church, 806 W Michigan Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
We are having a potluck dinner at Twin City Bible Church this Saturday. Please see the email sent out to the GCF email list or the GCF Slack for the spreadsheet to sign up to bring food. If you want to be added to the email list or Slack Channel, fill out the Contact Form at the top of the website.

All Campus Worship
2024-11-08 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States

GCF November Large Group
2024-11-15 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Noyes Lab, 505 S Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801

Christmas Party
2024-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Hessel Park Church, 700 W. Kirby Ave, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States
We will be singing Christmas carols and light refreshments to celebrate Christmas. Please bring Christmas cookies or another dessert to share if you are able!

Midwest Winter Retreat
2025-01-17 - 2025-01-19

Quad Day
2025-08-24 12:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Come visit our stand at the annual UIUC quad day! We will be at booth 90 at the English building.
We’d love to meet you, even if you don’t end up joining our crew this year. 🙂

Welcome Party
2025-08-30 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
We’re kicking off the new semester with a Welcome Party for both new and returning grad students! Come hang out, meet the community, and enjoy burgers + hot dogs on us.
We’ll also share about our small groups—a space to grow in faith, find support, and build friendships during grad school. Whether you’re new to campus or coming back, this is the perfect time to plug in!
Bring a friend, an appetite, and come ready for good conversation + community. We can’t wait to meet you!

September Large Group
2025-09-12 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
Come join us for a night of worship and fellowship at our first small group of the school year! Dinner will be potluck style, served at 6:30. We will then have an introduction followed by a discussion on our theme for the year: “Loving God and Our Neighbors in a Self-sacrificial Manner”.

Curtis Orchard
2025-09-20 10:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Curtis Orchard, 3902 S Duncan Rd, Champaign, IL, 61822, United States
Come join us for a morning of apple picking, donut eating, and cider drinking at Curtis Orchard! Sign-up here

September Worship Night
2025-09-26 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
Come join us for our first praise night of the semester! We will worship God through music and song as well as a time of prayer!

October Large Group
2025-10-10 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
Come join us for our October large group! Potluck dinner starts at 6:30PM followed by “Bible Questions and Answers” from our invited speaker Dr. Kenneth Cuffy. Feel free to submit some longer questions beforehand in the following form (coming soon).

Turkey Run Hike
2025-10-18 10:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Turkey Run State Park, 8121 Park Rd, Marshall, IN, 47859, United States
Come join us for a wonderful morning of hiking at Turkey Run State Park followed by lunch and ice cream on our way back! Details and sign-up sheet coming soon!

October Worship Night
2025-10-24 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
Come join us for our October praise night! We will worship God through music and song as well as a time of prayer!

Midwest GCF Fall Retreat
2025-11-01 - 2025-11-02
Details and Signup TBD

All Campus Worship
2025-11-07 19:30 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Come with us as we join together with many other Christian communities on the University of Illinois campus for an evening of praise and worship! All Campus Worship starts at 7:30 PM at Foellinger Auditorium, but we will be having dinner together (bring your own) in the basement of the Union at 6:30 PM.

Faculty Integration Dinner
2025-11-14 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for an evening of dinner and discussion with UIUC faculty across various disciplines including STEM, Humanities, and Music! Details and Signup TBD

Friendsgiving Dinner
2025-11-21 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Life Together House, IL
Join us for a day of fasting. Just kidding! Join us for a fun pre-Thanksgiving potluck feast and festivities!

Christmas Party
2025-12-13 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for a night of singing Christmas carols and cookies to celebrate Christmas! Please bring desserts to share if you are able! Details TBD
