  Be warned:  this is a long post ( 1400 words or so)  so I recommend reading it in chunks.  Read from one picture to the next;  they roughly mark section by section.
 Today,  In the Light,  Gunn's Christian club,  had a barbecue to welcome the soon- to- be-
graduated eighth graders from JLS ( Termaners were notable in their absence)  at Mitchell Park.  I estimate that 15 people attended,  about eight middle schoolers and seven high schoolers.  The other end-
of- the- year event that In the Light has traditionally held is Senior Night,  which also appears to be not happening ( I was told that it was happening but when I went to investigate about 20 minutes ago no one was as Gunn)  Contrasted with previous years' barbecues,
 this year's was sort of wimpy.  I remember that 40 or 50 people attended previous barbecues ( starting with the one I went to after eighth grade)  In addition,  about 25 people went to Senior Night in previous years.  urlLink Patrick (
left)  looks at the camera while others converse over food at the annual In The Light barbecue at Mitchell Park today ( June 10,  2004)  Attendance at the barbecue was markedly lower than in previous years. nbsp;
 urlLink I know I am not in a position to criticize the leadership as I have not made any significant effort to become a leader,  and I do not intend this post as criticism,  but it is clear to any objective observer that In the Light's meetings and organization this year has been weak when compared to previous years'.  That attendance at the barbecue,  probably the biggest event in the second semester,  could decrease by more than 50%
 is disturbing.  Moreover,  this lack of attendence symbolizes the decline that the In the Light club has experienced this year.  Basically,  I see three main forces behind the decline of In the Light in this most previous year.  First,
 In the Light did not have a large,  devoted group of seniors and a strong president,  resulting in fragmentation and lack of unity.  Second,  the club did not organize meaningful small groups until perhaps second semester,  and even then the small groups were of lower integrity than in previous years.
 Third and perhaps most important,  the club failed to have meaningful,  Spirit- led meetings on Wednesdays.  urlLink While playing link tag at the barbecue,  Stephanie (
center left)  laughs while Bethia ( center)  and Jonathan ( right)  look on.
 Only two seniors were present at the barbecue,  representative of the unsually low number of seniors in In the Light this year. nbsp;  urlLink I don't have the writing ability nor the energy to expand on all three points in a meaningful way right now,  so I'll move on to discuss what we as a club and I as a person can do to fight this decline and bring up In the Light as a force for God's will and center of Christian fellowship on the Gunn campus.  All of the issues I discussed earlier stem from one root cause:
 the leadership that was supposed to run the club this year didn't crystallize until late into the year,  and never attained the level of coherence that previous years' leaderships did.  So I have three recommendations for the present In the Light leadership and membership.  First,  In the Light needs one to three strong leaders who are willing to commit to run the club- this year's committee style of leadership did not work too well.
 That is not to say that a core group is unnecesary,  as in previous years the core group has proven key to success.  Rather,  I am saying that it is necessary to have strong leaders who are willing to take initiative and do stuff.  Who these leaders will be remains unknown;  soon-
to- be seniors whom I know reasonably well are,  in no particular order,  Patrick,  Stephanie,  Jeff,
 myself,  and Josh.  I apologize if I left you off of this list.  urlLink My house in the afternoon.  This would not be a good place for core group meetings because people who do not know me would feel awkward going to my house. nbsp;
 urlLink Second,  the club needs to have core group meetings at a place other than someone's house.  I know that I personally felt awkward about going to Dustin's house this year for meetings because I did not know him to the point that I didn't actually attend any meetings.  It may be that some evil force has a hand in this,  but I do believe that meeting at a coffee shop or a book store or something like that would facilitate greater attendance at core group meetings.  Currently the meetings appear to be happening at Jeff's house,
 a place that is slightly less scary to me than Dustin's but I'm sure is equally scary to people who don't know Jeff.  Third,  small groups should get started up earlier in the year.  I was in Patrick ( the elder)  and Joe's small group freshman year,
 Ed's in sophomore year,  and Albert's this year.  This year's was less well done ( no smack at you,  Albert,  it's a systemic problem)
 than in previous years,  and as a result I did not grow in my faith because of small groups as much as in the comparatively " better"  groups by Patrick,  Joe,  and Ed.
 Again,  no insult to Albert,  who definitely worked very hard on the small group.  As a senior next year I feel led to have some responsibility to be a leader in the club.  Thus,  I make some commitments for myself that I will try to keep over the course of the next year.
 If you see me reneging on these promises,  please let me know.  First,  I will attend core group meetings if possible,  even if they end up being held at Jeff's house ad infinitum;  I will not allow God's will to be hampered by petty awkwardness.
 If this is not possible because of night classes for calculus at De Anza,  I will keep in contact with people who attend the meetings to relay my thoughts and tell me what I can do to contribute to the club.  urlLink My two bibles.  I will ground my small group in the Word in teaching people things,  and try in general to commit a significant amount of time to In the Light. nbsp;
 urlLink Second,  I will play some role in small groups,  prefferably as a small group leader or co- leader.  Small groups were the most important thing to me about In the Light when I was a freshman and a sophomore,  and I really feel for those who have not experienced a Spirit-
led small group in campus fellowship ( or at all,  for that matter)  Indeed,  small groups thusfar have been the driving force behind my spiritual growth.  More important,
 I will ground my small group in the Bible because otherwise I may stray into wrong teachings,  which would be bad.  Third,  I will balance In the Light against my other commitments,  recognizing that grades aren't really that important in senior year as long as I get As and Bs and no Cs in first semester ( perhaps a 3-
3 or even a 4- 2 B- A split would be acceptable,  recognizing that I need to get an A in calculus at De Anza because that counts for college GPA)  and mostly Bs ( with the exception of calculus at De Anza again)
 in second semester,  but also remembering that I have other substantial commitments that may take precedence over In the Light.  urlLink A Eucalyptus tree bathed in light.  In the Light's future is as bright as the background behind this tree,  its vivacity as great as the photosynthesis in the tree's leaves. nbsp;
 urlLink All these bad things said,  In the Light has a bright future ahead of it.  With a whole slew of rising seniors,  many of the leadership problems may prove to be more solveable.  In addition,  I can sense that the current club has a core of strong believers that I believe will continue to support in prayer and in logistics other Christians on campus.
 God willing,  this year will go down in the history books as an aberration.  If you have read all of this,  I thank you,  and apologize for the length of this post.  In addition,
 I apologize if I have offended anyone in the In the Light leadership;  I didn't and don't intend to criticize but rather to help build up both the club and myself.  Also,  I ask any believer who feels led to assist me in keeping to my commitments and in building up In the Light as a force for God on the Gunn campus in whatever way he or she feels led.  I'm also sorry if I sounded arrogant in this post.
