79th issue of the AGOdelphian: Alumni gatherings, new AGO app, alumni book release, Founder's Day recaps and more
Published on April 4, 2024
Winter/Spring AGOdelphian 2024
"In a spiritual sense, apprenticeship is learning to animate the life of Christ in proximity to others. It is not about cloning or replicating how others look, talk, act, and even believe identically. Instead, apprenticing means identifying someone further along than you as well as finding newer or younger followers you can come alongside. It's finding a relational rhythm of stewarding one's influence, experience, knowledge, and understanding of Christ in the world."
David Sunde (E-150): AGO alumni, author, doctorate student, discipleship coach, and event speaker
West Coast Founder's Day
On March 2nd, we celebrated the 97th anniversary of Alpha Gamma Omega with over 100 men and their wives who traveled from Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Oregon, and all parts of California. 97 years of the Lord's blessing and provision of thousands of men who have come through AGO and gone on to do incredible Kingdom work in the medical field, in teaching, in the business world, in ministry, in the military, and many more. We were proud to host such a diverse and eclectic group of alumni and active members at Fullerton Free Church in Fullerton Califorinia. We had an excellent BBQ, shared in great conversation, received updates from National Leadership regarding successes this past year and the exciting directions we are moving towards, prayed together, and finally sang/shouted "Strong the Ties" at the top of our lungs! Please be on the lookout for video updates from our National Leadership highlighting our vision and direction for the coming year!
A New Tradition
This West Coast Founders Day, we introduced the Founders Cup, a post banquet flag football tournament amongst our West Coast Chapters. We had people from NorCal, SoCal and Colorado in attendance.
The conditions weren’t perfect. It was pouring rain and we were losing daylight. But that didn’t stop the games! In the end, we saw Alpha beat Epsilon in a last minute touchdown, as the sunlight disappeared.
It was a great bonding experience with our chapters, and though this doesn’t replace the memories of our beloved Pismo Tournament, it was a great way to get some healthy competition again.
East Coast Founder's Day
On March 23rd, we celebrated the 97th anniversary of Alpha Gamma Omega with our 2nd annual East Coast Founder's Day in Lynchburg, Virginia. Our East Coast chapters are young, all less than 6 years old, and have a smaller alumni base on this side of the country but they are growing and mighty! We were excited to have several men join us who graduated from West Coast schools but now live on the East Coast. There were a couple of Alpha and Pi alumni present along with our East Coast chapter members. We had several pledges who attended and were invigorated by our National Leadership's encouragement and camaraderie with alumni.
Passing of a Zeta Brother
Joe Walsh (Z-69) passed into the loving arms of Christ just before the new year. Joe graduated from San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, CA and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from the University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Omega. He remained great friends with brothers from the Zeta chapter his whole life.
A few word from his wife Kim:
Here are a few promises to take hold of as we grieve together. It’s okay to ask why. God is a God of comfort. He meets us right where we are and lifts our spirits during these difficult times. We have hope that Joe has made it safely home into the loving arms of his Savior Jesus Christ. God is faithful. His promises are true. I know first hand that as we walked through Joes suffering He gave us strength. He has continually given us the peace that surpasses all our understanding. This peace He gives sustains us. It caused us to pause and thank our Heavenly Father for all He has done for us.
“I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.” - Randy Pausch
"Joe was a Tigger. I’m so grateful for our Eeyore Aka John Seevers. We love you and the AGO family. A closing promise as we think about Joe in heaven. As you walk through your challenging times, trust Him. He cares for you. We are praying for you.
Alumni Highlight: David Sunde (E-150) Book Release - "Small-Batch Disciplemaking"
David Sunde, an alumnus of the Epsilon Chapter recently published a book titled "Small-Batch Disciplemaking" which we recommend to you! In his book, David emphasizes the crucial role that each individual plays in disciple making. David explains, "What you will discover reading this book is how a disciple's journey is not about learning more but about learning to give away what you already have in Christ."
David's Bio: "I collaborate with an ecosystem of faith-based, community organizations, pastors, and spiritual leaders as a Spiritual Director, Thought Partner, and Missional Catalyst. I'd love to explore ways I could be a resource in your context. I've been involved in professional non-profit and spiritual leadership for over 20 years. I'm a native son of San Francisco, the son of an immigrant, and learned to make a lower level of assumption about culture, class, race, and religion against this backdrop of diversity. Along the way, I've sought to keep learning - bachelor's in public administration from San Diego State University and a master's degree from Azusa Pacific University. I'm currently working on a Doctorate in Semiotics, Culture & the Church through George Fox University. I currently live in Austin Texas with my wife, Laurel, and two kids, Bjorn and Annika.
David's time in AGO: "While I was in AGO, I sensed God's call to pastoral ministry. I double majored in business and pre-dental for the first 3 years before changing to Public Admin knowing I wanted to work in non-profit and I'd go to seminary. But the community of faith at AGO helped me own my faith, allowed me to experiment with leadership, and mobilize people in service. I think serving as house president and chaplain was a significant part of God revealing this path for my life. Weekly house bible studies with lil sis' with 75 ppl crammed in a living room and going on semester retreats were irreplaceable for both finding a contribution and discovering my potential in community. It might be too much to say that AGO changed my life but it definitely changed the course of my life!"
Please consider purchasing and reading David's book to better equip yourself for the lifelong calling and mission we have as disciple makers for the Kingdom!
All of our chapters have done an exceptional job this past year and deserve recognition and commendation for their hard work. They have shown resilience in promoting their respective chapters and spreading the word about AGO on their campuses. For the West Coast Founder's Day, we decided to feature the Cal Poly SLO Chapter in our program. We invited their District Counselor, David ZagRodny, and Chapter President, Jason Plattner, to come up on stage and share some insights about their chapter's activities and accomplishments.
How is God working on campus/in the house?
All the members have been setting out for evangelism. We’ve put a great emphasis on the first purpose: to win others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Operations like Jesus Burgers and evangelism have been extremely fruitful.
How did a change in approach help for more people to join?
Many are automatically turned off at the idea of a “fraternity,” even if it’s Christ-centered. There has also statistically been less interest in fraternities recently. Because of these factors and COVID, our chapter nearly folded in 2021. We did a self evaluation to see what were some practical steps we could take to help solve this issue. We concluded that we needed to do a better job at meeting people where they were at and being relatable to people at different stages in their walks. We were able to relate to people at different stages of faith using our own testimony. This echoes the verse in 1 Corinthians where Paul says “to the Jews I became as a Jew.” Since 2021 we have grown immensely in our membership. We had 6 actives In 2021and now we are at 19 and growing!
Highlights in the fraternity?
God blessing the numbers and allowing us to grow in active members
We’ve become an extremely tight brotherhood with equally yoked members
The first annual President's Retreat is set to launch in May 2024 and will be an exclusive weekend for our chapter leaders. The weekend will be packed with valuable content to further equip our leaders on how to run their chapter for the following year. Our Leadership Retreats have provided chapter-wide training for all executive positions but we desire to further teach and equip those steerering the ship with more intentional coaching and leadership skills that will equip them not only for their time in AGO but beyond. The goal is to bring our leaders together, unify the vision of AGO, and continue cultivating cross-chapter relationships and camaraderie.
To help fund this event, please click HERE to donate. Your contribution will ensure that all chapter leaders from every chapter can attend the retreat at no cost.
Prayer at Noon
Please ask the Lord
ForAlumni:
To re-engage uninvolved alumni and help them rediscover the blessings of AGO brotherhood and the growth opportunities that come with reconnecting
To seek out and pair up alumni as disciplers for our actives
To freshly embrace our AGO vision in their hearts and bring forthan abundance of financial partners who will help fund AGO’s Kingdom pursuits
To strengthen the spiritual lives of our alumni
For the Organization:
To equip us with the necessary tools to give every active effective training in discipleship and spiritual growth in Christ
To plant ourselves deep into His will that He would establish our steps
To guide our decision-making and give us great wisdom to further AGO
To revitalize and re-found inactive collegiate chapters To multiplyour efforts, exceed our expectations in all areas, and draw in an overabundance of faithful and teachable men
For Actives:
To open doors to bring the good news of the Gospel to our college campuses using our fraternity as the vehicle
To strengthen the spiritual lives of our actives
To bless this current pledge class
To supply every chapter with a growing stream of pledges and new actives who would be refined by the AGO process and become strong leaders, decision-makers and one day, fathers and husbands
