This Tuesday, students convened in the Rhatigan Student Center for a night of faith, song, and community. The student group calls themselves Chi Alpha, but their pastor, Art Walker, makes it clear they are no fraternity.

“We are a Christian group on campus and one of a number of campus ministries,” Walker said.

Established at Missouri State University in 1953, Chi Alpha found its way to Wichita in 2001. Walker said the group is now 30 to 40 members strong.

According to Walker, the name Chi Alpha comes from the Bible (Second Corinthian 5:20) and describes the group’s purpose.

“We have a sense of mission to spread the message of Christ to anybody who will hear it, and we take our name from that,” Walker said. “We are therefore Christ Ambassadors. Chi stands for Christ and Alpha stands for ambassadors.”

The organization is non-denominational, and seeks to provide members with a community surrounding their faith.

Chi Alpha provides not only a social network, but advice for students in the form of Walker’s sermons. Chi Alpha member Raj Bonthapuri said this Tuesday marked the finale of a four-week series of sermons titled “Make the Devil Run.”

“The devil has one purpose, and that’s to keep our eyes off of God, so we want to make him not come anywhere near us,” Walker said. “The name is inspired by a biblical passage (James 4:7)

which says to ‘humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’”

Bonthapuri said another series of sermons is in the works, this time about relationships.

The sermons themselves are a departure from more traditional styles of worship. The night began with the performance of a song by members of the group.

After several brief announcements, Walker proceeded to give a sermon in which he compared human beings to iPhones, saying that they needed to be fully charged before they could do great things. He said Christianity empowers people to do these things.

Walker said he believes Chi Alpha is important because it unifies people of faith to let them fulfill the word of God.