One of the newer organizations on campus is Delight Ministries. This girl group gets together weekly to worship the lord. 

“Delight is a nationwide college women’s ministry whose mission is to invite college women into a Christ centered community that fosters vulnerability and transforms stories,“Maria Gabrielse, the Tarleton State University Delight chapters founder, stated.

In Maria Gabrielse’s freshman year at Tarleton, she was struggling to find that girl group that she felt pulled too. One day, she came across an ad on Instagram for Delight Ministries and decided to fill out an interest form. This led  to the start of Delight Ministries at Tarleton State University. She prayed for a very long time beforehand and finally made the “Okay, I’m ready to serve” call in Spring of 2020. 

In Fall 2020, Gabrielse got a team together and with the help of Delight headquarters, they had their first official meeting in Spring of 2021.  At the time, Tarleton State was only one of the 25 new chapters started that semester. The organization has since  grown at a rapid pace. They have gained many members and have truly found a place of community within their all-girl group. There are now, as of Spring 2022,a total of 205 Delight chapters across the nation.

“Delight started as a small community of women at Belmont University. Our founders, MacKenzie Wilson (Mac) and Mackenzie Baker (Kenz), had the dream of starting a Bible study for women when they struggled finding an authentic Christian community their freshman year of college. That dream quickly turned into a reality when Delight had its first official meeting in August 2012,” stated on the Delight Ministries Website.

Every semester, the Delight Headquarters sends the chapters all around the nation a specific book that goes over a section of the Bible for them to go over. This semester, the girls are going over Genesis, one of the books in the old testament portion of the Bible. They read five chapters a week and then come together to discuss and partake in various activities to enforce what they took out of it.

Besides the Wednesday night meetings, Delight also holds various outreach events for the community. 

“We hold service events, community events and worship nights,”  Gabrielse stated. 

Currently, the Delight at Tarleton is sanctioning an Easter egg hunt for a foster home in Stephenville. They also hosted a worship night Monday, Apr. 4, in Stephenville city park.

“Last semester was really hard… I was very angry at the Lord at the time… after then, I finally made it back to Delight,”  member Rady Hollingsworth stated. 

When Hollingsworth did, she explained that the meeting she decided to come back to felt like it was made for her situation at the time and she fell back in love with the ministry. Hollinsworth has been an active member ever since.

Every year the girls start the semester  with “Kick Off.” An event that starts the year with some fun and introduction to what will be happening throughout the semester. The next Kick Off does not yet have a set date, but will be in early September next semester (Fall 2022).
After Kick Off, the girls go through the book given to them for ten weeks. They meet every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Thompson Student Center in room 219. 

Delight Ministries invites all female undergraduate and graduate Tarleton students who want to join a girl gang who worships the lord. To learn more about Delight Ministries at Tarleton State, you can follow their Instagram @delight_tarletonstate for updates and announcements.