I think the relevant formula is 8.4.1 in T&G. This is applied in section 9.2 to the Phragmen-Brouwer property and the Jordan Curve Theorem. 

My original motivation for the investigation was to avoid a detour to compute the fundamental group of the circle: a basic theorem should compute a basic example! I like the view of the integers (an infinite set)  as an identification of a groupoid $\mathbf I $ with 4 arrows, identifying 0 and 1. 

Also I tend to see covering spaces in terms of covering morphisms of groupoids, since then a map is algebraically modelled by a morphism, whereas an action is one step further. 

In the new book `Nonabelian algebraic topology' published by the EMS the van Kampen style arguments are used to compute relative homotopy groups as modules, and second relative homotopy groups as crossed modules, using colimit calculations.