Chris Campus Ministry, Community, Faith, Hospitality

An Older Story of Student Transformation

I love seeing college students transformed by Christ and it’s certainly a blessing to be involved with some of those stories personally.

But I also love hearing other people’s stories about transformation while on a college or university campus. It fuels my calling to the campus and reminds me that God can do incredible things and literally change the world by changing a young life.

One of the most exciting stories I have heard recently is perhaps also one of the oldest stories of I’ve heard (not including the Bible of course…ha!)

Dr. Charles “Chic” Shaver sat down with me for a lunch interview a couple of weeks ago. He was a pre-law student at Dartmouth College who began searching for a way to get to know God personally after hearing a lecture from his chemistry professor which described how the world could be destroyed in about a year through Nuclear war. After hearing that lecture he decided that life doesn’t make much sense unless there’s a god and an afterlife.

So he began the search. But couldn’t find anyone with answers until a friend invited him to church. This friend was an upper class man that he went to high school with back in Connecticut who was a super successful student and athlete who wrecked his life at Dartmouth with alcohol use. But after this friend had flunked out and left campus for a semester Chic was puzzled to find him in a chapel service. Afterwards, he asked this student what had happened and found out that he had encountered God in a personal way. He invited Chic start attending church with him (a little Nazarene Church nearby that they found thanks to some female students from Eastern Nazarene College. During a Sunday evening altar call, Chic had a real sense of the presence of Christ and confessed his sins and began following Jesus.

He credits 4 things and considers these four steps as still a great recipe for campus ministry.

1. Witnessing a changed life

2. The loving and welcoming atmosphere of a church-community

3. The testimonies of people in the community regarding specific experiences of transformation

4. Hospitality–enjoying home-cooked meals EVERY Sunday that they visited this little church.

That final step certainly resonates with me because the campus ministries I have been involved with over the past 11 years in Cincinnati have focused specifically on this idea of hospitality. Whether it’s delicious food, better-than-average coffee, or some other way of making an outsider feel like family, I believe that providing genuine biblical hospitality is a key component in reaching out to college students.

After coming to know Christ, Dr. Shaver found out about a bible student on Dartmouth’s campus that was sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship! So he attended that bible study and invited friends to attend as well for the rest of his time at Dartmouth. During his senior year, he felt a calling to ministry. Instead of going on to Law school and a career in politics, he went to seminary and became a pastor and then a seminary professor specializing on evangelism for most of his teaching career.

What a story! Thanks to a bold student whose life had been changed by Christ. Thanks to a loving church with people who welcomed students into their homes each week for delicious meals. Thanks to an InterVarsity bible study on campus, Chic Shaver’s life and subsequently the world was changed!

That kind of transformation is still happening in the lives of college students. And as I begin this new role through InterVarsity to build bridges to college campuses and support or launch new ministries, I am eager to experience and share more stories like this one!

If you believe in this formula (God + College Students = World Changing) and want to partner with us, we need your help! Visit this link to donate today.

Chris Campus Ministry, Faith

A Season of Preparation

This time of year, between summer and fall, is usually all about hanging out on or near campus and connecting with students.

But I am in a transition from “doing” campus ministry to supporting and advocating for campus ministry (which of course is another form of “doing” campus ministry 😎).

So as I was cleaning up one of our 5 raised garden beds in the back yard, I thought about some parallels. Just as I want to get this raised bed ready for a new season of planting, I’m try to make preparations for a new season of campus ministry. Preparing soil is a tedious but “grounding” activity. Future productivity hinges on good preparation and then actively tending the garden, not allowing neglect (weeds) or circumstances (weather) jeopardize the crop (if you want to call what we do in our back yard as a “crop” ha!)

In my new role with InterVarsity, I will be helping churches plant some new ministries on college campuses. Much of my time will be spent cultivating relationships with churches, pastors, leaders, etc and helping them identify some productive strategies for reaching out to college students. The harvest of such labor creates some great anticipation, but there is much ground work to be accomplished in this in-between season.

One of our primary needs is to build a ministry team of financial support. God certainly has more than enough resources to make this happen and we are trusting that those who share our vision for seeing college students transformed by the Gospel will partner with us.

Maybe that’s you!

Join with us and let’s journey through this season of preparation together. Whether it’s a one-time donation or a recurring gift…whether it’s $10 or a lot more than that…God is going to make it happen and you can be a part of it with us. Thank you! Click on the image for more info on how to support our ministry.

Chris Campus Ministry, Faith

My New Campus Ministry Gig

Yesterday was my first day on the new job with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship!

As I communicated with everyone on our monthly newsletter list, this change in vocational focus could be summed up with this phrase: Less Coffee, More Church. (Want to receive that monthly newsletter? Click Here!)

What this means is that I’ll be spending less time in the coffee shop near campus and more time building relationships with churches in order to see more college & university students engaged with the Gospel—the good news of hope and peace that comes with a transformed relationship with God through Jesus.

For the past 5-6 years, The 86 Coffee Bar has been my primary context for living out my calling to show hospitality to college students and engage them in the discipleship journey. Prior to that, I spent about 5 years at the Edge House, a Lutheran-sponsored campus ministry house adjacent to UC’s campus. For these past 11+ years my “job” has been to connect with college students and be a spiritual guide and mentor in their lives.

Now, my primary job is to help resource churches for ministry with college students and young adults. (My hope will be to continue spending at least 1 full day per week at The 86 to meet with some student leaders and other campus ministry leaders. FYI)

As a result of this ministry over time through InterVarsity, our hope will be to see hundreds and even thousands more college students actively integrating faith and life within the context of a local church. Also, there are about 1800 unreached college campuses in the United States that InterVarsity would like to reach and attaining that goal by 2030 will only be possible in partnership with churches! (This is what IVCF refers to as the 2030 Calling)

 

This new role with InterVarsity, in some ways, is a continuation of my leadership for the past 5 years in the Church of the Nazarene (my “home” denomination) in the area of college & young adult ministry.

So my role as a “Church Engagement Catalyst” for InterVarsity pairs up nicely with my role as Campus Mission Coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene under the umbrella of NYI Ministries in the US & Canada. More information on that here if you’re interested.

 

For most, working in the area of college ministry requires raising money. Although that was originally a huge mental barrier for me as I entered the world of campus ministry nearly 12 years ago, I now see it as a real benefit. There is a special relationship and partnership we feel with those who financially or prayerfully partner with our ministry! It’s like having a small tribe of people who really believe in you and support your cause. We love having a team of people like that.

As we begin this new season of ministry, we are inviting more people to join this ministry team. It’s going to take more prayer and more funds than ever before. That’s a daunting challenge, but we really believe God is calling and providing this great opportunity for long-term Kingdom impact.

Would you please consider joining our team of financial ministry partners? You can give a one-time or recurring gift to our ministry here at InterVarsity’s website. Thank you so much! As I continue to pour myself into college ministry with this slight change of focus, I am very hopeful that we will see the lives of students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and more churches connected with all of the above.