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.

Chris Faith, Prayer

Hiking the AT and Prayer

For the past few months, perhaps even the past couple of years, my desire for some kind of hiking pilgrimage was evolving from wishful thinking to an actual plan.

Originally, I was hoping to get to Spain and hike the Camino Santiago. But with traveling restrictions due to COVID-19 and financial limitations, that was not going to be an option.

#SolviturAmbulando

It is solved by walking.

This is a common phrase and hashtag you will see often as people talk about pilgrimage, especially on the Camino.

Many see prayer as merely asking God for things but I came to know prayer in a different way as I hiked up, down and through the southern Appalachians. Richard Rohr talks about prayer as “opting into the divine” and submitting one’s life to a union with Christ. Although I certainly spent time interceding for my family, friends, and circumstances…prayer became more like invitation. In prayer, we have the opportunity to participate with God in his project of redeeming and reconciling the world around us. Prayer should probably be more about God changing us than our own petitions for God to change the people and circumstances around us. There’s certainly a scriptural call to intercede and ask God to work, but as I was hiking, prayer became more about my own awareness of God and the abundant opportunities I have to participate in the life of the Kingdom.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus coaches us on prayer and challenges us to pray as if we would like for the way things are “in heaven” to be the way things are here on earth. “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

When you spend 8-12 hours a day hiking along a path, it is easy to focus on the creatures you see, the interesting plant life along the trail, the pain in your knee, the sweat dripping from your nose, the gnats and flies buzzing about…but as I re-developed the prayer muscle of my mind and heart I found that there was a sense of the Divine, of God’s presence all around me.

Now after returning to day-to-day life OFF trail it is even easier to be distracted from prayer. Yet I find that opting in with God through prayer can be as simple as directing my thoughts towards the One who invites us to live in constant awareness of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and all the goodness around us.

Backpacking on the AT taught me something new about prayer and how to be in constant conversation (speaking and listening) with God.