Campus Ministry requires
more than a voice
crying in the wilderness

By the Rev. Canon Chris Chase

As I have traveled visiting congregations throughout the diocese and speaking about our efforts on the campuses of UTC, ETSU and UTK, I have been aware of two particular responses.

The first come from those people who have talked to me about how campus ministry was instrumental in their journey, proving oftentimes to be life-transforming. The ministry provided a safe way for many to enter into the Episcopal church.

The other response I have noticed has come from those who are not certain as to the relevancy of campus ministries. This response usually comes from an understanding of the college years to be necessarily times of “experiment” and searching. I would not disagree with the latter. Higher education has to challenge and invite one to consider life in new ways or it wouldn’t be higher education.

However, the latter is answered by the former; in the mix of new insights, growth, experiment and searching, a part of that mix must be the Episcopal Church. Otherwise in their searching and questioning, how will students ever find us?

Our presence is even more important when we consider the fact that nationally the vast majority of college-age students are unchurched.

So, if college students are by necessity asked to consider their life in a new light, for the vast majority, Christianity is new.

I believe, as I did when I was a parish priest, that the Episcopal Church has something real to offer to an unchurched world looking for a new light.

Campus ministries are obviously not the sole answer to reaching young people with the Gospel, but they are an important part. This is especially true when they are working with and alongside local congregations, youth ministries and outreach programs. But campus ministries are the places from which the gospel will primarily be sown on our campuses. The growth of this seed will vary (as the parable of the sower makes explicit), but I think it has at least two distinctive patterns.

The first is the expectation that the seed will sprout and grow at some later date. As a person faces questions, family issues and searchings later in life, the seed planted on campus will be remembered and watered. But there is a seed that grows and matures on campus. The fruit may not be large in number, but it is abundant in its intensity. This seed grows into and defines leadership for the church in the future. Indeed, many of those who have spoken to me of the importance of campus ministry in their lives are now in both lay and ordained leadership positions in our communities.

The second is what the seed needs to take hold. In an environment that is suspicious of Christianity and oftentimes hostile, to sow the seed of the gospel takes effort, patience and determination as well as creativity. Effort, patience and determination have to do with the personality of the chaplain. Creativity takes resources.

Whether it is programs or surveys to determine what programs students want; speakers or advertising that promotes those speakers; maintaining Episcopal centers or renting space; it all takes resources. The church is not using its talent wisely when it hires chaplains who exhibit commitment to a mission field — especially one that does not have the security of a congregation — and then leaves them without resources.

Again, campus ministry does not exist to itself but must work in conjunction with local congregations and youth programs; our interdependence is unquestionable. The more parts of the whole that are engaged in ministry to young adults, the more of the target population we will reach. We must strengthen ties to local congregations and high school groups so that we are all working towards a common goal: no less than a flood of young adults into the Episcopal Church.