Job Description

i don’t think that campus ministers are a rare breed; most universities have some sort of christian presence, whether it’s through staff chaplains (especially at colleges with a christian heritage), student organizations (intervarsity, campus for christ), or itinerant chaplains who are employed by their denomination, and roam across one or more campuses (me).

still, a lot of people are really curious about what campus ministers do. i’ve been asked about my work by a lot of people since moving here, and i’ve given a variety of answers. i’ve told people that campus ministers:

a) are like regular ministers, except that their parish is a campus, and not a church congregation.

b) are here to help students, staff and faculty integrate their faith with their role at the university.

c) work to facilitate dialogue about matters of faith, to enable worship on campus, to offer pastoral care and support to on-campus folk, and to be a missional presence on campus.

these answers are all fairly similar, and i think they provide a decent foundation for understanding the work of a campus minister. yet, they are also a little vague. they’re vague because they offer a basic description of what all campus ministers do, but don’t really get at the heart of what i do.

so, what am i doing here? i think my answer would vary from day to day — some days i’d say “i have no idea what i’m doing.” other days i’d say “i had four cups of coffee with four different students, and now my heart is palpitating.” other days i’d say “i had a fortuitous chat with a muslim student for over an hour this afternoon, and then i spent the rest of my time on campus reading about islam.” some afternoons i’d say “i had the luxury of explaining to a curious student why i find st. paul/john calvin/fyodor dostoyevsky to be such a fascinating and essential figure.”

those answers vary from day to day, but on every day, i’d give this answer: “i’m trying to get to know this place.”

i can remember sitting in classes at seminary, hearing people talk about “casting their vision.” these conversations always drove me a little nuts because they seemed so fatuous – here we were, in the comfort of our classrooms, talking about the nature of our ministries at places yet to be determined. the conversations never really seemed to consider that such ministry was going to take place amidst the baroque complexity and occasional messiness of real live human community. and that’s not even to consider unexpected alleys and detours our God would lead us down in our parishes. it was as if we could take our conceptions of ministry formed in the classroom, and snap them neatly into place upon arriving at a particular community.

there’s something industrial about such thinking – the idea that communities are like machinery, with interchangeable parts and processes, that community is something stamped out uniformly on an assembly line.

this manner of thinking is seductive because it is intellectually manageable. there’s a perverse comfort in thinking that the techniques and practices used in one community will work in another. regardless, it’s impossible to square away with even a modest acquaintance with a particular group of people or institution.

each community is sui generis, a fact that should encourage humility, patience, and a desire for understanding in newcomers. those things need to come long before a specific vision is cast.

humility. patience. understanding. that’s what i’ve been trying to work on here, so far. some days it’s pretty hard, but most days i feel like i’m discovering more and more about the campus. most days, i think i can get my fingers on the pulse of the place, even though it usually comes through in faint tremors. but when i feel them, it makes my pulse quicken. it’s exciting to see the ways in which my ideas match what people are seeking on campus.

speaking of pulses, there are already some signs of life:

i have had lots and lots of cups of coffee with individual students.

i am working with the wlu office of student diversity to present speakers and films that explore the intersections of faith, gender and sexuality.

i am part of a committee to create a group on campus for men impacted and alienated by the perils of masculinity (an organization that will find itself at odds with much popular contemporary theologies of masculinity, no doubt).

i am reading “the death of adam” with a faculty/staff/grad student book club.

i am reading “jesus wants to save christians” with an undergraduate book club.

i am working with a church to figure out the healthiest ways to welcome students into the body of christ.

these things are all really exciting to me, and i hope they’ll bear good fruit. yet they are all still tender shoots, and i’m aware that some of them may not grow past that stage. i may need to uproot them and plant something new in their place. thankfully, the Spirit provides verdant soil, which gives me hope and confidence.