Why Campus Ministry?

One of my many hats is that of Episcopal Chaplain to Murray State University.  My experience in that position has led me to reflect on why we are engaged in campus ministry.  This entry is adapted from a presentation I gave to ECUSA's Executive Council a few months ago as well as an article in last month's parish newsletter.  (FYI - In the Episcopal Church, the center of campus ministry is often referred to as a  "Canterbury Club.")

The idea of what campus ministry is has been undergoing some change in the last few decades.  Originally, the concept of Canterbury Houses was to provide places for students who grew up in the Episcopal Church to continue their spirituality through college.  While this is still true to some extent, the interesting thing I have found at Murray State is that Episcopal students are the most difficult to get to Canterbury functions in the first place.  What we get instead are students who are either lapsed Christians or people of no faith background whatsoever. 

Why do we get them?  There is an incredible hunger in this generation for spiritual depth, and the hostility that immediately preceding generations have had to organized religion is fading.  What many of these students want is a place where they will be accepted as they are and be given the freedom to explore traditional Christianity in a non-threatening way.  Due to our historic insistence on using reason to interpret scripture, our beautiful liturgical tradition, and the recent press coverage of events in the church (which give an impression of “openness” no matter how you view the situation) the Episcopal Church is perceived by many outside the Christian community in a very positive light.

Many of the students who have come to Canterbury Club in the last couple of years have been referred by professors who are not Episcopalians.  Out of this group in the last year we have had one student baptized, four confirmed, and two express interest in pursuing a vocation of ordained ministry.  A good number of the rest of the people involved are very much “on the edge” of the church – and that is where the real thrust of our ministry is. 

I had a student come to my office last year in tears, who had just been “disfellowshipped” from another campus ministry for reading “forbidden” books on theology.  There is a lot of this going around in our religious culture – the idea that Christian community is made up of “the pure” - something that has more in common with the ancient heresy of Donatism than with Orthodox Christianity. 

I have often referred to St. John’s as a “burn unit” for people who have been hurt by this brand of Christianity at some point in their life.  In the same way, our Canterbury Club is a “burn unit” for MSU students.  We attract those who desperately need to hear the Good News at a pivotal time in their lives and would not hear it at all if they were not affiliated with us.  Sometimes all of the Good News they can receive at this time is a meal that proves that SOMEONE cares whether they live or die.  This really can make a difference, as funny as it may seem to some of us.  Sometimes, they are open enough to want to make a further Christian commitment. 

We need to be able to look on our commitment to campus ministries in terms of outreach.  The number of freshly minted Episcopalians in our Sunday services that our campus ministries will generate will always be small, but we are not in this for the numbers.  We are in this to make sure that there is a place for the people who want an encounter with a community gathered around Christ, but might not fit in with the cultures of other ministries.  We should think of Canterbury Clubs as outreach – not something that feeds us, but something that feeds those in need as our Lord commanded us to.  My experience with all ministry is that when we can pull away from our expectations and focus instead on the needs of the least among us, the Lord takes care of the rest.

David+

Comments

[J-Tron]

Father David,

Thank you so much for this entry! I'm a big proponent of campus ministry because I think our church (and most other Christian churches) has ignored 18 to 30 year olds for far too long at our own peril and at theirs. I'm hoping to develop some campus ministry in the future. Currently I'm interning with an Episcopal Campus Ministry program. We're trying to figure out how to interest students in coming out to a bible study some time during the week, which is hard with their schedules. Do you have any ideas? What's the main thrust of your work at MSU?

peace,

J-Tron

[J. Brent Bates]

If you don't already know about it, I'd like to recommend a new book called _The College Chaplain_ by Stephen White, the Episcopal chaplain here in Princeton.