West Virginia University

Developing Partners in Campus Ministry

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:42:43 +0000

Developing Partners in Campus Ministry

Katie Mentzer was in her second year on staff before she was sure that she was called to campus ministry. Up to that point she had thought that God was calling her overseas as a missionary, and she had looked at campus ministry as part of her preparation.

Katie was helping plant a chapter at Fairmont State University in West Virginia as she was keeping her options open. But then as she attended an ��ñ�� staff conference, and several other events, she had a sense that campus ministry was where she belonged for the long term. “Things kept pointing in that direction with the opportunities that I had that seemed like a good fit with my personality and skills,” she said.

The chapter plant at Fairmont State was challenging and did well for several years despite high turnover. But the eventual loss of some key student leaders ultimately led to the closing of the chapter. At the same time, though, a group of students at West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC) announced that they wanted to affiliate with ��ñ��. That opened the door to a new experience in teamwork.

WVWC was an hour away from Katie’s home in Fairmont. “I realized if we really hoped to see what we wanted to happen I needed to get other people who are local involved,” she said.

Some pastors who were working with the WVWC students connected Katie with local churches and other venues where she was able to appeal for volunteers. She ended up with a team of 18 volunteers, including 6 core leaders. The team members include pastors and youth ministers, WVWC faculty and staff members, a business person, an engineer, a stay-at-home mom, and a teacher.

“I’m investing in the volunteer partners and they’re investing in the students,” Katie said. “The students are going to minister on campus. This helps me with my limited amount of investment to have a big impact and to empower people with the gifts that God has given them to work on campus.”

Katie meets with her core team once a month and does individual coaching on a weekly basis. The core volunteers are united by their desire to reach college students with the gospel message and they appreciate the opportunity for training in the tools and techniques that come out of ��ñ��’s expertise in campus ministry.

Figuring out how to work with volunteers and develop them took a lot of time at first. Some of the challenges that Katie addressed included working with people who have a variety of commitment levels and a variety of skills as well as figuring out who has transferable skills that are useful in campus ministry and what skills need to be taught. “Pastors have a lot of transferable skills, but they might not be contextualized for the campus,” Katie said.

She also discovered the importance of partnering with volunteers, offering them investment and ownership, and not just delegating to them. “We’re the body of Christ working together,” she said. But there are others who can only volunteer a little bit here and there. “We need all of them,” she added.

Katie is hoping what she’s learned about calling and equipping volunteers will help other staff find ways to multiply their efforts, as ��ñ�� seeks to expand to hundreds of additional campuses through our 2030 Calling. Alumni, faculty, pastors, and local community members can all play key roles in campus ministry.

Currently a lot of volunteer activity in campus ministry exists at two extremes: those who occasionally bake cookies for the local chapter and those who are official full-time volunteers. “We haven’t found that nuance in the middle,” Katie said. When more options are identified, it’s possible more people with a greater variety of skills and abilities will be able to find a place to fit, such as mentoring, coaching, helping at events, leading a meeting, etc.

When there is no local campus ministry staff, volunteers offer the possibility of stability and better connections with the community. “How do we connect to the people who love the campus even more than we ever will because they are there, they are connected?” Katie wonders. “It’s been really refreshing and life-giving to work with people who are of a similar mindset and I know will be around longer. We’ve seen the ministry blessed as we’ve opened the doors to other people coming in and investing in the students.”

This year, after the annual regional staff conference, volunteers were invited to a partners conference. There they prayed for all of West Virginia’s campuses and received further training from other ��ñ�� staff. “It was a good time for staff and partners to network, be encouraged, and learn from each other,” Katie said. “We are planning to do it again in the coming years.”

Jesse Roselius, Katie’s supervisor, has been observing her faithful and bold discipleship ever since she transferred as a student to West Virginia University (WVU) and helped reestablish the WVU ��ñ�� chapter. “She steps up to the challenges even when she is faced with new obstacles,” he said. “Katie has hit her stride developing leaders, seeing folks come to faith, starting work among Greek students, faculty, athletes, and internationals. Most recently, her work in partnership development with volunteers has been stellar.”

Katie likes seeing people discover God in new ways. That can happen a lot in campus ministry. It also happens when working with volunteers.

News Keywords

West VIrginia Wesleyan College

Fairmont State University

West Virginia University

Red Cup's New Role On Campus

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:34:25 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Red Cup's New Role On Campus

The red plastic cup is ubiquitous on campus because, well, students are thirsty. But students are seldom reflective about their drinking habits. Until ��ñ��’s Red Cup Campaign comes to campus.

This fall the Red Cup Campaign was launched by ��ñ�� staff and students on campuses across the country. The students were trained in evangelism and then set up the Red Cup display on campus. Thousands of students are hearing a presentation of the gospel.

The Red Cup Campaign uses an interactive display (called a Proxe station) that asks students what they are most thirsty for: love, purpose, fun, or success. Their response often starts a conversation that leads to an opportunity to discuss Jesus’ statements about Living Water and eternal life.

Red Cup Gets Results

More than 1,300 conversations took place in one week at the Red Cup Campaign Proxe station at UCLA. Students were invited to ��ñ��’s Large Group meeting. At the UCLA chapter’s first Large Group meeting of the school year, 47 students stood to make first-time decisions or recommitments to follow Christ.

Over a four day period at the University of Chicago there were 250 conversations at the Red Cup Campaign Proxe station. At the first Large Group meeting of the year, three students stood to make first-time commitments to Jesus. At the second Large Group, 12 people raised their hands to commit to Christ.

Making contact with incoming students at the beginning of the school year is a priority for every ��ñ�� chapter. The Red Cup Campaign not only facilitates contacts, but immediately establishes the evangelical character of ��ñ��’s outreach.

“Almost everyone who went through the Proxe station heard the gospel and was prayed for,” reported Mac Smith, ��ñ�� Campus Member at Weber State University in Utah. “We had 161 students show up to Large Group and seven students become Christians during the call to faith. More than 60 students who were already Christian believers stood to give Jesus control of an area of their life where they were trying to get their thirsts met on their own. We have never done so well with contacts during the first week of school.”

Students are Lining Up

A Campus Staff Member at the University of Northern Arizona called it their most effective Proxe station ever. “It’s drawn both Christian believers and seekers,” he said.”Thanks for designing something that students are lining up to interact with.”

An ��ñ�� student at West Virginia University said: “It’s very easy to get into conversations with students about what they want out of their college experience and life. I think the transition from talking about our thirsts to talking about the gospel is very natural. I think the Red Cup is effective because it gets college students thinking about how our earthly thirst quenchers never satisfy us.”

Some ��ñ�� chapters jumped into the Red Cup Campaign at the very beginning of the school year, others are setting up the display on campus as the year goes on. We praise God for the effectiveness of this tool for reaching students with the gospel message.

News Keywords

West Virginia University

Weber State University

University of Northern Arizona

University of Chicago

UCLA

Red Cup Campaign