Campus ministry is transforming lives

John Wesley was Methodism’s first campus minister! Those of us who have served in campus ministry settings love to make this claim of our founder. Indeed, John Wesley organized a club at Oxford that encouraged students in their Bible reading, prayer, and small group life together. Others on campus called John and his brother, Charles, and their friends “Bible Moths” and over time gave them the name Methodists. While some at Oxford were teasing the Wesleys by calling them Methodists, the name would stick and continue until this time in the history of The United Methodist Church.

I had the extraordinary privilege of serving in campus ministry at Duke University. As Assistant Dean of the Chapel, I oversaw 18 different ecumenical and interfaith religious groups on campus who composed the Religious Life staff. I also met with undergraduate United Methodist students regularly in their Wesley Fellowship. Part of my work was in the Divinity School community where I taught Field Education seminars and supervised Worship Interns at Duke Chapel.

Sunday morning worship in the cathedral setting of Duke Chapel was a glorious experience. The 150-member Chapel Choir, the majesty of the Flentrop organ, the formal worship, the excellent preaching drew an average of 1,500 persons a week during the academic year. The worshiping body included students, faculty, administration, people in the community, and a large array of visitors from anywhere in the world on a regular basis. What a privilege to accompany a generation of students in a setting where learning, serving, and worshiping were always paramount.

The campus setting is a crucible for introducing people to the Christian faith, some who need discipling, some for the first time. The campus setting is the perfect place for people to explore and ask questions about their faith. The campus setting is a great place to do hands-on mission on or off campus, in the States or globally. The campus setting is a place of moratorium where vocation can be tested out and affirmed. The campus setting is a place of great diversity where students can meet more people who are not like themselves. The campus setting is a community where lifelong friendships can be formed. The campus setting is a wonderful opportunity for teachers who become mentors. In short, the campus setting is an extraordinary window of time where a person’s life can be transformed.

I think of our campuses as mission fields, ripe for harvest. Isn’t that where disciples of Jesus Christ are made and encouraged to help God transform the world into a better place?

            Grace and Peace, 

            Charlene Kammerer