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Everyday, we encourage our students to be vocational ministers. Accountants, engineers, and teachers are spurred on to reach out in their jobs and be Christ in their world. Are we leaving out a profession that can directly impact our campus ministries? University faculty, administrators, and staff are on campus, and have constant contact with students. Their insights on vocational ministries and involvement in our campus ministries can be a huge boost to our ongoing ministries.
I am a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. I have been blessed with wonderful undergraduate leaders, a supportive church, and a loving wife that have allowed our ministry to grow. I am convinced that we can foster greater growth by building better bridges with faculty members and others in the campus community.
I know there are Christian faculty members at universities all over the world who love the Lord. Some have found ways to share Christ on their
campuses, and some have not. Many campus ministries are blessed by extensive faculty involvement, but many are not. My hope is that this article will facilitate communication and networking between faculty and staff on our campuses. I would like to create a forum to share our successes and encourage other Christian faculty to share Christ with their students.
I am convinced that faculty members and staff, through choosing their profession, have committed themselves to mentoring students. What better way can a faculty member mentor students than to show them Christ? Faculty members have the unique opportunity to interact everyday with students. They are given automatic respect by the position that they hold and are looked to for guidance as students explore for answers to life’s questions. There are faculty and staff at our campuses that understand this reality.
I have heard of the wonderful things Christian faculty are doing in His name all across the country. I am committed to sharing this vision with campus ministries across the country. Do you know of faculty and staff that are contributing to your campus ministry? Are you one of
these people God is using? If so please contact me, Chuck Thigpen at
. My hope is to begin networking and facilitate ideas of how faculty and staff can be more involved in our campus ministries.
Grace and Peace,
Chuck
Chuck Thigpen is a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Program in Human Movement
Science, Sports Medicine Research Lab, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. His e-mail is:
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