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With Campus Cross Walk
Written by: CampUs4 8/3/2010 11:34 PM
A Uniting Invitation by Steven Tramel Gaines One important task of campus ministry is to become an integrated part of the campus culture. Through faithful, responsible, prayerful, and creative engagement, God seeks to use us to touch and transform students’ lives. I am finding this to be true in Spartanburg, SC. Spartanburg Methodist College is a small, private, two-year school in a city with four other undergraduate colleges. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the school welcomes ministry efforts from other heritages. In addition to the Methodist chaplain, three campus ministers are active on the campus—a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and yours truly, representing Churches of Christ. God has blessed me with healthy working relationships with the chaplain and the other campus ministers. Through those friendships, I am learning two important lessons. First, we can benefit from each other. People who strive to follow Christ but disagree on a few matters of faith and/or practice can gain from each other’s strengths and can cooperate to point students to Jesus. Second, such friendship can lead to opportunities for students to hear a voice they might not otherwise notice. Last semester, some of our students took History of Christianity. Their professor had to miss class and invited me to be the guest lecturer and to talk about the history of the Churches of Christ. I began with the story of the early Restoration Movement. I told about the groups of faithful people who started thinking similar thoughts in four different parts of our nation in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and I told about their merger in the 1830s. Then I proceeded to some major early teachings that continue today: the importance of the Bible, the necessity of unity in diversity, and the role of baptism. I highlighted an early motto: “Christians only, not the only Christians.” And I emphasized the dominant vision of the early leaders of the Restoration Movement: that people would abandon denominational labels and just be Christians. The lecture was more than a history lesson. It was an invitation to participate in what God is doing on the college campus. Of course, my primary task as a campus minister is to lead students to glorify God, to follow Jesus, to live in the Spirit, and to be active members of Christ’s body, the church. I happen to be doing that task as a member of a Church of Christ, and that heritage provides some theology that can empower my primary task. Sure, I invite students to get involved with the congregation that generously supports the ministry and me. But my first invitation is for students to come together, overcome denominational differences, explore scripture, share reflections, discuss how the text can apply to our serving and relating to people on the campus and in the community, and petition God to touch and transform us through the process. The “Christians only” motto is alive and well at SMC. Bible discussion groups, worship gatherings, service projects, retreats, mission trips, and other activities bring students together from various faith backgrounds and even from backgrounds that are void of any recognizable faith. We overcome our differences to focus on essential truths we can share in common, and those truths empower us to live, worship, serve, pray, and have fun together. To my colleagues in Churches of Christ, I issue this invitation: remember the strengths of our heritage and pray that God will use them to lead students to Jesus. Steven Tramel Gaines leads OASIS Campus Ministry, the multi-campus outreach of Central Church of Christ in Spartanburg, SC. He studied ministry and communication at Abilene Christian University, the University of Oklahoma, and the Oxford Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and is continuing his education at Harding University Graduate School of Religion. You can communicate with him through the contacts page of this website.
One important task of campus ministry is to become an integrated part of the campus culture. Through faithful, responsible, prayerful, and creative engagement, God seeks to use us to touch and transform students’ lives.
I am finding this to be true in Spartanburg, SC. Spartanburg Methodist College is a small, private, two-year school in a city with four other undergraduate colleges. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the school welcomes ministry efforts from other heritages. In addition to the Methodist chaplain, three campus ministers are active on the campus—a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and yours truly, representing Churches of Christ.
God has blessed me with healthy working relationships with the chaplain and the other campus ministers. Through those friendships, I am learning two important lessons. First, we can benefit from each other. People who strive to follow Christ but disagree on a few matters of faith and/or practice can gain from each other’s strengths and can cooperate to point students to Jesus. Second, such friendship can lead to opportunities for students to hear a voice they might not otherwise notice.
Last semester, some of our students took History of Christianity. Their professor had to miss class and invited me to be the guest lecturer and to talk about the history of the Churches of Christ. I began with the story of the early Restoration Movement. I told about the groups of faithful people who started thinking similar thoughts in four different parts of our nation in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and I told about their merger in the 1830s. Then I proceeded to some major early teachings that continue today: the importance of the Bible, the necessity of unity in diversity, and the role of baptism. I highlighted an early motto: “Christians only, not the only Christians.” And I emphasized the dominant vision of the early leaders of the Restoration Movement: that people would abandon denominational labels and just be Christians.
The lecture was more than a history lesson. It was an invitation to participate in what God is doing on the college campus. Of course, my primary task as a campus minister is to lead students to glorify God, to follow Jesus, to live in the Spirit, and to be active members of Christ’s body, the church. I happen to be doing that task as a member of a Church of Christ, and that heritage provides some theology that can empower my primary task.
Sure, I invite students to get involved with the congregation that generously supports the ministry and me. But my first invitation is for students to come together, overcome denominational differences, explore scripture, share reflections, discuss how the text can apply to our serving and relating to people on the campus and in the community, and petition God to touch and transform us through the process.
The “Christians only” motto is alive and well at SMC. Bible discussion groups, worship gatherings, service projects, retreats, mission trips, and other activities bring students together from various faith backgrounds and even from backgrounds that are void of any recognizable faith. We overcome our differences to focus on essential truths we can share in common, and those truths empower us to live, worship, serve, pray, and have fun together.
To my colleagues in Churches of Christ, I issue this invitation: remember the strengths of our heritage and pray that God will use them to lead students to Jesus.
Steven Tramel Gaines leads OASIS Campus Ministry, the multi-campus outreach of Central Church of Christ in Spartanburg, SC. He studied ministry and communication at Abilene Christian University, the University of Oklahoma, and the Oxford Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and is continuing his education at Harding University Graduate School of Religion. You can communicate with him through the contacts page of this website.
1 comments so far...
Re: A Uniting Invitation by Steven Tramel Gaines Thanks for sharing brother! Depending on the students in your ministry, some find it quite challenging to consider that there are other Christians beyond our walls. I suppose the rationale goes: How can they be wrong about x,y,z issue and still be a Christian? I'd be curious to know how ministers help their students be open to the idea that there are Christians beyond Churches of Christ. The historical examples from restoration history are helpful...what else?
Re: A Uniting Invitation by Steven Tramel Gaines
Thanks for sharing brother! Depending on the students in your ministry, some find it quite challenging to consider that there are other Christians beyond our walls. I suppose the rationale goes: How can they be wrong about x,y,z issue and still be a Christian? I'd be curious to know how ministers help their students be open to the idea that there are Christians beyond Churches of Christ. The historical examples from restoration history are helpful...what else?
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