Wednesday, September 14

For over 10 years now, I have been a part of something that is pretty rare. Each week during the school year, a group of us meet on Wednesday morning for a time of prayer and encouragement. The rare thing is that the members of the group are all men involved in campus ministry at the UofA. On most campuses, we would probably be "competitors". I know of campuses where you have to sign a doctrinal statement before others will pray with you. Here, we are brothers serving the same God, loving the same Jesus, committed to the same Scripture, and called to influence the same campus.

We could probably find a hundred different things that we disagree about. We come from all across the doctrinal spectrum. We don't do ministry the same way. We often focus on different target groups on campus (some work primarily with international students, others do a lot of ministry with fraternities and sororities, etc.). Some have large groups and some have small groups. Some are on the staff of local churches, others are paid by their denominations, most are raising their own support. We discuss campus issues and strategies for reaching students. But mostly we pray. We pray for each others' ministries, for each others' finances, for each others' families.

Because of schedules and emergencies, not everyone can make it every week. But they are always a part and step right back in whenever they can be there. Over the past ten years, the group has remained pretty stable. It is amazing how long some of us hang around! And if God ever calls me to another place of ministry, this group of men will be one of the things that I will miss the most and that will make it hard to leave. I doubt if any of them know that this site exists. But thank you: Lynn, Ronnie, Warren, Greg, Tom, Bart, Doug, Kevin, Clark, Sean, Tim, Ted, Steve, Jonathan, and Stephen.

3 comments:

Jenny Petersen said...

Hey Mike

Glad to hear things are well, and really glad to hear about the faithful group that prays together on your campus. We have also been really blessed here at UNL with the same type of group - it feels great to partner with the other ministries instead of feeling like we have to compete with them. We are all here for the same purpose - to bring glory and honor to God through reaching college students. I'm so glad that God is bringing unity on different campuses. But my only question is: where are the women on your campus?!? :)

Jenny Petersen
csf-unl

Mike said...

When we first started, we had a woman that prayed with us. But she left after two or three years and none others have come. In fact, though I invite our staff to come, it is mostly the "lead" campus ministers only! Maybe I need to get Kristin to start a women's group.

Mike said...

When we first started, we had a woman that prayed with us. But she left after two or three years and none others have come. In fact, though I invite our staff to come, it is mostly the "lead" campus ministers only! Maybe I need to get Kristin to start a women's group.