New England Presbyterian Campus Initiative
155 Powder House Blvd.
Somerville, MA 02144
Tel: (617) 625-4824
E-mail:
NEPCI.Coordinator@gmail.com
Dear Friends,
Greetings in this season of Advent! As 2008
draws to a close, we wanted to share with you the
work that we have done together this year on be-
half of the New England Presbyterian Campus Ini-
tiative (NEPCI), and invite you to continue your
participation in this project. This year has provided
great insights, and we pray that 2009 will bring
new opportunities to strengthen our ministries to
college students across New England.
After months of gathering data, interviewing
campus ministry stakeholders, and conducting stu-
dent focus groups, the research phase of the pro-
ject is near completion. In 2008, the project col-
lected information about the 215 accredited col-
leges in New England, including information about
religious life on each campus. We also spoke in-
depth with nearly 40 individuals about the current
work of campus ministers and the challenges fac-
ing that work. Finally, we sat down with four
groups of students from different colleges to talk
about their perception of the church and its minis-
try on campus. In 2009, we hope to visit a few
more college campuses to continue hearing stu-
dent perspectives.
Now we move into the process of sifting
through these mountains of data and drawing con-
clusions from what we have heard. Demographi-
cally, we have already learned much about the
campuses we serve:
•
There are just over 70 colleges in each of the
three presbyteries supporting this project.
With more than two colleges for every Presby-
terian church in the region, Presbyterian con-
gregations cannot support colleges alone— we
need to create new partnerships with the
presbyteries and other denominations to
serve students.
•
Presbyterians throughout New England cur-
rently support 23 ministries to college stu-
dents, reaching less than 10% of New Eng-
land’s campuses.
•
Limited data from the colleges suggests that
the strongest religious tradition in New Eng-
land is Roman Catholicism. Only small percent-
ages of students identify with specific mainline
Protestant denominations, while a significant
minority claim no religious preference.
•
There are hundreds of religious activities on
New England’s campuses— but more than half
of all on-campus religious activities take place
at 34 of the region’s most elite colleges. Most
of these colleges employ their own religious
life staff. Many other campuses are under-
served.
The data reveals that there are many opportuni-
ties to minister to our campus neighbors, both by
remaining faithful to the work we already support
and by exploring new ways to reach out.
Though we are still sifting through interview
notes, several generalizations have already
emerged from our conversations with chaplains
and campus ministers, congregational ministers,
college faculty and staff, and other Presbyterians:
•
Students want to change the world. Those
who work with students spoke repeatedly
about today’s college students finding real
purpose in making a difference in the world.
For religious students, service opportunities
are an important way to live out their faith.
•
Students need relationships to grow. Ministry
is about life-changing relationships. Students
need challenging mentors and companions
for their faith journeys, and safe communities
that will allow them to authentically relate to
one another.
•
Churches must reorient themselves toward
college students. A commitment to campus
requires churches to completely rethink their
mission and ministry— do we embrace the
vision of young adults? Are we willing to let
go of our old ways and use student gifts? Will
we trust that our gifts of time and money will
bear fruit, even if results aren’t immediate?
We have also learned much about the wonder-
ful ministries Presbyterians already support.
Through our supported campus ministries, Pres-
byterians:
•
Witness to Christ’s love through a ministry of
presence. At the University of Massachusetts
Lowell, the Protestant campus minister
spends one morning a week in the student
center with a full-sized door that says, “The
Pastor Is In.” Students can respond to pro-
vocative questions on the door, or just share.
The University of Vermont’s minister offers
prayers “here or to go” in the student union
building during exams week. Our chaplains
are often the first clergy called during a cam-
pus emergency, providing care to the entire
college community.
•
Bring students together in communities of
faith. In addition to weekly worship, students
at MIT enjoy the hospitality of the Protestant
campus minister during an annual retreat to
his family cabin in Maine. The weekend ends
with communion on the lakeshore, bringing
students closer to God and to one another. At
Providence Presbyterian Church in Provi-
dence, RI, student members of the church
gather regularly for fun and fellowship out-
side of worship.
•
Help students reach out to the world. The
Presbyterian Undergraduates at Yale, a minis-
try of First Presbyterian Church in New Ha-
ven, CT, hopes to spend January ministering
with Presbyterian mission co-workers in
Egypt. The ecumenical ministry at the Univer-
sity of New Hampshire runs the Cornucopia
Food Pantry, which offers assistance to needy
members of the community.
This litany of the life-changing work Presbyteri-
ans already support make this sound suspiciously
like a fundraising letter. Although the ministries
named above would probably welcome your fi-
nancial contributions, NEPCI is not asking you for
money in this holiday season. We are asking for
your prayers and your time. Pray
for the campus
communities we serve and those yet to be
served. Ask questions and help strategize when
we visit your presbytery in the spring. Attend the
spring event we’re planning, in which we hope to
bring campus ministry stakeholders together to
strategize for the future (details forthcoming).
In some sense, the NEPCI project parallels our
Advent discipline—just as we wait with expecta-
tion for the Christ child, just as we hope with con-
fidence for God’s justice to permeate our broken
world, this year of NEPCI is one in which we pa-
tiently discern the Spirit’s call into the messy,
beautiful mosaic of campus life. We hope that
this project is only the beginning of a grassroots
movement in Presbyterian campus ministry, one
through which God will raise up a generation
committed to fulfilling the Advent vision. Please
join our efforts through your prayers, your ideas,
and your time, now and in the days to come.
May you and your loved ones experience the
riches of God’s grace in this holiday season, and
commit anew to your calling in the coming year.
Blessings,
Kelsey Rice Bogdan, NEPCI Project Coordinator
Rev. Karl Gustafson, NEPCI Project Administrator