Parent Connections: past issues

Campus Ministries Team nurtures spiritual growth of students.

The Campus Ministries Team gathered around the scripture of Isaiah 61:1-2 at their spring semester lunch meeting. Each one in their own way finds many opportunities to carry out this calling in the roles they play at Goshen College.

Brett Buller coordinates Community Voluntary Service. During Spring Break 2004, he will lead a service trip to Jubilee Partners in Comer, Georgia with eight other Goshen College students and a faculty member. They will join in the community's welcoming ministry to refugees, assisting with gardening, child care, and teaching English. Back on campus Brett heads up the organization of a Red Cross Blood drive scheduled for March 26, organizes Saturday work crews that re-hab houses, and serves as a link between local service agency opportunities and student volunteers. A junior from Bluffton, Ohio, Brett is majoring in molecular biology, plays violin in the college orchestra, and studied in Germany last summer.

Joanne Gallardo coordinates music and worship for chapels and Campus Worship Night. She is passionate about hymn singing, and church music in general. On Wednesday, February 11, she will give leadership to a chapel service with Melodia, a praise team including eight other musicians. She works with four student-led worship teams who provide leadership for singing at weekly Wednesday evening services. Joanne is a sophomore music education major from Wauseon, Ohio. She is a member of chapel committee, sings in the college choir and plays clarinet in the orchestra.

Sarah Moyer gives leadership to the small group program. She and another student lead a group called RAK (random acts of kindness). They meet weekly at Sarah's home to bake cookies and distribute them to selected students or faculty the group wants to bless that week. Sarah also provides support to sixteen other leaders of small groups meeting for Bible study, prayer and sharing. Sarah is a senior history major from Fortville, Indiana. She plays varsity basketball and was married this past summer to Matt Moyer.

William Velez gives leadership to Campus Worship Night, a student-led service held each Wednesday evening. He continues a life of ministry that began in his home congregation where he was a teen-age preacher and choir director. This semester he is planning Campus Worship Night services which include study of the book of Ephesians with visiting pastor Steve Slagel, a session about dating, and an Ash Wednesday service. Will is a sophomore music and business major from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He sings in the Voices-n-Harmony Gospel choir and in GC chorale.

In addition to the programs these students are leading, campus ministers Regina Shands Stoltzfus and Sylvia Shirk Charles facilitate a number of other programs and ministries:

• support group for non-traditional (older) students
• grief support group for those who have experienced the death of someone close
• Taize Prayer Service twice a month Chapel services every Monday and every other Wednesday
• Spiritual Direction /Mentoring program
• Pastoral care and counseling
•Other weekly spiritual life opportunities include Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Catholic Student Association, and Voices-n-Harmony Gospel Choir.

A floor blessing in Yoder Hall
By Sylvia Shirk Charles, Campus Minister

On a snowy evening in January I had the opportunity to visit Yoder Hall, having been invited by the Residence Life Assistant (or "RA") to lead a floor blessing. Arriving at 10 p.m., I witnessed the RA's friendly, efficient style of leadership as she covered floor business: performers were solicited for a coffee house, plans were made to go sledding, a roommate date event was announced, floor decoration was planned and requests were made to "please put shoes on your door mat in the hallway and try harder to keep the noise down when others are sleeping."

I then led the group in asking God's blessing on the floor. Beginning at the door, we prayed, "Peace to all who enter here. May the Lord preserve your going out and your coming in." Then we placed a new welcome mat inside the door.

Next, at each room we prayed a blessing on the young women living there and asked if they had a specific prayer request. We prayed that night for a dad having hip replacement surgery; for help with studies; for finding joy in the routine; for a grandma diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease; for patience with a malfunctioning computer; and for an unspoken need. The RA placed a small card with a Celtic blessing on each student's pillow, and the Campus Ministries representative* for that floor added a chocolate heart for each one.

After the individual prayers, singers in the group blessed their floor mates with a song, which began, "The Lord lift you up, the Lord take your handÞ" I asked the students to list what they appreciate about the floor, and their responses were immediate: the friendliness to a new floor mate, patience in cramped quarters, an RA who is positive and organized and more. I also presented the group with a couch pillow on which each could write their name. Before breaking out the snacks, we closed with this benediction, "God of this home, bless YoderÞ May peace and joy live here, may goodness and mercy thrive here. May the calm light of patience and courage shine here, and into this college home may all be welcomed in a spirit of love and hospitality. Amen." Later, there was brainstorming about starting regular morning devotions in the floor lounge.

The warm feeling I had as I left the dorm was so powerful that I hardly noticed the cold weather outside. I felt I had been on holy ground.

* Campus Ministries reps are student volunteers for each dorm floor, small group house and commuters who commit to 1) praying regularly for those they live with, 2) advertising Campus Ministries events, and 3) using their own creativity to promote spiritual life within the group. The response of Campus Ministries reps this year has been very strong!

For more information visit the Campus Ministries Web site.