Campus Ministry Notes

Back to the Future

“…for in him {Christ] all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17 (NRSV)

To begin with, allow me to introduce myself. I am Steve Smith and many of you probably know me. I am starting my twenty-seventh year at Waldorf as a professor of religion and philosophy. Last spring, President Alsop asked me if I would take over as the coordinator of campus ministry for this year and so I have. Because of the responsibilities I have on campus as professor, I have really tried to be a coordinator of campus ministry this year. I have also really tried to bring others in to lead and participate in our campus ministry activities this year and I feel there has been some new life in what is happening. I pray that the verse above holds true here and that Christ is at work in what is seen and in what is not seen and that in Him, our campus ministry holds together. The past few years of life with COVID have hit campus ministry at Waldorf quite hard. Campus ministry mission/service trips, along with outreach into our local community ceased and student, faculty and staff participation in worship on campus dropped significantly. The harsh reality is that by last spring, campus ministry events were attended, at best, by a handful of students. Because of that, the focus this fall has really been to get students, faculty and staff involved with campus ministry again primarily through worship and study events. I want to say a few words about each of the ways worship and study events have been happening on campus.

Wednesday Chapel

This fall we stopped calling Wednesday chapel, “chapel.” I’m not sure how our students hear the word chapel or what kind of connotations it has for them, but the term does not draw them to our Wednesday morning worship experiences. As I was thinking about what Wednesday mornings should be, I kept coming back to them being a moment of rest, a deep breath, in the middle of our busy weeks. That resonates with the Jewish idea of Sabbath. The sabbath day is to be a day of rest, but rest with a rest a purpose. The Sabbath is to be rest that renews us to engage the many responsibilities and tasks that life lays upon us. So, playing off that idea of Sabbath, we started calling our Wednesday morning time just what it is, Wednesday R(est) and R(enewal) or "R & R". For us it isn’t a whole day. It’s just twenty minutes. The next question was what to do to draw students, faculty and staff back to our Wednesday morning gatherings. Our theme for the fall, that will carry over into the spring, is vocation. This is a theme that is supposed to permeate every aspect of life at Waldorf and so it seemed most appropriate for Wednesday mornings. It is also very down to earth and real. Vocation provides a way for people to talk about their real lives and some of the struggles that come with the demands of work, family and life. It also seems like a way to for us to get to know each other better and to be inspired by one another. Our Wednesday R & R did not disappoint. Our time was filled with laughter, tears, struggles and the stories of some lives that took very unexpected turns. The music on Wednesday mornings was also greatly varied with Nancy Farndale leading us in song on the piano, Nolan Reynolds and Ben Hemsworth providing guitar music to lead our singing, Professor Jonathan Klauke jamming on the electric guitar and President Alsop having us listen to a song by the hard rock band, Rush. The last Wednesday of the semester was a day dedicated to the faithful years of service Nancy Farndale

Professor David Greder shares his story at R & R

has given to Waldorf. Travis Beck came back and gave an appropriate message of thanks for Nancy and the choir sang a piece composed by Nancy. That day ended with the choir singing none other than F. Melius Christensen’s, Beautiful Savior. For decades Nancy has embodied everything Waldorf stands for. In her own gentle, caring ways, she has imparted that to countless students. Chapel has held a special place in Nancy’s heart over the years and it seemed most appropriate that our last Wednesday of the semester was dedicated to how God has blessed Waldorf through her.

Nancy Farndale at her "Farewell" R & R

Like Fire

Sunday evenings we have had some varied experiences to observe the Sabbath called Like Fire. With some beautiful fall weather, we began outside literally around a fire. A few nights were so warm, it was debated whether a fire was necessary or not. We sang songs led by guitar. We ate pizza and roasted marshmallows. We read scripture and had guided conversations on the readings. With the changing seasons, we moved indoors in October for the same kind of activity minus roasting marshmallows. I had an idea to change things up for a couple weeks that I thought would be wildly popular with students. I thought we could watch a movie and use it to inspire some conversations about faith. We used the movie, Chariots of Fire. It turns out, this was not a wildly popular idea with students. Two students showed up the first night and only one student the next Sunday. We stopped that and moved back to our prior format. Student participation on Sunday evening varied quite a bit throughout the semester. Our numbers ranged from over twenty students to one as I said above.

The Bridge

For a number of years now, a Bible study has been provided for our students by First Baptist Church at 8 on Tuesday nights called "The Bridge". The Bridge engages students’ faith with study, games and time to know and care for one another. There are seven to ten students who have made this a part of their weekly routine. Josh Pagle, a Waldorf graduate who used to work here, leads this group. He is joined by our own Professor of History, Jonathan Klauke, and Andrew Jermeland, one of our online advisors.

"Like Fire" participants gathered in song around a bonfire last fall

Catholic Mass

Over the years, Waldorf has enjoyed a great relationship with the Catholic priests serving parishes in Forest City and the surrounding area. This fall, Mass was celebrated every other Thursday evening in the recital hall. There is always a good turnout consisting of faculty, staff, and students. Things begin with the Rosary at 7:30 p.m. and Mass being celebrated at 8. This has been a long-standing tradition at Waldorf, but I am sorry to say this semester was the end of Mass being celebrated on campus for the foreseeable future. A change is being made and one priest is now going to be tasked with serving six parishes in the area. Waldorf cannot be added to that workload. We have been blessed and are very thankful for the way our local priests have cared for the Waldorf community over the years.

Monday Night Bible Study

Monday evenings at 7, there has been a purely student led Bible study. This group began meeting by the pond and when the weather cooled, they moved to meeting in a dormitory.

Peer Ministers

I have been assisted all semester by four helpful, competent peer ministers. They have been a kind of advisory committee for me, giving me some good advice at times. They have also helped with the nuts and bolts of making things happen. They have taken care of publicity for our events, taken care of getting food and drink to proper locations when necessary, run power-points on Wednesday mornings and provided music. I’m feeling good about how things went this fall, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our four peer ministers. Our peer ministers are Nadia Turner, a senior from Bloomington, Minn.; Abby Tapp, a senior from Forest City;

C. MINISTRY CONTINUED

Murad Hazhibayev, a senior from Dashoguz, Turkmenistan; and Ben Hemsworth, a senior from Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

Moving Forward

This fall, we have worked hard to establish a regular pattern of worship and study opportunities for students. In the spring semester, I would like to add some service activities as well, but the plan is to keep that local for this year. I found over this semester that coordinating campus ministry is most definitely more than a part-time job or at least should be. I am always aware of how much more could be or should be done, but all that comes with being a professor as well, and I just don’t have more time to give to this. My position directing campus ministry is meant to be temporary. When we became a forprofit college, we moved from having a fulltime campus pastor to having a part-time and then roughly three-quarter time campus ministry coordinator. This has worked to varying degrees over the last twelve years and campus ministry has stayed alive and a vital part of life at Waldorf, but it isn’t what it used to be. Now we are moving back to the world of non-profit education. We are moving back to our roots, but at a very different time in history and with us being in a very different position as a university. I like to think of this time in term of a popular movie from a few years ago, Back To The Future. We are moving back to our roots, back to a place where we can be more connected to the faith tradition that gives Waldorf it’s foundation and purpose in education, but we are moving into a future with students and a world that is far different than the one that gave birth to this university. As this happens, I would like to see Waldorf move back to having a fulltime campus pastor. My prayer and dream for Waldorf would be that a day would come when there could be an endowed chaplaincy position that would guarantee we always have pastoral care and an active campus ministry for our students. I hope that you, our alumni, will consider this and make it happen. Blessings to you all and I hope you are all as excited as I am about the changes happening at Waldorf and as hopeful for the future.

GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING CLOSE TO HOME!

TRADITION // PASSION // COMMUNITY // SUCCESS

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