wfn.org | Church Respond to Students' Call for Improved

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Public Campus Ministries

November 19, 2000
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD

Church Leaders Respond to Students' Call for Improved 
Public Campus Ministries

Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.       The first step in 
creating a plan to help Seventh-day Adventist students 
around the world develop public campus ministries was 
approved in principle November 14 by the administrative 
committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. 
The move is a direct response to calls by Adventist 
students for the church to place greater emphasis
on reaching out to students at secular colleges and 
universities, says Richard Stenbakken, director of 
chaplaincy services for the Adventist Church worldwide.

Stenbakken points to the "Berkeley Resolution," a charter 
of action voted last September by an international group 
of Adventist students from public campuses who met at 
the University of California, Berkeley. The resolution 
calls on the Adventist Church to give "serious attention 
and support" to "ministry and evangelism on non-Adventist 
university and college campuses."	It was passed 
unanimously by student delegates from the United States, 
Germany, Bangladesh, Ghana, United Kingdom, and Kenya.

"The expense of placing a full-time chaplain on every 
public campus means that traditional campus ministry is not 
feasible on a large scale," says Stenbakken. "And yet the 
need is there.  Adventist young people who choose to study 
at non-Adventist institutions often feel disenfranchised.  
They forego the on-campus spiritual nurture and sense of 
spiritual community that their contemporaries at Adventist 
institutions enjoy." 

The draft proposal calls for church leaders to work with 
students in developing innovative ways to create and sustain 
Adventist student ministry on secular campuses. 

"Instead of appointing full-time chaplains, we could instead 
empower Adventist students at the public universities and 
colleges to go out and create a network, organize activities, 
and develop evangelistic programs," explains Stenbakken.

Under the proposal, which Stenbakken says is still in 
its formative stage, the student would receive some form of 
support--such as an hourly wage, access to church resources, 
and academic credit-in exchange for playing an organizational 
role in campus ministries. These students will be required 
to connect with local Adventist congregations and report to 
both their regional church administrative body (known as a 
conference or mission) and, through established channels, to 
the chaplaincy department of the Adventist Church worldwide.  
"The whole concept is geared toward training leaders," says 
Stenbakken.

Stenbakken notes the Adventist Church is already sponsoring 
effective public campus programs in some countries. "We need 
to learn from these existing programs, and explore ways in 
which the church can help sustain a global network of 
student-led public campus initiatives."

The education department of the Adventist Church worldwide 
estimates that there are at least 200,000 Adventist students 
on secular campuses.