wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Group wants to link colleges, churches

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	October 15, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 75

	Campus-ministry group wants to link colleges, congregations

	Note to outreach-minded congregations: If you're near a college
or university campus, a huge mission field is right in your own back
yard.

	That's the message of the Lutheran Campus Mission Association
(LCMA), a newly formed LCMS mission society that has signed a
"partnership agreement" with LCMS World Mission to promote campus
ministry on its behalf.

	At present, the Synod includes some 720 "campus ministries" that
serve about a quarter of the country's 3,700 colleges and universities,
according to Rev. Greg Fairow, LCMA's vice president. But those
ministries run the gamut -- from those with full-time campus pastors, to
those that consist of a nearby congregation that opens its doors to
students but has little, if any, on-campus contact.

	"We want to emphasize partnerships," said Fairow, between
congregations and campuses, and between similar campuses and similar
congregations, so that they can learn from one another. Part of the
LCMA's responsibility will be to "put similar ministries in touch with
each other," Fairow said.

	More and more responsibility for campus ministry is falling on
the shoulders of nearby congregations, echoed Rev. Dave Dressel, campus
pastor at Michigan State University, East Lansing, and LCMA president.
But that outreach need not be costly, he said. It can be something as
simple as bringing minivans to campus to drive students to Sunday
worship, donating used furniture to students, or providing a free meal
on a monthly basis.

	Campus-ministry congregations simply need to "meet the needs of
students where they are," Dressel said.

	Some 75 percent of students who worship in high school "stop
when they get to college," noted Fairow, who serves as a campus pastor
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. So, campuses are "huge mission
fields, even in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod," he said.

	At the same time, the college years are one of those
"transitional" periods in life when young people -- moving from
dependence to independence -- may be "more open" to Christianity.

	"They're making decisions about who they are going to be and
whether or not their faith is going to impact the rest of their lives,"
said Dressel.

	That's why congregations can't just wait for students to show up
on their doorsteps -- rather, they need to go to the students.

	Effective campus ministry, Dressel said, "is an active, eager,
excited movement to grow people in faith on college and university
campuses."

	In its quest to link those who need help with those who can
provide it, the LCMA hopes to launch a Web site by next spring, and
plans to offer resources and sponsor workshops -- all will be
outreach-focused.

	"We are participating fully in the spirit and intent of what
'Ablaze!' is doing," said Fairow. "And we see the work of missions in
college and university communities as a key part of that."

	For more information about campus ministries, contact Dave
Dressel at dresseld@msu.edu or LCMA Facilitator Kent Pierce at
kpierce@kent.edu.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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