“Missio Dei,” the Latin phrase that means God’s Mission, was the theme of InterVarsity’s triennial Staff Conference, January 5-9, 2005, in St. Louis, Missouri. More than 1,300 InterVarsity staff and staff spouses came to the Gateway City from campuses across the country for five days of fellowship and discussion, to grapple with God’s Mission in the world, in the culture, and on the campus. They were joined by staff from InterVarsity Press in Downer’s Grove, Illinois, and from InterVarsity’s National Service Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
This conference was noteworthy for InterVarsity for two reasons. It was InterVarsity’s first visit en masse to its new home away from home. In October, InterVarsity announced that it is moving its Urbana Student Mission Convention in 2006 from the campus of the University of Illinois to the Edward Jones dome in St. Louis. Urbana is the longest running collegiate Christian conference in the U.S. Every three years, since 1946, the Urbana convention has challenged college students to a life-long commitment to the Great Commission.
Secondly, this conference was InterVarsity president Alec Hill’s best opportunity to cast his vision for the future since assuming leadership in 2001. His plenary speech, Friday night January 7th, laid out his priorities for the future of our ministry. The purpose of InterVarsity, he said, is to Love God, Reach the University and Develop World Changers. Alec also used the message to challenge InterVarsity to expand its ministry so that its presence will be found on more than just one quarter of U.S. college campuses.
InterVarsity has over a dozen staff members working on college campuses in the St. Louis area. Since even before October’s Urbana announcement, InterVarsity has been renewing its commitment to connect with St. Louis area churches, since we see ourselves as a partner in ministry with churches to reach the campus community. InterVarsity’s 2006 Urbana conference is expected to bring over 20,000 college-age men and women from across the U.S. to St. Louis.
InterVarsity believes that transformed men and women on U.S. university and college campuses can transform the world. InterVarsity is committed to reaching the whole university with a faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
