The theme of InterVarsity’s 2005 Staff Conference in St. Louis January 5-9, 2005, was Missio Dei, the broad concept that includes all of God’s purposes and all of God’s people. But InterVarsity president Alec Hill presented a vision with a much tighter focus in his plenary address.
“InterVarsity’s main thing,” he said, “is to Love God, Reach the University, and Develop World -Changers. The University is our slice of Missio Dei, our focal point. All that we do passes through it.”
Loving God is our top priority. “If we fail in this first step, we fail entirely,” he said. “The game is over.”
The University is the arena where InterVarsity does its work, where the world’s future leaders are forged. “A reached university is a place where Christian ideas are a part of the public discourse on a regular basis,” Alec said. “We’re currently reaching 565 campuses, that’s about 25-percent. What would it be like, a decade from now, if we were on 800 or 1,000? This is not growth for growth’s sake, this is our mission. This is our calling.”
Developing World-Changers “is not audacious, it’s the Gospel. It’s what we do,” he said. “We pour our lives into students and faculty, and they change the world.”
Audio of InterVarsity president Alec Hill’s plenary address at SC05 in St. Louis is online. Listen to the whole talk.
Talks by other plenary speakers at SC05 will be added to the InterVarsity website shortly.
