InterVarsity Prepares to Reach 2,500 Campuses by Year 2030
For Release: August 20, 2018
(Madison, WI) – InterVarsity announces today that the campus ministry will focus on establishing Christian fellowships on 2,500 college campuses in the next 12 years.
As more than 1,500 InterVarsity campus staff ministers, along with student and faculty leaders, return to campuses this fall, their focus is on the 2030 Calling, which states: Longing for revival, we catalyze movements that call every corner of every campus to follow Jesus.
“We want to see a witnessing community on all 2,500 US campuses with 1,000 students or more by the year 2030,” says InterVarsity President Tom Lin. “Right now, 53 percent of those 2,500 campuses do not have any known Christian ministry. We have seen that college students are still looking for hope and significance for their lives. In fact, the last 10 years have been among the most fruitful in InterVarsity’s 77-year history.”
Of the 20 million students in college right now, nearly one-third have no religious affiliation or identify as atheist, agnostic, or of no religion. To reach more of these students, InterVarsity plans to accelerate the planting of new chapters throughout the country, partnering with other campus ministries as well as churches, volunteers, and InterVarsity alumni. In addition, InterVarsity is uniquely positioned to reach faculty members because of the nearly 2,000 faculty on campuses across the country involved with InterVarsity in the 2017–2018 academic year.
“The 2030 Calling represents a new shift in how InterVarsity approaches campus ministry," Lin says. "More than ever before, InterVarsity is inviting partners from every part of God’s kingdom to participate in his work among students and faculty. This is not about planting InterVarsity’s flag on every campus; it’s about declaring God’s glory on every campus.”
InterVarsity has chapters in all 50 states, on a total of 695 campuses. A recent highlight is the relocation of InterVarsity staff from Los Angeles to revive campus ministry along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
“We believe the Lord can use us, in partnership with others, to bring a powerful movement of the Spirit among a new generation of students and faculty,” Lin says. “We truly are longing for revival on campus. And we believe that, in the next 12 years, that’s exactly what God will do through the 2030 Calling.”
Real Hope on Campus from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an interdenominational ministry to students and faculty on US college and university campuses, as well as the publisher of award-winning books on the Christian faith through InterVarsity Press. InterVarsity is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, advancing Christian student work in more than 160 countries. InterVarsity is also a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
For more information contact:
Gordon Govier
Media Relations
608/443-3688