One hundred and nine new InterVarsity campus staff members are headed back to college and university campuses across the country after spending ten days in Madison for the annual training event called Orientation for New Staff (ONS).
ONS is InterVarsity’s version of bootcamp, where new staff are trained in skills that are important to their work, such as evangelism, discipleship, Bible study, small group dynamics, ethnic reconciliation, and fund development. They also learn about InterVarsity as a national movement and our vision for the renewal of the university campus.
“Our vision is to see lives transformed on the university campus,” President Alec Hill told the ONS assembly. But the vision goes beyond using the campus as a pool to fish for converts. “Our vision is to see universities renewed and world changers developed,” he said. “InterVarsity cares about the whole university environment: faculty, staff and students.”
Alec cited the example of Ellen Whitener, a popular University of Virginia professor and InterVarsity trustee, who died suddenly earlier this year. She was 47-years old and had been involved with InterVarsity since her freshman year at Duke University. Respected in her field, she also volunteered with community organizations and was active in her church. So many students and faculty attended her memorial service that classes had to be cancelled for the day in the university’s McIntire School of Commerce where she taught.
InterVarsity has 832 chapters on 564 U. S. college campuses. The staff who have just completed ONS will be working on many of those campuses, engaging students with the gospel in a way that’s relevant to their campus culture.
Christian Post article about ONS
