While college students approach the beginning of the fall semester with anticipation, and a variety of other emotions, faculty are also eager for the coming school year. Just as faculty are key to the success of the university, faculty play a significant role in the ministry of InterVarsity.
InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministry is committed to:
- Spiritual formation
- Community
- Evangelism and service
- Integration of faith, learning, and practice
InterVarsity’s Faculty Ministry website offers a number of resources to encourage faculty members in their witness on campus, including a list of 24 models for ministry that highlight what faculty across the country have been doing to help form witnessing communities on their campus.
For instance:
- Taking out ads in the school newspaper at Easter and other times of the year, listing Christian faculty and discussing their willingness to meet with students to discuss life’s most important questions.
- Sponsoring a series of public lectures on contemporary issues.
- Offering suggestions to the manager of the campus bookstore about improving the selection in the Religion section.
- Acting as a mentor and adviser to minority students.
- Serving as a faculty adviser to a campus Christian organization such as InterVarsity.
Following the 2003 appointment of Stan Wallace as director of Faculty Ministry, a new leadership team was assembled and a new Faculty Ministry Mission Statement was created. Now, after a year-long strategic planning process with facultry from across the nation, the Faculty Ministry Leadership Team is excited about the growth opportunities for Faculty Ministry.
One of the innovations of Faculty Ministry is the Emerging Scholars Network, which is just over a year old. “The Emerging Scholars Network is called to identify, encourage, and support the next generation of Christian scholars, at all stages of their academic careers, who seek to be a redeeming influence within higher education.” There are now more than 2,000 ESN members. This fall ESN is co-sponsoring a conference for faculty, “The Professor as Pilgrim,” at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 24, 2005.
During the last year, more than 1,100 faculty were involved with InterVarsity on U.S. college campuses, the highest level of involvement in over a decade. These faculty are serving the Kingdom of God by having a redemptive influence on campus in the context of their calling as Christian professors. Some of the ways these professors live this out is by offering students the best teaching and mentoring in their fields, and modeling a clear Christian witness in the sometimes confusing campus environment.
For more information concerning InterVarsity’s Faculty Ministry, please send a note to: info@facultyministry.org.
