To Pursue the Mission Introduction


previous page.... next page I. Introduction *A. Mandate of the task force* The Christian Reformed Campus Ministry Association (CR‑CMA) task force was appointed at the Campus Ministry Conference in June of 1994. The task force was instructed to envision a new future for campus ministry (CM) in the life of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA). It was given a year to accomplish this assignment. The task force's mandate specified that it provide the following: A mission statement for campus ministry in the CRCNA that develops the existing vision statement into both a concept of ministry and a strategy for administration of campus ministry in the church (with appropriate tools for the same). An organizational plan for both the denominational administration of campus ministry and the relationship of campus ministry to local churches and universities. 3. A development plan and strategy for opening new fields, recruiting and training leaders, and funding campus ministries. *B. Members of the Task Force* The following six members of the CR‑CMA were appointed to the task force: --Rev. Kenneth Boonstra, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. --Rev. Edward Den Haan, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario. --Mr. Harry Lew, Grand Rapids Downtown Campus Ministry, Grand Rapids, Michigan. --Dr. Edson "Bill" Lewis (emeritus), Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and advocate for campus ministries of the CR‑CMA. --Rev. Jack Reiffer, University of Illinois (Champaign‑Urbana), Champaign, Illinois. --Dr. Willis Van Groningen, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Dr. Craig Van Gelder, professor of domestic missiology, Calvin Theological Seminary, was the adviser to the task force. The Rev. Kenneth Boonstra chaired the task force until he and his family moved in December 1994 to a new ministry at First CRC in Langley, British Columbia. Rev. Jack Reiffer then became chairman of the task force. Rev. Edson "Bill" Lewis served as reporter of the task force. *C. Schedule, meetings, and resources of the task force* 1. Schedule: A schedule was developed at its first meeting in August 1994. a. Diagnosis of the current circumstances and challenges facing campus ministries in the CRCNA. b. Review of God's promises to those in ministry which in turn clarify our mission for campus ministry and our desire for its future. Development of plans for moving into the future for campus ministry in the CRCNA. 2. Meetings: The task force met a total of seven times for all‑day meetings at the Denominational building in Grand Rapids. It began by gathering data, identified under eighteen separate categories. This data was obtained by means of research assignments given to task‑force members, two questionnaires (one sent to all the classical clerks of the denomination, the other sent to sixty‑seven individuals on the CR‑CMA mailing list), and extensive interviews with selected persons. Considerable feedback to drafts of the task‑force report was received, principally by means of face‑to‑face meetings with campus ministry personnel at East Lansing, Michigan, and Hamilton, Ontario. Careful gathering of information and feedback was a crucial phase of the task force's work. Developing a comprehensive plan for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA required a correspondingly comprehensive review of the current circumstances of campus ministry in the CRCNA. 3. Resources: In the course of gathering this data the task force assembled a number of significant resources, which are retained as appendices to this report. a. Campus ministry documents of the CRCNA The task force collected all the documents pertaining to CRCNA campus ministry that could be found. Nearly one hundred pages in all, the documents give an account of the history, policy and administrative decisions (esp. of CRHM), agreements, etc., from the beginning of campus ministry in the CRCNA to the present. b. Listing of all the campus ministries in the CRCNA The task force soon discovered that over the years no one had kept track of all of the campus ministry efforts in the CRCNA. This listing covers the last fifty‑five years and was assembled mainly by consulting the stated clerks of the forty‑six classes of the CRCNA. c. Campus ministry documents from other denominations The task force assembled many campus ministry documents from other denominations and parachurch groups, most of which are also engaged in thorough review of their campus ministries. Covering history, policies, and administrative structures, this collection is an important foil against which to compare our own efforts to envision the desired future for campus ministry in the CRCNA. d. Bibliography for Christians in higher education This annotated bibliography of books, pamphlets, and articles lists materials that help to clarify the terms of Christian ministry in higher education. e. Survey of CRCNA campus ministries The CR‑CMA maintains a mailing list of persons who are or have been associated with campus ministry in the CRCNA. A questionnaire was sent to sixty‑seven persons on that list. Responses from twenty‑five of them give a wealth of information and insight into their concerns and dreams for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA. f. The minutes of the task force meetings The minutes of the seven all‑day meetings of the task force constitute a valuable resource in their own right. Providing a detailed summary of discussions, interviews, research reports, etc., they go far beyond a simple recording of task‑force decisions. D. Clarification of terms and assumptions The words of this report labor under a limitation that is imposed on all language, namely, that the signification of the words used depends upon the context from which they come. Feedback to the drafts of this report demonstrated that neither the context nor its terms can be taken for granted. The following clarification of important terms and assumptions may promote a more accurate reading of this report. The Vision for Campus Ministry Statement and its Summary provide the comprehensive account of the context within which this report is to be interpreted. A compelling rationale For Christian ministry in higher education is presupposed. Though the phrases campus ministry and ministry in higher education are used interchangeably throughout this report, the latter is preferred. In this report, the use of the term campus minister must be interpreted so as to give prominence to the missiological component of campus ministry in the CRCNA. In this report, evangelism is understood to be a part of the mission of the church. White water is a metaphor for the fast‑changing, unpredictable, and therefore endlessly surprising features of ministry in higher education. 1. Vision for Campus Ministry Statement The Vision for Campus Ministry statement and its Summary have been endorsed by both CRHM and the CR‑CMA. These documents provide the account of the context within which the language of this report is to be interpreted. In fact, the title of this report, "To Pursue the Mission," was suggested by language in the Summary of the vision statement.[1] The realities of the kingdom, of community, of justice and shalom, as promised by God and articulated in these statements, lie at the very foundations of this report's vision for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA. Assuming this foundation, the task force tried to locate the implications that the statement and its summary have for the faithful doing of campus ministry in the CRCNA. The task force did not think it necessary to restate or reinterpret the two documents but does acknowledge the attempt to be faithful to the context they describe. 2. Rationale for ministry in higher education As God's stewards we are called to be responsible in every dimension of our lives, including our intellectual life and the gifts associated with it. Shaped by the world‑and‑life‑view of the Reformed tradition, this report honors and respects university campuses as legitimate places for Christian vocation. Christ calls us to "love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Higher education is one of the arenas where people can celebrate that command and be faithful to it. Institutions of higher education have an important role in our culture. They are the training ground for the future leaders of the church and the society. Generally, they are large, centralized collections of students who reflect the plurality of many cultures. They are unique and specialized places which the church cannot ignore. The rationale for that has been argued often in the CRCNA. The task force does not contend for its truth once again in the pages of this report.[2] 3. Ministry in higher education This report uses the phrases campus ministry and ministry in higher education interchangeably. However, the latter is preferred because it more clearly connotes a ministry that is systemically involved in the whole life of an academic community. This report calls the church to affirm the integrity of the institutional character of the university and intends that authentic ministry serve the institution as well as the individuals it finds there. 4. Campus ministers In the United States and Canada a variety of designations is used to refer to the persons who are engaged in campus ministry: campus chaplain, campus clergy, campus minister, campus missionary, campus pastor, etc. While each of these focuses on some aspect of campus ministry, none of them enjoy universal acceptance. When used correctly by Reformed people, minister refers to unordained as well as ordained persons. Nevertheless, for many the term is limited to the ordained. Pastor also implies ordination to many. Furthermore, it mutes the prophetic dimensions ofcampus ministry. The term chaplain is commonly used in Canada, but is seldom used in the United States (especially on secular campuses). For many, missionary may connote a reductionist notion of campus ministry and/or recall the aggressive proselytizing that has characterized some fringe groups on campus. Considering all of these alternatives in the context of the Scriptures the Vision of Campus Ministry statement and our current understanding ofthe mission of the church on campus, in this report we shall use the designation campus minister for the persons who carry on campus ministry. The term will be readily understood in academic settings and is also familiar to the constituency of the CRCNA. However, the selection of campus minister is subject to the following conditions. The term must be understood in terms of the framework displayed by the mission statement for CRCNA ministry in higher education which points to a wholistic vision for kingdom ministry, as elaborated later in this report. That context makes it clear that campus ministers: include both unordained and ordained persons, are to be proactively engaged in the prophetic mission of the church, affirm that campus ministry's primary thrust is missiological. 5. Mission and evangelism In an attempt to preserve a wholistic kingdom perspective for ministry in higher education, campus ministries have often argued for a "wider," as opposed to a "narrower," understanding of evangelism. The task force has decided that further debate as to the definition of "evangelism" in this report would be useless. We acknowledge that there are legitimate concerns on both sides of that debate. Consistent with that, in this report we distinguish evangelism from mission, affirm each, and choose to understand evangelism to be a part of the more comprehensive vision that is connoted by the word mission. 6. The "white water" metaphor References to "white water" thread their way through this report. The task force borrowed this metaphor from Peter B. Vaill, who proposes that negotiating the accelerating changes taking place in an increasingly postmodern culture is something like the experience of white‑water rafting. Changes come fast. They are unpredictable and endlessly surprising. Sometimes they are exciting. Staying with the changes entails risk and the possibility of failure. Those who negotiate such "waters” have to learn to "live and work purposefully and decently in the midst of seeming paradox and contradiction."[3] Here is an apt metaphor for what is happening in higher education and for the demands placed upon those who serve there. Campus ministry is like continually being in white water. And so Isaiah 43:2 claims our attention with new urgency: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. (NRSV) previous page......next page

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I.    Introduction

A.   Mandate of the task force
The Christian Reformed Campus Ministry Association (CR‑CMA) task force was appointed at the Campus Ministry Conference in June of 1994. The task force was instructed to envision a new future for campus ministry (CM) in the life of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA). It was given a year to accomplish this assignment.
The task force's mandate specified that it provide the following:

A mission statement for campus ministry in the CRCNA that develops the existing vision statement into both a concept of ministry and a strategy for administration of campus ministry in the church (with appropriate tools for the same).

An organizational plan for both the denominational administration of campus ministry and the relationship of campus ministry to local churches and universities.

3.   A development plan and strategy for opening new fields, recruiting and training leaders, and funding campus ministries.

B. Members of the Task Force
     The following six members of the CR‑CMA were appointed to the task force:
            --Rev. Kenneth Boonstra, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.
            --Rev. Edward Den Haan, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
            --Mr. Harry Lew, Grand Rapids Downtown Campus Ministry, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
                --Dr. Edson "Bill" Lewis (emeritus), Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and advocate for campus ministries of the CR‑CMA.
            --Rev. Jack Reiffer, University of Illinois (Champaign‑Urbana), Champaign, Illinois.
            --Dr. Willis Van Groningen, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
Dr. Craig Van Gelder, professor of domestic missiology, Calvin Theological Seminary, was the adviser to the task force.
The Rev. Kenneth Boonstra chaired the task force until he and his family moved in December 1994 to a new ministry at First CRC in Langley, British Columbia. Rev. Jack Reiffer then became chairman of the task force. Rev. Edson "Bill" Lewis served as reporter of the task force.

C. Schedule, meetings, and resources of the task force
1. Schedule: A schedule was developed at its first meeting in August 1994.
            a. Diagnosis of the current circumstances and challenges facing campus ministries in the CRCNA.
            b. Review of God's promises to those in ministry which in turn clarify our mission for campus ministry and our desire for its future.

Development of plans for moving into the future for campus ministry in the CRCNA.

2. Meetings:
The task force met a total of seven times for all‑day meetings at the Denominational building in Grand Rapids. It began by gathering data, identified under eighteen separate categories. This data was obtained by means of research assignments given to task‑force members, two questionnaires (one sent to all the classical clerks of the denomination, the other sent to sixty‑seven individuals on the CR‑CMA mailing list), and extensive interviews with selected persons.
Considerable feedback to drafts of the task‑force report was received, principally by means of face‑to‑face meetings with campus ministry personnel at East Lansing, Michigan, and Hamilton, Ontario. Careful gathering of information and feedback was a crucial phase of the task force's work. Developing a comprehensive plan for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA required a correspondingly comprehensive review of the current circumstances of campus ministry in the CRCNA.

3. Resources:
In the course of gathering this data the task force assembled a number of significant resources, which are retained as appendices to this report.
            a. Campus ministry documents of the CRCNA
The task force collected all the documents pertaining to CRCNA campus ministry that could be found. Nearly one hundred pages in all, the documents give an account of the history, policy and administrative decisions (esp. of CRHM), agreements, etc., from the beginning of campus ministry in the CRCNA to the present.
            b. Listing of all the campus ministries in the CRCNA
The task force soon discovered that over the years no one had kept track of all of the campus ministry efforts in the CRCNA. This listing covers the last fifty‑five years and was assembled mainly by consulting the stated clerks of the forty‑six classes of the CRCNA.
            c. Campus ministry documents from other denominations
The task force assembled many campus ministry documents from other denominations and parachurch groups, most of which are also engaged in thorough review of their campus ministries. Covering history, policies, and administrative structures, this collection is an important foil against which to compare our own efforts to envision the desired future for campus ministry in the CRCNA.
            d. Bibliography for Christians in higher education
This annotated bibliography of books, pamphlets, and articles lists materials that help to clarify the terms of Christian ministry in higher education.
            e. Survey of CRCNA campus ministries
The CR‑CMA maintains a mailing list of persons who are or have been associated with campus ministry in the CRCNA. A questionnaire was sent to sixty‑seven persons on that list. Responses from twenty‑five of them give a wealth of information and insight into their concerns and dreams for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA.
f. The minutes of the task force meetings
The minutes of the seven all‑day meetings of the task force constitute a valuable resource in their own right. Providing a detailed summary of discussions, interviews, research reports, etc., they go far beyond a simple recording of task‑force decisions.

D. Clarification of terms and assumptions
The words of this report labor under a limitation that is imposed on all language, namely, that the signification of the words used depends upon the context from which they come. Feedback to the drafts of this report demonstrated that neither the context nor its terms can be taken for granted. The following clarification of important terms and assumptions may promote a more accurate reading of this report.

The Vision for Campus Ministry Statement and its Summary provide the comprehensive account of the context within which this report is to be interpreted.

A compelling rationale For Christian ministry in higher education is presupposed.

Though the phrases campus ministry and ministry in higher education are used interchangeably throughout this report, the latter is preferred.

In this report, the use of the term campus minister must be interpreted so as to give prominence to the missiological component of campus ministry in the CRCNA.

In this report, evangelism is understood to be a part of the mission of the church.

White water is a metaphor for the fast‑changing, unpredictable, and therefore endlessly surprising features of ministry in higher education.

1. Vision for Campus Ministry Statement
The Vision for Campus Ministry statement and its Summary have been endorsed by both CRHM and the CR‑CMA. These documents provide the account of the context within which the language of this report is to be interpreted. In fact, the title of this report, "To Pursue the Mission," was suggested by language in the Summary of the vision statement.[1] The realities of the kingdom, of community, of justice and shalom, as promised by God and articulated in these statements, lie at the very foundations of this report's vision for the future of campus ministry in the CRCNA. Assuming this foundation, the task force tried to locate the implications that the statement and its summary have for the faithful doing of campus ministry in the CRCNA. The task force did not think it necessary to restate or reinterpret the two documents but does acknowledge the attempt to be faithful to the context they describe.

2. Rationale for ministry in higher education
As God's stewards we are called to be responsible in every dimension of our lives, including our intellectual life and the gifts associated with it. Shaped by the world‑and‑life‑view of the Reformed tradition, this report honors and respects university campuses as legitimate places for Christian vocation. Christ calls us to "love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). Higher education is one of the arenas where people can celebrate that command and be faithful to it.
Institutions of higher education have an important role in our culture. They are the training ground for the future leaders of the church and the society. Generally, they are large, centralized collections of students who reflect the plurality of many cultures. They are unique and specialized places which the church cannot ignore. The rationale for that has been argued often in the CRCNA. The task force does not contend for its truth once again in the pages of this report.[2]

3. Ministry in higher education
This report uses the phrases campus ministry and ministry in higher education interchangeably. However, the latter is preferred because it more clearly connotes a ministry that is systemically involved in the whole life of an academic community. This report calls the church to affirm the integrity of the institutional character of the university and intends that authentic ministry serve the institution as well as the individuals it finds there.

4. Campus ministers
In the United States and Canada a variety of designations is used to refer to the persons who are engaged in campus ministry: campus chaplain, campus clergy, campus minister, campus missionary, campus pastor, etc. While each of these focuses on some aspect of campus ministry, none of them enjoy universal acceptance. When used correctly by Reformed people, minister refers to unordained as well as ordained persons. Nevertheless, for many the term is limited to the ordained. Pastor also implies ordination to many. Furthermore, it mutes the prophetic dimensions ofcampus ministry. The term chaplain is commonly used in Canada, but is seldom used in the United States (especially on secular campuses). For many, missionary may connote a reductionist notion of campus ministry and/or recall the aggressive proselytizing that has characterized some fringe groups on campus.
Considering all of these alternatives in the context of the Scriptures the Vision of Campus Ministry statement and our current understanding ofthe mission of the church on campus, in this report we shall use the designation campus minister for the persons who carry on campus ministry. The term will be readily understood in academic settings and is also familiar to the constituency of the CRCNA.
        However, the selection of campus minister is subject to the following conditions. The term
must be understood in terms of the framework displayed by the mission statement for CRCNA ministry in higher education which points to a wholistic vision for kingdom ministry, as elaborated later in this report. That context makes it clear that campus ministers:

include both unordained and ordained persons,

are to be proactively engaged in the prophetic mission of the church,

affirm that campus ministry's primary thrust is missiological.

5. Mission and evangelism
In an attempt to preserve a wholistic kingdom perspective for ministry in higher education, campus ministries have often argued for a "wider," as opposed to a "narrower," understanding of evangelism. The task force has decided that further debate as to the definition of "evangelism" in this report would be useless. We acknowledge that there are legitimate concerns on both sides of that debate. Consistent with that, in this report we distinguish evangelism from mission, affirm each, and choose to understand evangelism to be a part of the more comprehensive vision that is connoted by the word mission.

6. The "white water" metaphor
References to "white water" thread their way through this report. The task force borrowed this metaphor from Peter B. Vaill, who proposes that negotiating the accelerating changes taking place in an increasingly postmodern culture is something like the experience of white‑water rafting. Changes come fast. They are unpredictable and endlessly surprising. Sometimes they are exciting. Staying with the changes entails risk and the possibility of failure. Those who negotiate such "waters” have to learn to "live and work purposefully and decently in the midst of seeming paradox and contradiction."[3] Here is an apt metaphor for what is happening in higher education and for the demands placed upon those who serve there. Campus ministry is like continually being in white water.
And so Isaiah 43:2 claims our attention with new urgency:

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you. (NRSV)

previous page......next page