Hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper

I don't remember the first time I visited Jacob's Porch, the Lutheran campus ministry at Ohio State, but my first memory of the service was the Lord's supper. I had grown up in church my entire life and I knew of about three different ways you can partake in communion: dip, sip, or tiny cups. We always went up to the altar, and the pastor always gave us the bread. I figured every single congregation in the whole world did communion like this.

So imagine my surprise when we were asked to stand in a circle for communion that Sunday evening. The pastor handed the bread to the person next to him, "body of Christ, given for you," and she dipped the bread into the wine in the pastor's other hand, "blood of Christ, shed for you." Then the student took the bread and repeated the process to the next person in the circle. Around we went in this organically played out dance together until the final person serviced the pastor.

It changed everything for me.

I remember going back to my seat on the couch and crying through the next two songs. Suddenly, communion wasn't something performed in front of the congregation or something done "for" the lay people by the pastor. It was an act of God in the community, literally being in communion with one another. I still have never experienced anything that could so fully reveal a new eucharistic theology so profoundly. And we simply served each other Christ in a circle.

Somehow, without even meaning to (or maybe fully meaning to), campus ministry brought me into more full communion with God and with my siblings. 

Vicar Ellen Clough, campus ministry leader at Furman University, tells about how campus ministry brings students into more full communion with God in other surprising ways:

"When I was in college, I very rarely wanted to wake up for worship on Sunday mornings. I was a religion major, and one of my professors would jokingly call out those of us who didn’t make it to worship on Sunday mornings by asking us on Monday if we’d worshipped “St. Mattress” the day before. I’d feel guilty for a few hours before promptly forgetting about it until the next Sunday when I’d choose to eat a late brunch in the cafeteria with my friends, sharing laughs and stories from our eventful Saturday nights. 

For this reason, when I started working with college students as their campus minister, I half-heartedly invited them to join us for worship as I’d been told to do, and didn’t expect any of them to show up. I absolutely believe that it is good for the people of God to gather together for worship and to share in the Lord’s supper, I just knew that while I was in college, I didn’t make this a priority at all.  

But my students surprised me. One girl told me she was attending the Catholic mass held on campus because she knew she needed communion every week and was taking it without telling the Priest she wasn’t actually catholic. Others didn’t have cars but asked if I would be willing to coordinate a carpool to worship. Now, halfway into the year, about half of the students who are regularly participating in our weekly gatherings are also attending worship. It’s beautiful, it’s humbling, and their desire to come to worship so diligently is truly a sign that the Kingdom of God really is present when we gather together around even the simplest of things, word, wine, wheat, and water."

I believe that campus ministry has the opportunity to not only be a place for students to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper, but do these things in new, exciting, personal, and transformative ways. One of the incredible blessings (and sometimes hardships) of campus ministry is that we are often freed from worship committees and congregational traditions. I've very rarely (if ever) heard anyone within campus ministry say, "because that's the way we've always done it." Campus ministry can be transforming and renewing with every year and every new student.

In an age where we must continue to adapt to the changing and constantly-moving lives of young adults, campus ministry has a unique opportunity to be an anchoring point, a sanctuary of the old old story and the deeply nourishing meal. In this way, campus ministry is more than a club or gathering place, but a true and sacred worshiping community meant to bring students into a more full communion with God and with one another through the word and meal.

Live among God's faithful people

I think there is a reason that baptismal covenants often start with something about relationships.

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism: to live among God's faithful people?

Relationships are quite possibly the most important part of our faith lives. Bonhoeffer's famous book about the Christian life is appropriately named Life Together. We simply cannot be followers of Christ without being in relationship with others. It's not possible.

For many people who were raised within Christian households, this may be second nature. We attended worship services, Bible studies, Sunday School, and maybe some of our closest friends and our parents' friends were from the congregation in which we grew up. It just made sense to live life together as God's people. But sometimes the church, as we experience it growing up, is not the best place for growing toward relationship with others or even toward relationship with God.

I invite you to hear Derek's story as he shared it with me:

"LCM [Lutheran Campus Ministry] taught me what it means to live among God’s faithful people. I grew up in a large church that was impersonal, isolating, and, at times, abusive. Even though I attended this church for over a decade, there was always a metaphorical wall between me and the people that I saw every Sunday: I was afraid to be vulnerable with anyone there. I actually walked away from religion entirely for several years after leaving this church. LCM was instrumental in helping me heal from this experience. At LCM, I found a community where I did not have to wear a mask or put up a front. I began to feel close to God and to other people for the first time in my life. There is, perhaps, a reason that “living among God’s faithful people” is listed first in the baptismal promises: it is difficult to share in God’s word, proclaim the good news, serve others, and strive for justice if there is no foundational sense of community. I am grateful to LCM for providing me with the fellowship and solidarity that I needed to begin to live out these other promises."

Campus ministry provides an opportunity for many students to not only find a new community in Christ, but oftentimes heal from the experiences of previous communities. Simply being in relationship with people who are struggling through the same life situations as you can be immensely helpful in furthering your faith. When we live among God's faithful people, we begin to understand ourselves and our God more fully. No one understands this sentiment more than Alex Long, who spent two years as in intern for campus ministry.

"For two years I lived in a church basement.  I was the ministry intern at Jacob's Porch, the Lutheran campus ministry at Ohio State, and part of the salary included housing in the church.  I was on scene for all the joys and triumphs of being a college student, as well as all the dramas and doubts.  I was blessed to see the day by day faith lives of dozens of people I still call friends and family.  From Bible studies to random sleepovers, sermons to coffee breaks, worship services to concerts, study breaks to trumpet practice at 9 in the morning, I was there for all of it.  There was nothing more rewarding and more draining than to live among God's faithful people.  And, there was nothing that helped my faith life more than helping others' faith lives.  My faith grew more deeply and richly than it ever would have done if I hadn't been the Porch intern and resident.  Living among God's people is not only a good thing to do for a solid faith life, I believe that it is a necessary thing to do for one's self."

It is not that students are unable to find their own clubs, social engagements, and groups to be a part of in college. But how many of these clubs are truly helping students form relationship, fellowship, and faithfulness during an incredibly challenging time in their lives? Campus ministry has an opportunity to be a place of safety, questioning, and encouragement for people struggling and celebrating through this formative time. Campus ministry has the opportunity to be a beautiful place in which we live among God's faithful people now, and for years to come.

Baptism & Campus Ministry

Lent is a season for many different things depending on your tradition, your background, and whether or not you're a pastor.

Growing up, I remember that everyone in our family "gave something up for Lent." My parents might "give up" carbs one year and, for as long I can remember, I "gave up" chocolate (a real sacrifice considering my birthday always fell within Lent). It is for that reason I always associated Lent with a sort of "second New Year's resolution" time in the church calendar.

Others may take on other spiritual disciplines that have nothing to do with food or physical health. Others (pastors) may try to get through the season as quickly as possible, jump right over Easter, and enjoy the Ordinary Time while it lasts (I see you, pastors, and I totally get it).

This year I am doing something completely different during the season of Lent. For me, it will be a time of reflection and a time of celebration for two of my favorite facets of the church-- baptism and campus ministry.

In baptism, no matter what tradition we hail from, we make promises (or promises are made on our behalf) that look something like this:

You have made public profession of your faith. 
Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism: 
    to live among God’s faithful people, 
    to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, 
    to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, 
    to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and 
    to strive for justice and peace in all the earth? 

Each person responds: I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

I love these promises. The ELCA asks some vital questions about these promises in their The Baptismal Covenant and the ELCA Faith Practices document.

"Then the question arises, 'How do we live out this lifelong journey with God?' In other words, what are the behaviors, disciplines, signposts, tools, activities, paths, or practices that demonstrate in our words and in our deeds our intention to live out this lifelong journey with God?"

For me, and for millions of students, campus ministry is one of the many ways we were and are empowered to demonstrate our intention to live out this journey with God. Yet, our congregations and the church as a whole often overlooks campus ministry as, at best supplementary, and at worse unnecessary for faith formation in young adults. By the end of Lent, I hope I will have a firmer grasp on how vital campus ministry is for students' faith formation during some of the most tumultuous years of their lives.

But campus ministry is not just important for students. In campus ministry, congregations have the opportunity to uphold the promises they made on a child's behalf in baptism. As Sarah Bowers of Columbia, South Carolina puts it:

"Those sitting in the pews are a part of those promises too and they can't go to college with each of the students, so campus ministry offers for our young adults, in some way, where the congregations have left off when they graduate high school. If you don't value campus ministry and the place it holds for those 4-6 years of a young adult's life, then what was all the work of faith formation when they were in 1st-12th grade for?"

This Lenten season, I will be reflecting a bit about each of these five promises that are made in baptism and expounding on how campus ministry can help us in the lifelong journey with God. I'll be engaging the experiences of some campus ministry leaders and students to help weave a story of how campus ministry truly is a vital part of faith formation for millions of students across the country.

I hope you will join me.