Grinnell College was founded in 1846 and was the first institute of higher learning west of the Mississippi. It is a private, liberal arts school with only around 1,500 students. It is regularly regarded as one of the best academic institutions in the entire country, and in 2004 was actually voted the “Best All-Around College” by Newsweek.

Grinnell is known for its academic rigor and passion for social activism. As I’m sure you can imagine, Christianity is not the norm on this small campus even though it is situated nicely in the Bible Belt. It is also an incredibly diverse school. Of the 15 students I’ve met so far, only two were local Iowans. Otherwise they were from Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Maryland, Taiwan, Ohio and many other places I’m forgetting.

At Drake, the default religious stance seems to be “Christian”. At Grinnell, it seems to be “Atheist” or “Spiritual, but not Religious”. This might make my task of campus minister seem difficult, but I’m rather excited for it. It means that those who do claim Christianity aren’t doing so out of social pressure or conformity, but genuine love for Christ.

These students who are part of IV at Grinnell are hungry for Jesus, and it is my hope and prayer that I’ll be able to bring my skills to this chapter and help students be transformed.

Tomorrow of Friday I’ll give some more details about the chapter at Grinnell and more specifically what a couple of my roles will be.

Love and Peace,
Jeremy

That’s the copied website version. InterVarsity (IV) was started in the UK a long time ago, and apparently in the UK the word varsity means university, unlike here in the states where it means sports. Most people end up thinking that IV is a sports club, like FCA. The better way to interpret it, however, is Inter-Campus or Inter-College Christian Fellowship. That makes much more sense.

Over 550 colleges in America have IV chapters, and we serve over 32,000 students and faculty. So what does a chapter look like? It basically functions as a church community within the campus setting. There are generally small group Bible studies, large-group gatherings, regular service projects and outreach events, etc.

Those are the basics. (I’ll be giving you some more Midwest/Iowa specific details later in the week – I wanted you to get an overview of the larger organization.) So why did I choose to apply and accept a position with InterVarsity as a campus staff worker who raises his own salary?

As an organization, I’ve been impressed more with IV than just about any other organization I’ve encountered. College ministries sometimes get a bad rap for being in-your-face and only about evangelism. InterVarsity most certainly values evangelism, but we also value a more holistic approach to ministry. Service and missions are a driving force behind nearly everything we do. Every summer hundreds of students do month-long overseas missions trips and local projects are regularly integrated into the fabric of each individual chapter.

I also love the uniqueness that IV offers each chapter. Each region, state and campus has its own flavor and personality. At Drake, for instance, we created our own vision statement that led our chapter in the direction we thought was best for it. There is no set protocol for how a chapter is supposed to operate, other than to radically love Jesus and show that love to students.

The most important factor, however, in my choosing to do college ministry is the simple fact that it is a largely forgotten and ignored mission field. Churches pour thousands of dollars into youth ministries and programming, but what happens when they go off to college? Nearly 80% of students who grew up in youth groups will not identify themselves as Christians by the time the leave college. That is CRAZY!!  It is too critical a juncture in one’s life to ignore.

As a staff worker for InterVarsity, I will be a missionary to students.

To your friends…

your peers…

your future sons and daughters…

and to the future leaders of our world.

The call it too important for me to ignore. Will you support the cause?

Love and Peace,
Jeremy

Obviously, my blog looks a little different. Hopefully you like the new design.

This new season of blogging will look a little different for me than it has in the past. I was recently provisionally hired by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as a Ministry Intern at Grinnell College. This basically means I’ll be ministering to college students for 15-20 hours a week and also working another part-time job.

As a result of this, my blogs will likely carry a bit more personal touch. I’ll be sharing the lessons I’m learning being in ministry and also the stories of what God is doing on college campuses in the great state of Iowa. I will continue to do book reviews and theological questions and things like that, it’ll just be mixed in with other stuff as well.

I’ll be starting a series probably next week on my ministry…What is InterVarsity? Why did I choose it? What is Grinnell like? Look for that starting Monday at the latest!

Love and Peace,
Jeremy