Pastor David Kind, the pastor of University Lutheran Chapel, was interviewed on Issues, Etc. on September 26th. He was asked to explain what the Minnesota South District Board of Directors plan to do with the revenue from the sale of the University Lutheran Chapel property. Here is his response:
They have a plan to put the money into an endowment fund for the sake of campus ministries around the district, with the idea being that we no longer have full time campus workers, whether they be pastors or DCEs or what have you. And then we no longer have campus properties, or buildings, but that the students on campus, in conjunction with some sort of local congregation, organize themselves into a campus ministry, again, with the leadership of the congregation to do that, near them. The money then from that that’s put into that endowment fund is going to go toward hiring a campus ministry coordinator for the whole district, and then granting $5,000 grants to various congregations that are going to attempt to do campus ministry at whatever campus they’re near, whether it’s a community college or a smaller school or what have you. The problem with that is, they tried this before. At one time at the high point of the campus ministries in the district we had nine different campus ministries that followed this model, and none of them exist any more. It’s proven true over time that if you don’t have dedicated staff and a dedicated place, the campus ministries just don’t do that well. And in the places where [unintelligible] ministries do flourish it’s because they have a real dedication to it and they put money behind it and people behind it – a lot more than $5,000.
photo credit: san_drino
1 comment:
There is something to be said for near-to-college-campus congregations engaging in some kind of campus presence. Example, Pastor Jones of St. Johns, is 10 miles from Behemoth U. He can write or email the pastors in his district, and ask them to direct students in their congregations to St. John's. He can offer rides to services, and could even start a Bible study someplace near the campus. Yes, it's a transient ministry, but Pr. Jones is doing the work of the ministry: Building Faith thru Word and Sacrament. If nothing else, he is maintaining the Unity of the Faith--the main purpose for existence of the LCMS, and, by extension, his district.
It's not about growth, necessarily--but about faith. It is God who gives the growth--he is planting and watering.
Johannes (been there, done that)
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