Earlier this week I made a trip to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. The occasion? George’s retirement. Sort of. George Stulac (blue GFM quarter-zip) was being bade farewell by one of his many GFM Faculty Fellowships in the St. Louis area. In an effort to scale back on ministry commuting, George made his last campus visit to Lindenwood last fall at the end of the semester. “Tim, is it OK with you if I conclude my ministry visits to Lindenwood when I reach the end of our current bible study in 1 & 2 Samuel?” George has been resourcing this fellowship for longer than I’ve been his supervisor (nine years now). “Yes, George, you can hang up your manuscript pencils – someone else will have to lead.”
One wonderful thing about faculty ministry is this: faculty don’t need us the same way our student groups need us. The Lindenwood group existed before George became their staff worker. In fact on many campuses Christian faculty members have a way of finding each other and developing community whether or not any campus ministry is present. One such fellowship in my four-state area affiliates itself with InterVarsity GFM, but has no campus staff member assigned to it. The faculty group at Mizzou welcomes InterVarsity’s resources and interaction with staff but plans and leads its own bible studies and book discussions. I only get to stop by now and then check in with the group. “George, we may have to just bless the Lindenwood fellowship to be self-led for the time being.”
GFM Ministry Priorities
With a staff transition also comes the opportunity for the group to recast its mission and vision. Bible study has always been a core feature of the Lindenwood group. As I checked in with faculty members, the thing they’ve loved most about George’s ministry is the emphasis on scripture. George has taken this fellowship entirely through every chapter of first and second Samuel! That’s a lot of reading, highlighting, marking and exegeting of Old Testament texts! “How are we going to keep this going without George?”
During the two days I spent on campus this week, I sought out one on one conversations with as many of the faculty appearing in these pictures as possible. Armed with a massive bag of books and my best GFM vision casting script, I painted a picture of the group rooted in all four of GFM’s priorities. Many of the books I passed along to them (every faculty person got two or even three books) had to do with the value of Vocational Integration. The GFM way of saying that is to talk about the connection between our academic discipline (or profession) and our Christian faith. Or, “Why does our calling matter to Jesus and the mission of his kingdom on earth?”
What’s the plan for Lindenwood going forward?
You know I hadn’t really even thought of this till I blurted it out in one of my conversations with a faculty member, “If you’re willing to do it, I am hoping that a small group of three or four of you will become a leadership core for the group with GFM and myself as your ministry partner!” Two things weren’t completely clear to me before this visit; 1- will these four faculty/staff members want to sustain and lead a GFM chapter at Lindenwood, and 2- am I willing to be their staff worker all the way from Omaha? As I spoke with each of them, I think both questions got answered with an increasingly solid YES. YES, these four women can and I think WILL wholeheartedly sustain and serve their fellowship. YES, I can and want to make them a priority for the foreseeable future. What could that look like?
- The Lindenwood faculty/staff group will continue meeting – most likely every other week.
- I will need to add some time for interacting with the leadership of the group on a monthly basis
- The group will have to map out what they do from semester to semester
- They will have the opportunity to change things up a bit
- My hope is that they will explore the theme of integration with a good book discussion
- Another possibility is that they develop their prayer-life together for themselves, their students and their departments.
Don’t forget about the Undergrads!
One last part of the Lindenwood story I shouldn’t leave out is our undergrad ministry. In the pic at the top of this post, that’s Azam with the guitar blessing our group with a worship song he brought to share with George. Immediately to his right is Paxton. Paxton Johnson is the InterVarsity undergrad CSM (Campus Staff Minister) at Lindenwood. Paxton was one of my 6 appointments – we talked about how George moving on could be a great chance for her to connect more with Christian faculty at her school. There’s a great heart for the student body among the faculty group. I’m encouraging Paxton to stay in touch with this group. Now and then, pop by their group, say hello and stay visible. GFM can be a great ministry partner for students on campus. Paxton leads undergrad students by recruiting student leaders and helping them build missional community. Faculty are enduring and influential members of the campus. Pray for our ministries to complement one another!
Oh, captions!
- The kids got me a bird-feeder camera! This morning our nuthatches were stopping in.
- The Lindenwood group meets in a nice board-room space (with zoom-enabled technology).
- Susan teaches kinesiology at Lindenwood. She’s one of my Fabulous Four core-team.
- YES, that’s Sugarfire. The coffee barbeque sauce was strangely delicious.
- One of the best things about my campus visit this time: my daughter Phoebe made the trip with me. One of her besties actually teaches dance at Lindenwood. “Can I come with you, dad, and hang out with Lea?” Lots of fun chatting with my daughter instead of a 6 hour drive by myself!
Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
PBR 