Christ’s presence on campus

In 2002 and 2003, there was a lively dialogue happening on the margins of the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA) in a little-known publication called Anastasis. Campus ministers had invited some wise friends to wonder together, asking, “What should a campus ministry look like in the post-modern age?” Dr. John Valk argued for a model promoting the integration of faith and learning. Dr. James K. A. Smith replied, championing a worshipping community as the centre. Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff weighed in, calling campus ministers to guide scholars toward fidelity in their academic engagement. 

The final article, published in 2004, was written by Shiao Chong, campus minister at that time at York University in Toronto. Chong rooted his reflection in Jesus’ incarnation, noting the contextual nature of God’s mission, and challenging CRCNA campus ministries to be faithful incarnations, rooted in our shared Reformed tradition, but contextualized at each “particular university, during a particular time, led by a particular campus minister.” Chong was asking that we “Let all campus ministry models be,” as he titled his article.

I’ve been a CRC campus minister for all 21 years since Chong wrote that article, and it has been a delight to see how God’s Spirit uniquely shapes ministry at each campus. The diversity is like a window into God’s incarnational imagination.

Loving the whole university

When I started in 2004, I thought the gold standard for campus ministry was an undergraduate student community of Christians, sharing meals and studying the Bible. And so I asked some mentors of mine, Virginia and Neil Lettinga at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in Prince George, “Do you two focus your main energies on stewarding an undergraduate student community?”

“Nope,” they both said unabashedly. “We flip the burgers for the InterVarsity gathering, supporting that [already flourishing] student community however we can.” The Lettingas shifted to campus ministry after 19 years of serving as university faculty. When they moved from Minnesota to start at UNBC, they already understood deep in their bones how universities function. And that showed. Soon after arriving, UNBC asked them to serve as the lead chaplains for the young university. They collaborated with the First Nations Centre and Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and Christian faith communities to shape a multifaith team.

Is it surprising to you that Canadian universities treat some of our CRC campus ministers almost like staff? It is very unusual in the U.S., so it surprised me when I moved from there to Canada. But it continues to happen here, even on larger campuses like with Todd Statham at UBC-Okanagan in Kelowna and Zack DeBruyne at Brock University in St. Catharines. But back at UNBC, the good relationship with various University services continues even as the CRC campus minister has changed during my time. Currently, Juliana DeWeerd and Lilia Nezhinsky serve there. The pair don’t have the Lettinga’s former faculty experience, and yet they are still finding ways to use their gifts and experiences to make connections broadly with the campus community. Juliana is well-known at the First Nations Centre as well as the Women’s Centre, and even chats with the security guards – whose office is next door to the Interfaith Spiritual Care Centre – about how to shape a more hospitable campus.

A worshipping community

Jamie Smith’s instincts – that campus ministries thrive with a worshipping community at the centre – took an incarnational shape in the “Wine Before Breakfast” (WBB) community at the University of Toronto. For more than twenty years, this weekly worshipping community gathered in the early hours of the morning for a Eucharist service followed by a simple breakfast. I even have a book written by Brian Walsh and the WBB community entitled Habakkuk before Breakfast. This model of ministry took shape elsewhere, too, for instance, at the University of Guelph, where the campus ministry community met outdoors early in the morning for Word and Table – even in the middle of winter. 

Campus ministers at both of those universities have changed since those days, and the early morning worship has ended. Brenda Kronemeijer-Heyink, currently serving at the U of T writes, “With the pandemic, people’s understanding of church and their presence on campus shifted. WBB at 7:22 am was no longer a good fit.” In this current moment, she senses the Spirit’s call “to find a way to offer the radical invitation of stepping away from the pressures of academic life and enter into Jesus’ rest. This year, we’re planning a monthly Friday night Dinner and Taize service in the hopes of meeting people in their exhaustion.”

This phrase from Colossians 1:17 is found all around McMaster University (except it’s in Greek). Why? It’s McMaster’s motto adopted in 1888. This past May, Michael Fallon hosted our annual gathering of CRC campus ministers in Hamilton at McMaster. He showed us this motto and then shared about All Things, the name of the campus ministry he leads. And yes, the student community at All Things celebrates the love and the Lordship of Christ in all the sorts of things we humans do. Michael used to lead a dog sledding tour, and this last May, I was blessed to sit in a pub, enjoying a pint with fellow campus ministers while Michael and some of his student leaders played live music. There’s a weekly All Things fellowship dinner where faculty and students are connected, especially when a professor from campus is invited to share about the integration of their faith with their particular academic field during the meal. 

I dare say that this deep “all things” Reformed instinct shows up in all of our campus ministries, to varying degrees. For instance, in Calgary this past year, Jacqui Mignault joined the Mount Royal University chapter of “Recovery on Campus” (ROC) for some of their meetings. This ROC community recognizes the stigma around being in recovery from addictions and endeavors to shape a culture of inclusivity and hope. And over at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, students find a place of community and conversation at the “Faith, Fiction, and Fantasy Club” with Campus Minister Melissa Burmaster while discussing books like The Witcher, Prince Caspian and Slaughterhouse Five.

And the stories continue…

My friends, I wish you could join us when we CRC campus ministers get together for one of our conferences. At this last one in Hamilton, I laughed when I realized why George Koopmans from Medicine Hat College was climbing the escarpment as fast as possible, trying to get ahead of the rest of us. You see, George is a birder, and he needed to put a bit of distance between the birds and our incessant campus ministers’ chatter. I was amazed at what God is doing with young adults through the Act Five community house in Hamilton. Abby Lobert from Mohawk College even invited us to join this community for 6:30 am morning worship in the basement before they headed out for their summer jobs. If you were at our gathering, you’d have been able to spend time with Jenica Groot-Nibbelink, hearing about her partnership with International Student Ministries Canada at Fanshawe College in London. I’m sure her love for these students from around the globe would have ignited your heart too. Or maybe, you’d be rolling your eyes as Steve Kooy found a way to be endlessly punny, even in the midst of his explanation of how Momentum Campus Ministry is expanding its student discipleship huddles from Queens University to five other area campuses.

It is amazing to me how many beautiful ways our Reformed theological roots can take shape, influenced by the context and the campus minister – it’s a kaleidoscope of God’s kingdom. Thanks be to God!

THIS SEMESTER’S STORIES ARE JUST BEGINNING

We hope to share more of God’s good news from campuses over the course of this academic year. In the meantime, you can find a list of 16 Canadian CRC campus ministries on the Resonate Global Missions website. Likely, a couple of new ones (like Jenica’s) will be added this fall. Don’t forget, there are 16 amazing campus ministries in the U.S., also listed there. If you want to be a part of the campus ministry story, reach out, listen in and lend support!

A shorter version of this article appeared in the September 2025 issue of Christian Courier.