Campus Ministry United workshop focuses on ‘target-rich’ mission field

TULSA, Okla. — Want to change the face of eternity?

Reach out to college campuses.

That’s the advice of Campus Ministry United (CMU) director Wes Woodell, who notes that most people who commit their lives to Christ do so by age 21.

About 200 campus ministry leaders and students converged on the Park Plaza Church of Christ ministry center for the recent ninth annual Campus Ministry United Workshop.

The event is part of CMU’s mission to minister to underserved university populations through regional church-planting movements. 

According to a 2008 CMU national survey, campus ministries associated with Churches of Christ were active on only 150 out of a possible 4,100 colleges and universities. 

Nearly 200 people pack the foyer of the Park Plaza Church of Christ ministry center in Tulsa, Okla., for the Campus Ministry United Workshop. (PHOTO BY CLAIRE JADIS)

The group has planted eight new ministries and sent out teams to assist two existing campus ministries since its inception in 2005.

“We saw that campus ministries were dying and closing down, but our universities were growing,” said Carol Stringfellow, one of CMU’s first full-time employees. “It was a target-rich environment that was being neglected.”

With epicenters in Tulsa and St. Louis, CMU is focused on quality church plants that involve training, support and encouragement.

Clint Hill, CMU trainer and board member, said nine people have gone through the two-year training program; four are now in the program. 

“It’s always exciting to see where God leads them to work and serve,” Hill said.

Marvin Phillips speaks about loving the lost during the Campus Ministry United Workshop. (PHOTO BY CLAIRE JADIS)

The annual workshop is a primer for those interested in campus ministry as well as an encouragement for those already involved in ministry. This year’s theme, “Sequence: From Origin to Offspring,” focused on studying the DNA of Christ to multiply it in others. 

Lessons focused on worship, loving God, others and the lost; serving singles; supporting spouses; conflict management; campus planting; and event hosting. 

“During this workshop, we get training on how to bring others to Christ,” said Claire Jadis, a campus ministry leader at Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla. “We all have our own battles, but these people are a support system, and they help. We all have the same goal.”

The 2015 CMU Workshop will be July 9-11 in Tulsa. CMU will host its annual Family Vacation college-age retreat Jan. 16-19 in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Got campus ministry news to share with The Christian Chronicle? Email Chief Correspondent Bobby Ross Jr. at [email protected].

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