Two years ago if anyone asked me if I would be working for the church after graduating from college, I probably would have laughed in their face. Now, six months after graduation, I find myself not only working for the church but also working to help the church grow. These last four months have been a very eye-opening experience for me in terms of the nature of ministry.

Since August, Fr. Birch Rambo and I have been working to create an Episcopal presence at Eastern Kentucky University. We’ve been in contact with many students, and spoken to all the right college officials. I’m glad to say that we’ve had some success so far in our endeavors at EKU. Right now, a group of about 4-6 students and I meet on Tuesday nights for coffee and fellowship. Although this looks like a very small beginning, it is a start. Much of the work being done at EKU is one of community building, giving students a safe place to go without the normative social pressures of college. Next semester we hope to organize a regular Eucharist for students on campus, either monthly or bi-weekly.

At Berea College, we continue meeting bi-weekly for worship and a meal. In additions to the dinners, we’ve started experimenting with various off-week activities. At the very end of October Canterbury Berea hosted an interfaith dinner with the Muslim students at Berea. This was an excellent opportunity for students of both traditions to come together and learn about each other. With the winding down of the semester I look forward to expanding our on-campus activities.

Last month, students from both EKU and Berea took a weekend off from their busy campus schedules to go to the Cathedral Domain for a work retreat. This was a fantastic experience for adults and students alike. The point of this retreat was taking some time out to serve the community. Our project for the weekend was to help preserve Patterson, one of the buildings at the Domain. We spent Saturday digging a ditch behind the building to drain excess water away from the building’s foundation, helping to prevent Patterson from sinking.

One nice thing about campus ministry is that, unlike youth ministry, it does not need a strict schedule with minute-by-minute planning. Instead, along with a community service project, we also had plenty of time for the students to rest and relax before the pre-Thanksgiving break academic crunch.

As we head into the last few weeks of the semester, things are slowing down on campuses, students find themselves more and more preoccupied with the impending exams. I look forward to seeing what the New Year has in store for the campus ministries at Berea and EKU.

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