Christ on Campus: The College Choice

By Rev. Marcus Zill

Freedom—it’s a wonderful thing.

When you first walk on a college campus, you’ll discover you have a lot of freedom.

There’s no doubt that college is an exciting time. Packing up everything you own in the back of your parents’ SUV, pushing it into an elevator in an overflowing shopping cart, and trying to squeeze it all into a small dorm room along with the stuff of a total stranger who you will be living with for the next nine months is quite the experience. It can be extremely exhilarating and terribly frightening all at once. For perhaps the first time, you’ll be spending an extended period of time away from friends, family, church—everything that’s given your life some stability.

There’s a great energy that comes from this collegiate freedom, but with that freedom comes great responsibility. Responsibility means making good choices and college is a time for just that as well.

You will likely make many life changing decisions during your college years:

• What do I want to do with my life?

• What career choice best suits me?

• Who will I end up marrying?

• Where will I end up living?

Yes, college often answers these questions. These years are the bridge. You’ve left behind being a kid, and you’re crossing over to being a productive adult.

But while all types of decisions are made during your collegiate years, the most important is actually made long before you even eat your first meal in the cafeteria— namely where you will go to school!

Long before you walk through the campus quad and sit in your first class, you will have to answer the following questions as you deliberate where to go to college.

• Do I want to go to a community college or a four year school?

• Should I go to a public university or a private (Christian) college?

• How far away from home should I go?

• What kinds of programs are available for me there?

• What can I afford?

• Is it worth it to load up on student loans in order to go to a better school?

These are certainly enormous considerations in selecting a college to attend. But there is an even more important question to be carefully weighed: where will I go to hear the Gospel and receive Christ’s gifts in the Sacrament for the forgiveness of my sins?

It may sound obvious, but unfortunately, it’s common for this to be an afterthought when selecting a college. We want to help reverse this trend and start a new one. We encourage you to make this the number one consideration in choosing a college.

It’s no secret that more college students stray away from the faith during college than remain rooted in Christ during these formative years. We don’t want that for any of you! It’s important that you “set your mind on things above” not only before college but also during college and afterward. College is a place where the focus is on earthly things, but we want you to remain rooted on higher things there too.

It’s never too early to begin thinking about where you might go to college. It’s also never too early to begin thinking of what schools have faithful churches or campus ministries where you will be well fed during this important time of transition in your life.

Here are some tips as you make that choice:

1. As you narrow down your list of college choices, research what churches are near by each of them. When you go and visit a school, make plans to visit that church or campus ministry at the same time.

2. Check out the list of Christ on Campus Chapters on the Higher Things Web site at www.higherthings.org/campus.html.You’ll also notice the names of these chapters bordering these columns in the magazine and highlighted elsewhere. It’s not an exhaustive list of great colleges and campus ministries, but it’s a great place to start. If you choose one of these, you can be quite confident that you will be spiritually nourished and fed while you are at college.

3. Would you like help? Please feel free to e-mail me at zill@higherthings.org or use the contact form at the Higher Things Web site. I’m happy to give you help or put you in contact with someone more familiar with the colleges and campus ministries in your area.

4. When you do decide where you’re going to college, contact the campus ministry or contact congregation as soon as possible. Ask to get on their newsletter or e-mail lists. The sooner you become familiar with your churchhome-away-from-home, the better.

5. While you certainly can’t replace your high school friends or your family, how wonderful would it be to have a roommate who would also get up to go to the Divine Service with you? It could happen. Don’t be bashful. Let the congregation know that you would be interested in finding a Lutheran roommate.

Freedom—it’s a wonderful thing, especially the freedom that only comes from the Gospel. A lot of exciting and exhilarating things await you on the college campus. But don’t forget—you’ll still be a sinner at college too. You’ll still need Christ’s forgiveness.

We pray that you have a faithful congregation or campus ministry that you can go to to receive just that. Not only is it what you need, but the comfort of the Gospel that you receive in the Divine Service is precisely what will strengthen you when you do make all those tough collegiate decisions. There’s nothing like showing up for the Divine Service being far away from home, perhaps even with total strangers, but still hearing the familiar sound of Christ’s Absolution. You don’t get much more freedom than that.

Rev. Marcus Zill is the full-time campus pastor at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church and Campus Center in Laramie, WY. He is also the Executive of Christ on Campus and can be reached at zill@higherthings.org.