CAMPUS MINISTRY
Dear Waldorf Alumni, I am honored to be writing to you today, and share how the Spirit is moving students in this uncertain time of COVID. One big way in which Campus Ministry is moving is through our new scholarship students, representing Waldorf’s best and brightest in our community. Our scholarship students are called “Peer Ministers” and to me, this means our students are not interns but instead they are ministers to their community. They have responsibilities, but they also have distinctive gifts they bring to the table to help lift each other up. My job in working with these students is to help lift up their gifts even more, so we can send them into the world ready to give those gifts toward serving humanity. My intent toward the scholarship students is the same toward Waldorf students as a whole: to find their own voices. In the tradition of Waldorf, Campus Ministry seeks to shape our students into a Vocation of Excellence, where students don’t just come in weekly to do their assigned job, but instead to do their best to help people and pass on the blessing of lifting each other up. Whether I’m holding a weekly check-in meeting with Peer Ministers, hearing student discussions in our Sunday night Like Fire meetings, or watching their reactions to our weekly chapel, my intent remains the same. I hope to inspire students to do ministry their way, not my way; and Peer Ministers give me a chance to do that directly through one-on-one meetings, setting learning goals, and allowing students to do events they think the community needs. This intent is for all Waldorf students, which is why we have hired non-Christians multiple times to help us carry out this mission. In short: I want Peer Ministers to be the best person they can be in their vocations, and become helpers in all they say and they do. The need for scholarships is so widely recognized, that we have multiple partners who help us make it happen! First, we are honored to partner with Forest City’s own Immanuel Lutheran Church in providing three scholarships to students each semester to assist with Like Fire, the Lutheran group on campus that I direct, which is open to all students. The students from Immanuel are tasked with helping Like Fire and Campus Ministry, both through implementing their own ideas as individuals and working together as a team to lift each other up.
22
WALDORF MAGAZINE // SPRING 2021
Second, I am honored to have funding for other Peer Ministers through the Waldorf Foundation, for projects including weekly Chapel and working with the Foundation itself. This is where your donations towards Campus Ministry go, and for that, I am very grateful! Funds from alumni go toward having new students contribute to our Campus Ministry, adding their distinctiveness to ours, and making the Waldorf community all the better for it! Third, we have Pillars Scholarships available to work specifically with Campus Ministry! While students can be a Pillars scholar for academic departments like Education & Psychology, and extracurricular programs like Residence Life and Student Activities, Campus Ministry allows for a more intentional focus on what ministry means in a student’s life. I am honored to share the supervision of Pillars students with my colleague, friend, and fellow Union Seminary alum, Dr. David Greder. This is especially helpful since I represent the more pastoral side of ministry, while he represents the more academic, which are the two major concentrations in the world of seminary and religion. These two balanced perspectives help students figure out what they want to do in Ministry, along with a diversity of perspectives they might use to be a Minister in their lives, whatever that means to them. When it comes to the students’ duties, some are in charge of Logistics, Team Leadership, Worship Coordination, Outreach, and Volunteer Coordination. These positions allow us to function more efficiently, but also to build relationships across campus with student organizations like Athletics and the World Students’ Association, while also building service relationships with local organizations. Thanks to your generous contributions, I have the pleasure of helping guide these students, and working with them in partnership to make Campus Ministry the best it can be! I am grateful for that opportunity every day, and hope to continue doing that in this job. May you always know that your generosity makes a difference! Sincerely,
Eric Adamcik, Campus Ministry Coordinator
waldorf.edu
