Post-Conference Update

Doug Baker and I are sitting in the Phoenix airport, waiting for our delayed flight to Fresno. We're returning from a few days in Atlanta where we reminded ourselves what rain is like and figured out the difference between dry heat and muggy heat -- though Atlanta's temps were nowhere close to Fresno's temps.

We were in Atlanta for the 53rd annual National Campus Ministries Seminar. I have attended 9 straight seminars and have been on the organizing committee for the last several. It has been a blessing to work so closely with creative people to dream about reaching young people for Christ.

The seminar was one of the few things that kept me focused and motivated. When you're in the trenches of a front-line ministry like campus ministry, one can easily get discouraged and wish for a change of employment. Very few campus ministries are positioned to experience much real growth -- thanks to many factors that are often out of campus ministers' control. So it becomes imperative to see the importance of discipling young people and building Christian community with people who have experienced very little real community. I thank God for what this seminar does in recharging the batteries of campus workers every year. (The picture above is from a retreat with the West Virginia & Delaware campus ministries a couple years ago.)

I resigned from the board at the end of this year's conference. With a slate of new responsibilities, I cannot devote the time I have in the past to helping campus ministries on the national scene. But I am optimistic about some of the younger campus ministers who will hopefully rise up to lead the next generation of campus work in Churches of Christ.