Lutheran Campus Ministry: More Boldly
An Evangelizing Movement for the Twenty-first Century

What follows is a description of the More Boldly movement as experienced by a growing number of campus ministries in recent years. It is a description, but even more, it is an invitation — an invitation to join the More Boldly movement and an invitation to add your story to all those past and future who "sin boldly, yes, but believe and rejoice more boldly still."

Invitation 
Movements, like streams, have two currents: a top current and an undercurrent. Top currents are visible and constantly change according to the conditions outside the water. Top currents give a stream its mood. Undercurrents are not visible but govern the flow of the water altered only by obstacles beneath the surface. Undercurrents give a stream its power.

Lutheran Campus Ministry has currents also. On the "top" our ministry appears to be what it always has been: "extending an invitation to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the community which bears his name." 1 Lutheran Campus Ministry in this regard is no different from all ministries of the Lutheran Church which attempt to be faithful to the gospel and which rely on Word and Sacrament to center the church's mission.

On the "top" Lutherans in campus ministry have offered a steady menu of programs, each designed to provide students, faculty and university staff with opportunities for worship, study, fellowship or service. Often in shotgun style, these programs have showered academic communities with offerings - some eagerly accepted, some graciously declined. However, Lutheran Campus Ministry continues to be a strong, vital presence on many campuses at a time when a number of other Christian denominations have abandoned the field.

While the "top" current of Lutheran Campus Ministry appears unchanged, the "under" current on campuses which are pioneering More Boldly is becoming more powerful. For these campus ministries, More Boldly is providing a critical definition of the Lutheran Church's ministry in higher education.

As an undercurrent, More Boldly demands that we answer the old Lutheran question: "What does this mean?' each time ministry is extended to others. For example, "What does this scripture study mean?" "What does a national assembly of the Lutheran Student Movement mean?" "What does it mean when we extend an invitation to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the community which bears his name?" More Boldly invites definitive questions rather than simply conducting programs out of habit or tradition.

(1) Mark Olson, Brian Burchfield, An Evangelizing People (Augsburg) 1986.

Definition
More Boldly is the title given by Lutheran Campus Ministry to its mission of evangelism for the 21st century. Evangelism, the joyous act of proclaiming the story of Jesus, is the intentional center of campus ministry. Our commitment is to facilitate a unique ministry on common campuses extending an invitation to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the community which bears his name.

Heritage
For almost a century, Lutheran Campus Ministry has accepted the challenge to say and do the Word of God in ways that are truthful, faithful, and critical in the setting of public higher education. On over 150 campuses Lutheran pastors and laity called by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its predecessor bodies have been faithful stewards of the heritage of Word and Sacrament rebirthed on the campus of Wittenburg by Martin Luther.

During these years, Lutheran Campus Ministry has cared for the future of the church by nurturing thousands of people who subsequently became Jay and clergy leaders of the church. Further Lutheran Campus Ministry has cared for the future of the church by being a prophetic voice for change in the areas of worship, social justice, ecumenism and theological dialogue.

Many social and religious movements, made their presence known first in communities of higher education. Lutheran Campus Ministry has a legacy of standing faithfully in the midst of challenge and change. Lutheran Campus Ministry has served the church by being and doing today what the greater church must be and do tomorrow. Lutheran Campus Ministry is caring for the future when it responds to challenges of proclaiming the Gospel in today's harshly secular culture, and equipping people to tell the story of Jesus in an intellectually
responsible way.

Milieu
Lutheran Campus Ministry serves over 850 public colleges and universities in the United States. There are 29 colleges and universities related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, each of which is served by a chaplain. Regardless of whether public or private, large or small, urban or rural, the student population of those institutions have some common characteristics.

Fewer and fewer of today's university students are by any standards biblically literate. They are unfamiliar with Bible stories or central characters in those stories. The notion of biblical heros or heroines is non-existent. Few students can name the books of the Bible in any order, while fewer yet can describe in any detail the content of a book. It is disheartening to watch students search for the Book of Psalms in the New Testament.

Traditional theological categories of law/gospel, sin/grace, creation/redemption, or faith/freedom are equally foreign. We can no longer assume that baptized Lutheran students will possess any articulate understanding of the Christian faith.

Most students on all campuses, private or public, claim no religious membership or affiliation. They may have religious roots, but at the present time they are non-members or have abandoned any faith traditions of origin. In fact, today's university student probably looks much like today's American citizen, where less than 50 % claim church membership and less than 20% claim to be involved in any significant fashion in a religious community. And this 20 % represents the spectrum of religious beliefs and behaviors. It seems ironic that it is only in the area of religious belief that campuses have achieved the goal of true diversity. All
and everything is represented on nearly every campus. Paul's comments to the Athenians would be appropriate, "I see you are religious, for you have many altars." Hyper-sensitivity regarding issues of the separation of church and state causes many public university administrators to be cautious and suspicious of religious groups or personnel on campus.

In an age when universities are struggling with issues of values, diversity, wellness, political correctness and even "spirituality," mainline religious organizations are often exempt from the discussions. The notion of evangelism has also fallen on hard times among a student generation which has experienced over a decade of TV evangelists (who have been described as preachers who started out to do good and ended up doing very well!) Hype and evangelism are synonymous terms for many students.

Students today are also familiar with evangelism in the form presented by para-church organizations such as Campus Crusade or Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. The notion of evangelism which posits the university as the realm of the devil is common among para-church groups. Reason, the stuff with which universities concern themselves, is seen as the enemy of faith. Their task, then, is to prevent one from becoming so educated that one is unable to believe. The only solution possible: to compartmentalize religion so that affairs of the heart have nothing to do with, and remain completely separate front, the affairs of the head. Episcopalians critiqued this accurately in an advertizement declaring, "Jesus came to take away your sins, not your mind."

Vision
Rather than saying, faced with such a challenge: "What can we do?", Lutheran Campus Ministry, true to its reformation legacy, has chosen to seize the moment and More Boldly declare: "this is what we can do!"

We can invite people into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. We can invite people into communities which bear Christ's name. We can create hospitable environments where people can experience love and acceptance. We can create an anchored and articulate people who can proclaim God's absolutely amazing grace. We can energize worship of the Triune God, permitting awe and gratitude. We can empower people to bring God's peace and healing to others. And what we can do, we intend to do!

Genesis
Funded by a grant from the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation, in December of 1992, eleven campus ministers met at the Dominican Center in River Forest, Illinois. The ministers represented the wide variety of settings Lutheran Campus Ministry serves and the wide variety of talents and experience of those who serve these sites.

Present also at the inaugural meeting were Division for Higher Education and Schools staff members, Division for Congregational Ministries evangelism resource staff and recognized authorities in evangelism from the church at large.
Proceedings of the consultation were recorded. Consensus on issues under discussion was facilitated by a dean. A daily rhythm of worship was provided by a chaplain. The original goal of the consultation was to develop a program which would enable campus ministers to promote evangelism in local campus ministries. All initially thought the matter to be as simple as isolating the needs, seeking resources and developing a program, either by pooling collective wisdom or by adopting one already in use. What occurred was something far different. What occurred was a reconception of Lutheran Campus Ministry from the perspective of evangelism.

As each of the eleven participants described the settings for their ministry and told of their efforts in evangelism, distinctions, such as metropolitan, private, town-gown, congregation-based, mid-western or ethnic melted away in the presence of one common challenge. "How can we invite people into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the community which bears his name?"

Listening to each other and to the resource persons who were invited to also tell of the possibilities and problems of evangelism in their own situations, it became apparent by consensus that on campus, evangelism can never be reduced to a packaged program. Evangelism, telling others the story of Jesus, is really a process, a movement, in the same way that the passion for peace and justice is a movement.

Movements become recognized and soon bear a name. At the outset the participants in the evangelism consultation decided that this movement should be biblical and historical. This reconceptualization of Lutheran Campus Ministry takes its name from Luther himself who said, "Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice more boldly still." The renewed evangelistic fervor destined to mark Lutheran Campus Ministry in the 21st century will be called "More Boldly."

The More Boldly movement is Lutheran Campus Ministry's response to young adults' struggle to find meaning today. More Boldly incorporates worship, hospitality, peer witness, faith communities, bible study, theological reflection–virtually all aspects of campus ministry–under one central theme: "the invitation to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the community which bears his name."

Placing evangelism squarely at the center of our ministry has some clear implications:

1. We must create and enhance hospitable environments where people feel welcome and treasured.
2. Christian people must be thoroughly acquainted with the gospel message that they are invited to share.
3. We need a method of drawing those with whom the gospel message is shared into a deeper experience of discipleship, and into basic communities that are supportive of faith development.
4. We must refocus attention on worship and preaching as central actions of Christian assemblies.
5. We must find creative ways of connecting people with congregations when they leave a college campus.

Dimensions
A basic principle of More boldly is that there e3dsts on every campus served by Lutheran Campus Ministry the commitment, the expertise and the resources necessary to engage in the ministry of evangelism.

The More Boldly challenge for each campus minister and each campus ministry community is to create, identify and share effective ways of telling the Jesus story in this generation.

The primary tool of evangelism is conversation. Conversation consists of both speaking and listening. It is important to learn careful listening skills which will allow respectful attention to the concerns of others. While many Christians are quick to pose Jesus as the answer, More Boldly seeks to assist people to determine what are the crucial questions in their lives, and how God's Spirit is working through those questions to call them to new life in Christ.

Expectations
More Boldly calls all Christians involved in campus life to accept evangelism as their central task. In order to ask faith questions and tell Jesus' story, the following are necessary:

1. Evangelists will need to develop skills in listening and leaning from people with backgrounds representing different cultures and economic strata. The evangelist will also need to be prepared to listen to stories filled with rage others feel because of past treatment by the church or its members.
2. Evangelists must be equipped with a basic understanding of the scriptures, the story of Jesus and the message of the Gospel. They will need to be prepared to engage people in deep and serious inquiry about what the Bible teaches concerning contemporary life issues.
3. Evangelists must be challenged through their experience of Christian community to a sense of discipleship that will lead them to a new understanding of Christian vocation as a life of service.
4. Our student congregations and all Lutheran students must be open and hospitable. Evangelism is fostered where people feel welcome and where there is genuine concern for their needs.
5. We must be prepared to offer instruction to people who are desiring to learn about Christianity and become a part of a faith community.
6. We must be intentional in assisting people to affiliate with nurturing congregations when they leave our campus communities.
7. We must examine our worship practices for both content and style. Liturgical practices which are in any way exclusive must be reconsidered. Lutheran campus ministry will need to explore and create worship forms that preserve Lutheran integrity, yet speak meaningfully to this time. Campus ministries will need to see themselves as test sites for liturgical development.
8. We must develop networks and exchange information about evangelism methods, lay evangelist training, curriculum development, liturgical possibilities and the movement of people between campus sites.
9. Campus ministry personnel must make themselves available to assist other sites and churches with the shared task of evangelism. Each site and person should understand that evangelism will be a category for discussion in the regular campus ministry and staff review process.
10. We must make interest and skill in evangelism a part of the staff selection process. Training in the More Boldly movement will be a part of Lutheran Campus Ministry new staff orientation. Discussion of More Boldly efforts in evangelism will constitute a part of the annual Lutheran Campus Ministry national staff gathering.
11. A coordinating committee is necessary to oversee the efforts of evangelism within Lutheran Campus Ministry, to be responsible for staff training and annual conversations with those involved in the movement, and for management of More Boldly earmarked funds.
12. Each local site will be expected to be involved in the regular, on-going and traditional study of evangelism strategies, assessment of new opportunities to share the gospel, assist in the recruitment and training of peer evangelists and being constant in prayer for the ministry of evangelism.

Discoveries

1. Evangelism is most effective when done by peers: one person telling another person what has been experienced as good news. No advertising the church does is as effective as personal contact. People, led by the Holy Spirit, bring people to faith. As D.T. Niles said, "It is one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread."
2. Evangelists are strengthened for the task if they know they are part of a community which is committed to and prayerfully supportive of evangelism.
3. Each campus and each campus ministry is special. Therefore, evangelism must be tailored to each setting. While More Boldly is a mandate to be evangelists, it cannot mandate how to do evangelism. Evangelism on each campus must use the unique gifts and opportunities available at that place.
4. The mark of a church which emphasizes grace must be hospitality. Higher education is a forum of strangers. All dimensions of a campus ministry need to be examined in light of how well the stranger is welcomed into the midst of the faithful, whether it is for study, worship, fellowship and service.
5. Small groups consisting of ideally seven people are valuable gatherings for prayer, support, faith conversation and friendship. Discipleship groups should be as diverse as possible, and should include both new and experienced Christians.
6. Gathering together as a small cadre of campus ministry staff persons–in groups not exceeding ten to twelve, preferably–is an effective way to reflect upon evangelism and to create strategies for evangelism that are appropriate to staff and site uniquenesses. Perhaps even more important, it creates a collegium in which mutual accountability and on-going networking can and will continue to occur.
7. This list of discoveries will grow exponentially as the More Boldly movement grows, for in each place and in every circumstance in which the Gospel is shared, the Spirit will be at work to create something new for the strengthening of the saints and the upbuilding of the Church of Jesus Christ.