Chris Bean

As a campus minister with the CCO and Church of the Nazarene here at the University of Cincinnati, one of my hopes is to see students plug into a healthy church during their collegiate pursuits. In my own college experience, a small group of 18 to 20-something’s and a vibrant church played a major part in my spiritual journey and subsequent calling to give God every square inch of my life.

One of the churches I’ll be encouraging students to plug into is University Christian Church on the southwest corner of campus. The church is located on the corner of Rohs Street and McMillan and is within walking distance of any spot on campus.

This morning was my first opportunity to attend a worship gathering there and I was glad to connect with a couple of students. In my opinion, the display of genuine hospitality, no-frills style of worship,  and solid teaching makes UCC an attractive spiritual community for students as well as families and individuals in the surrounding area.

Pastor Troy Jackson shared the introductory message on the book of Colossians today and used a great illustration from the world of mac-nology. One of the ideas which Apple has recently branded into our consumer psyches is that there’s an “app” for everything. Abbreviated from the word ‘application’ but also a play on words from ‘Apple’…there are now thousands of ‘apps’ which iphone users (especially) can dowload to do anything from finding nearby restaurants to leveling a piece of art on the wall.

In similar fashion, we often treat Jesus as one of many ‘apps’ which can be useful at particular times in our lives. When encountering a true crisis (death, loss, exam, etc) we pull out the prayer ‘app.’ If a conversation leads in a certain direction, we may dowload the evangelism ‘app’ and take advantage of Jesus for a particular moment in time.  But Jesus is more than ‘app’ for our lives…though his blood on the cross, Jesus in reconciling ALL THINGS to himself and is the supreme organizing principle (operating system) for our lives.

The message was a great challenge to recognize God’s desire for our lives to be completely reconciled in Christ…not just occasionally supplemented by the download-him-when-you-need-him Jesus ‘app!’

This was actually a response to a friend which prompted a good bit of personal reflection. Maybe it’s worth sharing here…

Whenever I think about my own story/journey (which is unfortunately about as often as I receive questions about it)…I begin to imagine how strange my ministry/life journey may look from the outside. Ha! Let me start by backing up a bit.

In the midst of my initial academic pursuit of chemistry/physics and a career choice of chemical engineering, I discerned some type of ‘calling’ which motivated me to change my major to religion (because I hadn’t read Os Guinness’ book yet entitled Calling) and transfer to Mount Vernon. From early on, I’d say that I had an awareness of wanting to be in the university/college setting but felt like youth ministry was probably the best place to start. Before I had even graduated from MVNC, I had mentally charted a course of youth ministry for a few years…then an advanced degree…then more youth ministry…catapulting myself from a “successful” youth ministry position at one of our larger Naz churches into a teaching role (CE, youth ministry, NT, Greek, whatever) at one of our Naz colleges or something similar. Sounds humanly contrived and manipulative, eh?

About 3/4 of the way into that plan…I began to have some real struggles with ecclesiology and calling (among other things…but especially in these areas). I began to see that most youth ministries were completely based on an attractional and quite ineffective model of ministry, which was not really producing long-term disciples and Kingdom-minded Jesus people. My nagging need to raise so many questions about the way we “do” church began to make it more and more difficult for me to peacefully exist within and support the ministries where I was serving.

That’s not to say that the churches where I served were bad churches, ineffective, or unhealthy. On the contrary, I really believe that I was privileged to serve in some of our best Nazarene churches with teams of really bright, loving, and passionate Christ followers.

Anyway, this struggle and ecclesiological unrest led to a new temporary career with Starbucks which simultaneously supported my final 18 months of full-time theological education at Ashland Seminary. Once I earned an M.Div and then tried to settle into a management track at Starbucks, the demons of discontent began nibbling at my heels once again. At that point I tried to realign our situation with the aforementioned goals and attempted one last youth ministry assignment which I mistakenly thought would allow me to incorporate a more missional and relational approach (please excuse the buzz words) to student ministry.

As I look back, it’s pretty clear now that God was preparing me to transition into campus/college ministry at that point. Instead, I took matters into my own hands and added another three years to my desert wandering and career-vocation transition. So back to Starbucks I went and then into an overly convenient staff position at a newly planted church on the eastside of Cincinnati where we still attend.

Six months ago, during a lunch conversation with our district superintendent, the idea of campus ministry seemed to jump out like this giant “Eureka”-type moment. For 3 to 5 years I had been struggling with a depressing sense of disconnect and wondering if I just did not “fit” the context of typical church-staff style (or even Nazarene) ministry. Suddenly, the fog began to clear and my ministerial despair almost instantly turned into overwhelmingly hopeful potential to develop a new ministry within the challenging context of the University. The district sent me on a quest to Nebraska to meet with Wes and Judy Meisner who were launching a new ministry to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and that conversation brought even more affirmation to this new direction.

Another big piece of this journey for me was a place called 1801 Mills. To put it simply, God gave me a place during this whole process to kind of fall apart and process my own story with an amazing bunch of grace-bearers. Larry, the director of 1801 Mills & The Espresso Guild has become a mentor and soul-friend and one who recognized my unique giftings that are as suited for campus ministry as perhaps anything. Along with Larry were many others who shared wisdom, grace, insight, and even miraculous provision along the way. Without that significant place and group of people, my journey towards soul repair would have been much longer if not impossible.

Along with Larry’s friendship and mentorship…he introduced me to a campus ministry organization called the CCO which has now become a key partner in my ministry to students at UC. The CCO (www.ccojubilee.org) creates partnerships with churches, coffeehouses, and other organizations in order to transform college students who will, in turn, transform the world. So we developed a proposal for the district advisory board here and launched this new ministry at UC that is a partnership between the district church and the CCO. The district basically supports 40% of our salary and we are attempting to raise the other 60%. Although this is an awkwardly new approach to gaining financial support, we are learning a great deal about faith and God’s ability to provide.

I was fortunate, healthy, and sufficiently motivated to run a marathon this past weekend. Being my third 26.2 mile event, I was finally able to enjoy the entire race and not just suffer through the last few hellish miles (as in my previous two marathons). Running that distance is quite a physical challenge but always seems to teach me spiritual, mental, and social lessons as well.

A group of friends we got to know during our short but meaningful time in Beavercreek/Dayton, OH were also running this race. And at the risk of imposing my own perspective on their running experience, I’d like to make a few observations which indicate some parallels between running marathons and living the life God intends for us.

This group of friends spent some time training together over the past few months. Whether through Facebook status updates, emails, or actual conversations with some of them…I was aware of their concerted effort to prepare for the grueling experience of marathoning. Just before the event I learned that Mike (pictured on the far right) was struggling with some pain/injury issues and had received a cortisone shot the week of the event to bring some relief. Apparently, an  IT band problem was putting his marathon goal in jeopardy.

I thought back to my first marathon in which I was dealing with Achilles tendonitis in both legs. During the final weeks before the event, I was unable to train according to my plan and knew accomplishing the 26.2 miles would be questionable as well as causing potential further injuries.

The first parallel I would draw your attention to is the sheer difficulty and pain of running a marathon and living a life of consequence. So many circumstances, trials, and painful experiences are out of our control and often leave us feeling somewhat helpless in the wake of life.

The other significant social & spiritual lesson I learned from observing this group of like-minded friends is that they encouraged, motivated, supported, and pulled each other through a difficult experience.  It’s one thing to experience pain, suffering, disappointment, and excruciatingly difficult challenges. But it’s much worse to experience those things ALONE! Although these friends ended up finishing the marathon at a few different times, there was always a concern for those who were still on the course. In fact, that concern moved from empathy to action as some of them went back to run with and lift Mike’s spirit, propelling him to the finish line.

As I look ahead and wonder about the relationships, challenges, and Kingdom opportunities, I am thoroughly thrilled at the possibility of creating this kind of community and mutual care among students at the University of Cincinnati. In an environment which presents so much academic, spiritual, emotional, and social pressure…authentic biblical relationships and teaching become the difference between a healthy and fit faith or a critically injured…perhaps dead faith.

Just finished a short bike ride around campus. I was hoping to meet up with a student at his frat house but didn’t catch him in.

What I did see, however, was campus life beginning to flicker back on after the summer breaker switch was flipped.

As I pedaled past a couple of students enjoying an evening smoke, one guy held out his hand and yelled “High five me, man!”  As I slapped his hand he yelled to everyone on McMillan…”You da’ man!!”  He had obviously started drinking a little early tonight.

I stumbled across an intense game of cricket down by Sigma Commons. After a few minutes observing, I realized I need to do some research on the game…learn a bit of Hindi and/or Arabic and maybe I can join in next time.

As I road back through Burnette Woods park I contemplated crashing a little Ultimate Frisbee action…but they had an even 5-on-5 so I didn’t stop.

And now I’m back in front of the Edge House…looking forward to the next______.   Maybe the next bike ride…the next conversation…the next latte…the next bible study…the next forum on faith and culture…the next cookout…who knows?!  But it’s a pretty exciting place to be.

One of my favorite spaces in the Edge House is definitely a room we’re calling the “Cloister.” It’s an upstairs study center where we will be housing a book collection and space for conversations regarding faith and the lack thereof.

If you’re a student at the University of Cincinnati… please stop by anytime (3007 clifton ave) especially during Welcome Week.

We’d love to meet you and share a little life at the Edge House.

Yeah…it comes across as a bit cliche. But it is certainly a significant idea which has reinforced my own sense of calling to campus ministry at the University of Cincinnati.

In just about 9 days students will return to their academic, social, and vocational pursuits here in Cincinnati. One of the things I hope to accomplish as I connect with and build relationships with these university students is to make them aware of the spiritual pursuit which can infuse their college years with even greater purpose and meaning. For many of us, our college experience was the launching pad of life…establishing a trajectory which impacts so many decisions and people.

Alec Hill, the president of InterVarsity campus ministry was recently quoted as saying “The campus is our mission field. By changing lives on campus we can change the world.”

I agree! And I can’t wait to start meeting the students God is going to allow me to disciple, encourage, and befriend.

UC is an exciting place to be!   (as are all colleges and universities, eh?)

Image: The Calling of St. Matthew by Nicolaes Berchem

Over the past few years I have wrestled quite a bit with the notion of ‘calling’ and vocation. I believe it is fairly easy to develop some confusing and unhealthy ideas about this concept.

As I anticipate many great conversations on this topic with college students in the near future, I was glad to come across this great article by Marc Baer on the Intervarsity website.

He shares some things that remind me of reading Os Guiness’ The Call a couple of years ago. Reading that book was quite helpful for me as I needed to re-orient myself around my primary calling in Christ and then allow vocation and work to flow from there.

I believe one of the most pressing needs in campus ministry and discipling college students is to help them discover the rich possibilities around a proper understanding of calling, vocation, faithfulness, and identity in the Kingdom of God.