Spiritual Life & Campus Ministry embarks on mission to better serve changing needs of students

By The Rev. Brian Beckstrom

On Reformation Day, Oct. 31, the Wartburg community came together for an unprecedented gathering. Following a celebration event in Wartburg Chapel, students, faculty, and staff were given the afternoon off to participate in table talks across campus. Almost 250 people met in small groups to talk about Wartburg’s mission as a College of the Church and the future of Spiritual Life & Campus Ministry. 

The table talks were the culmination of a year of reflection for Wartburg College and the Spiritual Life & Campus Ministry Office. It seems fitting that this took place in 2017 as we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. 

The guiding team began its work in spring 2016 by conducting extensive research through focus groups, interviews, and a campuswide survey. We discovered that there is broad support for our mission as a College of the Church, but our population and its patterns of practice have changed. Here are a few of our findings:

•  Students identify classes as important sources of spiritual meaning and have many faculty and staff faith mentors.
•  Those who attend on-campus worship find Wartburg to be a spiritually nurturing community.
•  We can’t assume that everyone understands the religious identity and mission of the college or how it shapes the Wartburg experience.
•  People want to talk about faith, religious diversity, and other spiritual matters.
•  For a variety of reasons, many of our students put their faith on the shelf during their college years. These students are unlikely to come to the chapel to seek out spiritual support. 

After gathering this research, the guiding team began to discern what God is calling us to do by reflecting on scripture, prayer, and discussion. We completed and posted an executive summary of our report, which includes the following recommendations:

•  The guiding team should partner with other stakeholders to draft a theological identity statement for the college.
•  Spiritual Life & Campus Ministry should move toward a more decentralized ministry model by experimenting with partnerships across campus and different staffing structures.
•  Wartburg has a strong foundation for spiritual reflection in the classroom, and we should seek to further integrate spiritual reflection and exploration into the curriculum.
•  Spiritual Life & Campus Ministry should partner with others on campus to engage the community in conversations about God, faith, and meaning.
•  New ministry experiments, like spiritual direction, coaching, and mentoring could be explored by SL&CM.

As God calls us forward into the future, we remember that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We covet your prayers and appreciate the support of the greater Wartburg community. Thank you for all you have done to support the faith mission of the college. May God richly bless you, this day and always!

New documentary showcases Wartburg Choir’s tour through Germany

The Wartburg Choir in Germany: Celebrating 500 Years of the Reformation premiered to a nearly full McCaskey Lyceum to wrap up the college’s Homecoming & Family Weekend celebration in October. The one-hour documentary was funded by Mike and Marge McCoy and Bill Hamm ’66. Click here to read more.

Heritage wall finds home in Luther Hall

In the seven years since Chris Knudson ’01 visited a trio of German cities with deep ties to Wartburg College, his desire to bring the rich stories he heard back to campus never waned. Knudson, Wartburg’s director of marketing and communication, visited Wittenberg, Eisenach, and Neuendettelsau in 2010 as part of a donor-funded faculty and staff heritage seminar led by the Rev. Dr. Kathryn Kleinhans. Click here to read more.