5. Campus Personnel Focus Group (Part 1)

11/30/01, 3p
Sanctuary/Multipurpose Room
Dawn led, Amy took notes, Randy listened

TB - male, united campus ministry chaplain - if you're not Lutheran or Roman Catholic you're mine. 8 mainline denominations. I was ordained UCC, 3rd generation educator, statewide chaplain which means I make coffee and clean up after statewide meetings, adjunct faculty teach cultural diversity, human relations. Fred and I have done joint ministry services here.
MB - female. Teacher in nursing school for 23 years. Asked to come because of length of time at MSU, have had students involved at Crossroads. I'm a member of Messiah Lutheran in town and Fred has been involved there. I feel Crossroads is an important part of the community.
KH - male, MSU grad. Have a casual connection with Lutheran Student Association as a student in the way back. My wife was more connected than I. On the local board

FF: Sounds like you're the people to give us some history…

MB - When I was a student in the 60s I was LCMS at the time, so my husband and I and my daughter went to that chapel. When I came back to teach I was LCA, now ELCA and now I'm aware of all three. I don't have history with Crossroads until the building.

KH- I came when the building was built in 1985. That's when I was involved as the business faculty, and was on the Board of Directors

FF: Tell us about Parish Nurse program?

MB - Parish nurse curriculum is part of our endorsed curriculum and Fred helps teach that with me.

FF: Board of Directors?

KH - I jokingly say the genius factor is Fred, but I think that's true. Smart, charismatic, computer genius, makes it an interesting place to be. Does adjunct teaching on campus so he's connected.

TB - If I may jump in - so many campus ministries are under funded and understaffed the main person hired is so critical. You need someone with diverse gifts and skills. Fred has that. He's enthusiastic, he's not afraid to be a fundraiser. That's why we get along so well. You have to couple with parishes and let them know what good things are going on here - a two way street to enliven your ministry and the community ministries as well. Having a statewide position I've seen a lot of people who were really nice but didn't get things going because they were timid about reaching out to the community. I'm thankful for Crossroads ministry as I'm the poor cousin on campus. It's been a wonderful ecumenical partnership. Hospitality is at the root - Fred is very welcoming

FF: Impact?

MB- One that comes to mind is the service held on Sept 11 that both Tim and Fred were involved in. The visibility they had at that time was great for Crossroads

TB - We had a service in a place that holds 350 people and people were standing out in the halls trying to hear. I talked about being an academy and respecting diversity, not retaliating against Muslim people. Fred and I and the RCC priest organized it and invited others to participate.

MB- The president participated and a lot of others - all who were not white Minnesotans. That was a very special moment

TB- This is still a pretty conservative place. Used to be low on people of color - there were 9 on campus when I was here getting my education degree. Now that number is significantly higher.

KH - Fred is known around the state, not just in Mankato. We get money from churches and I don't even know where they are. He works at a camp in Blue Earth every summer. Fred and I and some other volunteers worked at the fair in Owatonna and helped in a church's lunch kitchen and the church gave money to our ministry. There are youth groups that come in for overnight retreats, visit the Hutterite community, kids help clean up the grounds as a trade off. Fred was talking to the kids about visiting the Hutterites and being respectful of them. He's got a lot of good connections.

TB- And the amount of seminarians. It's hard to find kids who are hearing the call to ministry at a public university, so I work hard at that. Fred has had 18 or 22 - a large number of people go off to seminary.

KH- 11 was the last number I heard

TB - That might be how many he has in the pipeline now… I'm always over here encouraging…

KH - That's part of what we're hearing, that more and more seminarians are coming out of state universities.

FF: Connection with Messiah Lutheran?

MB- Last year we had a consecration Sunday for stewardship - Fred did the preaching at the service, and they are a part of our budget.

KH - Messiah is a fairly new contributor - other churches in town had been contributing for a long time.

FF: How is this place perceived among your colleagues?

MB- It's a nice place to see if you can use it - nice facility. A few falls in a row Fred contacted faculty who were Lutherans and invited faculty over here for an appreciation lunch and Fred talked about the campus ministry. I came for a couple years.

KH - Gave the students from the consumer education a place to practice by serving the meal, too.

FF: Other colleagues on campus?

TB - yes, RCC - WELS, LCMS, campus crusade, intervarsity, FCA, in fact the associate campus ministry group that meets 2x a month involves all the ministry people including WELS and LCMS which is unusual. We don't always see eye to eye, but we talk about stuff and compare schedules to make sure we aren't scheduling on top of each other.

MB - Do students indicate what their religious affiliation when they come here?

TB - Here, no. It's like pulling teeth - it's a strictly protected privacy kind of thing.

KH - I think it changed about 3 years ago - used to send out cards and let students send them back if they were interested. I think that's part of the reason Fred decided to become adjunct faculty so he could make those connections.

TB - WELS and LCMS make sure every local parish sends in the names of the kids who are going to college to the synod office, and then that office disperses them. That's really nice. I get maybe three names a year. It would be so helpful.

KH - Clergy are asked but they just don't follow through.

TB- I know from my parish experience it's hard to get done. But it's so crucial. If we know who they are and can get them involved - I can tell you story after story about kids whose lives were changed through that involvement in campus ministry.

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