8. Interview with Fred Fritz (Part 2)

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FF: You have community people that worship here?

Some faculty, some parents whose kids I've married. Which is a big thing - I'm on the road doing weddings all summer. That's an interesting way to build relationships through pre-marital counseling. You'll meet a couple alumni couples who still live in the area and are active in churches in the area - they come back for alumni events, meet for coffee, keep up the relationships. That's the biggest payback I have when I know people who have been involved here are providing leadership for the church somewhere else. I've had 18 students go to seminary in my last 12 years of ministry - which I think is pretty good. Now I'm on the Luther Seminary Board of Directors because I've drawn so many people in. I was also on synod candidacy for 10 years, so that's been a really good connection.

FF: Impact?

A lot of administrators and faculty call me with questions. I played a real leadership role after Sept 11. Got on the web and set up a prayer service for 3pm (45 students) and another 45 for and evening service. Called the president about putting together a campus wide observance for Friday - 500 attended, 300 in the hallway who didn't fit in the room - and we pulled that together in a day. That shows I have some connections. Just started Kiwanis here - I'm the president and we have over 30 members already. These are faculty who want to do service in the community. A music professor here pushed to start it - he's a faithful Jew - but he recruited me because he said I could work with everybody. : For 10 years I was on the International Student Advisory, drafted in-state tuition scholarship stuff, cultural diversity Martin Luther King Committee chair for 4 years.

FF: So you layer?

Yes. There's a group called Leadership Mankato that I've been a part of. I took the training, and led workshops. I do pulpit supply, partner with rural congregations who bring their kids here on Sunday morning…
Recently we had and Lutheran Youth Organization event in Rochester and our kids provided security.

FF: Impact?

Referral is the good thing about longevity. I had a woman who called me, she's a black, graduate student from New Orleans, Baptist, married a year and having marital problems and we are going to start meeting next week. She was referred to me by the her faculty advisor in the Career Counseling Department. I advised the TKE fraternity, invited to do so because they were on suspension for grades (1.8 cum) and alcohol. Now they're at 2.8 and their membership doubled. This week at 2:45 in the morning one of the fraternity members called and said I need to talk - so we met at 5 that morning and talked. He had a bad week - parents divorcing, friend died at the Pentagon, dog died, girlfriend dumped him….so we're meeting once a week until he gets his feet back under him. And I've become a fraternity member - which is something I vowed never to be in college. Crazy! Paul says I can be all things…

FF: What's the impact for students?

Worship - when I ask kids why they come for worship I hear 3 answers. 1. people are friendly - I push hospitality. People like the passing of the peace here - its' chaos. I tell people to go meet someone and get to know them, then pass the peace some more. It takes 5 minutes, but that's how new people get connected. We commune every Sunday - I think if it's done right it fills the sense of being part of the community. We have open communion, and people love to come because they know they are welcome to the table. When you have 40% non-Lutherans that's just great. You're making them Lutheran the back way. For instance a young woman who wasn't Lutheran started dating one of my residents - and she said the creed is her favorite part. We are liturgical, people like expository preaching and they like it - it's conversational. I speak to them directly, try to make one connection to what people experience in their life. So it starts with worship - that sets the tone for who we are and what we do the rest of the week.

FF: Like Bible studies, Marty Party…?

Yeah the Marty Party is back this year - we didn't do it for 5 years because we couldn't get a hot tub - it's about the gimmick. We give them mugs that have a picture of Martin Luther on it.

FF: How has the building impacted?

One negative - worshipping in the bar we had to have a team of people to set up and take down so more people felt ownership. Positive - it's been a great connection with the university. All student teachers come here once a month, nursing students preparing for boards do it here, parish nurses meet here, inner city youth come for the Linking Learners program and the kids eat lunch here, 3 sororities use it for initiations, TKE for frat stuff, weekend retreats for other staffs. The building has provided a place, a focal point, identified us visually on campus, which we didn't have when I was working out of a table in the student union. Also there's an NA group that has been meeting here for many years. I participate when I can, do court ordered 5th steps, etc. They come here and enjoy it. Here's a whole population who would never see the inside of a church and they are comfortable here. The GLBT group met here and had their phone here for several years. We had one director of that program who was a member here for several years. Those are all ways we connect with people, people see us. Music students use it for practice space.

(Talked some about Adam who we met yesterday.) Started here at age 17 - he's a religious junkie. Just yesterday he asked, "what do I need to do if I want to become a pastor?"

FF: Genius factor?

Authenticity - I really struggle with that - I want my walk to match my talk. Generally people have indicated that that is here. I think that helps. The students know that I care for them. I think about them when I'm not here - it could be pathological... : I have a family, but most of my interests involve teaching, and working with students in campus ministry. That's what feeds my passion. That's why I stay. I'm not sure I would get fed this way anywhere else. For many of these people to know that there's someone you can talk to who is grounded in the faith. There are people who want to follow Jesus and are happy that I can help them do that. There are people who do a lot of things better than I do, but I'm a good generalist and I do a lot of things well. I don't play guitar - I wish I did. I try, but I can't get into Christian alternative rock. The kids laugh about it when I'm listening to classical music in my office… but if you want to talk to me about your boyfriend/girlfriend, what you want to do with your life, how you want to make a difference in the world….It's about building relationships, talking about things that are important… that doesn't translate to numbers for bishops but it's real, it's there.

FF: Anything you wish we'd asked?

Some things I keep thinking about…. When I went to the St. Louis Youth Ministers Event last year - in the 4 days there was no liturgical worship there. So what does it mean for the life of the ELCA as a liturgical church when so many of our youth programs are entirely non-liturgical. I think we need to do is a better job of doing both. It's great to have kids involved, but we're grooming kids to be great e covenant, or e free members. When they come here I don't even get a crack at them because they head to FCA, CC - and we're losing kids to churches that don't have a confessional background. We need to do a better job prior to college - we're losing an awful lot of young people.

One thing I'm trying to do here - I think we reach a group of students who would not be comfortable at intervarsity or campus crusade - kids who grow up in a rural church with the LBW and want that rhythm in their life. Somebody has to be doing ministry to the churched kids. The other group I've had good success with are those who are really leery of the church, who are distrustful. They meet you - it's an authenticity question, I don't get uptight if they swear, though I don't care for it - and so they don't swear around me. So they come to me and say, I've really screwed up. And I tell them that God loves them regardless, and that I still care about them… these are the ones not comfortable going to large group settings, people on the margins. They fit in here. For instance there's a woman I met at the library - she and her husband came to me for pre-marital counseling, and she started attending worship, now she wants to know what she needs to be Lutheran - so I've given her some reading and we'll talk. She failed confirmation in the Episcopal Church 3 times! I watch her in church and she gets it - she gets grace, she's hungry for it. When I first met her I would have never thought she would become a part of our community - but she has. You just never know.

FF: Sounds like you feel this is a good place to be?

I've struggled with that - how long is too long. I've been here 14 years. This has been a good place - I get to do so many things around this place. It's really fun.

Observations/Quotables:

Fred has gotten to spend his career doing all the things he's passionate about - listening to young adults, helping them with their problems, developing the ministry - "entrepreneuring"
Lutheran identity is important to Fred, and worship is at the core of that.
When we asked about genius, Fred listed qualities he demonstrates - authenticity, good listener, non-judgemental, accepting, invites questions.
He misses the higher involvement of students that was more natural when they worshipped in the bar, but is very proud of the new facility and his role in getting it.