Final InterVarsity Update

Rewind a few months back and more than a few degrees warmer.  I started a sabbatical – for a season of release from direct ministry, but also to concentrate on finishing my MBA at Kellogg.

I was given a book of memories from students, present and past, from eight years of ministry.  Each day, I’d read a new story, and then pause and thank God for how I had been transformed through the life of that student.

After finishing my summer coursework, I took a weekend of solitude and camped on a rustic beach in Northern Michigan.  I reflected on my call to ministry – to be a person who called students to the kind of life I experienced as an undergraduate and recent graduate.

David Hansen, in his book The Art of Pastoring, captures it brilliantly – what touches lives most is not systematic answers, but a life itself lived as “a parable of Jesus.”  He says, “As a parable of Jesus Christ, I deliver something to the parishioner that I am not, and in the process I deliver the parishioner into the hands of God.”  Reading all of the stories from my students, and reflecting the nearly 10,000 hours of direct face time I’d had with students, I realized I had lived that dream.

Tears streamed down my eyes.  The tears were out of gratitude, but also later I realized of mourning.  It was there I fully realized that my call had been fulfilled, and I opened my hands to give the Lord permission to open whatever doors were next.

When I returned back for the fall quarter, at a Kellogg networking event, I texted a former student to gain a little insight into his company so I had at least some understanding before I walked into the conversation.  The next day, he called me to ask, “Andy, are you on the market?”

“Well, I’m open to what God has next,” I replied.

“I think I have the perfect job for you.”

Thus began a discernment process, through conversations with friends, mentors, family, and ultimately the Lord, it was clear that this opportunity was something that brought many strands of my experiences.

It is a confluence of what I’ve learned through my prior career in the marketplace with IPM, ministry with InterVarsity, and learning at Kellogg.  It’s the melding of people management and project management in the context of a constantly changing environment – one that many people of faith often avoid.

As I’ve sat and reflected, the call of a pastor as a “parable of Jesus” on the campus among students is what I will truly miss most.  Engaging in the academy, serving students to find the fingerprints of God through every academic endeavor, tackling hard questions, and helping students become their true selves through encountering Jesus is why I loved my job.  I will truly miss helping students develop as holistic beings – to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

My philosophy of ministry has always been that the gospel has to be both proclaimed and embodied.  In the season when we celebrate the incarnation of God and sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” our world still longs for the gospel to be good news, not just a good idea.  While my context is changing, my calling to be a parable of Jesus remains in a world that aches for good news.  So it’s back to the front lines, to be what one colleague called me as “the Jack Bauer of ministry.”

When I began my call on campus nearly nine years ago, I entitled my newsletter, “Building the Kingdom” because it brought together my background in engineering and ministry.  Now, in it’s last issue, I think of Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth, where “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.” (1 Cor. 3:10)

I was privileged to serve students by helping them to build their lives upon Christ as cornerstone, and to continue building into the legacy of ministry of InterVarsity at Northwestern University following those who went before me.  Thank-you for your support allowing me this opportunity – I’m eternally grateful.

Grace & Peace,

Andy