It's the Final Countdown!

Hopefully I don't get sued for using that as a title. Oh well.

Well it's finals week here at Penn State! Our students are studying hard (hopefully) and not stressing out too much (I say while I head at least four banging their heads against a table while another cries in a corner).

This past week luckily hasn't been too bad, and this coming week is looking fairly light as well!

Over the past week I've really just tried to be available for our students, and been preparing for next semester. Building on what I've been talking about with next semester, I actually have some idea's about different things we can be doing!

For different studies I'm thinking about doing 3 extra ones on top of our weekly meeting. I want to go through a book of the Bible just for a time for people to get together and get in the Word. Another is a men's Bible study, Bearded Bosses of the Bible which will be awesome. I also think it would be highly beneficial to do a Christianity 101 type study to teach what Christianity is, who we are, and get into the deeper ideas of Christianity like salvation, Christology, apologetics, exegesis, theology proper, etc.

Some of the other events that I have rolling around in my head right now just for things to do include, but are not limited to:

• Basketball Tournament
• Dodgeball Tournament
• Video game Tournament
• Ice cream
• Pancakes
• Petting zoo
• Inflatables
• Campus wide capture the flag
• Obstacle courses
• And who knows what else!

Again the purpose of all this is to give students on campus things to do, but also to get CSF's name out there as something different and unique on campus!

Planning is also underway for our Spring Break trip. We're looking at heading to South Carolina, but who knows if that will work out or not. It's still early! 

This coming week we're looking to do a Christmas party for CSF with a white elephant gift exchange and food just to give the students some time away from studying and for us to have some fun!

But really that's all we got going on here. I'll probably be on campus for the most part this week providing support for students during this trying time in their lives. 

Looking forward!

Another week down and another picking up!

Luckily the past week hasn't been horribly busy! Meaning I could sleep a lot and try to fight of this cold which doesn't want to leave.

This past week has been looking forward a lot to the next semester. Our semester is winding down, with finals being next week, so our students are doing a lot of studying and finishing up projects and trying not to go insane, which I completely remember from my undergrad days, watching everyone else scramble to get ready for finals while I...just didn't. But I still did well on my finals at least!

This past week I finally was able to finish my class, which seemed to take forever, but I pushed through and got it done!

As I said, we're already looking forward to next semester with this one coming to a close. Some of the plans that we have for the spring are actually pretty exciting.

As stated in previous posts I've been meeting with different offices and administrators trying to figure out the needs for campus and how CSF can incorporate filling those needs in our foundation. One big thing that we're looking to do is have something on the weekends for students to do as an alternative to go out and party. Already I have a few idea's in mind, but I'm also tasking our students to get some figured out as well seeing as how it would be them who would be served through this endeavor.

We're also looking at doing some type of seminar or workshop or something to inform students on the resources provided by campus to help them through their college experience, be that a need for counselling, tutoring, or any other kind of support that campus offers. One of the big problems is that the students get stressed, and either don't know about the resources campus provides or are too proud to go seek help, so we want to offer the information for the resources and also let them know that seeking out help is nothing to be ashamed of.

We're also looking at starting more Bible studies throughout the semester, one of which I'm working on now which I'm calling Bearded Bosses of the Bible. Awesome name I know. But it's going to be a men's Bible study looking at male figures in the Bible that probably had awesome beards, and we're going to look at their life and their story, then spend time looking at what God condoned and condemned about them and what that means for us today. Already I've started working on it, and I think it'll turn out really good for our guys!

I also want to get a few more started, maybe going through a specific book, or looking at different topics, or a specific topic. But that requires some work with our students to find out what they want seeing as how I'm here to minister to, or serve, them.

This semester we're looking at doing one more event, which would be a Christmas party for our students. We're just waiting for it to be approved. But we're looking for our last Tuesday together to just be a night of fun and fellowship, having food, games, and a white elephant gift exchange.

We're also doing our Wednesday night Bible study at the church which I continually forget to write about, but it's going well. At the very beginning the attendees decided to go through the book of Revelation, of course. Last week we went through Chapter 14 which had some good topics and discussion between the guy that came and me. The big problem with Revelation though is that it is incredibly symbolic and imagery driven, so getting through that can be difficult. Hopefully the next one will be easier!

But overall that's what's going on in Altoona, just looking forward to next semester and getting things kicked off! Thank you for your prayer and support and as always feel free to get a hold of me!

Thanksgiving coma

Well Thanksgiving has passed, it's the last day in November, we got three weeks left and my first semester as a campus minister will be done!

Last week was of course Thanksgiving and we had no classes, so I decided to drive over 1000 miles to visit people! I ended up having 2 Thanksgivings and see a bunch of people I haven't seen in quite a while!

The week before that was the last week before break. It was a pretty easy going week with the usual events going on. Tuesday of course we had CSF where we looked at Luke 7.36-50 and we talked about the idea of being stewards of the gifts that God has given us. One aspect of that particular story found in that passage that I really liked was that it could be seen that the woman who was serving Jesus obviously understood the weight of sin, which is something that many people don't fully understand today. This was one of the major points that I attempted to communicate to our students because I do think that it is incredibly important for us to know the weight and consequences of sin in our lives. But we also talked about the forgiveness that comes to us from Christ which restores our relationship with him and the Father, freeing us from the weight of sin in our lives.

Wednesday we had our usual Bible study at the church for college students and we looked at Revelation 12 and 13. This was actually kind of fun because one of the students looked at me afterwards and said, "You're blowing my mind with all of this." All I really did was just discuss some of the interpretations though!

Thursday night we did a dinner for college students, we being the Children's director, Connie, and I. It was initially supposed to be a CSF event, but because of improper planning and a couple other problems, it was not sanctioned by the university, so it couldn't be a CSF dinner. Instead it became a church event, which was fine because I got to meet a lot of new people from the church! There were a good number there that I haven't been able to meet because of conflicting schedules and other factors, but it was good to meet everyone that was there and have a good time of hanging out.

Friday I was back at Connie's to help with the 5th and 6th graders for an event they were having which was a good time.

Sunday we had a big Thanksgiving dinner at the church (346 was the final tally I believe). I ended up helping serve the turkey with the other staff, which I was volunteered for apparently, but hey it was still a good time! I'm really enjoying being a part of this church here and am excited to see what God does through us in the coming years.

Then as I said last week we had no students in town so I went back to Columbus and then back and forth between my parents and my girlfriends. Every day I was driving at least 2 hours, but Fiona held up well and ran like a champ! Traffic wasn't horrible at all, and I didn't get any tickets!

But that's all that we got going on here, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Down the Final Stretch!

Of course we're only half way through November, but next week is Thanksgiving break and we have an entire week off! Though most of mine will be spent travelling.

This past week has again been quite busy, but I actually got to have a day off for the first time in weeks which was really awesome.

Well this past Monday we had a leadership meeting with our president, vice president and treasurer. We spent the time going through some of the different things I've been working on including CSF's mission, vision, values, and goals and the responsibilities of leadership. The goal with sitting down with our leadership was for me to explain my thoughts and reasons for all that I had in there. Unfortunately I had a lot so we were unable to go through the entire responsibilities sheet. We did get through the Code of Conduct for Leadership, the responsibilities of leadership as a whole, and the Campus Minister's responsibilities.

Looking at this ministry I recognize that it is a student organization and I'm only here to advise, which is a lot different than what I'm used to with Youth Ministry. The blessing which is also a curse here is that our leadership is not developed so I get to be more hands on for now until our leadership is developed and it'll be easier for me to just pass it off and advise. But our leadership isn't developed which means I got work to do. But I'm willing to accept it!

Tuesday we had CSF as usual. This week attendance was low. From my understanding it's another time of major exams, plus it was 2 weeks before Thanksgiving week and that always adds a lot of stress and work. But the conversation was still really good on Tuesday for the ones that did come, and I really think they got some good stuff out of it.

This past weekend we had a Lock In at the church for CSF and some of our other campus ministries. It was a packed night with a lot of different things going on. The President from University Park (UP) planned it all, which was cool to see, though it did seem as if he over planned it. During the night we had a worship service with worship done by students from UP. Every week during our meeting we do communion, and I decided that we should do that Friday night as well to help the students remember why we were there, not just for fun, but in all things for Christ. After that I got up to deliver a short sermon, focusing on what here we're studying here in Altoona. Mostly I was explaining our understanding of Religion in the form of a verb and the definition that I gave it. I talked a good deal about our relationship with God, and the actions that should stem from that. I closed out with some practical uses and touched on the subject of the atrocious attacks in Paris that were still going on as I spoke.

The rest of the night continued on as expected, and nothing horrible happened, no damage to the church, no injuries, I was pleased with those outcomes! We had a total of 31 by my count which was a good number I think.

Saturday morning, after we cleaned the entire church and with me being up for just shy of 24 hours straight, I attended the Elders Meeting for the church to introduce myself, and tell of the plans that we have for CSF. Then I slept all day.

Yesterday was a pretty normal day, though one difference was that I officially transferred my membership to the church.

Then finally today, though almost over, has been pretty busy as well. Outside of my normal Monday routine, I met with the head of the Office of Student Life and had some really good discussion about campus and some of the problems we see here. The problem is, how can CSF help with these problems in a way that the campus will allow us, being a religious organization, yet we still have our faith background there? Really what it comes down to is we need to find a way to be a bridge between Christianity and the World, so we may have to secularize our teachings in a way to be a benefit for campus an to not alienate those with a negative view of religion. This will become a major discussion among our leadership in the near future I hope!

But other than that, I have another packed week, though like I said we're beginning to come down the home stretch!

Thanks for your time!

November, November.

So we're 9 days into November now and it feels like we should be half way though it.

Of course every Tuesday we have our weekly meeting. This week things went really well. We did part 2 of what I'm tentatively calling "Religion and the World." It was in Luke 6.27-42. We looked at how Jesus actually does call us to a higher ethical code and some of the implications of that and how that should change the way that we think about other people. There was a lot of good discussion with this topic and the students seemed really engaged this week. Overall it was highly encouraging. I'm really excited to see what happens this week.

Wednesday I got to attend the monthly interfaith meeting, where some discussion was had about a possible campus food pantry for students. It has great potential, but it may require a lot of leg work, or a little if everyone chips in. Our goal for it though is to provide for students and also to just be a blessing for campus. We'll see how it works out!

Thursday was also busy with me having a meeting with the Chancellor of the university. We got to spend some time talking about some of the needs of the campus, and how possibly CSF could help with those needs. A lot of what was talked about was just the stress level of students, and either the lack of education on the resources offered by the campus or their pride over their need. My hope is that as a ministry we can find a way to help the students on campus with that. Possibly this will be a project given to our leadership.

Tonight we have a leadership meeting here with our students. My goal for this is to set up leadership in a way that will promote success and excellence in the future. So please be keeping this in your prayers.

Other than that not much has gone on. Trying to get things ready for a lock-in this weekend! Should be a blast!

Halloween Week

So this past week was Halloween and it was a busy one.

Of course on Tuesday we had our usual CSF meeting where we looked at Luke 6.20-26 and talked about how God is a God that reverses fortune. Our discussion surrounding it was pretty good, though looking back I think I might need to reevaluate the teaching time and add more than just straight up, "This is what the text is saying." My hope was to stay away from sermons, but it seems as if it may come to that. We'll give it a try in the next few weeks and see what happens!

Last week I got to meet with the Director of Student Affairs and we had a good talk, finding out what his office does, their goals, and how CSF can help with them. The journey of meeting with different administrators has actually be a good experience. This week I get to meet with the Chancellor, and I'm expecting that to go well as well.

On Wednesday First Church had their Fall Festival which I got to help out with. We ended having 5 of our students help out running the inflatables. There were a massive amount of kids there which was awesome to see. We decided we needed to test out one of the bouncy houses, so two college students, a middle school student, and I got in. The hose that was connected to the fan disconnected while we were in there and the entire thing collapsed on us. Luckily that didn't happen with any kids!

One of our students attends another church in town here, and their Trunk or Treat was on Thursday. I popped in to make an appearance, more or less, see how things were going, help out with some set up, and meet the pastor. We ended up having some more students come out to help as well which was awesome to see. Unfortunately I had an assignment due that I needed to finish. Wasn't the most fun time ever.

Friday we set up in the chapel again with some game systems to hang out with students. We had a few come by which was great to have.

Saturday we worked another Penn State game. We again had a few students come with us which was a good time. The time flew by, and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Some things that are going on with the ministry:

I'm working on a code of conduct, responsibilities of leadership as a whole, and individual responsibilities for the different leadership positions. My hope soon is to get our student leaders together, get their input on roles, responsibilities, what they expect of themselves and me as well. With all of this form a contract, and have them sign it. Hopefully next semester then we can get them to start fulfilling some of these responsibilities.

We're also trying to get some events planned. There's a good number of students interested in going to Passion down in Atlanta this year, and I'm hoping that we'll have that planned soon so we can advertise on campus for it.

I also am trying to get some more Bible studies up and running throughout the week. Of course there is the one on Wednesday nights, but I also want to do one going through Hebrews.

As always my plate is incredibly full. Luckily I'm free to spend the majority of my time doing work, not having a family or anything right now, which is incredibly advantageous with starting a ministry from the ground up again.

Thank you for your prayers and support and hope everyone had a great October. Hopefully by the end of today I'll have a news letter done, emailed, printed, and sent out!

October's Coming to a Close

Well a week from yesterday is the beginning of November! October has flown by. This week even more so.

Here's what's been going on!

This past weekend he had our Annual CSFPA Fall Retreat! We ended up having two students come who had a blast. We went down to Camp Christian (where I go during summer) and had a great time with fellowship with other students from different ministries, learning from a well educated Old Testament scholar, engaging times of worship, and a lot of just random fun. I actually played ultimate for the first time in forever and I had trouble getting out of bed the past two days. But it was worth it. We also ended up having a group of about 35 or 40 students all go get ice cream all at the same time, following our lead because CSF Altoona is a trend setter! or people just wanted ice cream. It wasn't until we were on our way back that I found out that we came to the place 10 minutes before they closed... While there I got to see some of the students from Pitt along with Greg and his family which was awesome! I really enjoyed seeing them all again and getting to catch up.

Some other things that have been going on, we're attempting to create good relations with the campus, so I've been setting up meetings with different administrators on campus. Last week I got to meet with the Office of Student Conduct and talked about some of our goals, their goals, and how we can help each other achieve these. We ended up having really good discussions and I'm excited about the support that CSF can give that office. Later this week and next I'm also meeting with the Office of Student Affairs and the Chancellor of the University.

Lately I've been reviewing the constitution that CSF has filed with the campus, and we're looking to write a new one since this one hasn't been touched in 6 years. Along with that I'm working on responsibilities of leadership, a code of conduct for our leadership, and gathering resources for our students to create a Theology of Leadership.

The relationship with the church is going incredibly well. This week is its annual Fall Harvest where I'll be filling whatever role is needed. The next day is a safe trick or treat put on by campus which hopefully we'll be able to be a part of.

Our Tuesday Meetings are going well with a good number of students coming. We're getting further into Luke, this week we're looking at Luke 6.20-26 which will be part 1 out of 3. I'm pretty excited about the discussion which is going to be happening!

Well that' all from Altoona for now. As always feel free to get in touch with me anytime!