On Campus Ministry: a beautiful mess On Tea Time and Its

Inside this issue:
On Tea Time and Its
Connections 1
by Jolene Hunter
On Campus Ministry:
a beautiful mess 1
by Paul Verhoef
On Friendship,
Classrooms, and Me 3
by Jessica Lefebvre
On Good Books:
three from my journey 4
by Jesse Hove
On Tea Time and Its Connections
After taking the last year away from the University,
I returned this fall semester for the final year of my
undergraduate degree. Coming back to the campus,
I felt very disoriented and lost, and transitioning
back into student life proved to be more difficult
than I expected. Most of my close friends had
graduated, and my year abroad changed my perspective on many things, leaving me questioning
my place in this experience and resisting the return
to my usual University endeavours.
Of most difficulty has been the shifting of my perspectives on faith and the world. Luckily for me,
Paul offered a space for me to connect with students; a space to dialogue about faith and wrestle
with those questions that in most
circles, I wouldn‘t feel safe
enough to articulate. And so I
began to run weekly Tea Times
at the Multi-Faith Chaplains‘
Centre. With no prior agenda other than to connect
with people, I began to find myself seeing the campus as a place to ―be‖ with others and not just ―do‖
class work. If I need a familiar face, I can head to
the cozy set of offices and be reminded that there
are many students and staff alike who are on this
journey of academia that is being lived out of a
common purpose. The language around that purpose is wide: to seek out God or the Creator, to live
with the Spirit, to follow Jesus, or a life presence, to
connect deeply to what is common in humanity.
Certainly, there are differences – and yet we tend to
find the beauty that we have in common, and live
purposely with one another! What a beautiful place.
I invited my sister-in-law, who is in graduate studies, for tea a few times and our time together
brought me so much energy and joy. We were able
to share about our weeks, and reach out to one another in whatever state our spirits happened to be –
On Campus Ministry: a beautiful mess
Not too long ago, I was in a conversation about something that
had really worked. Someone had
an idea—and that idea had just
burst into reality, and flourished—absolutely flourished in this one place. You‘ve heard that story too,
I would guess—an amazing coffee break ministry, a
youth group‘s new mission project, a devotional
habit that has changed someone‘s life.
Surprisingly, in my case, this first-person narrative
that was witnessing to the work of God turned
quickly toward ‗duplication‘. It became ‗the idea‘
for all places. Let me quote: ―This is what works—
so this is what we should be doing everywhere.‖
And, sure, we certainly can duplicate an idea or
structure—define what it is, identify the parts, copy
the pieces, and reassemble elsewhere. Easy, eh?
I get that. I myself am at times tempted to lean into
that. But my experience is that I beg, borrow, and
steal ideas, try to put them into practice, to shape
them just like I saw them before, and then, just
when I‘m putting the last piece in place—‗crash!‘
That experience—that mess of things crashing—
makes me wonder: these structures, these creations—what are they there for? Why is there a
Tuesday Dinner at the UofCalgary? Why is there
Tea Time? Why is there Sunday morning worship
at your church? Youth Group? Devotions?
As I listen and look, I think many of our patterns,
structures, programs, ways of being found together,
Page 2
Calgary Campus Ministry
...On Tea Time and Its Connections (continued)
joy, sorrow, exhaustion, curiosity – wherever we were at, we
came together. When she came to the Centre for the first time
she was in awe, particularly by the extensive book collections.
But as we talked, her awe deepened as she experienced this
place. She is a very spiritual person herself, believing strongly
in communities of people coming together from various places,
perspectives, and faiths, loving the opportunity to live intentionally, the desire to connect your mind, body, and spirit to your
studying, and in bringing a more holistic perspective to academia. Tea Time, this Centre, this community provides a place for
her hopes and dreams to belong and take shape.
The University experience for me is about so much more than
receiving a good letter grade in my classes; it is about being in
one place as fully as you can be, and getting the most possible
good out of it. My participation with Paul and the team has
helped me stay focused on this goal, and has introduced me to
other students who I can look up to and be encouraged by. And
for this I am grateful! I look forward to continuing Tea Times
into the winter semester; hopefully it will prove to be a fruitful
space for students to connect amidst the continuous whirlwind
of papers, exams, and lectures.
~ Jolene Hunter, student leader
...Campus Ministry: a beautiful mess (continued)
were originally created because something mysterious and beautiful was happening. Growth. Something was growing—a community of friends, a desire to worship in community, a sense that
God was moving. There was something alive, growing, beginning to flourish. God had moved, the Spirit breathed, and something that reminded us of Jesus started to bloom. And as that
grew, those that were around and experiencing the growth, being
shaped and moved, said, ―How can we support this growth—
make more space, give it a bit of structure, support
“...it’s a
it in a way that fits its natural rhythm or shape?‖
been divided, and this beautiful creation is spread into many
gardens. Sometimes, I look around the structure and realize,
―That plant is dead.‖ And there‘s simply no need to keep tending to structure that props up a dead plant, is there?
It‘s a brilliant spiritual practice, as it turns out: letting structures
crash. And realizing that they were just ‗there for the season of
growth.‘ This program or practice—yes, it has definitely nourished the growth of the Spirit—but things have
brilliant
changed. Time to let it go. It often makes the
spiritual practice, as beginning of the year quite messy. I feel like I‘m
And what happens when that bit of support is
standing around, looking at collapsed structures,
added? Often, it flourishes. Just enough propping, it turns out: letting wondering which ones might come in handy
placing, naming, collecting, programming to let it
again this next year, and which ones simply need
take off. I think a church is often like this (at its
structures crash.” to be put in the recycling bin.
best, I suppose). Our Sunday School takes shape,
year after year, because we need a place for our
So what happens? I pay way more attention to
“I pay way more
children, who are growing in faith, to belong. And
what‘s living. I think I‘ve become focused—
attention
to
what’s
our worship service continues, year after year, bewhat‘s alive here? Where is the Spirit of God
cause we continue to have a community that wants
working? Who is God working through? How
living”
to come together, live into God‘s grace, listen to
can I serve, support them?
the Word, speak together of our commitments, and
leave together as the living benediction of Jesus to the world.
Every September becomes a beautiful mess—looking for life in
the midst of collapsed structures. And readying to rebuild supBut campus ministry is odd this way. It seems that every year, I port for wherever God is at work. Thank God He always is.
have let go of one or two structures; I have to let a ‗program‘
crash. Something that supported a living community last year
~ Paul Verhoef, Christian Reformed Chaplain
now seems to be propping up...nothing. Perhaps the plant has
simply moved—been transplanted. Sometimes the plant has
Prayer Requests for this season


Papers, Exams, Finals! These are words that strike fear in the hearts of many. Pray for the students.
 For rest, Sabbath, refreshment over the holidays
For a wonderful student leadership retreat on January 14-16—with discernment to see what God is doing
 For Paul, Jessica, Kristen, Elena, Jesse, and Jolene—the TEAM that makes this stuff happen...
Calgary Campus Ministry
Page 3
On Friendship, Classrooms, and Being Me Everywhere
There have been very rare circumstances in my life where I have
discovered and embraced what Anne Shirley would call
‗kindred spirits.‘ When I began University I didn‘t come with
the full expectation of being connected with a club or sorority. I
was the first in my family to go to University. No one ever discussed weekend trips, or ―celebration‖ nights and my experience
of high school was rather lonely. I treated class as class and did
not extend too much of myself to extracurricular engagements
with my colleagues. I felt pre-conditioned to keep friendship and
University as two separate entities. After all, it was rare to find
even a hint of loving devotion and spiritual engagement with the
world within my English degree.
But I was wrong. Two years
ago, in my semester at the U of
C I took an English course that
was based on discussion, careful research, and individualized
learning plan. Students were
allowed to bring all of their
biases and journeys into the
classroom with the intention of
discovering how and why we
interpret the world the way we
do. I met a dear and close friend
in that classroom. But it wasn‘t
until two years later that I realized how full our friendship
could be.
I transferred from a Christian University, where discussion
about truth, interpretation, experience, and God were welcomed
and encouraged. There was always some kind of student event,
but I felt that my questions and curiosities limited who I deepened my friendships with. After I transferred to the U of C, I
quickly discovered that the public University has a very different place for personal conviction than in the classroom. And so I
followed the expectation that class was for the mind, not the
heart, and that spiritual development and personal revelation
were kept under strict watch and often used to dismantle or discredit certain personal ideologies brought into discussions.
In that class in my first semester, I always anticipated what my
friend would say because it spoke with a genuine conviction and
was unabashedly driven by her experience of life. I admired the
way she spoke, but felt I was unable to do so on my own. During the class we seldom spoke to each other, and once the class
was over, we found we had mutual friends and hoped that we
could run into each other. We did, intermittently, see each other
in hallways and on buses, but it wasn‘t until the past spring that
we really became friends. We would sit and talk about school,
but in regards to how life was so much bigger than school. We
felt frustrated that we had to censor the most important part of
who we were—regarding our spirit—within the realm of the
classroom...the classroom—what most people consider to be the
most fundamentally important place of ‗mind-expansion‘ and
therefore personal development. Our friendship progressed
over the spring and summer and, in the fall, she became part of
our student leadership team. I have never had the privilege of
working with a peer that I trust and feel so known by—a person who is not only present in, but encourages the overlap of
who I am at home, in ministry, and at school. I am encouraged
to be my most natural self wherever I go and in whatever I do. I
am challenged and accepted all at the same time. Our friendship has perfectly and accidentally conditioned deep personal
development despite my biases and thoughts on how I think the
world works.
I recognize how important this
part of my life is as far as establishing and understanding what
my identity is. I am part of my
Creator‘s plan to bring His
Kingdom to Earth, to help become that connection. But His
Kingdom was brought to me.
Despite being proud enough to
think that I was meant to bring
the Kingdom to certain places
in my life by refusing to be my
most natural and truest self, I
now have support and encouragement to be the person I am
in all of the different places in
my life. I long to see the flourishing reign of the Kingdom of
God even more because I‘ve seen it from the receiving side.
What a privilege to see a new side of redemption. And now my
friend and I get to experience and participate in the re-creation
of the Earth together in serving at the Multi-Faith Chaplains‘
Centre, in dreaming, in creating, in learning, and in loving. I
now understand that this is the way the Kingdom is supposed to
work—in understanding and embracing the sacredness of everything that was meant to be sacred.
I have been exposed to the sacred and what I love most is that
what is sacred rarely comes in the way we, I, have preconditioned or imagined it to be. More importantly, it is everywhere.
I now see the sacred as embracing a part of creation the way it
was intended to be embraced—without fear, whole-heartedly,
and with the eyes and ears and fingers of the Most High. Now,
the classroom has become sacred because beauty happens
there. The dumpster is sacred because discovery abounds there.
The homeless shelters are sacred because courage expounds
there. Relationship is sacred because healing thrives there. The
stable is sacred because Salvation is born there. I have been
blessed in being wrong because truth can be experienced here,
on Earth, all of the time. I am blessed that ‗the trap I set for
You seems to have caught my leg instead.‘ (In a Sweater
Poorly Knit lyrics from mewithoutYou.)
~ Jessica Lefebvre, student leader
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Calgary Campus Ministry
On Good Books: three books that have shaped my journey
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Growing up in the Christian world I felt as though I had to
separate spirituality from the physical realm. My concern for
the earth and my physical body were to be a minor priority in
relation to the well being of my soul. N.T. Wright makes a
strong biblical argument for the importance of both the body
and earth in relation to our future hope for the resurrection and
eventual merging of the new heaven and new earth. Along
with a fresh understanding of heaven and hell, Wright contends that the soul was never meant to be separated from the
body.
Society, Spirituality and the Sacred by Donald Swenson
Charismatic religious leaders like The Buddha and Jesus
Christ tend to have their central themes obscured and marginalized as their followers change over time and become
influenced by surrounding events, cultures, worldviews, and
state purposes. This book looks at how these influences
have sociologically affected major religious traditions all
the way up to the modern secular society. The text helped
me look at major historical turning points for the Christian
tradition, and where different individuals and societies let
mixed motivations obscure the vision of Jesus. It has helped
me to become aware of the mixed motivations in my own
life, and where I can try to breakdown my social construction, to a simpler, purer vision of Christianity.
―Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit the orphans and
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.‖ James 1:27
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
When I find theology becoming dry, uninspired, and institutionalized, I enter the world of Aslan and experience the
truth of Christ in a relationally inspired narrative. The
Christian tradition has tended to rationalize truth through
the development of doctrines and systematic ways of doing
things. Genesis 1 describes a God that is infinitely creative
within the boundaries of his own nature, and God calls us
to do the same. The story of Narnia allows me to reimagine the magic and power of Christ in nature. When I
walk out into the cold wintery Canadian wilderness with
evergreens surrounding my every step, and sparkling
snowflakes stinging my face; I am reminded that God may
not bring us safety and comfort in the way we always
want, but ―he is good.‖
~ Jesse Hove, student leader
2010 CALGARY CAMPUS
MINISTRY COMMITTEE
Karen Marcotte
Dr. Gwen Hollaar
Aimie Bouma
Rev. Dan Roukema
Rev. Paul Verhoef
(chaplain, ex officio)
The Calgary Campus Ministry is a
ministry of the Christian Reformed
Church (CRC) at the University of
Calgary, and connected in other
places through that city. The ministry
is connected and responsible to the
collection of CRC churches (called a
‗classis‘) in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The ministry also reports to Christian
Reformed Home Missions, and is part
of the Western Canada region of
Christian missional communities.
Rev. Paul Verhoef has been the lead
chaplain since August 2004, though
he has been joined by many student
leaders a couple interns over his time.
He sends out ministry updates to the
‗Friends of the Campus Ministry’—
usually in the form of a monthly email
called Prayer Notes, and a semiannual newsletter with stories.
If you‘d like to be on that email list—
contact Paul. He‘d love to add you.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Paul’s email: [email protected]
Paul’s office: 403 220-2596
Office location:
Paul Verhoef, Chaplain
Multi-Faith Chaplains‘ Centre
University of Calgary, MSC 373
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4