Campus Ministries Mission and Values

           * Transforming Lives
           * Transforming Friendships
           * Transforming College
           * Transforming the World

 We support students to explore, discover, and grow in their faith and purpose.  We call, support and equip students to pursue a life-long journey of Christian discipleship, empower students to develop Christian community, and assist students to discern a vocational direction for their life.

 History:  The College of Idaho was founded as a Presbyterian College and is a member of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU).  The Campus Minister is ordained by the Presbyterian Church and coordinates spiritual and pastoral resources for the C of I.

 The Department of Campus Ministries supports the college mission to “prepare students to lead full and productive lives.”  Campus Ministries programs are integral resources to further the college’s values of “community, leadership, integrity and service” and to provide an education “for the head, heart and hands” (VST2).

 Campus Environment:  The C of I is a “non-sectarian” college.  The C of I supports a voluntary, multi-denominational Christian fellowship within an environment of free religious expression on campus. 

 With our history grounded in Christian tradition we foster care for all individuals in the diversity of their beliefs.  We provide opportunities for students, staff and faculty to explore the spiritual resources of the Christian tradition while nurturing a campus society in which multiple faith perspectives can function simultaneously with dialogue and respect. 

 SOME OF OUR VALUES

  • As a multi-denominational fellowship we focus on discipleship, service and community rather than on particular denominational or doctrinal issues that currently distinguish or divide various Christian communities.
  • The values of our community are informed by Christ’s teaching and vision of the “Kingdom Reign” of God – a reality that people experience “now and not yet” in which justice, peace, wholeness, friendship, purpose, and communion become increasingly the norm in people and communities led by the Spirit of God.
  • We always ask, “What is God already doing?” then try to get on board with God’s activity.
  • We want to prepare students for integration of all aspects of life into the Kingdom of God.  We seek to undermine any separation of the “sacred and secular.”
  • We stress people over programs and production.
  • We believe “fun” is a theological and methodological necessity.
  • Staff, students and adult volunteers all play key roles.  We do not want to be staff dominated.
  • We believe in vocation.  We believe God is already at work in each student for God’s own glory.  We strive to help students hear God’s voice, discern God’s spirit, and act with courage in response to God’s call to discover “where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.”  (Frederick Buechner)
  • We believe the bridge over which the Gospel most often travels is the bridge of a relationship.
  • We “earn the right to be heard,” by entering into the lives of students, and then invite students to “come and follow” Christ.