The first time I met Ted* was his Sophomore year, two-and-a-half years ago. He wasn’t too interested in coming to Sophomore Bible Study that year, though he had originally been involved in Freshman Bible Study his first year. We rarely saw each other. Once, he told me that he was interested in working within his Baptist tradition after college, so he saw his time in college as “a break from all that, for now,” since his plan was to spend the rest of his life immersed in the Church he figured he could take a 3 ½ year “vacation” of sorts from it.
In our January 2008 newsletter, I briefly mentioned that a new program was being started on campus: The Spiritual Advisors. This is an inter-faith endeavor for which I was invited to help design the training the “Advisors” would receive. Last year, I wrote, “The purpose of the program is not to convert anybody to any of the represented faiths, but to foster a safe space for spiritual and religious conversations on campus. That being the case, the training must be very general. This is not specifically a Christian program, but I do believe that it holds great potential to glorify God.” The Spiritual Advisors program was Ted’s* concept.
Around the time this program was getting started last academic year, I expressed to Ted* that I saw how it could benefit Kenyon students, but that it shouldn’t replace a mentor or discipleship relationship. I asked him if he had a mentor actively discipling him. He said, “no.” Shortly after that, he asked me if I would be willing to meet with him regularly. We have now had 30 one-on-one meetings together over the past year-and-a-half!
This time last year, we had just met a handful of times. Ted* still wasn't really involved in the Christian Community, but he was pouring a lot of his energy into the Spiritual Advisors program he was creating. I invited him to Jubilee last year, but he didn’t go. Even last semester, Ted* once identified himself as an “AgnostiChristian” with the Spiritual Advisors. But I praise God for what He’s doing in Ted’s* life!
In February, after a full year of meeting together regularly, Ted* came to Jubilee! At the last plenary session of Jubilee, author Andy Crouch asked the 2,000+ attendees two questions: In response to what you've heard this weekend, 1) what one thing do you want to start doing? and 2) what one thing do you want to stop doing? Back on campus, I emailed the 21 Kenyon students who attended and invited them to share how they responded. Ted* clicked Reply-All to the email, saying that Replying-All was the first step in fulfilling his answer to the first question. He prefaced the email saying that his answers were vague. They were, respectively: “Start focusing more on God” and “stop focusing less of God.” Ted* included the following explanation for his vague responses:
“Jubilee was something of an eye-opener for me. Over my past three years at Kenyon, for a variety of reasons, I've really been hiding my Christianity in favor of a more agnostic-friendly intellectual spirituality that was loosely based on Christianity. Admittedly, some very good things came of this (e.g. becoming active in the Spiritual Advisor program, which focuses on discussing spiritual issues with students of all faiths), but there were some pretty negative side effects as well (like a growing unease with my own spiritual life). Jubilee was the first time in years that I've actually been able to relax and be myself with a group of Christians (most of whom were strangers to me until now), and it felt awesome. Thank you guys so much for an excellent trip, and I'll be seeing you around.” (Note: emphasis added is mine)
Ted* has reconnected to Kenyon’s Christian Community in several ways, including coming regularly to Senior Bible Study now and attending another Bible Study, too! He graduates this May, and I praise Jesus for how Ted* has grown over the past two years. Please praise God with me! *name changed
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