InterVarsity is more than a student ministry—we are a university ministry! The first of our twelve core values identifies the college and university as our context and declares: We are called to be a redeeming influence among its people, ideas and structures . As we dedicate ourselves to establish and advance witnessing communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus (our Purpose), by God’s grace we expect to see students and faculty transformed and developed into world changers and campuses renewed (our Vision). But what do we mean by this bold aspiration to be part of God’s renewal of higher education? To lay a foundation for our thinking and action, we make the following affirmations.
We believe God loves the campus and is at work to renew it. In line with God’s creational purposes and common grace, universities and colleges exist—at their best— to seek knowledge and truth, promote human flourishing and serve the common good. Though the campus is fallen and flawed, God is at work by His Spirit and through His followers to bring all of its aspects—people, ideas, and structures—into conformity with His purposes for the sake of His glory and the good of our culture.
We pray for “God’s kingdom to come” on campus “as it is in heaven.” Our vision for renewal entails both corrective and creative dimensions. We promote the recovery of all that once was good and God-honoring. We value the bringing about of every new good that reflects God’s purposes and anticipates the fully redeemed New Heaven and Earth to come. We long to see faculty and students striving to integrate faith, life, and vocation under Christ’s lordship. We desire to see the pursuit of truth and wisdom, not just accumulation of knowledge and skills. We want to see institutional life that is just and campus culture that is life-giving.
We serve those whom God has placed within the campus to be a redeeming influence. Situated between church and campus, InterVarsity is both para-church and para-university. As such, our influence on the campus comes not directly but through our deep investment in those who are an integral part of the university, whether students who are present temporarily or faculty, administrators, and staff who occupy more permanent places. We draw them into witnessing communities that motivate and equip them for faithful engagement through prayer, evangelism, service, and vocation. This engagement most often means positive involvement in the life and work of the university but sometimes requires us to take a prophetic stance that challenges its values and actions.
We act in myriad ways to renew the campus by the grace of God.
- Students are salt in fraternities and dorms, classrooms and quads, as they care for neighbors, share the gospel, exercise a public voice and act boldly for change out of love for their campus.
- Faculty shine as lights as they openly identify with Christ, love students and colleagues, teach with excellence and integrate their scholarship with biblical reflection.
- Administrators are the yeast that affects the whole loaf by leading the structures and shaping the organizational culture of their institutions in ways that reflect God’s shalom.
- Campus staff plant seeds in the soil of higher education by sounding a passionate call to serve God in the academy and steering gifted students into the next generation of faculty.
- All parts of InterVarsity contribute to the renewal—by publishing books, offering programs, producing resources, creating virtual networks, nurturing alumni and joining in intercession.
Drafted 4.13.10 by the Cabinet and CMLT in faith that we will see God’s renewal on American campuses.
