Being a campus pastor or chaplain is a challenging call. Some say it is nice because your “congregation” changes a lot every year and entirely every 4 or that you have more flexibility in your schedule than a traditional parish-based call. You may or may not be in a location where you have colleagues down the hall. Students are not always knocking on your door. Many people don’t have a clue what campus ministry is. It can be lonely.

This is where Peterson House would like to help. We want to infuse both a little friendship into your life while also being in a place where we can sit with Scripture together. No agenda other than to listen and be open to what the Spirit aims to accomplish in that space. And get this- you don’t have to do anything to prepare for any of the sessions. Just logon. Our vision for all our groups at Peterson House is the spiritual discipline of lingering over Scripture slowly can be a gift to you and your soul. We will never ask you to lead in any way. And even if some weeks the text is too heavy or you don’t want to share what you noticed then it is perfectly okay to enjoy being quiet and listening to others.  We will consider it a success if when you logoff after the hour is over that you feel like some life is infused back into your spirits. Why? For your students sure, but our commitment is to you. And the design is not for you to sign up for some kind of continuing education experience where you can get trained in lectio divina. Hard to believe maybe, but our hope is a simple one. We want to be a part of the breath God wants to give you in order to be better equipped to advance God’s kingdom on your campuses.

Eugene Peterson in, “Working the Angles,” puts it this way: “The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches and campus ministries. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns - how to keep customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money… And there must be any number of shopkeepers who by now are finding the pottage that they acquired in exchange for their ordination birthright pretty tasteless stuff and are growing wistful for a restoration to their calling. Is the wistfulness an ember strong enough to blaze into a fierce repudiation of their defection, allowing the word of God again to become fire in their mouths?”

We have seen in all our groups over 6 years that this is an attainable vision. And however the ember is glowing in your life we would be humbled to fan. Join us. It’s a lot of fun and who doesn’t need more life infusing their spirits these days?