Because We Need Each Other | Faculty Commons

Phillip A. Bishop
Kinesiology,
University of Alabama
Teaching on a secular campus can be lonesome at times. Grant proposals and research production are team efforts, but preparing for class and writing are often solitary endeavors. Like many of you I value efficiency, and it is usually more efficient to do things alone.

One thing I cannot do alone, or do well alone, is minister. Fellowship compels me to do what I need to do but won’t do much on my own.

Over-worked And Under-Prayed

In American Christianity we are often over-worked and under-prayed. I know that God commanded us to pray, that I NEED to pray, and that my campus needs prayer. Christ set the example that we ought always to pray. But I have a character deficiency — I hate to pray (and my wife hates when I announce that publicly). My relationship with my Christian colleagues on campus offers me some hope.

Each Wednesday, arising a great while before dawn (well a great while before noon,anyway), a group of us meets specifically to pray for our campus. Then at noon we meet for fellowship and mutual encouragement. Occasionally I have the opportunity to pray with a fellow Christian faculty member, staff member or student.

If left to my own devices, my ministry can devolve into a ministry to me alone. Prayer will devolve into unfocused, undisciplined, self-centered petitions. Which is one reason that I think it is important to find like-minded faculty with whom to fellowship on campus. That can be a challenge, particularly in the summer. Where can we find fellowship in the summer?

Summer is a great season to devote time to mentoring and being mentored, and two or three faculty members are an ideal number. Who on my campus would I like to know better? Who would be interested in a weekly lunch meeting or some other sort of get-together to encourage each other more specifically, and to pray together? A trip to the NFLC in Washington might be a good way to build a bond for the summer and the academic year.

A Great Ministry Tool

If distance is an obstacle, we have other tools. A few years ago my department hired one of my former Ph.D.s who is a devout Christian faculty member. Soon after he arrived here, I noticed that he would phone distant colleagues to stay in touch. I realized that the telephone is a great ministry tool that I was not using. It just takes some effort and a decision to call and even pray over the telephone. (Though phone calls aren’t mentioned in the Bible, the part about praying without ceasing probably covers it.)

Two of my professional meetings occur during the summer. One of these, the American College of Sports Medicine, has a Christian prayer breakfast each year. That meeting gives us an opportunity to meet new Christian friends within our academic specialty. Just knowing there are Christian colleagues around the world is encouraging, and knowing them personally is even more encouraging.

Maybe your campus does not have a prayer meeting or a Christian Faculty meeting. Maybe your professional group has no Christian gathering at their convention. What then?

God Is Calling All Of Us

I go wrong sometimes when I think too small, but even more often when I think too big. God may not be calling you or me to initiate a campus-wide meeting or a convention-wide Christian breakfast. But God is calling all of us to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” God has promised us that where “two or three are gathered together in My name” He will be with us.

I, like you, have plenty to do. I must recognize the necessity of gathering with my Christian faculty colleagues, so that I will gladly give up an hour to gain motivation. God knew what He was doing when He called us to gather as His body. We need to be encouraged, corrected and reminded about ministry on a college campus.