John Walkup
Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering, Texas Tech
Faculty Commons National Representative
Where is my ministry as a professor?
I know what it’s like to be highly sought after for involvement in a local church, to be prized as a teacher or elder. But should that be my primary ministry?
For Such A Time As This
There are others in the church who can teach and provide leadership; but God has given us faculty a unique platform for ministry that the rest of the church doesn’t have. Over the years I have realized that I am, like Esther, put on campus by God “for such a time as this.”
God gave me a job that often required my spending 50 to 60 plus hours a week on campus. I felt I should first pray about being open to ministry opportunities while there. Looking back now, I see that God gave me those opportunities.
They didn’t come all at once. But after 27 years as a professor, doing a lot of little things added up to a fairly big list.
- I was the faculty co-sponsor for InterVarsity, and spoke at weekly meetings of several Christian student groups.
- I helped organize informal Bible studies at lunch or in the late afternoon with colleagues and students in my department.
- I participated in evangelistic ads that were printed in our campus newspaper at Easter and Christmas.
- I taught student workshops on “Making the Grade without Flunking Life.” I was an officer with our campus Christian faculty/staff association.
In some cases, I found that talking with students who were struggling with the material in one of my courses sometimes led to opportunities to pray with them, which is something I now wish I had been even more active in pursuing.
Still Involved Locally
My support for taking advantage of on-campus ministry opportunities shouldn’t be interpreted as shunning ministry in a local church.
I loved my years in Lubbock, Texas both on campus and as an active member of a wonderful local church. For several years I resisted an invitation to join my church’s elder board because I wanted to preserve more time for ministry on campus. But I also later served as an elder there, and God blessed this time.
One church I know of in Austin held a yearly commissioning ceremony for those members who were professors at the University of Texas. They considered their professors as missionaries to the campus.
Since moving back to California I have been both in and out of the leadership at our church here. But I continue to see my involvement in ministry on campus as an extension of my local church.
© 2007 John Walkup