Campbellsville University Campus Minister Trent Creason wants students to start asking themselves: “How can I find my calling and actively pursue it now and for the rest of my life?”
Next semester’s chapel theme, “Living the Mission,” aims to help students answer this question. The theme will include a variety of different chapel speakers with the goal of teaching attendees the importance of evangelism as well as how to actively live it out.
Creason hopes chapel is a place where people can both come to know and further their relationship with Christ.
“The biggest goal at the end of the day is to help people know who Christ is and have a relationship, and a growing relationship, with Christ,” he said. “We want to evangelize, disciple and help people go and serve.”
One of Creason’s biggest goals with the new theme “Living the Mission” is for people to learn to truly find and live out their mission.
“I hope that through this particular theme they really do walk away with insight and wisdom and motivation to live out their mission, to be able to identify what their mission is and live it out in the context they’re in,” Creason said.
He also hopes the community, and not just students, attend and find value in chapel services.
“Chapel is a great opportunity to have a moment of pause in the week and spend time with the Lord,” said Creason.
He believes chapel is a great way for faculty to minister to students, even if that just means being seen at chapel.
“If faculty and staff show up at chapel, students are seeing that [and] it has value and it has purpose,” said Creason. “But it also gives those staff and faculty a chance to connect with the students on what has been discussed or what was preached that day. Or it gives them a jumping off point as faculty and staff to live out their mission, to invest in the students and to talk about things and open doors for conversations they might not normally have. If the student doesn’t see them there, it’s kind of a missed opportunity.”
Cordell Brooks, current CU senior and campus ministry assistant, said he thinks this specific theme is very needed and a lot of people and churches aren’t emphasizing evangelism enough.
“I guess people are afraid to step on other people’s toes by sharing … but we’re called to do it and if we don’t do it, we are disobeying the command of God,” said Brooks.
Brooks believes Christians can’t be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ if they don’t evangelize.
“I think the whole idea for the chapel theme being ‘living the mission’ is very important, especially at this age, this stage in people’s lives because if we harness these abilities to live out our witness and to spread the gospel now, and we can make that a practice now, then we can keep that with us even through our careers,” said Brooks.
He hopes students are able to learn that Jesus has commanded them to live out a mission-centered life that encompasses telling others about Him. He also hopes they are able to learn the practical side of living on a mission and not just the abstract idea of it.
“I think that the whole theme of this is that we know what to do and we know how to do it,” said Brooks.
Brooks believes the new theme goes hand in hand with last year’s theme “building a legacy.”
“I would say that living on mission is how we build a legacy,” Brooks said.
Brooks believes that in order to have a legacy you have to proclaim something, and that something is the good news of Christ.
“In order to build a legacy that lasts, we need to live missions,” said Brooks.
Hayden Behmke, current CU sophomore who leads worship with campus ministries, is excited for the new theme. He also enjoys seeing faculty at chapel and talking about chapel with them. He believes there has been a push recently where professors are being more open with their faith in classes.
“I hope we continue to push it and be open and aware and have those conversations about stuff like chapel themes or Vine or opportunities like that,” said Behmke. “Because I think that helps connect people who maybe aren’t as connected to campus ministries.”
He said faculty are and should be just as involved in chapel as the student body. He loves seeing faculty at chapel because it shows they are going to support him in his walk with Christ.
“It shows me … that I’m walking through academics in a faith-based perspective with people who are also on their walk with me,” Behmke said.
One of Behmke’s favorite sayings is, “loving people one at a time” and he believes living on a mission is a great way to accomplish that.
One of Behmke’s biggest takeaways from last year’s theme was that legacies don’t end here at CU or even in this world.
“The work that we are doing here and the mission that is fought for here is not for ourselves,” Behmke said.
Behmke hopes the new theme pushes him to serve more outside of CU.
“I hope it pushes me to get outside of here and do more missions work,” said Behmke.
He thinks there are a lot of opportunities that come with the idea of living a mission. He hopes the entire community is able to grow from this theme and help teach.
“I hope it pushes people to kind of open their eyes … and to serve and [take] leadership roles,” he said.
Behmke believes this theme is an important thing for students to focus on for their future.
“I think it prepares us to go out and be leaders outside of these walls, outside of Campbellsville,” said Behmke. “I think it pushes us also though to impact people inside our walls that maybe don’t know who God is or don’t know where they are going after this in life. I think it pushes us to be aware of that and start change now rather than later.”
Chapel services will be held in Ransdell Chapel at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays starting next semester on Jan. 21.
