A few weeks ago I was privileged to attend the annual gathering
of the Christian Reformed Campus Ministry Association (CRCMA). Chaplains from
all over Canada and the United States gathered in Waterloo, Ontario to worship, talk,
pray, and share fellowship together.
The theme of the week was self-care. Among campus ministers
there is a tendency to over-extend in time and emotional commitment which can
lead to “compassion-fatigue,” where there is more energy going outwards than
coming inwards. It’s a recipe for burn out. The CRCMA wanted to address this
issue head on.
So several sessions and discussions were focused around this
theme and its different components: time management, the recognition of
personal boundaries, the importance of friendships and other life given
relationships, and other things.
I have not been working as a Campus Minister for as long as
most of the chaplains at our gathering, and so maybe I haven’t had the “chance”
to experience the long-term fatigue of over-extension. But even having only
been working for one year on a half-time basis, I could resonate and understand
the importance of self-care: it is important in-and-of-itself as well as to
ensure that the energy and attention we give to our campus ministries is as
fully supported and well directed as possible.
However, regardless of the importance of the theme, I think
what most excited me about the week together was the sense of comradery. I've
met with a few other CRC chaplains over this past year, but to gather with 30
others who are spread out across secular campus through North America was an
inspiring thing that made me feel like I was part of something, a small, local,
focused, but important movement that seeks to enjoy and discover how God is at
work through the Holy Spirit in these universities where he is not directly
affirmed. Christian students might have questions, fears, doubts,
uncertainties, and the CRCMA’s devotion to thinking through these questions with
authenticity and rigor is an exciting thing to affirm and be a part of.
So now I've returned to KPU Surrey with a new sense of
energy and life (though hours of biking in hot weather this weekend is leaving
me a bit sleepy this afternoon). In the small ways I can connect with students
around issues of faith, I am participating not only in the project of the
CRCMA, but, I trust, in the activity of the Holy Spirit, brooding over the
waters of creation, always seeking to make things new, at KPU, in Surrey, and
beyond.
