Part of an ongoing series, focusing on those who are dedicated to evangelism in the 21st century. These articles will spotlight individuals who offer Leadership with young adults and evangelism in the United Methodist community.

Guy Chmieleski

Guy Chmieleski is the university minister at Belmont University and has 14 years experience in the field of Campus Ministry at 4 different institutions. Guy is also the webmaster for Faith on Campus, a Campus Ministries website dealing with the impact of the transforming love of Jesus Christ on young adults heading to or in college. The site is also host to regular blog-a-thons from various members in the United Methodist community like Ashlee Alley, Josh Hale and more.

Raymond Hayes talked with Guy through email and asked about his website, his goals for the site and where he sees it headed…

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1. What was your main intent when you started the site, and how long have you been doing this particular site.

I first started blogging about college ministry as a way to think (potentially — hopefully — with others) about some of the things I was seeing on campus.  I thought that as I worked through some of my own struggles, frustration and failures in college ministry; in the public forum of a blog, that I might find some conversation partners who might confirm some of the things I’m thinking and/or challenge me to think about them from a different perspective.

FaithONCampus.com was established July 1, 2010 and was birthed out of my first attempt at a college ministry blog — campusministryguy.blogspot.com.

2. What are the challenges in working with Faith on Campus.

As a full-time campus minister, one of the biggest challenges I had when I first started blogging about college ministry was not content, but finding the time to write.  But I eventually found a way to weave my thinking, and writing, into my everyday work.  In many ways it has become a spiritual discipline of sorts for me.  As I invite God into the experience, I create space for God to speak to me — through the process, as well as the comments and conversations that result from my posts.  If you read any of my posts you’ll see that there are often more questions posed than answers given.  Sometimes those questions lead to conversations… and sometimes they don’t.  When they don’t lead to conversations… especially when I’m hungry for answers, I have to remind myself that the process — of thinking and writing — can sometimes be enough.

3. What do you feel is the biggest motivation to keep Faith on Campus going?

My current ministry context is one of the hardest I’ve experienced over the course of my 14 years of ministry on 4 different campuses.  Over the past year or so of blogging more consistently I have found Faith ON Campus to be a place for reflective thinking, fruitful conversations and generative ideation.  As I do, I hope those who visit this site will find it to be a useful resource for networking with college ministers around the globe, and engaging in more meaningful ministry with college students.

4. Any future plans to expand the Faith on Campus site or your work in general?

FaithONCampus.com is getting ready to host it’s 4th blogathon in the last 9 months (a “blogathon” is an online conference consisting of almost 20 original blog posts, contributed by a wide-variety of college ministers and ministry advocates, posted over the course of 3 days… and then the multiple conversations that ensue as a readers engage the posts and post their own comments, insights and questions).  The upcoming blogathon will explore “The Future of College Ministry” (April 5-7).  For more information, or to view a list of contributors for this blogathon, you can visit FaithONCampus.com.

I’m also working on a book geared towards college students — and all who love, support and work with college students — on how to work with God to make the very most of the formative college years.

We’ll see where that leads!