Here is the idea. It would be a ‘regular life’ church that sought to integrate church with the way people actually live their lives in the classroom and in the market place. The idea would be that it would intersect people where they actually live, rather than expecting people to extract themselves from their lives and live a parallel but unconnected spiritual life alongside of their regular life.
They had a time of debriefing. Matt was concerned that this term they did not have the same type of interesting seekers that made last term so enjoyable. Aaron referred to cycles and seasons and suggested that it may be a time to go deeper with the students.
We then met with the student leadership team, which also included a seasoned ministry couple who play the important role of spiritual parents to these young people. Having taken a year out of regular ministry, they found Epic a refreshing change . Part of the discussion revolved around whether they were a church or not. That flowed from another discussion regarding “What is a church”. My own take on the subject, when asked for my input, was that in campus ministry I tend to see church as a Verb. Rather than seeing it in static categories, I tend to ask whether we are “doing church” or “churching” on campus. Are we being church to this campus? The details will follow.
Their Tuesday night main gathering is at Deweys Pub, in the billiard and meeting room attached to it. It is a great venue for the relaxed conversational EPIC style of gathering.
They repeat the Epic Creed. This was to be a Wiki service which means that everyone has the opportunity to add something to it. Sort of the model of 1 Cor 14 where everyone came prepared to bring something. The idea is that church is a place to gather and to connect with the Big Story , the Meta Narrative which is in the process of being written. There were some songs which were led by someone with a guitar that helped focus people and create a context of worship. Several people shared. There was a guest presenter, who represented IJM ( Internation Justice Mission) which is a leading organization in setting people ( mostly young women) free from slavery. IJM is a natural partner for CMC in that it puts feet to many of our convictions. When she was done, I was offered the opportunity to share the message Dave gave me to share with his generation before he departed.
The service ended with people hanging out and visiting. There is obviously a good sense of community about EPIC , even with the enormous pressures of school that militates against it. There is a lot more that I could say about it. I always appreciate the way Matt empowers his staff and students, while giving them appropriate leadership.
Matt is very strong on building bridges. In addition to being the pastoral advisor to the EPIC Student Club he is the Pentecostal Chaplain to the University of Alberta. He builds bridges wherever he goes.
He takes his role as the head of the U of A Chaplaincy Association seriously. They are in the middle of developing a MOU ( memorandum of understanding) with the U of A Administration that lays out the parameters of their responsibilities and privileges. For the Administration the chaplains provide an accountable and stabilizing influence to interface with the various “spiritual” campus clubs and organizations. They also provide services to the broader community in matters of pastoral concern. That would include functions like funerals, crisis intervention and grief recovery.
