Christian Formation and Ministry is looking to clarify its role in the Biola community by adding a missional apprenticeship for the student leaders of on-campus ministries next year. By creating this new apprenticeship, CFM hopes students will be able to see how they can fit into the on-campus ministry community. This program would take place on Fridays for two hours for all student leaders in charge of a ministry. This apprenticeship is optional for those who are not in a leadership position but still want to be involved with a ministry.

CFM ADDS MISSIONAL APPRENTICESHIP 

Currently, only the directors of each ministry have to meet on Fridays, but this new program will require the directors as well as the student leaders to attend. The two-hour time commitment seems to be a recurring complaint among the ministry leaders.

“If students have classes on Fridays, that would keep them from coming,” said Evangelical Mormon Interaction local director Crystal Mohr.

Kaitlyn Henning, next year’s California School Project director, mentioned the difficulty of Friday meetings.

“I know a lot of people do not like having to do anything on Fridays, so that may hinder the endeavor,” she said.

The roles of CFM and the Student Missionary Union often intertwine, so this new program will define each organization’s role on campus. CFM will be working with on-campus ministries while SMU will deal with short-terms missions and impact groups.

“We [SMU and CFM] want to facilitate a good relationship, it’s just that sometimes it’s good to make distinctions,” said Barbara Miller, director of CFM.

This program will be for all student leaders of the ministries, as well as students who are merely interested in getting involved with the organizations.

“We want a lot of versatility within that missional community,” Miller said. “For ministry projects, for ministry exploration for different needs, types of evangelism and types of equipping.”

By creating and advertising this apprenticeship, CFM will communicate to students that there is a place for them to get involved with the on-campus ministries.

“It gives us the opportunity to reach out to more people on campus who may have a heart for our ministry but have been unable to find us, or even know we exist,” said Briana Howey, director of the Social Justice Ministry. “The only disadvantage we see at the moment is the time. I know a lot of people do not like having to do anything on Fridays, so that may hinder the endeavor, but overall, we are on board.”

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEADERS 

This new program will also open up opportunities for leaders of all the different ministries to bounce ideas off each other, gaining new insight as to how to run their ministries. CSP director Henning finds this to be the most beneficial aspect of the program.

“It will increase our sense of community with the other ministries on campus. We love hearing what the rest of Biola is doing and how it is actually reaching out to our community and beyond,” Henning said.

CFM wants to raise awareness of on-campus ministries with the incoming freshman.

“We want to call the freshman into a discipling apprenticeship-based community, implementing a new approach to disciplining students and launching them into ministry,” Miller said.

CFM’s website is currently under construction, but will be up and running in the next month for more information on their missional apprenticeship.