Campus ministry can play a significant role in whole person education, as it facilitates the spiritual development of students and promotes character education. It can help create a campus-wide culture of care, offering counseling services and other forms of emotional support. Campus ministry also can create bridges for members of different cultures and traditions to engage with each other, an important step for building harmonious, pluralistic communities on campus and in broader society.

The Campus Ministry program helps higher education institutions adapt their traditional chaplaincy frameworks to respond to these dynamics. The United Board has launched two initiatives under this theme:

• The Asian Campus Ministry Forum, a biennial gathering of chaplains and other staff of campus ministry teams to share best practices in campus ministry, ideas and models for supporting the spiritual needs of students, and to nurture a campus culture of care across religions and ethnicities; and
• The Chaplaincy Academy, a training program to help faculty deepen their understanding of theology, develop skills in counseling and pastoral care, and gain exposure to the dynamics of liturgy. The first Chaplaincy Academy was held in India (2019-2020), and additional academies are planned for other parts of Asia.

For more information, contact Rev. Dr. Maher Spurgeon, Consultant, Director of South Asia Programs, at mspurgeon@unitedboard.org