To supplement and expand the Faculty Ministry Mission Statement, the leadership team for Faculty Ministry has adopted a thirty-year vision to help shape both long-term and short-term goals.

Much careful thought and discussion have gone into crafting this thirty-year vision, which we are now pleased to share with you.

Faculty Ministry Vision Statement

As InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry is faithful to its mission over the next thirty years, we hope that our prayers, labor, and resources will have contributed to the fulfillment of the following vision. As part of Graduate & Faculty Ministries, we desire to realize this vision in concert with the Emerging Scholars Network and in partnership with all other ministries of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA; various movements of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Student (IFES); and all like-minded organizations who affirm the InterVarsity Doctrinal Basis, Faculty Ministry Mission Statement, and Graduate & Faculty Ministry Core Commitments.

The mission of InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry is to identify, encourage, and equip Christian faculty who will be a redeeming influence within higher education as they:

· Establish witnessing communities of Christian academics that reflect the diversity of the body of Christ

In light of this aspect of our mission, our vision is that:

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry establishes, develops, and encourages vibrant local campus or inter-campus communities of Christian faculty, available to all faculty in the United States.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry establishes, develops, and encourages vibrant Christian societies in every academic discipline.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry fosters these communities to reflect the diversity of the campus or discipline in age, ethnicity, and gender.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry fosters these communities to provide rich fellowship and mutual support among the Christian faculty involved and corporate witness to the academic community.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry facilitates national and international networking among faculty within each discipline and nurtures inter-disciplinary dialogue and discovery.

· Follow God's call in spiritual formation and vocational discipleship

In light of this aspect of our mission, our vision is that:

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry aids each faculty member to whom we minister in maturing as a follower of Christ.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry aids each faculty member to whom we minister in embracing the intrinsic value of loving God with our minds, and thus the cultivation of an intellectual life, as a vital part of a deepening spiritual life.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry is a valuable aid to faculty as they incarnate the gospel in the university by serving students and colleagues, seeking to lead others to faith in Christ, helping others grow in Christ, and seeking justice on individual and institutional levels.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry fosters a culture of affirmation: (1) for the calling, craft, and scholarship of teaching; (2) for the pursuit of new knowledge through research; and (3) for responsible service in a spirit of humility.

· Balance excellence in life, research, teaching, mentoring, and service, for the glory of God

In light of this aspect of our mission, our vision is that:

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry aids faculty to understand academic life as a call from God.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry helps faculty members discern God's callings and priorities among them, and how to be faithful to these callings.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry understands and is sensitive to how demands upon faculty change during different stages of academic life and nurtures the health and well-being of faculty members in light of their specific circumstances.

· Practice their disciplines from a profoundly Christian viewpoint

In light of this aspect of our mission, our vision is that:

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry facilitates an ever-increasing number of faculty engaged in continuing theological education, resulting in deepening theological acuity.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry facilitates faculty among whom we minister having a redemptive influence on the prominent ideas of the academy such that everyone in the academy (including students, faculty, and researchers) regularly encounters a Christian worldview in the context of their academic work.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry encourages, challenges, and supports Christian faculty as they bring forth scholarship which becomes essential to their colleagues, students, and experts in their field.

· InterVarsity's Faculty Ministry encourages, challenges, and supports faculty as they practice mentoring as a dimension of disciplinary engagement.

ratified September 1, 2005