Chapter Planting at University of Minnesota

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This document is part of a larger cluster of articles about InterVarsity
chapter planting at https://www.intervarsity.org/mx/page/chapterplanting

The Campus

The University of Minnesota is a very large and fragmented campus in the
heart of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. More than 50,000
students attend at various levels which makes it one of the top five
enrollments in the country. The campus is divided into East Bank and West
Bank in Minneapolis on respective sides of the Mississippi River. East Bank
is known as the “main campus” and is sub-divided into “Dinkytown” and
“Stadium Village” as well. The West Bank is staffed by Mark Van Steenwyk
who is planting a church and beginning a ministry to the many immigrants
and arts students and other low-income residents who live there (see U of M
West Bank document). There is also a St. Paul campus which began as the
School of Agriculture and has a personality of its own. It is about five
miles from the Minneapolis campus.

The Challenges

The U of M is a lonely campus. Because it is so large and spread out,
students may see their roommates in the morning, take a bus to various
classes, work, and extra activities, and not return home until the end of
the day. It’s a difficult campus to have any visibility as a campus
ministry, and it’s difficult to be accessible to students because of the
lack of parking and the spread-out nature of the campus. It is also very
difficult for staff to be accessible to students if they don’t live right
in the campus area. Unlike many campuses where staff might need to set
boundaries so that students don’t overtake their lives, at the U of M it
takes extra work to be connected to many students.

Campus Contacts

In addition to Mark Van Steenwyk on the West Bank, there is a campus
volunteer, Isaac Choi, for the “IV House” at Stadium Village on the East
Bank. Also living at the IV House is a student leader, Kelli Mattson, the
daughter of Regional.Director Rick Mattson.

What We’re Doing

In fall 2005, InterVarsity at U of M (East Bank, Stadium Village) launched
its first “IV House” where six students and a volunteer lived. The basement
was remodeled into a hospitality space that can welcome up to 50 students
for weekly meetings and activities. It is a four-unit building just two
blocks from the largest set of dorms on campus. InterVarsity occupied two
of the four apartments this past year and may occupy three this coming
year. Students in the house are partnering with students living in the
dorms to start GIGs, lead Bible studies and do occasional outreach
activities at the house.

Next fall, we hope to begin building a similar strategy at the West Bank.
There has been talk about starting similar “sub-chapters” in Dinkytown and
the St. Paul campus if there is success.

The Vision

The future of the ministry at a large, decentralized campus like the U of M
must take place through residential, incarnational ministry. This is why we
hope to shift the focus by purchasing living units in the heart of
strategic areas of the campus.

God is Working

Students in the IV house have taken more initiative and ownership this
spring.

Help Needed

It’s been difficult and discouraging to see about five staff prospects fall
through in our search for a point person for the IV House. Mark’s heart is
for the West Bank, but we haven’t found a staff person who is charged to
reach the East Bank-Stadium Village area. We need more staff.

Chapter_Planting_4yr_Lrg_UMN_by_Mark_Paulson.doc