Welcome

Hello all!

Welcome back to campus. Here is the summer update for any of you who missed it:

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.” Psalm 115:1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


We hope you are having a wonderful summer and found at least a little bit of time to relax after school ended before starting summer jobs, internships, and wherever else the Lord has taken you.

We are writing to you, first, to thank you for your continued work in the furtherance of the gospel on Hillsdale’s campus. We’d be here for the rest of the summer if we tried to write down every time you sacrificed your time and gave your energy to this cause. Although much of what we are called to do as Christians goes thanklessly unnoticed by those around us, there is One who takes notice; One who credits us with His righteousness. On behalf of the 2009-2010 HCF Vision Team, “Thank you.”

We also wanted to share with you some of what we learned at Chapter Focus Week in unpacking HCF’s vision for the upcoming school year. CFW was a great time to rebuild after the school year and to strengthen relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. During CFW, we looked at the areas of campus ministry that blossomed last year, places for improvement and encouragement, and past areas of difficulty. As we identified miscommunication of our mission and a lack of unity among believers around it as our two greatest weaknesses in HCF, we spent most of the week going back to the basics: back to HCF’s Mission Statement, the goal of our campus ministry, and, most importantly, to our call as Christians. In order to gather together as God’s people for any purpose (worship, witness, etc.), we must remember that, before Christ called any of us to be athletes, volunteers, musicians, or students, He called us to be imitators of Himself. We must, first and foremost, emulate Christ. This starts with loving people as He did. God gives us this call through the words of Paul in Col. 3:12-17:

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience… beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

As a fellowship of Christians at Hillsdale College, HCF has always placed an emphasis on gathering the body of Christ together on campus, as stated in our mission statement:

In response to God’s calling and ultimately to bring glory to Him, the mission of Hillsdale Christian Fellowship is to see God’s people at Hillsdale College united together as a loving, maturing, and worshiping community, and committed to the primary purpose of being Christ’s witnesses in that place so that others might come to know, love, and follow Him as LORD.

Therefore, since being united together is essential in accomplishing our mission, we must communicate our unity together through both our words and the way we live as students. Hillsdale Christian Fellowship is not a club or an inert, Christian hang-out. We are, rather, a body of people who are moving in the same direction towards the same goal – the glory of Christ. We would like to shift the focus from unity itself to the foundation of that unity: a Christian life poured out in loving and encouraging those around us. If we truly follow the call in Colossians, to put others’ interests ahead of our own in every area of our live, we will stand together, and our unity will be yet another means God will use to preach the gospel. We DO NOT intend to sound as if no one is currently following Christ’s example in loving his neighbor, but we long to join with you and have you alongside us as we pursue and imitate Christ as believers on campus. We believe that if we continue to pour ourselves out in each of our spheres of influence and empty ourselves as Christ did (Phil. 2:7), we will not only be able to enjoy a fuller fellowship with those who love the Lord, but we will be able to increase our opportunities to share the gospel with those who do not yet love Him, and we will continue to ask in faith that they will one day come to know Him. Are we hungry for that? Are we eager for God to grow His kingdom at Hillsdale? Are we willing to ask God to pour us out until there is nothing left so that He might refill us? Are we ready to pray big prayers? He has promised to fill us with Himself.

Hillsdale is a unique place, and, to the praise of the glory of His grace, God has chosen to bless it immensely. He has brought each one of us to Hillsdale for such a time as this. We have been so encouraged by the ways God has been working in all of our lives. We are thankful that He is strengthening you even now for the coming year. We are humbled to serve alongside of you on the Vision Team. As God always works for His glory, we believe He has much work to do at Hillsdale College and would garner much fruit from our labors. This coming school year, we would love to continue working with you. If we earnestly seek Him, He will show us great and mighty things that we have yet to imagine. Oh God, may we look upon Your face and not turn away. Let’s continue to be in prayer for the freshman class, all of the returning students, faculty, and staff that He would soften hearts and draw many to Himself. Truly, Lord, not unto us, but unto the glory of Your name.

May the Lord continue to draw you closer to Himself this summer.

See you in the Fall.
In Him,
The VisionTeam
Lauren Demianiuk – ldemianiuk@hillsdale.edu
David Guthrie – dguthrie@hillsdale.edu
Zach Howard – zhoward@hillsdale.edu
Betsy Peters - epeters@hillsdale.edu