What Do We Call Ourselves?

Campus Ministers. Ministry on, to, and with a campus is a good description of what we do. In usual PC(USA) circles, a campus minister is someone who is engaged in ministry on a college or university campus. Campus Ministers are usually further designated as an organization-based campus minister or a congregation-based campus ministry, depending on the source of funding. College students acting as peer ministers can also be called Campus Ministers. Sometimes high school ministry is classified as campus ministry, so there could be some confusion as well as devaluation of the term.

In congregational structure, the campus minister might be called the Associate or Assistant (Pastor) for Campus Ministry. If the title is Young Adult Ministry or Student Ministry, the congregation’s mission to college students is not clearly indicated.

Chaplains. Chaplains exercise ministry from within a higher education institution. That is, they are an employee and being paid by the institution. Some denominations also call folks serving as campus ministers “chaplains.” Chaplains are engaged in campus ministry. The official title for some chaplains is Campus Minister, Minister to the Campus, Minister to Students, Director of Religious Life, or Dean of the Chapel.

Higher Education Ministers is also generally correct term, but infrequently used these days. Higher Education ministry connotes a previous time in which the denomination’s resources, staff, and interest in ministry on campus was high(er). “Higher Education” indicates the whole academic enterprise (that is, students, faculty, and staff), while campus ministry seems more focused on students. I don’t know any campus ministers who think that ministry to faculty and staff is NOT also part of their responsibility, though, it’s just that students are their priority.

Collegiate Ministers. This is an umbrella term which encompasses those serving as campus ministers as well as chaplains and higher education ministers. To some it might sound wordy, even academic, but it is inclusive. The denomination replaced the term “Higher Education Ministries” with “Collegiate Ministries” during some reorganization at the end of 2003.