“ We involve students in everything we do ,” he said . “ We find that they grow best when they are not simply part of a targeted ministry , but incorporated into ministry .”
the spiritual climate on campus
who has encouraged me to go on music missionary trips , use my talent to glorify God , and to evangelize to my music colleagues ,” said He . “ Through him , I see the reflection of
Christ ’ s love to everyone , a humble attitude to reach out to people , and a genuine passion to pastor a flock of sheep for God .”
In turn , Drew said he is especially gratified when international students return to their homelands and help establish Christian communities . Likewise , in summer 2016 , four students embarked on short-term missions to far-flung corners of the globe , including one to reach out to civil war victims .
Drew also noted how he enjoys having a contingent of staff from
“ We involve students in everything we do ,” he said . “ We find that they grow best when they are not simply part of a targeted ministry , but incorporated into ministry .”
— Rev . Charlie Drew
undergraduate campus ministries who participate in his church body . “ I ’ m very grateful for the relationships ,” said Drew . “ They ’ re good friends . I just love sitting down with staff people and helping them .”
Such relationships have ushered opportunities for Drew to serve as a frequent speaker for Columbia ’ s undergraduate ministries . “ I was really , really delighted to speak at those things ,” Drew said . “ I do a lot of that kind of stuff .”
As a pastor , Drew simply wants students to become acquainted with church life and its diversity of interactions . From its base of acclaimed educational and cultural institutions , Emmanuel Presbyterian welcomes an array of students , artists , musicians , emerging professionals , and young families .
“ We ’ re learning to celebrate the kind of community that Jesus died to create ,” Drew said . “ We ’ re trying to leverage each other ’ s strengths .”
Serving a vibrant , multi-racial church is “ what Heaven is supposed to look like ,” Drew said . “ I ’ m so excited about this community because of Jesus ’ global reach .” | cu
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C O LUMB I A | On Campus
Satisfaction and the Good Life
VERITAS FORUM AT COLUMBIA PROBES DEEP QUESTIONS By Nathan Barlow , Columbia ’ 20
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c h r i s t i a n u n i o n : : t h e m a g a z i n e
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Editor ’ s note : The following article was adapted from Columbia Crown and Cross , Columbia ’ s Journal of Christian Thought ( blog post , November 28 , 2016 ). Reprinted with permission .
What is the good life ?” This was the question posed at Columbia University ’ s Fall Veritas Forum to Tim Keller , pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan , and Mark Lilla , professor of intellectual history at Columbia .
The Veritas Forum is an international organization whose campus chapters organize discussions that
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place Christianity in dialogue with other worldviews to address life ’ s big questions . In this particular forum , Keller represented a Christian perspective and Lilla represented a secular worldview . In their responses , the interlocutors were asked to draw on the examples of Socrates , Augustine , and Montaigne from Columbia ’ s undergraduate Core Curriculum . Lilla , Harvard PhD ’ 90 , answered with a pluralistic , Republic-style account of society in which the good life varies by class : soldier , citizen , sage , and saint . The choice for us as citizens is whether to allow the saint or the sage |
to inform our conduct and our conceptions of the good life . In his closing , the first glimpse at how he might think about things in his personal life , Lilla confessed that his heart lay with Augustine , but that his mind lay with Montaigne . In Keller ’ s opening , he expressed full-throated support of Augustine ’ s conception of the good life — one in which your loves are ordered properly , with God above all the rest . Getting those loves in the proper order , Keller said , leads to the maximum satisfaction of our deepest desires here on earth .
“ Boy , did you surprise me ,” Lilla
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