Plus One

Erika grew up in a family with deep Lutheran roots, where going to church every Sunday was the norm. When she went to college at Oregon State University, it was only natural that she sought out the Lutheran campus ministry.
Kevin began to explore faith on his own as a teen. “I church-shopped in high school,” he says, “and ended up at the Lutheran church and youth group.” When he got to college, he did the same thing. Faced with many choices of Christian groups to join, he turned to his high school youth pastor for advice. “He told me to choose the group that I would be comfortable bringing other people to. And that was the Lutheran one. They weren’t flashy or hip, but it was the place that was comfortable and where everyone was welcome.”
That’s the story of how they met at Lutheran campus ministry at Oregon State in 2014. Kevin and Erika were married in 2018 and have since lived all over the country, traveling to support each other’s further education and career goals. Soon after Erika completed her Master’s in Occupational Therapy, Kevin was accepted into the PhD program in Bioengineering at the University of Washington, and it was time to move again. This time, they were headed to Seattle. They knew what they needed next: community. So just like he did as an undergraduate, Kevin checked out the different campus ministries. He found Lutheran Campus Ministry at UW through our website and emailed Pastor Chelsea, asking if graduate students were welcome. And, he wondered, would Erika be welcome too, even though she was no longer a student? And of course, the answer was yes! 

“I was thankful there were no expectations, especially as a grad student,” Kevin reflected. “You spend most of your time with people in the same program or lab. While everyone is great, you end up comparing yourself to others. At campus ministry, no one cared how many papers I published. I could just relax.” Erika concurred: “In both groups, as an undergrad and as a ‘plus one young adult,’ there was space and time to get to know people and breathe.”

Community is exactly what they found at Lutheran Campus Ministry. “Campus ministry was the first time in a faith community that I connected on a community level,” said Kevin.“In other church experiences, you go, you sing, it’s about Jesus… That’s great, but it’s very individual. Campus ministry is all your peers. That’s very impactful. It loops your faith in with community. It’s not just something you do on the inside.”

 Now, Erika and Kevin have moved again, this time to Boston for a post-graduate study program. And of course, right away they looked up their closest Lutheran congregation. But they aren’t done with Lutheran Campus Ministry yet. Kevin just began serving on our Board of Directors. “It felt like a cool way to be connected with the ministry still,” he says. “Campus ministry is unique because the members of the group don’t have the capacity to lead and contribute like in a congregation. When I was a student, people were there behind the scenes making it happen. I want to pay that back.”

Kevin and Erika are also among our most faithful donors. “We donate as a conscious effort because for the past ten years, campus ministry has been our primary congregation,” Erika explains. “I was raised with the idea of regular and consistent tithes. Also, the ministry gave a lot to me and has been an incredible resource to me, so it’s a natural place to put our resources into now. If someone can get one small amount of benefit that I have got, than that money is well spent.”
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Your faithful giving enables us to provide community and faith formation for young adults like Erika and Kevin during these big life transitions. Thank you!