The spiritual hum of the residential halls is a bit different than what you might find or expect to find on other Christian campuses. For starters, CUI does not require new students to sign any type of belief statement in order to be admitted into the university. What that means is that you don’t have to be a Christian to go here. For Christians who come here that tends to be a bit of a culture shock to them. Yes the heartbeat of the university is centered on Christ, but recall that Christ called his disciples to be disciples out in the messiness of the world. Sure CUI is about training up Christian leaders who will seek to fulfill the great commission (Matt. 28:19-20) through their various vocations when they graduate, but the beauty of being a part of a place like Concordia is that the Christian fulfillment of being “salt and light” (Matt. 5:13-17) happens now, wherever you find yourself, as well as in the future. So this means that you will have an opportunity to fulfill that great commission as part of your life together with others at this university.
The beauty of being a part of a place like Concordia is that the Christian fulfillment of being “salt and light” happens now, wherever you find yourself, as well as in the future.
This is also where I come in. My name is Jonathan Ruehs, and I am the Residential Coordinator of Spiritual Life in abbey west, which is the campus ministry arm of CUI. Part of my role in abbey west is to provide a missional presence within the residential halls, which is why my family and I have the joy and privilege of living amongst students on campus. Being missional means being relational, because it is in the context of the relationship in which trust is built and Jesus is shared. It is also my hope that in being a role model in this context that I am able to guide and equip Christian students to do the same in their own context within the residence halls. In this way I am helping students fulfill their calling to make disciples in the here and now as well as provide a training ground for them to learn missional skills for the future.