On November 16, 2015, the Lake Union Conference appointed Pastor Israel Ramos to serve as its Public Campus Ministry Coordinator. The invitation was extended upon the recommendation of conference presidents and youth directors after an increasing interest in this ministry by the Adventist Church at all levels. Israel Ramos is the first to serve in union-level Public Campus Ministry leadership since no other North American union has appointed this type of position before. The hope is that other unions will follow suit in the near future.
Michigan Conference remains the only conference in North America with a full-fledge Public Campus Ministries Department which also oversees the Center for Adventist Ministry to Public University Students or CAMPUS. Israel Ramos, Andy Im, Justin Kim, and Sikhu Daco oversee the department and CAMPUS, which has a Missionary Training Program that has been running since 1999. CAMPUS recently launched a Ministerial Residency that trains future ministers in leading University Churches or UCHURCH–congregations near public campuses that view college ministry as a primary objective. In the last three years, three of its residents have been hired as pastors.
The appointment to the Lake Union comes at a crucial time for CAMPUS, the Lake Union, and Public Campus Ministry in general. With an influx of public campus ministry practitioners, CAMPUS has been working on developing a structure for Public Campus Ministry that is uniquely Adventist. It has also taken steps towards beefing up Adventist Apologetics to strengthen the faith of Adventist students on college campuses and also as a form of evangelism for intellectually inclined students. Additionally, for several years, CAMPUS has been working on a Bible Commentary project designed to intuitively integrate with the lives and lifestyle of students.
With the new appointment, the possibility exists to further test these resources with a wider audience and to eventually produce a final product that will really advance Adventism on secular campuses.
CAMPUS looks forward to future possibilities for preparing public campuses for the imminent return of Christ.
