University Lutheran Church and Campus Center, which is located directly across the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, has taken this goal literally by restoring an old house near the church and making it the center of the campus ministry. The idea to purchase the house, which was built in 1923 and is located behind the church, came from Dr. Martin Vala, a member of the congregation and a professor at the University of Florida.
      Congregation president Howard Ladewig said, “It was a real step in faith for us because we had to borrow a significant amount of money to buy the house, but we feel that campus ministry is one of the main focal points to our mission and ministry here at University Lutheran.”
      Those involved in restoring the house knew a lot of work would need to be put into it. Martin Vala and Roger Murgatroyd devoted much of their free time to direct the project and to work on the house.
      “The idea for the house has always been to fix it up and make it available for use by the students,” Vala said. “Students are such an important part of the church.”
      Students and congregation members worked together to re-build the house, which brought a sense of community and togetherness. The house took almost a year to remodel. There were a few unexpected hang-ups, such as a termite problem, that slowed the progress.
      “It was a top to bottom project,” Murgatroyd said. “Whatever wasn’t repaired was replaced.”
      He wasn’t joking, either. The roof had to be replaced, as did most of the walls. Vinyl siding was put on the outside of the house. Heating and air conditioning units had to be installed. The bathroom was split to house two toilets and two showers. The walls that weren’t torn down were patched. The wood floors were restored. The stairs leading to the second floor were replaced. New kitchen appliances were purchased and installed. The wiring for the entire house had to be re-done, as did the foundation of the house. Needless to say, it was a big project.
      Sophomore Keith Walbolt, from Grace, Dunedin, one of the students who will be living in the house, said he enjoyed working on the project because he learned a lot about building.
      “It’s also very rewarding to be building the place where I'm going to live,” Walbolt said.
      Junior Phil Springer, from Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Clearwater, another student resident, said all the time he spent working on the house made him feel closer to his brother, Tim, the third resident.
      “I think it might also have been a way for God to help me get away from everyday stress, simply because I could sit at the house for hours and work on completing the project and feel content,” Springer said.
      Senior Lisa Hecht, from St. John’s, Winter Park, the Chairman of Campus Ministry, worked closely with the church council on the project, going to meetings and discussing the rules for the house.
      “I believe that the new student center and house will be a wonderful addition to our campus ministry program on providing us with a space of our own, away from distractions, where we can focus on fellowship and school while exploring our faith and walk with Christ at such a critical time in our lives during college,” Hecht said.

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      The purpose of the house is to be the Student Center; to be a place where students can gather for meetings or social activities, to work on homework or to just hang out in a campus ministry setting. The house is a timely addition to University Lutheran’s rapidly growing campus ministry program. Every other Sunday night there is a community dinner and each Tuesday at lunchtime the students gather for “Lunch Bunch.” Every Wednesday evening they gather for “supper and scripture,” which is a time to gather for food, fellowship and scripture study. There are also retreats, a beach retreat and a service retreat, during the year. Next year, there is an international mission service retreat being planned. One weekend a year, high school students from around Florida visit University of Florida for the Lutheran Gator Experience, which is a chance for high school students to get acquainted with University of Florida and University Lutheran Church and Campus Center. Each activity promotes fellowship between students and strengthens the ministry.
      Three “Peer Ministers,” working with Pastor Collins, plan most of the activities, but they also welcome the new students and act as a support system for the students.
      Junior Marcie Burn, from St. Armand’s, St. Armand’s Key, one of the peer ministers, said she feels being a peer minister is important because she wants everyone to know they have someone to talk to.
      “I feel it is important to make people feel like they have a home away from home here at ULC, while living the college life,” said Burn.
Senior Amber Wollner, from St. Stephen’s, Longwood, another peer minister, said she felt the same way.
      “I think it is important to make the new students feel comfortable at church and to work to bring others into the church,” Wollner said. “I want others to experience campus ministry.”

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      Two key challenges for Campus Ministry these days are funding and availability of names. “Because of all the privacy acts, we can’t get incoming Lutheran students’ names like we used too, and we have difficulty getting pastors and churches to send us the names of their students,” said Pastor Collins. “And of course our funding has dropped tremendously. If congregations and parents would just support those campus ministries where they have children and students, it would help so much. This arena of ministry is critical to the future of the ELCA because we are losing our kids at the college level to other groups who are able to afford better evangelism tools and provide better materials for ministry.”
      In addition to the University of Florida, campus ministry programs can also be found at the University of Miami, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida and six other campus ministry mission sites throughout the state.