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Campus Ministry at University of Alberta

Cara was excited about starting school at the University of Alberta, but instead she quickly felt isolated and alone. Instead of discovering God's plan for her life she was doing the same things, every day, alone—class, homework, TV, sleep, repeat.

“I went home a lot,” remembers Cara. “I did try going to church a couple of times but it turns out that for me going to church, a huge part of it, was the community. . .Because I didn’t feel that here, I didn’t go to church like I thought I was going to.”

As the Christian Reformed campus minister at the school, Rick Van Manen meets many students who have similar feelings to Cara—students who want community but aren’t sure how to get started. 

“I meet a lot of students who have one foot out of the door of the church,” says Van Manen. “One of the gifts that campus ministry offers to the church is a place where young adults can come and explore their faith in a safe space with the goal of keeping them in the church after they graduate.”

For this reason, Van Manen has tried to create several “doorways into campus ministry.” The most effective doorway has been the Last Alliance, a student group dedicated to reading and discussing the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien. 

Because Tolkien is a Catholic and because his faith is seen in his works, the conversations we have around Tolkien do invite students into conversations around faith and around worldview,” said Van Manen. “A lot of students over the years who have been part of the Last Alliance have since joined campus ministry events.”

That was also the case for Cara after her lonely first year on campus. 

“I decided it was time to start trying things and meeting people because enough was enough,” said Cara. 

Cara first joined the Last Alliance to discuss her favorite book, the Hobbit. But when she missed one of the meetings due to a busy school schedule she realized how much she was already a part of the community. 

“I was walking through campus and I heard someone calling my name, which was very shocking to me because I didn’t know anybody on campus,” said Cara. 

cara

"The fact that somebody knew me by name took me aback.”

It turned out to be the president of the Last Alliance who called her name, and she told Cara  how much she was missed at the book study. 

“That was a real turning point for me and that’s when I really started to feel welcome,” said Cara. “I started to feel like that was my new community and my new group of friends.”

Cara continued being a part of the Last Alliance into graduate school and also served as the group’s president for two years. The Last Alliance also became a place where Cara discovered other groups to join, including Van Manen’s Christian fellowship group. 

“I started to re-evaluate my faith and revisit that in a way that’s encouraged me to go back to church and to start to be a more spiritual person,” said Cara. 

Van Manen adds that the discussions around Tolkien's works ultimately bring them a sense of hope, as this is a theme of most of his works. 

“University can at times be a very hopeless place,” he said. “To have a group of students gather together to read Tolkien to discuss these kinds of issues has a very positive impact on their university life.” 

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