Toast Tuesdays and lasting bonds mark 100 years of Presbyterian campus ministry at University of Oregon
Former students gather to celebrate a century of faith formation as ministry enters new era with fresh name and mission for current generation
When Jennifer Daniels wants to connect with students at the University of Oregon, she doesn't start with theology — she starts with toast.
“Last winter, I thought that maybe the smell of toast might bring in the students for coffee and snack,” Daniels, the current director of the UKirk campus ministry at the University of Oregon, told alumni gathered Nov. 9 to celebrate the ministry’s 100th anniversary. “By the end of winter term, students were asking if we could keep making toast through the spring, and now we have Toast Tuesday as a regular activity.”
The simple weekly gathering exemplifies Daniels’ approach to reaching a new generation. “Something I’ve learned since I’ve been on campus with the students is that our message needs to be gentle, but it needs to be very clear,” she said. “I won’t mis-advertise anything. If it’s a Bible study, it’s a Bible study, and if it’s a Toast Tuesday, it’s just toast.”
That clarity matters to students who “have reservations” about faith communities, Daniels explained. “Many of the students have seen Christians on TV. They're also a generation that wants to know what's behind the screen.”
The anniversary celebration, held at the university's Ford Alumni Center, drew alumni, board members, presbytery leaders and friends to honor a ministry that has shaped countless lives since 1925. Tables decorated in university colors featured timelines where guests added memories, while old photo albums revealed decades of fellowship.
Among the speakers was Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, a deputy director of the Interim Unified Agency of the PC(USA), who credited his undergraduate years at what was then called the Koinonia Center with transforming his life trajectory.
“This was where I developed deep lifelong bonds, where I experienced true community,” Schlosser-Hall said. He spoke about the critical work of discernment that can happen during the college years and the support he received from campus pastors for that formative grappling. He encouraged supporters of the current program to stay engaged, reminding them how valuable this work is and how far-reaching the effects are.
“One of the most significant things that happened was kind of a deep vocational exploration,” Schlosser-Hall said, noting the table of friends who joined him — including his wife, the Rev. Adrienne Schlosser-Hall — all connected through campus ministry. “What happened through this campus ministry is we were not only given permission but also encouragement to explore: What does it mean to be a human in the world? What does it mean to be a human that’s trying to follow our Lord and Savior?”
He described how campus ministry became “a place of belonging that could be a place that you could launch from with some boldness because you knew you were valued.” The community celebrated his engagement and wedding and, decades later, sang at his daughter’s wedding. “It’s just become such a community of remarkable belonging that it’s shifted our lives in significant, meaningful ways.”
Schlosser-Hall recalled a pivotal moment when campus pastor the Rev. Tom Hager announced his departure. After emotional farewells, Hager told students, “I hope you'll honor what we’ve done today, and I hope you’ll be different.” That phrase became Schlosser-Hall's “really important, simple mantra in life. Can we remember? Can we honor and can we be different?”
The Rev. Dr. Liz Leavitt, the current board president who served as co-chair of Presbyterian Collegiate Ministry from 2012 to 2015, traced the ministry's evolution through its names. Originally Westminster House, it became the Koinonia Center in 1969. “Our little Presbyterian campus ministry has also always been a place where we can try new things in service to the gospel,” she said.
After months of discernment, the board decided the Greek term “Koinonia” no longer resonated with students unfamiliar with church. “We grappled with that for a while and eventually decided that something more identifiable would help us communicate who and what we are,” Leavitt said. Beginning this fall, the ministry is known as Compass Campus Ministry.
“It’s the same welcome we've spent 100 years offering, just a new identity that fits a new century,” Leavitt explained, distributing small compass tokens as reminders “that God is with you too, just as God has been in this ministry all these years.”
The celebration included greetings from the Rev. Paul Belz-Templeman, stated clerk for the Presbytery of the Cascades, and comedy from alumnus Tyler Boeh. Three former campus pastors were honored: the Revs. Tiare Mathison, Ann Bowersox and Jennifer Martin. Ed Willson of Central Presbyterian Church received special recognition for 17 years of board service. The Rev. Dr. Gini Norris-Lane, executive director of UKirk Collegiate Ministries nationwide, also attended.
Daniels outlined new programming, including an open music night partnering with the university's music school and Sunday evening dinners with casual worship. She encouraged supporters to view campus ministry as “a new startup” experimenting with approaches. “When one approach works, we celebrate it. Sometimes they don't work. We just try different things.”
Leavitt closed with prayer: “We thank you for the thousands of lives that have been touched over the last century through the campus ministry’s consistent outreach, its faithful witness, its generous sharing, its caring fellowship and its message of hope. ... We ask that you might equip us in the best ways in the years ahead, to meet those needs, to answer questions and to welcome with open arms all those who might seek you.”
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