InterVarsity's Greek Ministry Reaches Out to Future Leaders
Some campus ministries have begun to reach out specifically to college students in fraternities and sororities.
Some campus ministries are reaching out specifically to college students in fraternities and sororities. Such ministry to "Greeks" is well worth the attention -- at least according to President of InterVarsity Christian Ministries, Alec Hill.
"Though these are students may lead non-Christian lives and the lifestyle of the Greek is not entirely healthy, they also tend to turn out to be strong leaders," said Hill.
The Greek alumni make up 30 percent of Fortune 500 Executives, almost half of all U.S. Presidents, 40 percent of U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and 42 percent of U.S. Senate, according to research by Intervarsity. When combined with statistics that show less than three percent of the U.S. population is Greek, the new Greek ministry strategy is to have a greater societal impact than the general campus ministry.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Students testify to the life change that the ministry has made.
One student, Joe, from Purdue University said in a news statement on InterVarsity's site: “You know, I have partied a lot, and thought that was a lot of fun, but I had no idea that being a Christian is even more fun.”
Another Purdue University student, Ken Crawford was a dogged atheist, but became a Christian after attending a conference last year.
He said, "What really changed my mind was not some intellectual thing that I heard. It was just coming to conference and seeing the real, authentic Christians and how they live and how different it could be - just to see the love that everybody had for me..."
There is a real need for the gospel to reach this particular student group, according to Hill, and oftentimes they are underserved because the tight bonds in the community leaves little room for another.
"In the past, we tried to encourage them to come to the regular chapters on campuses, but they already have their community," said Hill.
However, now InterVarsity has staff who enter the Greek houses and work exclusively with these future leaders.
"We're very excited about this," said Hill.
Since its inception, the niche ministry has expanded to having staff presence on over 20 campuses, and an additional 30 campuses are student-led. Indeed, the Greek niche ministry is one of the fastest growing outreach sectors for InterVarsity.
Their goal is to reach all 750,000 students on over 800 campuses. In addition, there are around 9 million alumni of Greek organizations.
