MU and Stephens College boast 60 religious organizations on their campuses. Having these options offers students a diverse forum in which to practice their beliefs.

One group offered on the MU campus is Young Life, one of the few non-denominational religious organizations on campus that gives college students the opportunity to work with students at seven high schools around the area.

In the fall, Young Life has a 10-week leadership training program. After training, the students can apply to become Young Life leaders. The training process starts with about 45 students; about 20 become Young Life leaders each year.

There are about 70 Young Life leaders in the area, most from MU. Teams are assigned to a high school or junior high school. This team meets for a weekly leadership meeting to plan activities, and it also leads a Wednesday club night at its assigned school.

Activities include singing and skits. Then, one leader will talk about life and experiences involving a message from the Bible. Neal said they keep the Bible messages simple.

“We try as hard as we can to make it an environment where anyone would feel welcome,” said Luke Neal, area director for Young Life.

An average of 60 students per school attend club nights, and the leaders will also attend some of the after-school activities, such as sporting events, to continue their relationship with the students at their high schools. Not all of the kids whom the leaders work with go to the club nights.

“It’s a relationship-based organization, not a program-based organization,” Neal said.

Young Life is not the only MU religious organization that enables students to form relationships. Campus Crusade for Christ has a “family night” activity every other Tuesday that is a casual get-together meant to foster relationship-building among group members.

“It is meant to build a community of all the students,” said Kris Klinkerman, president of Campus Crusade for Christ.

This chapter of the international organization is an interdenominational ministry made up of around 100 students and a full-time staff of 16 adults. Groups of students help run the organization. For example, one of the groups of students is in charge of service activities, such as helping the local food bank or setting up teams to be sent on alternative spring breaks to New Orleans or Mexico City.

Campus Crusade for Christ also offers students a weekly meeting and weekly Bible studies in the dorms, where a student leader from the organization will lead a group of five to 10 students. Klinkerman said its goal is to have a weekly Bible study in every dorm on campus. The organization also offers international opportunities for students.

Klinkerman, an MU junior, said that being involved in the MU chapter gives students the opportunities to do missionary work anywhere in the world. He spent his first MU summer in Alaska and his second summer in Asia through Campus Crusade for Christ.

“It is a great way to see the world and just kind of explore,” Klinkerman said. “There is no experience like it, to just focus on God for a summer.”

Even if students are not in these international projects, they can still be involved in the activities at MU. The main goal of these students is to share their belief and experiences with those around them.

“We are a group of students who believe in Jesus and want to share our joy with other students,” Klinkerman said.

These same kinds of camaraderie goals are also seen through the Christian Outreach Fellowship at Stephens College.

“The organization is a fellowship to support students as they reach out to other students,” said Janet Elmore, coordinator of the Christian Outreach program.

This interdenominational group is one of the three religious groups at Stephens College. Rebecca Stith, the director of leadership and programming at Stephens, said that some students get involved with groups on the MU campus as well.

The Christian Outreach program of 15 to 20 students is involved in Bible studies on Wednesday evenings and cooperative chapel service with the Wesleyan organization on Tuesdays afternoons. Other activities offered for students are social events, such as making Valentine’s Day cards for local veterans or the end-of-the-semester relaxation social gathering around finals week.

For a list of the activities offered on each campus, go to:

MU- http://religionnews.typepad.com/religiouslifemu/; Stephens College-www.stephens.edu/campuslife/activities/