Friends, it’s been a real whirlwind of a month! I am now officially four weeks into this new role, and I have to tell you: I love it! As many of you know, coming to TLU was coming home for me, and being able to occupy this space, walk alongside its students, and minister to this community is a dream come true. I have encountered beloved professors, old alumni friends who are now faculty/staff, and a community that is somehow both totally different and exactly the same as the one I left 13 years ago. It has been a blessing to step into this role.
That does not mean that everything here is easy, or that there is not work to be done. While our amazing interims did a fantastic job of caring for this campus community, the truth is that none of them had the time—nor were they expected to make the time—to be and do all that this ministry entails. Now, we are able to begin the process of re-building campus ministry and dreaming together about where God is calling us to go. As many of you know, this is a slow work when done right, and work that is never done in a vacuum.
And this is where you, your congregations, and your communities come in. As we gather students, faculty, staff, and alumni to engage in the task of visioning, I’d as for your prayers, your support, and your engagement. Ask God to clear the way into the future for us, that lives might be changed and the gospel might be proclaimed powerfully. Spend some time in discernment about how you can actively show the love of Christ to the students here at Texas Lutheran University. And, if you feel so called, reach out to me so that we might dream together about how God will use this community to heaven unfold and break out around us in miraculous ways.
Finally, please know that I am praying for you as well. If there is something that I specifically or TLU Campus Ministry can do to support your mission and ministry, please let me know. I am convinced that the God who binds us together is ready and willing to use us in ridiculously amazing ways, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
May God’s grace be with you, and may heaven itself break open around you today.
Rev. Wes Cain, TLU Campus Pastor