InterVarsity Holds First Conference in New St. Louis Location

More than 1,300 staff and staff spouses from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship made their way to St. Louis, Missouri from campuses across the country for InterVarsity’s triennial Staff Conference.

By Kenneth Chan, Monday, January 17, 2005

More than 1,300 staff and staff spouses from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship made their way to St. Louis, Missouri from campuses across the country for InterVarsity’s triennial Staff Conference. Beginning on Jan. 5, the ministry's staff and staff spouses gathered for five days of fellowship and discussion, and to grapple with God’s Mission in the world, in the culture, and on the campus.

The conference, themed “Missio Dei”—the Latin phrase that means God’s Mission—was InterVarsity’s first visit en masse to its new home away from home since InterVarsity announced in October that it was moving its Urbana Student Mission Convention in 2006 from the campus of the University of Illinois to the Edward Jones dome in St. Louis.

However, InterVarsity reports that even before October’s Urbana announcement, it had been renewing its commitment to connect with St. Louis area churches as “a partner in ministry with churches to reach the campus community.”

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On Friday night of the conference, InterVarsity president Alec Hill casted his vision for the future, reminding the ministry's staff that the purpose of InterVarsity is to Love God, Reach the University and Develop World Changers, .

As he laid out his priorities for the future of our ministry, Hill used the message to challenge InterVarsity to expand its ministry so that its presence would be found on more than just one quarter of U.S. college campuses.

According to InterVarsity, every three years since 1946, the Urbana convention has challenged college students to a life-long commitment to the Great Commission, making it the longest running collegiate Christian conference in the U.S..

InterVarsity’s 2006 Urbana conference, slated for Dec. 27-31, 2006, is expected to bring over 20,000 college-age men and women from across the U.S. to St. Louis.