by Valerie Pors
Changes to the student leadership structure, effective fall 2016, are designed to strengthen spiritual leadership and increase spiritual opportunities for students at Liberty University through the new Office of LU Shepherds.
Student Shepherds will have weekly meetings with one of eight LU Shepherds who will provide accountability, ongoing training and mentoring to the 241 Student Shepherds, Dr. David Wheeler, executive director of the Center for Ministry Training and executive director for the new Office of LU Shepherds, said. Student Shepherds will also have personal access to the assistant director of the Office of LU Shepherds, who functions almost as a “ninth Shepherd,” via weekly training meetings, Wheeler said.
“We are beginning this venture with a smaller staff, but we anticipate it growing in the future as the demand grows,” Wheeler said.
In recent years, added responsibilities have left Resident Assistants struggling to train Spiritual Life Coaches (now Student Shepherds), who functioned almost as “assistants” instead of equal spiritual leaders, Wheeler said. Moving the training of the Student Shepherds under the Office of LU Shepherds allows Resident Assistants to focus on administrative leadership and pouring spiritually into the students on their halls. Resident Assistants and Student Shepherds will operate collaboratively on an equal level, but will fall under different departments with different focuses, Wheeler said.
Another change involves the Campus Pastors Office, currently located in Green Hall, moving to Dorm 17 on main campus. Now students will not have to wait or walk long distances to access pastoral counseling for minor counseling needs, classes, Bible studies and more. Professional counselors will remain under the Dean of Students Office in Green Hall to address major counseling needs such as suicide, Wheeler said.
Campus Pastors have always been available at Convocation, but a disconnect has existed because students do not really know them, Lauren Rust, senior and Student Shepherd for fall 2016, said.
“I think that Liberty has been growing at such a fast pace, numbers-wise, that it’s a good time to stop and reevaluate and look at Liberty’s structure and really strengthen the inside,” Rust said.
“It’s not that it wasn’t working,” Wheeler told the Liberty Champion. “It’s the fact that we can make it better. … The whole point of this is to do the best thing for the student.”
Benefits to student leaders include:
- More opportunity for direct training, accountability and mentoring
Benefits to the student body include:
- Well-equipped leaders on the halls
- Closer and faster access to Campus Pastors Office
- More time with Resident Assistants
The above story was written by a student journalist at Liberty University for a class project.
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