In addition to valuing mentoring and academic integration as a professor, I’ve also learned a new concept called the “ministry of presence.” I learned it from a young student of mine.
On the day my father died, this dear student taught me the power of “faithful presence” when he drove many miles through terrible weather just to be “present.” I was having a hard time and his being present—just physically being there to support me—meant so much to me.
Now I’m learning to practice it with others.
Being Present Where They Are
Recently, my wife and I attended a surprise party for a non-Christian colleague. The couple were so pleased and commented on how we “traveled all that way” to see them. Realizing the power of being present, I began surprising my students by attending their athletic events, performances, and special ceremonies. I’ve learned that being there with students—as my ministry of presence—would matter to them as it had mattered and still matters to me.
I now tell my classes, “If you are performing anywhere publicly, let me know, whether it’s a sporting event, a ballet, or even a funeral, let me know. I want to see you in action.”
Over the course of the last decade, I’ve attended countless baseball, tennis, soccer, gymnastics, basketball, softball, and lacrosse matches. I attended just to be there, to be present. I’ve even received special invitations—to an Army commissioning, to weddings, and to new births in the hospital.
There I am, just present.
Yes, it’s a sacrifice of time, but it’s a great eternal investment into the lives of others.
I attend all these events because I want to communicate to my students that I have their best interest at heart. I’ve declared openly a terrifying statement to students: “I know you get tired of hearing this from all your professors, but I love you!”
It’s ironic, of course, because a professor never says this, but I know that these students need to know that someone loves them, and I fear that few hear it enough.
Inviting Them to Be Present Where I am
To back up my statement that I care about them, around mid-semester, I invite all my students to my home for pizza, dessert, a movie, and a discussion. Being present with students in my home has been so wonderful. At this pizza night, I’ll have students anonymously write down a fact about themselves on a slip of paper. I draw these out of a bowl, read them aloud, and then we all try to guess who wrote that fact. It’s really fun, and we get to know one another.
After this game, I give a short speech about the important things in college and in life. I give a brief personal testimony and end by encouraging them not just to develop their intellectual selves, but their spiritual selves as well.
I thought I was most interested in the challenge of research all these years, but really, my ministry of presence and loving students has become one of the greatest joys and hardest work of my career.
I never saw that coming.
Phil Bishop
University of Alabama