• Relationships made in heaven through the flawed contortions of human beings •
[6 MIN READ]
It might partly be about organizations, a campus ministry, or individual leaders, but confusion is that much more pronounced when they all converge.
Coalition for Christian Outreach
Campus-ministry organizations have become familiar Christian service partners since the middle of the 20th century when well-known evangelical ones like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), and Navigators came into existence.
Read more: Cawthon, Tony, and Camilla Jones. “A Description of Traditional and Contemporary Campus Ministries.” The College of Student Affairs Journal, Special Issue on Faith, Spirituality, and Religion on Campus, v. 23, no. 2, 2004, pp. 158-172. Description: This article examines campus ministries. It provides an overview of both traditional and contemporary campus ministry organizations as well as a discussion of the value of both types.
The essential concept is that staff members join their respective organizations which then strategically assign them to campuses of higher education to invite students into Christian faith and provide spiritual instruction and mentorship. These staff members raise their own salary support by inviting financial donors to contribute to their work through those employers. This means the organizations partner with supporting individuals, families, and even businesses.
CCO’s model is a little different because it partners financially with local churches to support CCO staff members in tandem (iCandybyWangC.com and elsewhere unless otherwise specified). Those churches work in tandem with CCO in assigning the staff member to a locally accessible campus.
So this is the essence of the confusion: A campus club is led by volunteers who are employed outside the university by an independent organization that works with local churches. Each entity has its own independent accountability and authorization.
Following is more about the contortion at the campus club level.
Arcadia Christian Fellowship
• The Affairs of ACF • The Ministerial Leadership •
ACF is an official club of Arcadia University (suburban Philadelphia, PA [ArcadiaUniversity.org]), a non-sectarian (though founded as Presbyterian), non-profit, accredited institution of higher education (IHE). It receives funding from AU and—by at least one telling (though unsubstantiated)—is the best funded of its clubs.
For ACF to be an official club, it must have a board comprising registered undergraduates and it must have an advisor from among its employed staff. Technically, a partnering Christian-ministry organization like CCO only serves ACF on campus because the club’s board members authorize it.
ACF doesn’t require anyone from outside to provide spiritual support. Some private IHE retain salaried staff to provide spiritual leaders like chaplains. AU is not one of those.
As an aside, institutional clubs benefit from the spiritual guidance campus-ministry organizations can provide, particularly when those organizations have preferred biblical, doctrinal convictions. Newman House as a Roman Catholic ministry comes to mind. ACF embraces no official doctrinal orientation but leans protestant evangelical.
These contortions aren’t about ACF club itself — the Affairs of ACF aren’t that confusing — they’re about the connections and coordination among all the organizations involved.
The Affairs of ACF
The contortions become more clear (so to speak) upon consideration of the various Ministerial Leaders who have multiple affiliations across overlapping but independent organizations, including specific churches.
2026-2027 Ministerial Leadership
Calvin
I joined the staff of CCO on 15 February 2026 from my 8-month-old previous role as a volunteer (iCandybyWangC.com). My part-time status is at 30% of full-time: 12 hours/week. (Learn about becoming an organizational partner and donor through Calvin Wang @ CCO [iCandybyWangC.com].)
Read more: iCandybyWangC.com Author
I have been a member of Philadelphia Chinatown’s Chinese Christian Church and Center (C4) since 1989, when my wife and I first moved to the area as new professionals (CCCnC.org).
I was an official AU employee for 17 years—as the Sciences librarian—beginning in 2005 and ending in 2022. During the majority of that time, I was the institutional staff advisor to the ACF club. I would occasionally attend fellowship meetings and provide institutional and some spiritual guidance.
Read more: Emotional, Social, and Spiritual Support – The role of many in my journey
Go to Ministerial Leadership list
Nancy
Nancy Bower (@ CCO) converted from a CCO volunteer to a staff member on 1 June 2026. Although she is not financially partnered with a local church, she is a member of Bridge Community Church, Erdenheim, PA.
Go to Ministerial Leadership list
Meesh
There is a non-CCO volunteer who is affiliated with another local church. Meesh Yardumian (Michelle @ NLD) is on the staff of New Life Dresher—a church plant of NLC—where she also worships.
If you could make sense of all that, with its multitude of accountabilities and connections, congratulations. If you couldn’t, it’s okay. Someday, there might be a graphic representation that helps to illustrate the whole deal with a lot of overlapping circles.
The copyright for all pictures belongs to Arcadia University, Coalition for Christian Outreach and New Life Dresher. They are used as a condition of the Fair Use Doctrine of US Copyright Law.
Explore more
2025-2026 Ministerial Leadership
Go up one level
2026’07’27’M: Updated and revised
2026’03’28’S: Updated (“Activities,” “Admonition,” & “Drama” [links])
2026’03’27’F: Updated (Ministerial Leadership [heading date])
2026’03’27’F: Updated Noah [block], reading duration
2026’02’25’W: Updated (Calvin details)
2025’09’11’R: Published
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