100 years of Campus Ministry
This continues a series marking 100 years of campus ministry. One objective of the Oklahoma Conference’s Strategic Plan is to reach more younger people.
 As an OCU student in 2007, Lance McDaniel volunteers on a Wesley Center mission team serving in an area hit by Hurricane Katrina.
By LANCE McDANIEL
The college ministry at Oklahoma City University was a spiritual game changer for me.
I had grown up Methodist, but left the church for several years when I moved. I had become worn out by so-called Christians spending so much time judging, building walls, and excluding others from God’s grace instead of inviting them to experience the radically inclusive nature of God’s love.
The student Bible study at OCU helped change my mind. Through the staff and students, I opened my heart to the Word. I stopped listening to all of the negativity and started focusing on reading the Bible.
Each week, I joined 12-20 students and staff, working together toward a better understanding of God’s plan by reading and discussing the Bible.
I am now a full-fledged member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. I am involved in a great Sunday School class and several outreach activities. I am grateful for my loving, supportive family and my new church family.
And I will always be grateful to the students and ministers at the OCU Student Ministry for creating a light so bright it led me back home to God.
(This article was written for the 2013 Annual Conference. At OCU, McDaniel earned a master’s in film. He directs the deadCENTER Film Festival.)
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