The new Center for Christian Service and Leadership began one of its first initiatives, Mission Week, in Chapel on Monday. The goal of Mission Week is to drive students to think about who they are and who they will become.

Dr. Jan Meyer, director of the CCSL and assistant dean of Leadership Development, spearheaded much of the week’s planning.

“ACU Mission Week is not about missions; it’s about being a mission keeper,” Meyer said.

Five speakers will speak in Chapel this week about what it means to be a mission keeper. They will educate students on reconciling their academic and spiritual endeavors in order to fulfill God’s calling.

“One of the largest benefits is that you get to see people that are living out what it means to be a mission keeper,” said Jen Rogers, director of Student Ministries. “They do it in such a variety of ways.”

The speakers’ discussions will be based on the development of faith in stages. The idea of faith stages comes from the writings of Henri Nouwen.

Rogers said the CCSL wants to challenge students to pursue quality over quantity.

“Solitude to ministry is biblical,” she said. “We want to get students to start here…to start in a time of solitude, to have their identity shaped by God, then to celebrate and fellowship with others and then move out to ministry.”

It is this kind of thinking that Meyer said will help students become mission keepers.

“The idea is, you need to know who you are in God first,” Meyer said.

Ben Word, junior political science and missions major from Dallas, agrees that developing one’s Christian mission is a necessity during college.

“It’s hard to be in this setting and not do any type of ministry and then expect that to come later in life,” Word said.

In addition to regularly scheduled Chapels, Mission Week includes a Chapel forum Thursday at 7 p.m. with Donna Stone in Room 114 of the Biblical Studies Building. For more information, go to http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl.