1952-Present
Judson Fellowship, Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois IL
The University Baptist Foundation at Illinois State University was organized in 1952 and by the early 1960’s was operating as the Judson Fellowship. This enduring ministry is currently housed in the Campus Religious Center built in 1969 and shared with the Lutheran Student Ministries and the New Covenant Community. The Board which runs this building is made up of five representatives from each of the three groups that own the building.
This stack pole ministry event was originally held on Sunday evening with the help of local congregations and American Baptist Women’s Ministries providing a meal before a time of worship. But student habits changed and fewer and fewer were on campus early on Sunday evening. Currently the community meal is enjoyed on Monday evenings with a Thursday Dinner Church, worship and discussion held around the tables after the meal.
The Judson Fellowship has grown to the point the Baptist students are now a minority with “nones” and curious Catholics making the majority of participants. There is also a strong group of international students and Black students involved in the Sunday and Thursday programming. They are attracted to the Monday night worship event because that service is billed across campus as Agape Judson Fellowship and students who know not Judson probably do know Agape. Mission trips have long been a part of the ministry of Judson Fellowship with notable involvements in New Orleans, Memphis, Washington, DC and with Habitat for Humanity.
The present campus minister is Dr. Phil Grizzard, a graduate of the Judson Fellowship at ISU, assumed this role from veteran Jan Hazecamp upon her retirement in 2009. The Board is mainly made up of regional church members with an interest in campus ministry. Funding for Judson Fellowship at ISU comes from the Shurtleff Foundation and local congregations all channeling their gifts through the ABC Great Rivers Region.[1]
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[1] Phone conversation with Philip Grizzard, ISU campus minister, November 17, 2022.