1955-Present

Judson Fellowship, Northern Illinois University

DeKalb, Illinois IL

The Baptist Campus Ministry at Northern Illinois University is known to the university by its organizational name, Judson Fellowship. It was begun in the mid-fifties as a Sunday School class and supper club at First Baptist Church in DeKalb but in 1962 John and Ruth Peterson were called as campus ministers to lead the program located in a house at 433 Normal Road.  The current facility for Judson Fellowship was built in 1981 and is located at 449 Normal Road in DeKalb.  The Petersons served for 37 years as campus ministers and at the program’s peak, “we were reaching a couple hundred students a week when you counted everything we were doing—two services on Sunday, coffee houses, midweek Judson, classes, graduate fellowship monthly dinners, special Judson events, etc.”[1]

Judson Fellowship programming is “church-based but not a church”.[2] Worship is currently held as “Dinner Church” on Sunday evening at 5:30 consisting of a meal and worship around the tables. American Baptist Women from the Great Rivers Region graciously provide the paper goods for the meal. There is a Wednesday Bible study at 7 pm and a popular game night on Fridays. The African-American Bible study begun by Judson Fellowship resulted in the formation of the New Hope Baptist Church in DeKalb.

For decades there has been a Bible study in Chinese that continues each week with 40-50 Chinese students attending each session.  Network of Nations hosts a weekly dinner for international students in the Baptist campus ministry building. Mission trips to such places as Puerto Rico, Washington, DC, Oklahoma and work with Habitat for Humanity are a part of the annual calendar. Judson Fellowship continues to help with Welcome Week each August as new students move into the residence halls.

Unique moments in the history of Judson Fellowship include a period when the men’s basketball coach for NIU was named Rob Judson and the coach and the Fellowship received emails from persons trying to contact the other.  After graduating from Judson University, Jamaican pianist Huntley Brown did his graduate work at NIU and helped position the Judson Fellowship as a central player in Christian music. In 1986, Northern Illinois University was selected by the Burma Studies Group of the Association for Asian Studies to be the national Center for Burma Studies thus creating a unique opportunity for the Judson Fellowship to reconnect the Judson heritage to Burma.

The Board which directs the work of Judson Fellowship is made up of an NIU faculty member, NIU student, NIU alum, a representative of New Hope Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of DeKalb plus other interested Christians. The campus minister, Zach Dyrda, began in that role in 2014 and also serves as pastor of the Faith Connection congregation in Wilton Center, Illinois. Many of the students participating in the Judson Fellowship ministry are the “church-hurt” who want another chance to deepen their faith.[3]

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[1] Quote from John Peterson email, March 25, 2015. 

[2] Phone conversation with Rick Gibbons, NIU campus minister, 1998-2003, November 11, 2022.

[3] Phone conversation with Zach Dyrda, NIU campus minister, 2014-2016, 2018 to present, November 16, 2022.

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