College basketball, memories, and my ministry internship in Athens, Ohio
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I’ve called March the most wonderful time of the world since I started this humble little blog more than a decade ago. The craziness of March’s basketball games is enough to make it my favorite time of year. But the memories this craziness evokes?
Oh, man.
It’s golden.
Every March, I remember sitting around our family’s TV set. I didn’t really know much about the ins and outs of basketball when we watched the Hoosiers take on Syracuse for the national title. But, ooooh boy, when Keith Smart made The Shot…I became a college basketball fan for life.
I remember watching the Other Shot with my friends and celebrating that KY was no longer in the tournament, even though I was not a fan of Duke. Or Christian Laetner.
March reminds me of my first visit to Milligan College …er… University. It also reminds me of when Aiden was a toddler and couldn’t stop laughing at me when I cheered for the Hoosiers against Duke. And, of course, it makes me think of the night Aly was born (because the madness extends into April).
I still get chills whenever I hear One Shining Moment. I might even shed the occasional tear. And whenever Oregon State happens to play in the tournament, I can’t help but think of Reed Crafton, the Aces, and their stunning upset.
Special times. Fun memories.
Along that same vein, whenever the Ohio University Bobcats make some noise in the tournament, it reminds me of a special summer I had in Athens, Ohio.
My summer in Athens, Ohio
One of the requirements for my major at Milligan College University was to serve in an internship in a church or parachurch ministry. Working closely with a campus ministry in addition to serving on the staff in a local church, I had the privilege of serving in Athens, Ohio, between my second and third senior semesters at Milligan. It’s not hyperbole to say it was a life-changing experience.
It’s because of my fond internship memories that my heart always jumps for joy when the Ohio University Bobcats are successful in the men’s basketball tournament.* I think of all of the wonderful moments that happened during those short months. And I celebrate the people who helped shape me during that time.
Here’s just a glimpse of what was packed into those few short months.
My internship with Reach Out on Campus (R.O.C.) at Ohio University
If you really want to get a hands-on experience with a campus ministry at a major university, it makes sense to be part of that ministry during the school year. Right? I mean, you want to be there while the students are there. It just makes sense.
And the students really aren’t there during the summer.
So you could say I missed out a little bit on the whole campus ministry leadership experience. But I got to see the behind-the-scenes inner-workings of all that goes into a summer of planning and preparing for the upcoming fall semester. Here are just a few things I did during my R.O.C. internship:
- Sat in on planning meetings and dream sessions.
- Observed a board meeting.
- Encountered heartfelt worship with like-minded college students.
- I even learned how to properly parallel park, thanks to my regular visits to Uptown Athens. If you’ve ever been to Uptown Athens, Ohio, you know.
Most importantly, I met regularly with Rich, the lead campus minister at ROC. He really took me under his wing. He gave me some books to read, including Chris Chrisman Goes to College and Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwaus and William Willimon. Those books led to some pretty important conversations that helped shape my understanding of ministry in ways that couldn’t have happened in the classroom.
Rich had me over to his home several times. I got to know his family. It was great. I even took care of their goldfish while they were on vacation. Rich, his family, and his ministry are fond memories every time I remember my internship in southeastern Ohio.
My internship with Athens Church of Christ
Oh man. There was so much packed into this internship experience. I’m sure I’ll forget some things. But here’s what I think of when I remember my experience at Athens Church of Christ.
- My first big task during my internship was to build the set for Vacation Bible School, including a giant fishing boat made out of cardboard. Every time I hear the theme song from that week of VBS, I can’t help but think of that silly fishing boat. I think I did a pretty good job on it, though.
- I preached my first live sermon there. I’d preached in ministry classes before, but those don’t really count. They were just in front of other students. This one was a real-live sermon during a real-live Sunday evening service with a real-live congregation. They was quite gracious., even when I accidentally said “fart” during my message.^ I know I bit off more than I could chew with that sermon. It was more than the congregation could chew in one sitting, too. They were a gracious bunch.
- I took my first dip into website design. It was tougher than it looked.
- I went to my first-ever week of church camp. I’d done Boy Scout summer camp. I’d done Philmont. And I’d also done Summer in the Son. But I’d never been to church camp. None of those were anything like church camp. My eyes were opened.
- I learned a lot about pastoral ministry through experience. I led a weekly small group book discussion and learned about ministry in a hospital setting – I even made a few visits to the homebound. These were all firsts for me as a member of a pastoral staff.
- A few families took me under their wing and made sure the lonely intern didn’t stay lonely during his internship. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I still keep in touch with many of them.
- During my final Sunday evening at Athens Church of Christ, they collected a “love” offering for me. After they took the offering and counted it, Willard, the preacher (and my boss), said to me from the stage, “Wow. Matt, you get to have a honeymoon!” Christy and I were getting married less than two weeks from that night. Both of us were serving with churches in different states. Neither of us had money. The church really did wind up paying for our honeymoon.
- After they announced the very generous “love” offering amount, the entire congregation gave me a standing ovation. That was pretty special. Then I followed that moment by discovering that I’d locked my keys in my car. Fortunately, one of Athens’s Finest was a leader in the church. He had the tools to pick my lock. Legally.
- The generosity didn’t stop after I drove away from Athens, Ohio. Two Saturdays later, after Christy and I said our “I dos,” and we walked through the church building to thank everyone for coming, I was surprised to find some very familiar faces towards the back of the sanctuary. Several people had made the four hour drive from Athens to Indianapolis to see us get married. As I hugged them and thanked them for coming, one of them handed me an envelope. They wanted to make sure we got it before we left for San Diego on our honeymoon.
They had bought us tickets to Sea World.
That was pretty stinkin’ cool
I thank my God every time I remember you.
The Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi
Every time I hear about Ohio University, I pause and thank God for the way so many people in Athens ministered to me when I was supposed to be the one ministering to them. I learned a whole lot more from my internship experience than I ever anticipated.
I’m thankful for the people I met in Athens. I’m also thankful for moments like the crazy upsets in the men’s college basketball tournament. It’s one of the reasons March is the most wonderful time of the year. Because they make these sweet memories bubble up to the surface.
And I thank God for them.
Endnotes
*I was also pretty excited for them when their hometown hero went to LSU and won both the Heisman and the college football national championship. It’s probably the only time I’ve rooted for an SEC team not named Tennessee.
^ It wasn’t relevant to the message at all. During a pause between sentences, I said a quiet “fff” sound. Then I followed it up by saying “art.” Neither sound had anything to do with any of the sentences around my unintentional usage of the word “fart.” No one, other than my host family ever said anything about it – and that was only after I brought it up. Like I said, they were a gracious bunch.
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