As the chaplain of a small college, I journey with young adults during a pivotal time in their development. Most are seeking two things: a meaningful sense of community and a narrative within which they can understand their faith and themselves. As congregational models of church continue to struggle, particularly among young adults, new models of worshipful community are necessary if young adults are to understand themselves as part of the Christian narrative and community.

Utilizing models offered by existing intentional Christian communities, my project examines how the formation of an on-campus intentional Christian community may serve as a source of connection between young adults and the larger Christian narrative of faith and vocation, providing an entry point for life-long relationships of worship, fellowship and service. This project gleans wisdom from existing models of intentional community, harnessing this information to develop and employ a model of intentional Christian community on Westminster’s campus. Finally, the hyper-local model developed at Westminster will be assessed, revised and, ultimately, shared with campuses across the country as a means of harnessing the relational energy present within the campus environment in order to cultivate a rootedness for these students, grounding them within the Christian narrative throughout their lives.