About - History
"Ministry at Colorado State University--A Learning Community That Includes the Spiritual Component of the Whole Person"
(From a Talk by the Reverend Bob Geller)
This is a story of the United Campus Ministry (UCM), formerly named Westminster Fellowship (1946-1963) and United Campus Christian Fellowship (1963-1967).
In 1990 the house was renamed the "Geller House for Campus Ministry." In 2006 the official, charter name became "United Campus Ministry, Inc., Geller Center for Spiritual Development."
The mission of the Geller Center is to:
Provide a campus community center for spiritual exploration and dialogue and broaden and deepen the spiritual experience and practice of students in community.
Purpose
The purpose of the Geller Center is to provide a safe, open, and inclusive setting in which students and community members can deepen and broaden their spiritual lives. The Geller Center offers programs, activities, and space to engage individuals and groups in dialogue on significant issues of the day. The Geller Center continues the tradition of UCM, an organization with a long history of Christian ecumenism, social action, and critical thinking in the Colorado State University (CSU) and Fort Collins communities.
Since 1962 the working concept for the ministry has been that the facility was open to any and all related to CSU, member churches of the city, and community people interested in developing services for human need that has been neglected or overlooked. Our motto is "Honoring diversity of belief and practice, working for justice and peace, cultivating authenticity of personality, integrity, and spirit." The Geller Center has always supported students' involvement in local churches, if that is their preference.
Development
The ministry developed from just a Presbyterian Ministry for students, faculty, and staff to a thoroughly ecumenical ministry. The Greek meaning of the word ecumenical is the whole household of God. The Geller Center lives that meaning.
The Ministry was joined by the Disciples of Christ (Christian), United Church of Christ (formerly Congregational and Evangelical Reformed), the American Baptist Church, the Wesley Foundation (United Methodist), Quakers (Friends Meeting), Moravian, Mennonites, and, in some activities, by the Episcopal and Unitarian churches.
In the past 45 years, the programs developed have been both affirming and, in some instances, controversial. No less than three CSU Presidents "carefully" characterized the UCM in such terms as - "The UCM may well be the most relevant, progressive, respected, and trusted ministry to higher education at CSU." Several Deans have joined those Presidents, and two former Fort Collins Mayors, Ms. Nancy Gray and Ms. Ann Azari, have shared observations UCM. Nancy Gray said in a public meeting, "I can hardly believe how much a Campus Ministry has contributed to our city in kinds of services it has started or was a very important resource to community folks in getting under way, services that meet some important human need."
Did you ever know?
Hardly anyone knows and even fewer remember, the origins of some of these important services. Some have come and gone but many still exist that have "spun off" to fund themselves. Several are now partially funded through the United Way. This spin off concept was always a part of the philosophy of UCM: If a service demonstrated its relevance, it should spin off on its own at CSU and in Fort Collins.
The underlying philosophy of the UCM staff has been to develop resources in the community that students could use or volunteer in. These resources were to help them experience involvement in Fort Collins and offer them a good deal more than working in city food services and other jobs for pay.
The university is not an "island" in the city. It is the students' community while they are at the university, and it helps students mature as citizens to be involved in "service" in productive ways.
The central concept of ministry at CSU was to help make a better learning community, one that included the essential spiritual component of the whole person.