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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 21, 2007
CONTACT Colene Lind, (785) 227-3311, ext. 8122
BETHANY COLLEGE BEGINS PEER MINISTRY PROGRAM
Bethany College peer ministers with Dr. Barbara Varenhorst, a nationally-recognized expert in the peer helping field.
Front (l-r): Mindy Tillberg, Joshua Lindgren, Suzanna Swenson, Ashley Coffman, Carla Toler, Kimberly Streit, Dr. Barbara Varenhorst, Rev. Noni Strand;
Back: Tessa Howard, Emily Heronemus, Jenn Wondra, Anika Eye, Jordan Gray
LINDSBORG, Kan.—Students and staff at Bethany College recently trained to serve others as they would serve themselves.
Rev. Noni Strand, campus pastor, and Sherilyn Nafziger, student counselor, joined ten students and Mindy Tillberg, youth director at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Salina, Kan., in training sessions with Dr. Barbara Varenhorst, a peer ministry trainer and private consultant.
“The goal of peer ministry is to create a culture of students helping students,” said Strand. “It focuses on enabling students to help new students and those who are struggling see the community around them and be a part of that community.”
The peer ministry program, in its first year at Bethany, has a “deep theological component,” said Strand. Based on the story of the Good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke, the program gives students the tools to serve their peers as equals.
Components include creating a welcoming environment, listening, inviting participation, communicating effectively, and making decisions.
Students practiced their skills in small-group exercises and model interactions.
“There’s something Barbara said that really touched me: It’s through human contact that we become human,” said Tessa Howard, senior. “This peer ministry training extends to all the relationships we have in our lives. That’s what makes it really valuable.”
Training was funded through Bethany College Campus Ministry’s Encounters Series and provided by Dr. Barbara Varenhorst, Portola Valley, Calif.
Varenhorst, who has more than 40 years of experience in the peer helping field, worked with Lyle Griner to write the Peer Ministry Basic Curriculum Manual used in the Youth and Family Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.
According to the National Peer Helpers Association (NPHA), Varenhorst is “widely recognized as the mother of the peer helper movement.” She is a founding member and former president of the NPHA.
In addition to authoring numerous journal articles, Varenhorst has published a book, “Real Friends: Becoming the Friend You’d Like to Have,” that describes her peer counseling program.
For more information on peer ministry, visit: www.peerministry.org.
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to nurture and challenge individuals in their search for truth and meaning as they live lives of faith, learning and service. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu.
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