Serving with InterVarsity in Indiana (765) 532-4882
OBJECTIVE
My personal mission statement is; to keep my love for Jesus Christ central and unrivaled by other loves, and to spread that passion to my family and extended family, and to college and university students, staff, and other associates.
Closely related is; to persuasively articulate, demonstrate and defend the Christian faith unapologetically in the marketplace of ideas -especially the western university world, and to equip family, students, faculty, friends, and associates to do the same and with all the energy that God alone can supply. My wife Kim Whitchurch teaches at Earhart Elementary School and we have two young adult children.
EDUCATION
TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL, Deerfield, IL.
M.A. in Christian Thought 1987; Emphasis on Systematic Theology & Philosophy of Religion.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE, Roseville, MN.
Two of three quarters toward the one year Bible Certificate 1975.
ROCK VALLEY COLLEGE, Rockford, IL.
Two years of course work primarily in Music Theory.
Christian conversion between 1972 and 1973, between my 18th and 19th birthday while a freshman at Rock Valley College.
Year one as Training Secretary; implemented Leadership, Bible study leaders and evangelism training on 12 different campuses with Zambian potential staff apprentices and Zambian campus ministers.
Year two as Director of Campus Ministries; trained and assisted national staff in campus ministry including raising their financial support from among the Zambian churches.
Year three as Acting General Secretary; director of the National Movement of ZAFES, overseeing the finances, training of staff, student training programs, the graduates' ministries, and serving under the Zambian board of directors. This enabled two strategic Zambian staff (of seven at that time) to pursue advanced Christian (graduate level) training outside of Zambia. It was rare at that time in the Zambian church to have ministers with graduate level theological training.
Responsibilities are the same as those listed below only with a smaller Staff team and and a smaller budget.
Pioneered and gave oversight to the development of a target group philosophy of ministry among fraternity and sorority students, and among graduate students.
Oversee a full time Staff team of five, growing to sixteen Campus Ministers with IVCF, and from five campuses with five student chapters of IVCF to fourteen campuses with seventeen chapters. We have sixteen Staff including two team leaders and two acting (still in training) team leaders as well as six staff volunteers. Most of the growth has come from increasing the Area size in 1995-6.
Pastoring campus ministers and key graduate student leaders.
Ministering as a team player on an Area Director team in the Great Lakes West Region of the USA including the States of IL, WI, IN.
Drafting and overseeing expenses and income, and Staff accountability at raising their support budgets.
Serving in IVCF nationally during our Urbana Missions Convention, National Management Meetings, and giving input on our national vision processes, and from time to time, select publications through InterVarsity Press (IVP).
Encouraging the development of Area training programs with International students, Spring break evangelism and refugee resettlement projects, potential urban ministry projects, evangelism, discipleship, missions, and leadership training through weekend training conferences locally, regionally, and nationally.
Developing an Apologetics Course at a week long summer training camp for students regionally.
Public speaking in churches and at many Area campus fellowships on Christian apologetics, university discipleship, evangelism, leadership, cultural critique, and world missions.
Doing biblical expositions on campus and at training events.
Managing our listserves, web pages, facebook, and other technological tools for sharing Christ.
Oversee a full time Staff team of five, Campus Ministers with IVCF, with two Staff Volunteers and three campuses, and five student chapters of IVCF.
Pastoring campus ministers and key graduate student leaders.
Ministering as a team player on an Area Director team in the Great Lakes West Region of the USA including the States of IL, WI, IN.
Drafting and overseeing expenses and income, and Staff accountability at raising yearly budgets.
Recruiting in IVCF nationally for our Urbana Missions Convention, National Management Meetings, and giving input on our Statement of Faith, and from time to time our publications through InterVarsity Press (IVP).
Encouraging the development of Area training programs with International students, Spring break evangelism and Urban ministry projects, evangelism, discipleship, missions, and leadership training through weekend training conferences locally, Area-wide, divisionally, bi-regionally, and nationally.
Encourage Graduate student and professional student ministries across the State of Indiana with a special focus on Graduate IVCF at Purdue, and Graduate IVCF at Indiana University. Networking and encouraging and doing some mentoring with student leaders in the Krannert Christians in Business and Kelley MBA Christian Fellowship, as well as with a performing arts masters student fellowship at I.U. called the Christian Musicians Fellowship. Further, I am encouraging I.U. student chapter of the Christian Legal Society, and have contacts with Law students at Notre Dame, and IUPUI, and graduate students at Ball State.
Recruiting in IVCF nationally for our Urbana Missions Convention, teaching and training graduate students about Statement of Faith, and utilizing resources and publications through InterVarsity Press (IVP).
A lot of the same things listed above including doing Bible expositions, managing our Statewide GFM web page, and recruiting GFM Staff. From approximately 2004 until 2009 I've had a hand in recruiting a GFM staff team of five.
Some original music sung with my wife, Kim and a couple of faculty friends, and even a 'southern Christian rock' band can be found in audio and video format here to the glory of God.
OTHER
SKILLS
Publications and Other Training
Trained instructor in the Australian based "Two Ways to Live" evangelism course, the Coral Ridge "Evangelism Explosion course and the "Bible and Life One" courses.
Author of Heart Treasures, on Creative Approaches to Scripture Memory.
Co-author of "A Concise Overview of Apologetic Arguments" with Eric Pement. Our article appears in the book "Contend for the Faith" from the Rockford Conference on Cults and Discernment, published by Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR).
I play jazz guitar and while formally trained in piano, I've lost much of that but have a very good ear and play piano well by ear. I am self trained in social networking and web design, a bit familiar with html code, iPhone possibilities, etc. I juggle, enjoy the arts, do illusions that illustrate the gospel, and am a bit of a songwriter. If you search inside tangle.com or youtube.com or shoutlife.com on 'jbw7' without the quotes, you'll find some of my teaching videos, illusions that illustrate, original music that is largely worship and Scripture songs in jazz or rock or cultural critique, and techniques for doing Scripture memorization, sharing the gospel, and doing apologetics ministry.