The Priesthood of All Students? Historical, Theological and Missiological Foundations of a University Ministry: The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES)

Abstract

This dissertation explores the development of the theology and missiology of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, IFES. Drawing on archival records and writings by authors close to IFES, it shows how the priesthood of all believers has served as a fundamental building stone of the ministry of IFES and can continue to help the organization navigate opportunities and challenges facing its ministry.
The priesthood of all believers involves lay students examining Scripture together. It involves manifold expressions of mission which are constantly reshaped in the encounter with the diversity of cultures and theologies characteristic of World Christianity. Missionary engagement framed by the priesthood of all believers presupposes immediacy, mediation, and participation.
Immediacy presupposes individuals can encounter God directly, primarily in Scripture, hence the legitimacy of student-led missionary activities. Missiologically, lay leadership is congruent with the fact that university students spend most of their time developing skills as thinkers and leaders.
Students, staff and Christian university employees are mediators of their beliefs to the university, inviting others to consider the message of the Gospel. They also mediate some of the universities’ concerns back to the Church, inviting theological thinking about significant academic issues. Such mediation happens at the margins of the structured ecclesial world.
In IFES, these commitments to immediacy and to mediation allowed the development of a missional ecclesiology that presupposes that God is already at work in the university. IFES people are participating in the mission of God (missio Dei). Hence, the work of IFES, as an expression of the priesthood of all believers, can be understood as an extension of the presence of the Church in places and ideological realms to which traditional ecclesial structures have only limited access.