Our Blog

Having graduated somewhat recently from college in 2024, as I reflect on the four years of my undergraduate education, I’ve been struck by the ways that God has worked. I graduated from college and married my wonderful wife within the same week, and we now work together on staff with the Princeton Christian Fellowship, an 87-year-old campus fellowship that helped to build us up while we were students. All this is an immense blessing, one that I was by no means prepared for at the start of college. In short, there had to be a lot of growth along the way.

Thinking about college, and the growth that the Lord brought about in the meantime, has made me consider the essential role that the Christian community played (and continues to play) in my life. Prior to college, it was a gift to have robust fellowship at home, both at Rockbridge and my local church. Indeed, some of my fondest memories from high school are praying with other Rockbridge guys at our weekly lunch meeting and hiking with my church’s local chapter of Christian Service Brigade. Given this, I knew that I would have to seek out a new community of believers once I left home.

Now, finding Christian community can sometimes be easier said than done. At Princeton, we have the blessing of several active campus ministries in addition to the handful of healthy churches in the area. For my freshman class of incoming students in 2020, however, the pandemic created serious barriers to fellowship. Our first semester was entirely remote, so any conversations or fellowship meetings had to be online. Once we arrived on campus, state rules entailed that all our in-person interactions had to be masked with strict guidelines for indoor meetings. As I was looking for a church to join, I was struck by one congregation that was so determined to gather together that they consistently met outside in the snow through the winter months. While this was not a particularly comfortable way to worship, I joined this church because I so appreciated how they embraced fellowship in the face of logistical difficulties.

This search for Christian community during an unusual time also emphasized to me the importance of becoming part of and serving in that community. Once pandemic restrictions began to ease, I was able to appreciate regular blessings I might otherwise have taken for granted. Worship services and campus ministry meetings resumed indoors. My pastor came to campus to mentor students. Church families welcomed me into their homes. In short, as the community returned to “normal,” opportunities to serve and be served abounded, and both of these are a gift. Modeling Christ, the Scriptures call us to “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). To serve a fellow Christian is a way both to welcome them into community and to model Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet even as he washes away our sins. On the other hand, receiving a fellow Christian’s service allows a brother or sister to build community and is a small picture of how we humbly receive the gracious gifts of Christ. I saw this to be true throughout my college career. The wisdom and friendship of older believers at school and church helped to encourage me when I felt alone, to direct me in prudent paths when I was confused, and to remind me of the gospel when I had forgotten it. At the same time, taking on leadership in our campus ministry and serving at church by teaching with the children’s ministry, helping people to move between homes, and volunteering to do property work allowed me to bless others and strengthened my relationships with believers I otherwise might have never known.

This interplay of serving and being served is rewarding, but it also provokes difficulties. Before giving the aforementioned command to serve, Paul tells the Galatians to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). He says this for good reason: we will often be tempted to give up! On this side of heaven, we Christians are still sinners, so we disagree and misunderstand and hurt each other. Living and serving in community, then, creates myriad opportunities to repent, learn, and forgive. All these require humility, which is not easy. This means that a key challenge and important area for growth within a community is exercising humility. That can be hard, but it is necessary in order to learn from mentors and peers, to mend and build relationships, and to navigate differences of opinion or personality. Beyond all this, the Scriptures command us to humble ourselves before each other and the Lord (see 1 Peter 5:5-6). In this way, the challenges of community serve to grow us. They teach us humility, which allows us to better learn from God and each other, helping us to see just how weak we are and just how much He loves us.

In short, community plays a vital role for the Christian. It is the place where we gather to serve each other, thereby demonstrating the love of Christ, and it is a catalyst for encouragement and growth in the Lord. This is true for every stage of life, but the importance of community is especially clear for college students, who are often living away from families and churches that have supported their faith until then. Accordingly, I would encourage students and families who are looking at colleges to consider whether there are healthy Christian communities present. A great way to do this, if possible, is reaching out to current students, ministers, or campus staff; they are often very happy to meet with a prospective student to talk about the climate of the Christian community. Indeed, one of my joys is talking about the ways I have been blessed by our campus fellowship!

More important than a campus ministry, though, is the local church. College is often the first time that students have the opportunity to attend church as an adult, growing in grace by individually building relationships with church members and seeking out opportunities to serve. Becoming involved in the local church in these ways is also a good first step for current students who are seeking deeper ties to the Christian community. This transition toward adulthood in the church can be intimidating and confusing, but it can also be a time rich with blessing. This is one of the reasons my wife and I are excited to be involved with full-time ministry to undergraduate students while welcoming them into our local church: we get to be part of God’s work during this formative time in many students’ lives.

If you would like to hear more about the work of Princeton Christian Fellowship, how my wife and I are serving, or opportunities to join us through prayer or financial support, please reach out to me at rsymcd@gmail.com or visit pcfprinceton.org.

Ryan McDowell, Rockbridge Class of 2020, studied computer science at Princeton University, graduating in 2024. He currently serves with his wife, Mirae, on the staff of the Princeton Christian Fellowship. He enjoys studying theoretical computer science and church history.