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In This Issue...
Articles
- A Theology of Humor by Cheryl Taylor
- Ministering With Humor by Stephanie Nance
- Christian Leaders Having Fun? by Pam Morton with Kathy Jingling
- The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter by Dwenda Gjerdingen, MD, MS
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Book Reviews
- Anatomy of an Illness by Norman Cousins
- The Purse-Driven Life by Anita Renfroe
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Campus Coworkers for Christ
An Interview with Matt and Tracy Herman
Matt and Tracy Herman are the full-time directors of Chi Alpha at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Following their involvement as Chi Alpha student leaders at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, Matt and Tracy felt a calling toward the students of the Northeast. They graduated from MSU in 2002, and Matt finished a Masters in Theological Studies from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in 2004. Following Matt’s graduation, they packed their belongings and spent one school year as interns at Georgetown University. May 2007 marks the end of Matt and Tracy’s first full year on Cornell’s campus.
WIM: Describe the focus of your ministry.
Tracy: The vision statement we have created for Cornell Chi Alpha is “Developing disciples of Jesus Christ through relationships.” This relational focus not only pushes us to build relationships with people outside of Chi Alpha, but creates an atmosphere where students who are still investigating Christianity and forming their opinions about Jesus feel comfortable coming to Chi Alpha events. It’s been said before, but in this day and age, people usually belong before they believe. This is definitely true for our group.
Matt: Our focus is the entire community of students, professors, staffers, and day-to-day workers of Cornell University. Although our time and attention is directed on the students, we see the campus as a fully functioning community. This requires us to also care for the maintenance workers, chefs, and other workers as we relate to our students.
The benefit and enjoyment of this combination of responsibility is that we continually encourage and challenge each other to grow in ways otherwise avoided.
WIM: What are the ways your ministry intersects with your spouse’s ministry?
Tracy: I recognize that some couples have individual ministries that nearly run parallel, but for us, it’s definitely “our” ministry. This requires us to communicate frequently about where we feel the group is at, and where God’s leading us to ensure that we stay on the same page and continue working toward the same goals and vision.
Some people have asked me if it’s difficult working so closely with my husband, but I can’t imagine not working together in this way. Matt and I are very different from each other, so the way he views a situation often illuminates my blind spots and challenges me to grow. Plus he can make me laugh like no one else can, so I find my days filled with a lot of fun too.
Matt: I don’t think I’ve ever viewed the Chi Alpha ministry at Cornell as separated into “my” or “her” categories. With that said, we definitely understand each other’s strengths in ministry, and work toward the use of our talents to make our time on campus as strategic as possible. This plays out most evidently in discipleship. There are some issues in a woman’s life that Tracy can directly coach someone through that I would struggle to appreciate. Yet, all discipleship toward the women is not Tracy’s responsibility, nor is the discipleship of men solely my responsibility. It is our responsibility, and our student leaders recognize this intersection of roles we carry. The benefit and enjoyment of this combination of responsibility is that we continually encourage and challenge each other to grow in ways otherwise avoided.
WIM: Describe challenges that come in your marriage because of you both being involved in ministry such as expectations, time management, competition, etc.
Tracy: A constant reminder for me is to keep our marriage before our ministry. Even during weeks where we’ve spent a lot of time together working on ministry-related activities, it’s been important for us to have a date night where our focus is on each other, not Chi Alpha. Early on, God showed me how important this would be not only for us and our future children, but to model for our students.
Several of our students who come from Christian homes have parents that were either pastors or heavily involved in church ministry. Unfortunately, their spouse and children were often neglected in their effort to build a strong church. We also have students who do not come from Christian homes and do not know what a Christian family should look like. So for our students, we hope to give them a good model of a strong Christian family. Showing them that our marriage comes before our ministry is the first step.
Matt: This is a great question. Because we work out of our home, our marriage, home life, and work life become completely intertwined on a day-to-day basis. The challenge is trying to balance our lives, while the benefit is within that harmony. In other words, we experience life and ministry together, which is fun, exciting, and time intensive. This is a unique way of life, but we love the opportunity. Personally, the competitive nature of our calling came into play early on as we met students, and many of them took an immediate liking to Tracy. But God taught me a quick lesson in the midst of a barbecue at our house when he spoke into my heart, “Matt, when they affirm Tracy, they are affirming you.” I have never looked at my role alongside Tracy the same since. Understanding that Tracy and I succeed together and struggle together in our calling is vital.
