‘PR for Jesus:’ Across the spectrum of Rice’s Christian student organizations

By Sarah Knowlton     9/3/24 10:54pm

For those who frequent Rice public parties, there is no sight more beloved at the end of the night than a tent and a whiteboard. Underneath this tent, the intoxicated can indulge in fresh pancakes from the Baptist Student Ministry and attempt to consider the faith-related question on the nearby whiteboard, often encouraging students to vote with a tally mark. Also available —  a fleet of golf carts and sober drivers to chauffeur the more inebriated students safely home.

“The first year, 2008, I joined forces with the Rice Women’s [Resource] Center, who was the one running the golf carts at the time … we provided probably 10 or 12 volunteers, and they had one person that was there,” Andy Dennis, the BSM director of ministry, said. “Over time, we just became the go-to people. After a couple of years, we were the people driving the golf carts, because I wanted to make sure that people stayed safe.”

Later on, Dennis began serving pancakes because of concerns that arose from watching the parade of partygoers.

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“There were so many people that would go to the parties on completely empty stomachs,” Dennis said. “We at least have something that’s going to absorb some of the alcohol in their systems, so that maybe they’re a little safer.”

BSM also encourages students to ask questions about Christianity during these nights, Dennis said.

“People will ask us, ‘Hey, you guys are Christians, I’ve always wondered this, can you answer that?’” Dennis said. “They’ll ask a question that they’ve always had in their mind, but they maybe don’t know a Christian that they feel comfortable asking.”

Aside from pancakes and golf carts, the BSM also provides free Chick-fil-A lunches on Wednesdays, which Dennis said are funded by donations from alumni and affiliated churches. BSM members also participate in service projects and missions throughout Houston.

Dennis said the group strives to provide a different representation of Christianity.

“Part of the process is just doing PR for Jesus,” Dennis said. “I think oftentimes Christians have given a negative view of who Jesus is, and if we can break down some of those barriers, we can have better conversations.”

Like BSM, the Episcopal Church at Rice hopes to introduce students to Jesus. Beth Anne Nelson, Rice’s designated reverend at the nearby Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, said that the group does this by welcoming a wide variety of identities and backgrounds.

“We are the only open and affirming Christian ministry on campus,” Nelson said. “There’s another open and affirming ministry, Hillel … We are [both] in that group that sees the beauty in everyone, and how God created them as they are.

“Our students and the Episcopal Church generally find it really important to seek and serve Christ in everyone, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and our neighbor can be anyone, including people who are in the LGBTQ+ community,” Nelson said.

Nelson emphasized the inclusivity of the Episcopal Church for all, including her own experience as a woman in the clergy.

“There are people who have trouble with women [working] in ministry and find that a block to seeing God,” Nelson said. “I’ve found that it’s incredibly liberating to have so many different genders available, because people experience God wherever they are on the gender spectrum.” 

The Episcopal Church at Rice hosts fellowship lunches on Wednesdays for students to talk about their lives and faith journeys. They also host their own retreats and missions.

Similar to the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church follows a specific liturgy based on the history of the Christian church. Although Episcopalians are somewhat unique among Protestants in this way, Nelson said that students of all denominations are welcomed.

“I think because there aren’t many Christian ministries that are open and affirming in the same way that we are, people from other traditions feel comfortable at the Episcopal Church at Rice because it is open to all people,” Nelson said. “It’s not a place of judgment.”

Another connection between Christian ministries across campus is James Tour. Tour is known across campus both for his award-winning chemistry work and his religious zeal. Although he is not currently affiliated with any one organization, he said that he supports all of the Christian groups at Rice.

“I’m open to all of them. Whoever asked me to come and speak, I speak,” Tour said. “I love them all. I think they all do good work, they all have good leadership and I’m glad to help.”

In the past, Tour was the faculty sponsor for the now-defunct Rice chapter of The Navigators, a non-denominational campus organization that aims to spread the gospel to college students. He has also been outspoken in his support for Chi Alpha, Rice’s chapter of the nationwide campus ministry of the same name. Chi Alpha hosts Evening of Elegance, the formal dance that once served as an alternative to the now-banned Night of Decadence.

“The university should be sponsoring an evening of elegance. You don’t have to start Night of Decadence. Evening of Elegance will put them out of business,” Tour said. “We want good, wholesome things. What do you want, Baker 13? Is that what we’re proud of?”

Chi Alpha did not respond to requests for comment.

Tour has also hosted a Bible study at West University Baptist Church for over 25 years, which he says can reach up to 150 people each week in person and online. He and his wife also make lunch at their home for attendees.

While some fellowships like Tour’s can number in the hundreds, some are much smaller. Cristian Olivarez, co-president of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter at Rice, said that while there are relatively few Orthodox Christian students at Rice, the organization fosters a strong sense of community.

“They’re pretty good at trying to help you be the best person you can be and not beating you down for who you’ve been or what you’ve done,” Olivarez, a Will Rice College senior, said. “It’s a common thing, or it should be, in all churches, the idea that the church is full of sinners, and it’s a hospital of sinners.”

Olivarez said that OCF often works with chapters at schools like the University of Houston and the University of St. Thomas. Students come together to attend church and participate in cultural festivals and events from the Arab and Greek Orthodox community in Houston.

“It’s pretty diverse,” Olivarez said. “The vast majority of the OCF group that we actually hang out with [is Arab], but then we also have people going to Annunciation [Greek Orthodox Cathedral] … and then we go to these festivals and you get people from everywhere, so it’s pretty fun.”

Like Olivarez, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship co-presidents Ruth Hong and Zach Yu said that they value the wider community that they met through the organization.

“I think one of the biggest things in being part of a Christian community at Rice is having a perspective that is larger than your college bubble,” Hong, a Wiess College senior, said. “Just being a student and thinking about the long-term purpose of your life and why you exist, why you’re doing what you’re doing, going through all the struggles of school, and being able to find answers to all those questions that every single person asks.”

CCF is affiliated with Houston Chinese Church and hosts small fellowship groups and events on Friday evenings. The group also does a few service projects, including care packages for finals season.

“I think the primary focus of our fellowship is to care for people on campus,” Hong said. “After one of our large groups, we put together little bags of snacks and candy and also wrote little notes, like ‘you got this,’ ‘you’re almost there’, and then we sit outside [Fondren Library] and pass them out to people as they’re walking by.”

While some of Rice’s faith-based organizations are affiliated with churches or denominations, others focus on a specific service-based mission. Sarah Sowell, founder and president of Rice’s chapter of International Justice Mission, said that she created the chapter with the organization’s goals in mind because there wasn’t another organization like it at Rice.

“International Justice Mission is a chapter of the world’s largest anti-slavery organization, and at the time at Rice, I didn’t really identify any anti-trafficking groups and groups that were focusing on labor trafficking or the wider umbrella of gendered violence,” Sowell, now a graduate student, said. 

IJM is focused on fighting global human trafficking from a Christian perspective. Since the Rice chapter’s founding, they have hosted a number of events, including panels on human trafficking and a fashion show in Fall 2023. Sowell (Jones ’24) said the core of these events is biblical motivation.

“The reason why I became so passionate about anti-trafficking and fighting modern-day slavery is because as Christians, we believe that every person is created in the image of God,” Sowell said. “So, to take away someone’s autonomy, to force them to work in your factory for 48 hours straight without food, or to have sex even though they don’t want to, or … to work on this fishing boat and often drown because you’re trying to untangle the nets and you get caught, that’s denying the beauty that God has created in every person. 

“We believe that Jesus has come to earth and died and rose again to save us and to offer us hope,” Sowell continued. “IJM exists to share that message and also to alleviate material suffering and injustice, and the Bible talks so much about being against injustice.”

Like IJM, the Global Medical Mission Alliance is a faith-based organization that focuses on a specific cause; in this case, providing medical care to impoverished areas worldwide. Former GMMA co-president Charles Lee said that the organization’s purpose is a draw for Rice’s many pre-med students, but also for other Christians regardless of major.

“It’s a medical mission, there’s a lot of pre-health students. There’s also quite a few who aren’t pre-med or pre-health, but because of their convictions or because of their beliefs, they came to GMMA to have an opportunity to go on these medical mission trips,” Lee, Baker College ’24, said. “I don’t think being interested in medicine is really important because there are a lot of other roles and a lot of other ways to support as well.”

Lee emphasized that students are not providing medical care, but rather assisting alongside qualified volunteers.

“They’re not quite medical professionals yet, so they won’t be doing a lot of actual medical work,” Lee said. “The closest would probably be just triaging patients and shadowing doctors, other professionals or medical students.”

Tour said that a key feature of these organizations is their faith, particularly at a secular school like Rice.

“Even colleagues will mock me. But when they lose a spouse, I’m the one they come to,” Tour said. “Students can say all they want about me. I know I have something that really works and really changes lives.”

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