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Members of the CSC Board and University representatives cut the ribbon on a 6,000 square-foot addition to the organizations building.
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CSC began its building addition in May 2015.
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Campus Students for Christ Opens New Addition

September 20, 2016

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MACOMB, IL - After 47 years of providing a faith-based component to the lives of Western Illinois University students, Campus Students for Christ (CSC) cut the ribbon Sunday on a building expansion that will help the ministry reach more students and build on its existing programming.

CSC began its 6,000-square-foot expansion in May 2015, to add classroom and conference space, an auditorium, offices and additional restrooms to the organization's Riverview Drive facility. The existing building, a former sorority house, already included apartments for about 40 students.

Barry Reed, the director of campus ministries for CSC and a WIU alumnus, who got involved with the organization when he was a student and a childhood friend suggested he learn more about it. After graduation, Reed moved to Bloomington to work on his master's degree and work for a church there. In 2007, he returned to CSC as the assistant campus minister and one year later he was promoted to director.

Reed's wife, Christi, who received her master's degree from WIU in college student personnel in 2015, is employed by CSC as the women's minister. Several other WIU alumni are employed by the organization or remain a part of its mission.

Prior to Reed, CSC was directed by Charles Ferguson, who led the organization from 1989-2008. Ferguson, who has retired to Gape Girardeau, MO, returned to Macomb Sunday to take part in the ribbon-cutting.

"This expansion, this whole thing, is an answered prayer," said Ferguson. "The difference from 30 years ago is now we have parking and we have space; that's humongous. The ministry is all about the students and we've just helped direct the thing."

WIU junior Matthew Alwood, a psychology major from Canton (IL), is one of three servant leaders at CSC.

"This addition makes us feel a lot more accessible," said Alwood. "It gives it an actual church feel and makes it feel more comfortable."

Among the crowd of about 300 people attending Sunday's ceremony were numerous WIU alumni who have been impacted by the program during its history. One of those alumni, Mike Griswold, of Berwick (IL), a 1973 WIU graduate with a degree in math, is currently a member of CSC's board, which guided the expansion.

Griswold became a member of the CSC organization when it began in 1969. He said it is a "commitment to purpose" that has helped maintain the connection he and his family have to the organization. His wife, Amy, and daughter, Diane, are also WIU alumni and have volunteered through the organization.

"CSC was a big part of my social group in college," said Griswold. "This addition is the fruition of years and years of dreaming and planning and it has been a long-term goal for this ministry. To us, this is a world mission sitting right here in Macomb. It's just an opportunity that opened up for us and we're thrilled to be a part of it. It's a work of faith, that's all it is."

WIU Vice President for Advancement and Public Services Brad Bainter spoke on behalf of the University during the ceremony. He praised the organization, its service and it's ministry that reaches around the world.

"Your impact is great; you need to know that," he said. "It's wonderful to have a place like this, where, at the end of the day, no matter what you've been through, you can share with others with the same beliefs."

One of the organization's missions involves traveling to Juarez, Mexico each year in January to build homes for the homeless. This year will mark the construction of CSC's 49th home in the region. The volunteers build between one and five homes each year during the week they spend in Mexico.

Other outreach ministries include Bible study, maintaining a stretch of roadway as part of the Adopt-a-Highway program and other special events that help students develop leadership skills.

Between 100-120 students regularly attend events at the facility, as well as its Sunday worship service held in the University Union's Sandburg Theatre.

Within the last six years, the population of international students attending events at the center began to grow. CSC also has an extensive partnership with the WIU Center for International Studies, which Barry Reed said benefits both organizations and helps WIU students know more about CSC.

"It started small; we started with three to five students and today our student membership is one-third international students," he added. "We have the world's five major continents represented in the room. It's a little glimpse of heaven, I think…in the cornfields of west central Illinois, the globe really does come together."

Between 30-40 churches from around the region provide financial support for CSC and up to 80 volunteers per day helped with the construction project, doing everything from cooking and cleaning to building. Many members of those churches and those volunteers attended Sunday's event to watch the hard work of many benefit WIU students.

For more information about CSC, visit wiucsc.org.

Posted By: Jodi Pospeschil (JK-Pospeschil@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing