Our Beliefs
CSF has been built on these foundational truths: the glory of God, because of the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, and our lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. These will not ever change, how CSF manifests these convictions on campus over the next year, or 10, or 50 will change! As we become known as a healthy community equipping students for life-change, the strategies and tactics will be shaped by the following mission and corresponding values.
Our Mission
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This is why CSF exists, but what does this mean for you? Well, the goal of our ministry is not to try and force you to love and follow Jesus, rather, our goal is to introduce (or reintroduce) you to who He truly is.
Many people know things about Jesus, but a much smaller group of people truly know him. We believe that as you get know Him for who He truly is, His invitation to follow Him will be more and more compelling to you.
As such, our ministry does everything for the glory of God and to elevate Jesus Christ. From preaching to worship to small groups, our goal is to illustrate the true character of Jesus to the students that pass through our ministry.
Our Values
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We believe that the Bible is an inherent, God-breathed story that leads us back to Jesus. As such, we teach through the Bible, drawing out the original meaning and applying it to our lives. (2 Timothy 3:16)
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Before the earth was created, God was in community with Himself within the Trinity. Because God created mankind in His image, we desire community. Christians need each other, and we want to provide opportunities for community to happen! (Psalm 133:1, Acts 2:44-47)
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As Christians, we have been blessed with a relationship with God our father and have been made right with Him for all eternity. Therefore, we believe that it is crucial to show that love and blessing to the world through mission trips and service events. (Galatians 6:2, Matthew 25:31-44, Proverbs 19:17)
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While we don't claim to have all the answers, we invite the tough questions about life. Life is not a straight line with black and white answers for every question, but we want to walk through the tension with you. (Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 7:7-8)
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College is a transient place, and in 5 years, our ministry will look vastly different (we'll miss you all for sure). At CSF we want to help you pursue your faith and build your community in college, but we also want to prepare you for the world after college. We do this through discipleship and mentorship. (Matthew 28:18-20)
For a more detailed breakdown of our beliefs, follow the link below to view our House Covenant.
Our History
Christian Student Fellowship has its roots in a weekly Bible Study led by CW and Lois Calaway, missionaries taking classes at Indiana University. Wayne Shaw and Bill Morehouse would sponsor and pass off the “Cadre Club” to a PhD student, Gary Weedman, and Beth Snead. Thursday nights, in the top of the IMU, the Bryan Room would host college students hungry to hear and discuss Scripture.
God moved in the hearts of those students and provided mentorship from Doug Dickey, a WWII military chaplain and campus ministry leader at Purdue. Under the care of Dickey and help of Ard Hoven from First Christian, Columbus, IN, a steering committee convened and Indiana University Campus Christian Ministry was incorporated… in a 1967 winter blizzard. Students began to travel through the state seeking support for the young ministry telling the stories of God at work on campus.
After calling Jack Haun as campus minister (1968-1976), the next issue was finding a facility. God provided a connection with Northside Christian Church and Rev. Doug Davis. With that strategic partnership and the selling of bonds to finance, an initial house on 707 8th Street was purchased and shared. A few years later, there was a women’s house added. Soon, CSF was able to purchase a second house, 713 8th Street. During this time, Sunday services were held in the Bryan Room of the Union Building and at times Beck Chapel. Diana Minnick was brought on staff, then Ward Patterson was called to be ministry director (1976-1991).
Ward Patterson was with CSF for 25 years after traveling the globe for years. Author of numerous books and articles from scholastic to poetry and satire, professor and guest lecturer at Indiana University and Cincinnati Christian, pastor and friend to all, Patterson is best remembered as humble, gentle and generous. An anecdote to demonstrate his love for all people: while always up for adventures with students, a world-renowned archeological artist, Patterson preached weekly in northern-KY at a church of 5 people. From the tombs of Egypt, to the tattooist living among the Head Hunters in Borneo, from the Sherpa villages in the Himalayas, to touring Asia by motorcycle, this native Ohioan is remembered well within the legacy of Christian Student Fellowship. Ward Patterson was a grace-filled image-bearer of Jesus and we stand on his shoulders.
Because of its outreach in registration, special concerts, a deepening and continued commitment to the house ministry and presence on campus, Christian Student Fellowship was blessed and grew. Placing students into leadership roles, motivating service toward the campus and community, and calling each other to bring others to Christ, the beginnings of CSF were alive in the Spirit.
As we grew, our need for housing increased and because of an extremely generous donation in 2000, we were able to buy our current house on what is now David Baker Avenue. This house required lots of renovation, but it now functions as a home on campus where most of our events are held, and where students feel like they belong in community.
After 55 years of ministry, we've learned a lot and we're ready for the next 55 years. Wanna join us?
Check out these testimonies to see how God has worked through this ministry over the years!
“Before Christian Student Fellowship, I was living for the world, constantly searching for things to fill the hole in my heart. Before coming to faith in Christ, I was often upset and angry with where I was in life. I felt lost, ungrateful, and unsure of who I was or where I was going. I tried to find fulfillment in things of this world, but nothing ever lasted, and I was left feeling empty.
When I moved into the campus house my freshman year, I was welcomed by an amazing community, but for a long time, I chose to isolate myself from it. I thought I could handle everything on my own, but deep down I was struggling and longing or something more. By the second semester of my freshman year, I realized I had been living for the world for too long. That was when I finally came to faith in Jesus, and the God-shaped hole in my heart was truly filled.
Through Jesus, I have been given peace and purpose that I never had before. I have found my identity in Him, and I now trust in the plans He has for my life. One verse that has truly stuck with me this year is Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” This verse reminds me that even in seasons of confusion or uncertainty, God is always at work, and His plans are far greater than anything I could imagine for myself.
Coming back to this community this year has been even more meaningful. I was welcomed once again and have met so many people who encourage me and help me grow stronger in my faith every day. Through this growth, I felt called to be baptized, and I am grateful that our campus minister, Ben Geiger, agreed to do so. As I continue living with Christ, I am more thankful than ever for this community, and I clearly see Christ moving in my life and in the lives of those around me.”
“Hello, my name is Miguel, I am a house leader at CSF, and this is my third year living here. My fourth at IU. However, I wasn’t a follower of Jesus when I came here. Not the religious type. Nor had I retained much from years spent with my family in church. Yet, ironically, I was comfortable to claim that I was Christian. Any pressing would have revealed the true extent of my religion, which was merely infrequent and self-centered prayer, the awareness of someone named Jesus and thinking I was going to heaven if I believed in God. The foundational truths which today underlie my identity in Christ were absent. I was effectively starting from scratch when I applied to live at the CSF house.
After a tumultuous and reclusive first year in a college dorm, the CSF house was a breath of fresh air. Most everyone around me seemed to radiate with sincere, authentic joy. Residents went out of their way to talk to me and welcome me in, though I did nothing to deserve their kindness. This culture had none of the pretense, coldness or inauthenticity I had grown used to from the world, and I didn’t have to struggle to belong. though to these people, God was not just a concept but Someone they knew, and Someone worth living for. This was much different than how I was accustomed to operating.
And through this first year at CSF, God softened and inclined my heart toward Him. For the first time, I enjoyed going to church on Sunday. Jesus’ sacrifice became meaningful to me. I learned that God invites me to call Him Father. I beheld the rotten fruits of my pride and the idols I clung to, and I was drawn more into the good soil of the CSF community.
It was in this year that I was saved, slowly and surely, but I was still immature as a believer. The next most momentous moment in my faith would begin much later: the summer before My senior year.
I had spent my junior year of college walking zealously with the Lord, continuing to grow and seek earnestly, but I had yet to grasp my true need for God. This changed at the end of the summer of 2025 when I came across an extremely convicting quote from the late R.C. Sproul:
’If you don’t delight in the fact that your Father is holy, holy, holy, then you are spiritually dead. You may be in a church. You may go to a Christian school. But if there is no delight in your soul for the holiness of God, you don’t know God. You don’t love God. You’re out of touch with God. You’re asleep to His character.’
This shook me to the core. Did I delight in God’s holiness? Only ever in flashes or very brief seasons. As I looked within myself, I beheld a great apathy. I also saw how my love for Jesus was hardly as strong or present of an influence as my desires for self-indulgence or vainglory. I was confident that I had saving faith, yet at the same time it felt as though I were missing something substantial. The parts of relationship with God that I had learned and knew were essential—loving Him with your whole heart, fearing Him, obeying Him with gladness, even finding joy in Him—all felt frustratingly unattainable to me. But in this, God stirred in me an intense, aching longing for Him unlike anything I had experienced before.
Through tremendous conviction, frustration and longing, God showed me that the greatest thing I could offer Him is a heart in ever-deepening surrender. And in His mercy, that’s all He asks for. This heart posture and the wise counsel from faithful Christians at CSF and my church led me to consider baptism, and last December I took that step, publicly expressing my faith in Christ as my Lord and identifying with His death and resurrection. And God has graciously strengthened my faith and trust in Him from this act of obedience.
Although I still wrestle to submit my heart, I know that I can trust in my God. There is rest in His sovereignty, His unfathomable love for me and His lavish promises. To remind myself, I need only remember these past few years, particularly those I’ve spent living in the spiritual greenhouse that is CSF. It is abundantly clear to me that I am not the same person as when I first set foot here.”