This is a commissioning service I wrote for Areopagus, our campus ministry at Iowa State. It has been used to commission two of our ministry directors. A leader reads the normal typeface text; the bold text is read by the congregation.

Commissioning Litany for Name of Campus Ministry Director

Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ:

Today we rejoice in God’s gifts to his people and in the great things he is doing at Iowa State University. We thank God especially for Name as we commission him/her as the ministry director of Campus Ministry, send him/her as our missionary to the university, and come beside him/her in support of his/her ministry.

Almighty God, Wisdom was your first creation and Wisdom was the architect by your side when you marked off the world’s foundations.

Lord, grant us wisdom to care for your creation.

All truth is your truth and all your deeds are amazing. All who delight in them should ponder them.

Lord, give us a love of learning that will increase our reverence for you.

When you granted Solomon his request for wisdom, he established justice in Israel and his reputation brought honor to your name throughout the world.

Lord, grant us wisdom to do justice and mercy that your church may be the light of the world.

In the fullness of time, you sent us your Son, in whom lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. By the power of the cross, he made foolish the wisdom of the world and became our righteousness, our holiness and our redemption.

Lord, give us discernment to measure all this world’s wisdom by the foolishness of the cross.

Throughout this age you have sent your Spirit to raise up wise and godly men and women to lead your church, teach your people and contribute to your kingdom in every way you desire.

Lord, give the spirit of wisdom to our leaders and teachers that they may follow the example of our Servant Lord.

You are the source of all knowledge and you have established schools and universities where your knowledge is sought and taught.

Lord, grant that those who study your creation may come to the knowledge of its Creator.

We thank you for all these gifts you have given us. Reverence for you is the foundation of true wisdom and the rewards of understanding come to all who obey you. Grant your people reverence and obedience so that our faith may not rest on human wisdom, but on your power in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The Lord Jesus set an example for us when he sat among the teachers in the temple courts, discussing deep questions with them. Likewise, when Paul visited Athens, he went boldly to the synagogue, the marketplace and the Areopagus to proclaim the gospel and debate the philosophers of the day. He did not speak the kind of wisdom that belongs to the world, nor the kind that appeals to its rulers. Instead, he preached Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Therefore, as possessors of the truth, let us go into the university and the marketplace of ideas, professing but also listening, teaching but also learning, with conviction but also humility, with boldness but also love.

We now intend to commission Name to lead us in this task in the position of Campus Ministry director.

Brother/Sister Name, in order that God’s people assembled here may witness that you, in the strength of the Lord, accept the responsibilities of this ministry, you are requested to stand and answer the following questions:

Do you believe that in the call of this ministry God himself is calling you to this position?

Do you commit yourself to the service of Jesus Christ as the Campus Ministry director?

Do you promise to use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given you to advance God’s kingdom at University?

I do, God helping me.

People of God:

Do you in the name of the Lord welcome Name as the Campus Ministry director? Do you promise to sustain him/her with your prayers, encourage him/her in the exercise of his/her tasks, and share with him/her in the work of his/her ministry?

We do, God helping us.

Laying on of hands

May God our heavenly Father, who has called you to this position, guide you by his Word, equip you with his Spirit, and so prosper your ministry that his church may increase and his name be praised.

Prayers are offered for the ministry director and the ministry.

“View the Present Through the Promise” Advent Candle-Lighting Liturgy Series by David Schweingruber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.