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Jeff McLaughlin

mclaughin_j.jpgThe CCO influenced Jeff McLaughlin in such a way, he believes, that from the very beginning, his Christian walk has had everything to do with his profession and professional life. A 1975 graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Jeff is currently an education professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Although he came from somewhat of a church background, Jeff believes he became a Christian at the same time he was becoming a teacher. Because he was able to make that connection from the beginning of his Christian life, Jeff believes that integrating his faith in every area of life comes almost naturally.

Jeff remembers that the CCO sponsored a number of seminars and activities on campus when he was a student. He especially remembers listening to CCO staff member Pete Steen talking about developing a Christian worldview. He considers what Pete represented and taught as being the biggest influence in his life. Jeff says that being involved with the CCO during his college years made him a more serious student than he might otherwise have been. He had always wanted to be a teacher, but the things he was learning from Dave and staff members Terry Thomas, Bill Painter and Ted Schumacher gave him more of a sense of mission in being a student. He began thinking about why he was in college and what his purpose was, and Jeff says there was a sense of excitement in seeing the connection between his life as a Christian and what he was chosen to do.

Jeff and his wife Donna live in Spring City, Pennsylvania with their son, Sam, and daughter, Iris. Jeff is active at the First Presbyterian Church of Phoenixville, where he serves as an elder, coordinates and teaches adult Sunday school, and is active on the missions committee. He has been a part of three mission trips to Guatemala where his church has been able to make connections with local teachers and schools.

In his work as a college professor, Jeff finds that the way he teaches often reflects what he learned through the CCO’s ministry. As he talks with students, he encourages them to connect what they believe with what they want to do. Jeff challenges his students on the first day of class to identify the worldviews shaping their thinking. The most important thing for students to do in college, Jeff believes, is to clarify what they believe. For Jeff McLaughlin, developing a Christian worldview through the ministry of the CCO has been “more of a powerful theme than I probably know.”