CCO Campus Ministry

Tim Gebhart

“I was set,” says Tim Gebhart, CCO staff member at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU). As a student at Penn State, Tim was pursuing a degree in Horticulture and was planning to work in his father’s landscape business after graduation. At the very end of his freshman year, however a friend took him to Crux which was a Christian outdoor club led by CCO staff member Stephanie Swaney Wessel. Then, says Tim, his plans sort of got stood on their head.

Through Crux, Tim became involved in Bible study, discipleship, and leadership development. He says that he grew in a lot of different ways by participating in outdoor activities, including the CCO’s Leadership and Discipleship in the Wilderness (LDW) program. These opportunities showed him that the Christian faith connects with all activities. Having been in Boy Scouts during high school, Tim participated in a number of outdoor activities. He also had been an active member in his church and youth group. The CCO and Crux, however, showed him how to connect those things.

The other main influence the CCO’s ministry had on Tim was that, through his participation in Crux, he learned how to lead other people. Crux encouraged him to see he had things to offer to the church as well as to other believers. He learned that he had gifts for full-time ministry he had never previously considered. Today, Tim uses those gifts while serving the CCO as Director of Wilderness Ministry at Ohio Wesleyan University. Working out of the chaplain’s office, Tim directs three main programs. A student group, the Outdoor Ministry Team, enables student leaders to meet weekly to explore the Bible and learn leadership skills. The Spring Break Wilderness Trek which is open to all OWU students encourages them to explore their relationships with God, with other people, with themselves, and with creation. Tim also oversees a pre-orientation trip for incoming freshmen.

In addition to encouraging Tim to pursue full-time campus ministry, involvement with the CCO shaped his views about conservation. Today, he sees being a good caretaker of creation as being not just service to the environment, but service to God. Those views influence many of his choices including finding an apartment close enough to OWU that he can walk to campus and buying fair-trade food as much as possible.

Tim’s participation in the annual Jubilee conference has helped him to develop an awareness of his role as a global citizen. Through understanding links between the U.S. economy and workers all over the world, Tim has gained a deeper appreciation of how his choices affect people everywhere. That understanding encourages him to be conscious about helping the poor versus maintaining the status quo.

Tim is a newlywed, having married Julia Wisner in July, 2008. They live in Delaware, Ohio.

Transformed Lives