CCO Campus Ministry

CCO staff member Avery Danage ministers to students at Kent State University. Before joining the CCO, Avery worked as a juvenile detention officer and as a youth and campus pastor with Kent Presbyterian Church.

I first found out about the CCO when I was working as the campus pastor for Kent Presbyterian Church and as a juvenile detention officer for Portage County, Ohio. Ted Schumacher, who works for the CCO, was a member of Kent Prez, and he suggested that I look into doing some work for the CCO.

Campus ministry is exciting work as college campuses are modern-day mission fields. It is exciting to be a part of God’s plan for missions. This idea of calling and joining together with God motivates me to keep going. The senses and feelings associated with being called to ministry are present in my daily life. Every day, I awake with the sense that I am doing just what I was born to do.

While working in the public sector, there was something missing, but it was a job. Working in ministry, however, is absolutely my calling. Life is truly much more enjoyable when one can fulfill his or her calling. That is the biggest difference.

The CCO’s complete focus is about ministering to college students. The emphasis of everything we do is about college students. The CCO gives me the training I need to do my work very well. Again, I prayed for some time about moving into ministry full-time, but I did not expect the opportunity to come this way. It is all about the calling.