Karyn Kamphausen: A Fellow Forester

Interviewing faculty and staff can be intimidating! With a PhD diploma framed on most walls, along with several other impressive accomplishments, even the friendliest of faces may seem larger than life to a college student. However, when I walked into Karyn Kamphausen’s office for an interview about her new role as associate campus pastor, I immediately felt comforted and welcomed.

Warm and bubbling with passion, Kamphausen enthusiastically told me about the joy she has in her new position: “This is a job I’ve always wanted to do since I graduated from Huntington,” she said with a smile. Graduating from Huntington University (then College) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in Christian ministries, Kamphausen pursued her Master of Arts degree in educational ministries from Wheaton College Graduate School. There, however, she faced opposition toward her God-given dream for the first time.

“When I met with my advisor, he encouraged me to pursue church ministry [instead of college ministry] because he said, ‘At small, evangelical Christian colleges, there isn’t a lot of room for women in pastoral ministry.’ I was very discouraged. It was the first time anyone had told me that I couldn’t do something because I was a woman.”

Undeterred in His plans for her, God continued to nudge Kamphausen toward her calling: “I’ve always felt like I’ve had a place in my heart for [being a campus pastor] to college students.” Gaining faith experience as a missionary in Eastern Asia, receiving her ordination from The Christian & Missionary Alliance, and being mentored by strong women of faith gave her the confidence to step into what God had for her all along and return to her alma mater to love on Foresters.

“I always come back to my identity in Christ. I am His child, I’m deeply loved, and I long for others to know that love. Understanding His love for me has freed me to love other people.”

Kamphausen’s official role in the Center for Spiritual Formation is to foster the spiritual formation of students through day-to-day ministry programs. When I asked her what this job description meant specifically to her, Kamphausen had an answer that embodies the true Spirit of a Forester.

“I see myself as an equipper, coming alongside students, wanting them to discover who they are and what their gifts are, and helping them to find places to use those gifts on campus or in local churches. I also enjoy pastoral care, walking alongside people and meeting them where they’re at. I want to encourage people on their way to grow up into who God is making them into.”