Staff & Student LeadershipThe Campus Protestant Ministry is a student organization. The Ministry is recognized by the Student Forum, but not funded by it. (Eleven area congregations, 5 denominational governing bodies and many individuals assure that there is an operational budget for this program.) Students leaders are elected to the ministry team and to the Ministry Board that oversees our work on behalf of our sponsoring congregations. Ministry Board • Vice President: Lauren Brown • Secretary: Marie Schubert
 Rev. Viki Brooks-McDonaldMy name is Viki Brooks-McDonald. I am the Campus Protestant Minister at Union College. I come to this ministry by way of a complex spiritual path. I was less than eight years old when I was seized by the strong sense of divine presence while standing between two ancient trees in my childhood neighborhood. I felt as one who was loved and cherished to the very core of my being. It was this experience that I have spent my life understanding, assimilating and living into. That childhood home was in a suburb of Cleveland. My search to understand this claim on my life took me to many communities of faith, until as a ninth grader, I concluded that God's best revelation to the culture, in which I was being raised, was in Jesus Christ. I spent most of my high school years trying to find a congregation where scripture study was held in equal regard with issues of social justice. I made my confirmation of faith in Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wooster, Ohio while attending the College of Wooster where I majored in Psychology and minored in Religion. I was part of a small group of students who met with our pastor weekly to share our faith and our doubts. God's call for me to serve in the ordained ministry involved a slow process of exploring several post college options including social work with teenagers and community arbitration. In 1985 I graduated with a Masters of Divinity from McCormick Seminary in Chicago and was ordained in October of that year by the Presbytery of Southeastern Illinois. After serving a multiple staff congregation in Illinois for five years, I moved to Schenectady where I have spent a few years beginning a family and volunteering time to the Presbytery. During that time I facilitated the resettlement of 40 Ukrainian refugees and worked toward strengthening the peacemaking efforts of area congregations. I have contributed to several Presbyterian Peacemaking publications including Advent devotionals and a publication for use in congregations in conflict. I have served 8 churches in this area as mission consultant and interim pastor. I was called to serve as Campus Protestant Minister at Union College in the fall of 1998. This is by far the most invigorating and challenging ministry I have ever had the pleasure of doing. I really enjoy talking with students, faculty staff and administration about matters of the spirit or matters of their lives. I look forward to meeting you. My office is in the basement of Silliman Hall, ext 6618. Peace |
