In His First Year as Lindsey Wilson College Chaplain, Rev. Tyler Brumfield Helped Build Community through Partnerships

'I think 90% of ministry is just showing up, being present and then letting God do the rest.'

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (06/27/2025) — The Rev. Tyler Brumfield's first year at Lindsey Wilson College was one of lessons, observations and a few revelations.

Brumfield, who served his first year as Lindsey Wilson chaplain, helped lead a campus ministry program in 2024-25 that demonstrated that a chaplain's office is often most effective when it is not restricted to the confines of a chapel.

Brumfield said it was no accident that members of the Lindsey Wilson community saw him and the students he works with in campus ministry throughout the campus. That was the result of a decision that he and the campus ministry students made at the start of the school year when they held a retreat at The United Methodist Church's Loucon Training and Retreat Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky.

"When we gathered together there back in August, we developed a mission statement that called for us to follow Jesus, make disciples and serve others," he said. "So that's what we set out to do throughout the school year."

'Strong sense of community'

In addition to holding a weekly weekday chapel service for the Lindsey Wilson community during the school year, Brumfield's office also held evening gatherings, including on weekends, to accommodate students' schedules.

Brumfield said that wherever he went on campus during the 2024-25 school year, he discovered a welcoming community.

"One thing I love about Lindsey Wilson is that it's not hard to develop relationships and feel a strong sense of community," said Brumfield. "You can literally just walk outside the door and be greeted by students, staff and faculty who want you to be part of this larger community on campus."

The chaplain's office also partnered with several student organizations in 2024-25, creating a dynamic synergy that permeated the campus.

"That meant just seeing what was going on around campus and partnering up with groups on some of their activities," said Brumfield. "We just showed up and worked with them, which helped make us more visible. I think 90% of ministry is just showing up, being present and then letting God do the rest."

Taking a break from pizza

Campus partnerships in the spring included co-hosting a Super Bowl watch party with the Office of Student Activities in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship, where more than 40 pizzas were consumed by several dozen students (more might have been eaten if the second half of Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs had been closer), and helping make the campus' 2025 Dance Blue the most successful one in Lindsey Wilson history.

While pizza proved to be a powerful tool to attract students, Brumfield said that he discovered that even college students enjoy variety at campus events.

"I learned that college students can grow tired of eating pizza, so we mixed things up with tacos and chicken at some of our events," he said.

In April, the chaplain's office teamed up on another big campus event, this time with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to hold Southcentral Kentucky FCA's Fields of Faith. The event -- which packed a side of the college's Biggers Sports Center with college students, as well as students from area grade schools and high schools -- featured a well-received keynote talk by Jake Camarda, who is a punter for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League.

"Like so many of the other partnerships during the school year, that turned out better than I had expected in terms of attendance," Brumfield said. "I think it goes to show you that when you work together, you can help create something that is bigger than either group and reach more people."

And that's what Brumfield plans to do during the 2025-26 school year -- continue to reach more people through more events and partnerships, all of which will be driven by student energy, ideas and leadership in the first year of Lindsey Wilson University.

"We want to continue to show the campus that the chaplain's office is more than what takes place on Wednesday during chapel," he said. "That's not to diminish what happens during chapel, but rather to have us ask, 'How do we open doors and build bridges that will attract more people?' We always want to be a place where everyone can feel welcome and belong so that they can find a sense of community on campus."

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