Posted 4:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, 2013
UW-L alum Paul Petersen discusses the detour that took him to a career in campus ministry at UW-L where he has helped bring six denominations together under one roof at Common Ground. “When I go on a trip, I love charting out the trip — where I’ll go and what stops I’ll make, but the fun part is the detours,” says Petersen. “In the search for God, it’s the stuff that veers you off course that is interesting because that is where faith happens.”
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Paul Petersen, ’82, recreation management major, is now campus pastor at Common Ground campus ministry. His wife, Lori, ’82, teaches in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science. Petersen has been involved in campus ministry for 25 years, including 16 years at UW-L.[/caption]
Paul Petersen leaned across the table inside a sunny worship room of the newly formed Common Ground campus ministry. People love the large windows and the location is perfect, he noted as he looked through them onto the heart of the UW-La Crosse campus. A new sense of community is sprouting here, he said.
“As an alum, if this is my contribution to changing campus life or enhancing it, I’m pretty happy with that,” Petersen says. “This is my way of giving back to this community I really love.”
It all happened because Petersen, ’82, took a small detour. Seventeen years ago he was living in Arizona and was visiting the Midwest. He stopped in La Crosse for a retirement party of former Campus Pastor Armin Heidman. As he headed east on Interstate 90, the road opened to Lake Onalaska with the backdrop of the Mississippi River Valley’s rolling hills. Petersen turned to his wife, Lori, ’82, and both had a sense that this was where they should be.
Petersen says perhaps it was a calling — a message from God. But, in any case, only a year later, he was packing his bags to come back to UW-L to become a minister for Lutheran Campus Ministry. Petersen, UW-L’s campus minister of 16 years and a pastor at the newly formed Common Ground campus ministry, can confirm that feeling was real.
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Pastor Paul Peterson stands outside Common Ground.[/caption]
“I have no doubt God was calling me here to do this,” he says. “But there were a lot of little things I had to learn along the way.”
He had to learn a thing or two about fundraising, buildings and design when UW-L’s Lutheran Campus Ministry wanted to find a new space — more welcoming than what they called their “ugly, green house,” located in on 17th and State streets. It was a goal that took 15 years to realize, says Peterson, now an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor.
“9-11 happened and then Katrina happened and that diverted money to places it should have gone, so fundraising started and stopped,” he says.
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The new building was dedicated May 5, 2012. Common Ground is at the corner of 14th and Pine streets.[/caption]
He is grateful for community and area church support, which eventually raised $700,000 of the $800,000 needed for construction of the new Common Ground building, built where a run-down “party house” was at the corner of 14th and Pine streets.
The name Common Ground is no exaggeration. The new building, erected in May 2012, brought together two established campus ministries, the Lutheran Campus Ministry and Crossroads United Campus Ministry. It’s where six denominations now come together for a sense of community and learning about themselves and their spirituality, including: United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Episcopal Church, American Baptist and Presbyterian Church.
[caption id="attachment_3061" align="alignright" width="376"]
The old house at the corner of 14th and Pine streets was torn down to make way for the new Common Ground building. Petersen says as it was torn down on Halloween, bats flew out of one end of the building — creating a dramatic scene. He is very proud of the new facilities near the heart of campus residence halls and buildings.[/caption]
When asked how the students are able to share so many religious traditions under one roof, Petersen smiles. They all worship together and Petersen alternates with Pastor Laura Hoglund on presiding or preaching every other Sunday. He notes the different theologies surrounding communion, but says those differences don’t come up during the service. Whether a sacrament or a memorial, students simply consider what it means for them as they step up to take it. As for which hymnal, Peterson says they use all of them and none of them, depending on the situation.
“We are in a situation to pull what is best — the richest material from all of these and blend it together,” he explains.
Divisions are dissolving because students still find what they need — a place for introspection in a comfortable community.
“I’ve called it the ‘Cheers’ mentality,” says Petersen. “You want to go where everyone knows your name — where you feel comfortable.”
Petersen says what he likes most about working with college students is they are open to new ideas and exploring boundaries. He encourages questions that might challenge their faith, but propel them on their journey.
“When I go on a trip, I love charting out the trip — where I’ll go and what stops I’ll make, but the fun part is the detours,” says Petersen. “In the search for God, it’s the stuff that veers you off course that is interesting because that is where faith happens.”
His UW-L detour is where faith has happened for him — and, as a result, for so many others.
Paul Petersen, ’82, recreation management major, is now campus pastor at Common Ground campus ministry. His wife, Lori, ’82, teaches in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science. Petersen has been involved in campus ministry for 25 years, including 16 years at UW-L.[/caption]
Paul Petersen leaned across the table inside a sunny worship room of the newly formed Common Ground campus ministry. People love the large windows and the location is perfect, he noted as he looked through them onto the heart of the UW-La Crosse campus. A new sense of community is sprouting here, he said.
“As an alum, if this is my contribution to changing campus life or enhancing it, I’m pretty happy with that,” Petersen says. “This is my way of giving back to this community I really love.”
It all happened because Petersen, ’82, took a small detour. Seventeen years ago he was living in Arizona and was visiting the Midwest. He stopped in La Crosse for a retirement party of former Campus Pastor Armin Heidman. As he headed east on Interstate 90, the road opened to Lake Onalaska with the backdrop of the Mississippi River Valley’s rolling hills. Petersen turned to his wife, Lori, ’82, and both had a sense that this was where they should be.
Petersen says perhaps it was a calling — a message from God. But, in any case, only a year later, he was packing his bags to come back to UW-L to become a minister for Lutheran Campus Ministry. Petersen, UW-L’s campus minister of 16 years and a pastor at the newly formed Common Ground campus ministry, can confirm that feeling was real.
[caption id="attachment_3071" align="alignright" width="376"] Pastor Paul Peterson stands outside Common Ground.[/caption]
“I have no doubt God was calling me here to do this,” he says. “But there were a lot of little things I had to learn along the way.”
He had to learn a thing or two about fundraising, buildings and design when UW-L’s Lutheran Campus Ministry wanted to find a new space — more welcoming than what they called their “ugly, green house,” located in on 17th and State streets. It was a goal that took 15 years to realize, says Peterson, now an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor.
“9-11 happened and then Katrina happened and that diverted money to places it should have gone, so fundraising started and stopped,” he says.
[caption id="attachment_3056" align="alignright" width="376"] The new building was dedicated May 5, 2012. Common Ground is at the corner of 14th and Pine streets.[/caption]
He is grateful for community and area church support, which eventually raised $700,000 of the $800,000 needed for construction of the new Common Ground building, built where a run-down “party house” was at the corner of 14th and Pine streets.
The name Common Ground is no exaggeration. The new building, erected in May 2012, brought together two established campus ministries, the Lutheran Campus Ministry and Crossroads United Campus Ministry. It’s where six denominations now come together for a sense of community and learning about themselves and their spirituality, including: United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Episcopal Church, American Baptist and Presbyterian Church.
[caption id="attachment_3061" align="alignright" width="376"] The old house at the corner of 14th and Pine streets was torn down to make way for the new Common Ground building. Petersen says as it was torn down on Halloween, bats flew out of one end of the building — creating a dramatic scene. He is very proud of the new facilities near the heart of campus residence halls and buildings.[/caption]
When asked how the students are able to share so many religious traditions under one roof, Petersen smiles. They all worship together and Petersen alternates with Pastor Laura Hoglund on presiding or preaching every other Sunday. He notes the different theologies surrounding communion, but says those differences don’t come up during the service. Whether a sacrament or a memorial, students simply consider what it means for them as they step up to take it. As for which hymnal, Peterson says they use all of them and none of them, depending on the situation.
“We are in a situation to pull what is best — the richest material from all of these and blend it together,” he explains.
Divisions are dissolving because students still find what they need — a place for introspection in a comfortable community.
“I’ve called it the ‘Cheers’ mentality,” says Petersen. “You want to go where everyone knows your name — where you feel comfortable.”
Petersen says what he likes most about working with college students is they are open to new ideas and exploring boundaries. He encourages questions that might challenge their faith, but propel them on their journey.
“When I go on a trip, I love charting out the trip — where I’ll go and what stops I’ll make, but the fun part is the detours,” says Petersen. “In the search for God, it’s the stuff that veers you off course that is interesting because that is where faith happens.”
His UW-L detour is where faith has happened for him — and, as a result, for so many others.