Pastor Andy Nelson, the director of campus ministry and community service at Morningside, centers himself around the students.

He is now full-time tending to spiritual life of the students and facilitating community service. He schedules his days according to the students the visit with him and fills in his time from there. He stated, ” My favorite thing is when students come into my office.”

Pastor Nelson wants students to feel welcomed and that he doesn’t have an agenda when talking to us. “My job is to listen,” he said. He simply wants students at Morningside to feel listened to with someone who genuinely cares about them, when confiding in him.

The conversations he has had lately with students involve many aspects of their lives. The main topic has been about discernment, what people plan to do with their lives after they graduate from Morningside. Pastor Nelson hears about almost everything from students’ current events, their relationships or friendships, and their families.

Pastor Nelson wants to convey to students that their lives have meaning and purpose, and he wants to assist us in finding that meaning and purpose. He said, “I want to be authentic with you and I want to be honest with you.” He isn’t here to judge, rather he’s more concerned with how we treat others with our actions and words.

He described that the hardest aspect of his job is discovering what the students find compelling or what they are passionate about. Pastor Nelson stressed that the denomination of your religion doesn’t matter. He simply wants to be a sounding board for all students, and he wants to reach out to as many as he can.