Come summer on a college campus, it’s quite natural for unfamiliar faces to appear as new faculty and staff members begin settling into their homes and offices. This summer, Pacific Union College has also had the privilege of welcoming several new faces to the ministry team.

Jessica Shine isn’t actually “new” to the campus. She attended PUC, serving as the Student Association religious vice president for two years and graduating with a theology degree in 2001. She later went on to seminary.

Now Shine is back at the PUC church as pastor of worship coordination and outreach. Since her arrival on campus, her down-to-earth charisma has contributed to everything from worship music in church to pastoral duties in the office to activities at Vacation Bible School.

Another young woman who is highly involved in PUC’s summer ministries is Eve Lynch, a summer intern who works with youth pastor John Cicle. Lynch works extensively with the youth and earliteen Sabbath school members, for whom she plans events such as vespers, Bible studies, Sabbath school sessions and group trips. She also spends time with community teens in the Angwin Teen Center and Youth With a Mission projects in San Francisco. When she gets a spare minute, Lynch works with family ministries pastor Norma Osborn on such projects as music and drama for Vacation Bible School.

Lynch, who just finished her freshman year as a theology and Spanish major at PUC, wanted to experience youth ministry to find out whether it’s really what she wants to pursue. Already she’s finding her answer: “I wouldn’t have anything else!” Doing the internship has shown her more than ever that this is the direction she wants to take.

The third ministry leader to arrive this summer is Roy Ice, a youth pastor coming from Southern California's Azure Hills church to become PUC’s new campus chaplain. Ice has long been involved in college-age ministry, including serving as associate chaplain while a senior at Southwestern and creating and overseeing young adult ministries in three different churches. In fact, his own experience as a college student speaks to his ministry now.

“College was the most transformational time in my life,” Ice explains. “Because of key faculty, I came to know my best friend, Jesus Christ. It changed me from being a stressed-out, greed-driven student into a joy-filled success story. People need to see, like I did, that this Christianity stuff is for real and does make your life better today.”