Greetings! We are so glad you love the University of Minnesota campus community. Our fellowship of Christian campus ministry leaders (informally referred to as “Gopher Christian”) meets quarterly, and these meetings are designed to connect the university’s Christian groups, resource you as a leader, and serve as a liaison with the university’s administration, keeping channels of communication strong between campus Christian leaders and UMN officials.
Whether you are a pastor, student ministry leader, or faculty member, we would love to meet you at our next gathering.
See our next quarterly gathering on our Gopher Christian calendar below. They do require registration and are hosted by the various ministry partners and churches around campus. We hope to see you soon!
The Gopher Christian Steering Committee,
Bryan Bademan, Anselm House
Ken Currie, Campus Outreach
Josh Driver, Hospitality Center
Cherie Jones, Athletes in Action
Ryan Koster, Chi Alpha
Brad Mateer, Founder
Br. Matthew Warnez, St. Lawrence and Newman Center
Cherie Jones currently serves as a Team Lead for Athletes in Action Twin Cities. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. After spending over 20 years in corporate sales, she joined full time staff with AIA. Cherie is passionate about seeing lives transformed by Jesus Christ and is grateful to be used at her alma mater to win, build, and send student-athletes to multiply their lives into others. She enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren.
Brad Mateer is one of the founding members of Gopher Christian. He owned and operated two grocery store on campus for nearly three decades. His heart has been for all campus ministries to see people led to Christ, to see a unified and Kingdom-minded association of Christian community that pray for one another and to help represent our ministries to the greater University and its communities.
Bryan Bademan has spent nearly all of his adult life on college campuses, whether studying, teaching, or helping people to think about the relationship between Christian faith and knowledge. A church history by training, Bryan enjoys reading good books and conversation over meals or beverages. He is the Executive Director of Anselm House and a Ruling Elder at CityLife Church in St. Paul
Chinechetam Jeremiah Ogazi was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Chinechetam (chee-nay-chay-tamm) is an Igbo name which means God always remembers me. He graduated in May from Bethlehem College and Seminary with an M.Div and is happily married to Annie Ogazi, a native Minnesotan.
After graduating from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2010 with a degree in Asian Literature & Language, Josh started at the Hospitality Center as a volunteer and furniture intern looking to connect to Chinese students using his Mandarin. After being a “Josh-of-all-trades” performing to some extent nearly every role in the organization, Josh now leads as the Executive Director. Josh is passionate about connecting people and ideas, his family, creative projects, and encouraging others. He attends Trinity City Church with his family of four.
Ken was drawn to the grace of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ while in college. He and his wife, Theresa, began working with Campus Outreach in Georgia upon graduation. They moved to Minnesota in 2003 to start Campus Outreach at Twin Cities universities. Ken loves to spend time with his 5 children and 3 grandchildren as well as reading, biking and cheering for Minnesota sports teams. Ken is currently Downtown Area Director for Campus Outreach Minneapolis.
Br. Matthew Warnez is a perpetually professed member of the Brotherhood of Hope, a Catholic community of consecrated men. He serves as the managing director of campus ministry at the St. Lawrence Newman Center in Minneapolis, MN. He loves philosophy, poetry and God's creation.
Ryan Koster is a proud alumni of the University of Minnesota where he received a B.S. in Kinesiology in 2012. Although his original intention was a career in Physical Therapy, he felt God's call to full-time campus ministry while interning with Chi Alpha after graduation. He has been serving at the U of MN ever since. Ryan currently serves as the director alongside his wife, Rebecca. Ryan loves to spend time running, reading, and canoeing up in the boundary waters.
Anselm House is a 501(c)3 organization independent of the University of Minnesota. We aim to bring the Christian intellectual tradition in conversation with the big questions that scholars have been thinking about for thousands of years. Traditionally, the university was the place to contemplate these questions, but with the increased pressure to publish, the competition for grants, and the fragmentation of the university in increasingly specialized fields, these questions are not asked as much anymore. At Anselm House we want to recover these questions again and facilitate civil discourse among members of the UMN community through various events, such as roundtable discussions, lectures, seminars and forums.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 141007, Minneapolis, MN 55414
Office Phone: 612-378-1935
