Bluffton University Campus Pastor Stephen “Tig” Intagliata photo by Day’Vion Smith
After 13 years of helping, inspiring and being a mentor for people at Bluffton University, Campus Pastor Stephen “Tig” Intagliata will be retire at the end of the 2019-20 school year.
Mark Bourassa, senior associate director of student life, has been working with Intagliata since Intagliata’s first year at Bluffton. Bourassa believes Intagliata has modeled spiritual life on campus, works well with the students and accepts them wherever they happen to be on their faith journey.
He also praises Intagliata for bringing in outside speakers to speak at chapel. This helps to make everybody feel comfortable from all religious backgrounds, Bourassa said, because it reflects what the student body looks like and not just a segment of it.
“He is very good at forming relationships with people, particularly with students, that’s what connects him with this institution,” said Bourassa. “Where an institution that talks about relationships.”
Intagliata has helped a lot of Bluffton students as the campus pastor. Some of those students also happen to be ministry and pastoral assistants.
Sophomore ministry assistant Spencer Garriso, has known Intagliata for the past two years.
“Tig has helped me a lot, especially my first year of college, and the first year is difficult for a lot of people and was difficult for me, so he helped me through my first year, and helped me get involved in the things last year as well as this year, so he really helped the transition period of my life,” said Garrison.
Michael Short, a pastoral assistant, said that if Intagliata did not impact him the way he did, he would not be as involved as he is on campus and be as comfortable around people.
“I’m so thankful for the chance to have gotten to know and work with Tig,” said Short. “It has been so much fun to learn and grow with Tig and the ministry team.”
This semester, Intagliata is teaching the first-year Becoming a Scholar class.
“I like being able to get to know the first-year students, and just helping and encourage them as they began their college career also to help address whatever needs they have so they can be successful in college,” Intagliata said.
Intagliata said the relationships he has made with students, being a mentor and how the students challenged him to grow as a person is what he is going to miss the most when he retires.
Before he came to Bluffton, Intagliata was involved in Christian ministry on the campus of University of California Los Angeles, where he earned his bachelor’s degree. Intagliata felt that he grew as a person and felt like his relationship with God and his faith got a lot stronger during his time attending UCLA.
“When I graduated I felt God was calling me to do some sort of voluntary service to serve him more,” said Intagliata.
This lead him to a service organization in Denver where he would teach and get involved with the community. He also met his wife while in Colorado.
They got accepted in a program to do service overseas, wanting to work in and explore the Spanish communities. Intagliata and his wife moved to South America, where he taught English and gardening to elementary school kids. He also worked with some churches where his tasks were to train leaders, work with the youth and sometimes start a new church.
