By Coen North
BLUFFTON, Ohio — In November, Eli Tracy ‘12 was hired as the new campus pastor at Bluffton University.
He received his bachelor’s in Bible and theology from Bluffton and his master’s of theological studies from Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario, Canada. He has worked as an associate pastor at the Family Christian Center in Defiance, Ohio, a non-denominational church, for ten years and as an adjunct professor at Bluffton for three years.
After Tracy’s first two weeks of work, he stated, “The campus has been so welcoming and so supportive, so it has felt very good to be here full time stepping into this role. I’ve had a really good first couple of days.”
Tracy feels as though this opportunity was made for him. “I read the job description and truly, it was as if someone had interviewed me, wrote a job description and then said, ‘would you like to have this job?’”
Looking back on his four years at Bluffton as a student, Tracy has fond memories. “I genuinely had an incredible student experience when I was here,” he said. “I loved this place, and this place loved me and took care of me. The support that I got from the staff and faculty was incredible. I know what it meant to me as a student, and I want to be that for the students of today.”
There are many aspects of the job Tracy is looking forward to, but he is most excited to work with the student ministry team. He can’t wait to equip them with skills for their postgraduate lives.
“I get to do a lot of other things. I get to teach, which is great; I love the idea of getting to equip all students with knowledge of the Bible, but what I get most excited for when I think of all the different facets of my work is the campus ministry team.”
Tracy has a couple of favorite places on campus that remind him of his time as a student like the nature preserve, the prayer labyrinth, and the library, but no other place compares to The Commons.
“I love being in Marbeck for lunch,” said Tracy. “The way that this institution creates these spaces where sincerely everyone can come on in, sit at the table, have a conversation whether you’re a cabinet member, a prospective student, or a coach, it doesn’t matter. That doesn’t exist everywhere.”
Much change on campus has ignited a closer examination of Bluffton’s core values and campus perception of those values. “Bluffton has a new direction. And getting to take on this role [as campus pastor] while the institution is deciding to move faith and spiritual life on campus out from the periphery back towards the center of the Bluffton identity and the Bluffton student experience, that’s an exciting time to come on board.”
Tracy expects some challenges to arise as the spiritual life on campus grows, but “the university certainly feels more hopeful than it has,” he said. “In a lot of ways, it has changed, but in a lot of ways, it’s still Bluffton. The heart of this place has been preserved.”
