Special Edition Fall 2022: Suspicious Groups on Campus

An informative crash course on suspicious religious groups recruiting on campus

By M Yeager

Note: Several sources are identified by their initials due to concern that they may be targeted by these groups

In the past few months, there have been a few religious groups not affiliated with St. Kate’s popping up on campus. With a new year and a new incoming class, it’s important to be up to date on what is happening here and how to find a sense of belonging in a healthy way. 

Two of the groups that have started to make themselves known on campus are the International Christian Church (ICC) and The Salt Company. Both of these groups are primarily campus ministries located all over the world. In the Twin Cities, the local ICC is located at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the local Salt Company ministry is located in the Graduate Hotel on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. 

According to their website, the Salt Company started as a Baptist student ministry headed by Jack Owens at Iowa State University in 1972. In 1986, the ministry transitioned from being a campus ministry to a ministry of a local church, and changed their name to The Salt Company. In 2016, The Salt Network was created with the goal of being on every major university campus across the United States.

The Salt Company’s logo. Credit: St. Paul branch of The Salt Company

The International Christian Church (ICC) is a branch of the International Church of Christ (ICoC). The ICoC was initially formed during a “discipling” movement that rose among Churches of Christ during the 1970s. In 1967, Chuck Lucas, a minister in Gainesville, Fla., started a Church of Christ ministry at the University of Florida. Kip McKean, a member of that ministry, then moved to Boston and created the Boston Church of Christ, the first official ministry of the ICoC. In the late 1990s, McKean’s authority as the leader of the ICoC was called into question, and in 2002 McKean resigned from his role as leader of the church. In 2006, McKean created a new group of churches called the International Christian Church. 

The logo of the ICoC. Credit: International Chuches of Christ.

Both of these ministries have churches planted near or on university campuses all over the country and world. Of the 679 churches that are a part of the ICC and ICoC, 189 of them are in the vicinity of college campuses. The Salt Company has a total of 28 churches, with it stated on their website that they are “working to see churches planted, communities strengthened, and Gospel witness extended to the ends of the earth. In particular, we strategically partner to plant churches in global university centers.” 

Recruiting on Campus

In a recent survey conducted by The Wheel, 84% of the 19 student respondees  stated that they had been approached by one or more people on campus asking about their religious beliefs. The people who approached the students went on to ask if they  would be interested in going to a Bible study. 

Often these instances would occur in or around the Coeur de Catherine. One student, identified as KC ‘24, was hammocking near Dew Drop Pond when a pair of students asked them if they wanted to go to a Bible study and “learn about different women from the Bible because there’s ‘a lot of women at St Kate’s.’” Often when these recruiters come up to students in a pair, one of them is not from St Kate’s. “[One of the recruiters] had another girl with her,” KC said. “She wasn’t from St Kate’s. … I asked.” 

Is there a pattern to these attempts at recruitment? “They target international students, students of color and incoming freshmen students because they generally and systematically lack the resources that students that do not form part of these groups have,” said EV, a student who conducted research into these groups. As a primarily minority-serving institution, this is an issue for St. Kate’s. 

What can be done? Both the ICC and The Salt Company recruiters do not typically share the name of the organization that they are with, and these attempts at recruitment are usually through word of mouth. 

“They are technically breaking campus policy,” said Rin Kilde ‘23 (Public Policy), a student who is working closely with the Center of Spirituality and Social Justice (CSSJ) on this topic. “What they’re doing by coming on this campus and going up to random students and trying to pull them into these random Bible studies is technically solicitation. As a private college, we set our own rules around solicitation.” 

When putting up some sort of publicity around campus, students and departments have to go through official University channels, which is something that these groups are not doing. The University’s solicitation policy located in section 1d of the Student Code of Conduct prohibits “sending excessive email messages, including chain letters, advertisements and solicitations.” It’s difficult to call these groups out for violating this because of the medium they recruit through. 

Associate Dean of Students Lindsey Whipple has declined to comment on the University’s solicitation policy. 

These seemingly random attempts at evangelization and recruitment of university students are not confined to Minnesota or the Twin Cities area. “Our campus is experiencing what many campuses are experiencing across the nation, which is a growth in a number of groups, primarily self-identifying as Christian groups doing so-called missionary work on campuses,” said Sister Sharon Howell, director of the CSSJ. Several articles from other college newspapers, such as The Daily Northwestern and San Jose University’s Spartan Daily, have written articles about the ICC. An honors thesis from the University of Northern Iowa analyzes how The Salt Company has created social identity on college campuses. 

Avenues for Spiritual Exploration

If students are interested in exploring their spirituality in a healthy way on campus, there are several places to do that. There are student organizations such as CRU and the Muslim Student Alliance, in addition to other opportunities on campus such as the chapel choir. A good first place to start is the CSSJ, located on the second floor of the CdC connected to the chapel. 

There are a lot of different forms that spirituality can take, and the staff in the CSSJ are ready to discuss that with students. “We love to have conversations about what spirituality looks like: What it feels like, does it involve religion, does it not involve religion, does it focus on your own self, does it focus on being a person of social justice and volunteering?” said head liturgist Katie Jonza. “We also know people we can direct students to as well. I think that’s what’s cool about our office, is that it’s not just Catholic, it’s not just Christian. There are plenty of opportunities for students to get involved, engaging with what faith looks like to them, or what spirituality looks like to them.” 

It’s also important to remember that it is essential to ask questions, especially concerning topics that seem almost untouchable, like spirituality. 

“To have people surrounding us who are open to allowing to ask questions, to try a few things, to really say ‘I really hate this, can I survive and not fall through the floor into the pit of Hell just for asking a question?’” Howell said. “Ask the question and you won’t fall through the floor. This is a space in particular where you should be able to do that.”