The July-August 2006 issue of DisciplesWorld, the journal of news, opinion, and mission for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), features STEP and its work on social justice issues. A sidebar listed the curriculum reviews either completed or under way listed on the Resource reviews page. This article is republished with DisciplesWorld's permission.

A recent survey of Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ (UCC) college students produced a surprising yet not-so-surprising finding: Civil rights is still a hot-button issue on college campuses.

The survey was conducted last summer by the Student Ecumenical Partnership (STEP) - the campus ministry network for the two denominations. Students ranked their top three concerns from a list of 13 issue groupings, such as corporate responsibility, the environment, economic issues, foreign policy, health, education, and even religion on campus. Of more than 120 respondents, 46 percent chose civil rights - broadly defined as racism, the rights of indigenous people, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender concerns, and human rights in general.

STEP's leadership, with help from denominational staff at Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) and its UCC counterpart, is shifting the network away from event-planning, toward faith-based dialogue and activism. The survey results provided a specific direction, but also raised a question - what to do next?

When the leadership team gathered last fall in St. Louis, they talked about creating a civil rights curriculum for study groups and campus ministries. But with a number of materials already out, they decided instead to review the available books, videos, pamphlets, and study guides, and to post the reviews on the STEP website.

The reviews are a way that STEP can serve the church, says Beau Underwood, a recent Eureka College graduate and STEP leadership team member. "Campus ministry leaders are busy. If they wanted to lead a small group study or discussion group, they may not have much time to search for resources," Underwood explains.

Reviewers bring diverse backgrounds and interests to the project, and Underwood sees this as a plus. A double-major in political science and religion, he has reviewed A Just Minimum Wage by Holly Sklar and Paul H. Sherry. The book is part of the "Let Justice Roll" initiative of the National Council of Churches USA.

Behind specific problems like the need for a living wage are bigger issues, like racism, Underwood says.

Because racism and civil rights issues are "out of sight," they are often "out of mind," on campus, says Katie Griffin, a leadership team member at Eastern Kentucky University. Most of today's undergraduates were born after the civil rights era, and some of them believe that "racism is pretty much over," she says.

Griffin says that on college campuses, students realize the connections between issues and "isms." Because of that, campus ministries can do work similar to what the Disciples' Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Initiative has been doing. "It's not just about stopping racism, but also about being committed to healing the wounds the world has sustained from racism," she explains.

As part of STEP's project, Griffin has reviewed two books by Jonathan Kozol on the role racism plays in producing an inequitable educational system.

Griffin also reviewed the video Bill T. Jones: Still/Here with Bill Moyers, in which Jones - a dancer, choreographer, and activist - shares his own story of coming to terms with AIDS. He created "Survival Seminars" for the terminally ill, helping them express themselves using dance and movement.

Currently, Griffin is writing about William Sloane Coffin's Credo and the movie Crash, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture earlier this year. The film looks at how our own reactions and ideas about racism play out in the lives of others - something we don't normally get to see, Griffin says.

STEP leadership team member James Darnell is a member of a UCC congregation in Peoria, Ill., and a recent Illinois State University graduate. He also serves on the board of directors of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries. Most of the resources he is reviewing were created by Justice and Witness Ministries, including Patriotism, Nationalism, and the Christian Life, edited by J. Bennett Guess, editor of United Church News.

"That one came out about a year after 9/11," Darnell notes. "Certain political groups were saying, 'If you don't support the war, you are unpatriotic.'"

Darnell, Griffin, and Underwood are working together on a larger project - reviewing a Bible study series for young adults called Push It! Young Adults Engage the Bible.

"So often we approach the Bible in the way our parents have done," Griffin says. "This is about reading it with new eyes … challenging yourself to develop your own ideas about what you believe."

Besides the resource reviews, the leadership team is working on an Advent devotional. STEP will also reprise its "Campus Chaos" competition next spring, inviting colleges and universities to submit creative and successful ideas for campus ministry. The submissions are bracketed, just like the NCAA "March Madness" basketball tournament. Students choose their favorite campus ministry idea through several rounds of voting. This year's winner was Syracuse University.

STEP's organizers hope their work will demonstrate to the wider church that young adults are ready to lead.

Griffin notes, "We have been ready for a while to be recognized not just as leaders for tomorrow, but as leaders of today as well."