Jonathan Fetrick joins CFE team

Began role as University chaplain in July

ANDREWS UNIVERSITY WELCOMES Jonathan Fetrick to the Center for Faith Engagement (CFE) team as University chaplain. In this role, Fetrick is responsible for enriching the spiritual life, faith development and pastoral care of the University community. Together with a dedicated team of spiritual leaders, he will work to build a vibrant community of faith, foster whole-person growth and further the mission of Andrews University.

President John Wesley Taylor V says, “We look forward to the energy, experience and spiritual passion Chaplain Jonathan Fetrick brings to this role, and we are confident he will be a powerful and compassionate presence among us.”

Fetrick’s vision for chaplaincy is one of collaboration—coming alongside students, faculty and staff to empower them as faithful disciples who disciple others. He says, “I am passionate about connecting students with God’s mission, message, and people and about equipping and sending people out for Christ. Andrews, in a fascinating way, is a representation of the world church. We have an opportunity to impact the mission of God in this world in a very distinct way.”

Fetrick holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Southern Adventist University and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University. He is currently completing a Doctor of Ministry at Andrews with a focus on discipleship strategies. Returning with his wife Michelle, also an Andrews alum, Fetrick is excited to be back on the campus where their journey together began, along with their four children. For the past eight years, he served as pastor of the Wisconsin Academy Church. Prior to that, he served for 11 years in the Washington Conference, both as a pastor and youth pastor.

Growing up in a very spiritually focused environment, Fetrick found regular opportunities to participate in ministry, including on mission trips, through literature evangelism and at summer camps. These provided numerous ways for him to express his faith and share it with others. In college, with the advice of mentors and time spent in thought and prayer, Fetrick clearly felt God’s leading to pastoral ministry.

“I am passionate about connecting students with God’s mission, message, and people ... ”

Now, as University chaplain, Fetrick’s dream is that the Center for Faith Engagement is effective in raising conversation with faculty and staff about how to best help students become disciples. He says, “I know how to be a disciple of Jesus as a pastor because that’s who I am. But I don’t know how to do that as a nurse, mathematician or counselor. While there is a lot of overlap, there is also nuance that is important. Our faculty and staff bring expertise to that.”

He adds, “From the student standpoint, my objective would be to empower students to disciple other students and to give them the opportunity and tools to take things at Andrews to the next level for God.”

Fetrick looks forward to leading the Center for Faith Engagement team. He says, “I can only do so much for God on my own. I need to pour into the lives of those who are discipling students and equip them to lean into discipling even more for God. Part of equipping comes from creating a framework, part from building a culture of discipleship, and part from simply a realization of conversations and relationship around being a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.”

He continues, “The real crux is discipleship multiplication—someone being a disciple in such a way that what they have with Jesus overflows. Disciples make a lifelong commitment to work alongside other people to do something more for God together than they can do on their own.”