We introduced you to Ratio Christi in the last part of this special series. We looked at its purpose and history in reaching high school and college students and faculty members with evidence for the truth of the Christian worldview.
Ratio Christi started on one campus in the United States in 2008 and now has about 170 chapters across the country plus scores of chapters in many other countries of the world. Serving the needs of all those chapters is a challenge and Ratio Christi has developed a unique way of meeting the challenge.
Ratio Christi Regions
Ratio Christi has a goal of establishing a total of more than 500 high school and college chapters in the next few years. The potential number of students available to be reached on those campuses is in the millions. Ratio Christi is quickly becoming a major campus ministry and with that comes major organizational challenges.
The current organization includes Team Christi (national and international leadership), Campus Chapters (national and international college and university chapters), RCCP (high school campus chapters), Ratio Christi Prof (reaching college and university professors), RC International (international ministries), Ratio Christi TV (new ministry in 2017), and Ratio Christi Boosters (great ways for parents, grandparents, and church members and leaders to get involved supporting the ministry of Ratio Christi). Ratio Christi also has many divisions that support the ministry (e.g. media outreach, promotions, public relations, social media, IT, human resources, prayer, women’s outreach, volunteer coordination, training, resources, chapter formation, finance, accounting).
Given the sheer size of Ratio Christi’s current ministry and its projected growth in the next few years, what’s the best way to organize for maximum efficiency and impact in the lives of tens of thousands of students? Regions. A region can be a state (e.g. Alabama, Florida, Texas, Indiana, Ohio), a section of the country (e.g. Southern New England, Upper Midwest) or another country (e.g. Philippines, South Africa). The job of serving the needs of each region belongs to regional directors.
Regional Example
Colleges and universities have a long history in the United States. For example – Harvard University and College of William and Mary were founded in the seventeenth century; Yale and Princeton in the eighteenth century. Some were established by governments, others by religious groups. There are thousands of public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. with a student population numbering in the tens of millions. Reaching them with the Gospel of Christ is a large undertaking. Add to that tens of thousands of public and private high schools in the country and we see the awesome opportunities for presenting the logic and reason of the Christian worldview to young people.
Look through the Ratio Christi Chapters web section and you’ll see how many states are involved. The first state alphabetically is Alabama, so let’s begin there.
Alabama has scores of public and private colleges and universities and hundreds of high schools. Ratio Christi has divided the state into two regions to reach the students in these schools. The North Alabama Region covers the top half of the state from the Huntsville area to the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area. The South Alabama Region covers the bottom half of the state from south of Birmingham to Mobile.
Regional directors are charged with the responsibility of providing oversight for the college and university programs through service, care, encouragement, support, guidance, and problem solving. They also initiate and oversee regional strategic planning, partnerships, and growth. In addition, regional directors work closely with the RCCP mentors in their areas to support their work and provide opportunities for graduating high school seniors to participate in local Ratio Christi chapters when they enter college.
From north to south we currently have chapters at —
- University of Alabama in Huntsville
- University of North Alabama (Florence)
- University of Alabama in Birmingham
- University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
- Auburn University
- University of South Alabama (Mobile)
- University of Mobile
The number of students at these universities is almost 100,000. We are also looking at restarting our chapter at Jacksonville State University in addition to starting new chapters across the state.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Alabama region is one example of what Ratio Christi is doing to reach students in the United States and around the world. It’s an exciting story that is far-reaching in the opportunity we all have to make a difference in the lives of high school and college/university students. Investing now in students and the men and women who teach them can impact the future of cities, states and nations for decades to come.
Ratio Christi has great opportunities for volunteers. You can read through some of those opportunities on this page. Every high school and college/university chapter needs volunteer help (we love retirees!). If you’d like to make a big difference in the lives of students, please contact us about your interest. Ratio Christi also needs prayer warriors and financial support, so anything you can do will be a blessing.
Alabama Friends
If you live in Alabama, I would love to hear from you. I live in the Huntsville area and help with the Ratio Christi chapter at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. I also volunteer as a regional director for Ratio Christi in North Alabama and can help you connect with a local college chapter director or high school mentor.
Thank you for reading this post and your love for young people. Please pray for Ratio Christi.
Blessings!
Mark McGee
Ratio Christi Regional Director
[Thanks to Sheryl Young with Ratio Christi for her editorial help]
