Growing your faith through spiritual disciplines and serving the Hillsdale community while working a farm is the Building Up Disciplines in Summer program’s pursuit, according to Ryan Perkins, director of campus recreation and club sports. 

“Working with your hands and praying are not mutually exclusive,” Perkins said. “It’s all part of growing as a whole human being, right? That’s one of the things we really want to stress through the summer is that we want you to grow in mind, heart, spirit and body.” 

Students in the BUDS program pick vegetables and tend chickens and sheep at Hillsdale Homestead, formerly Glei’s Orchards and Greenhouses.

Started last summer by Perkins and Associate Dean of Men Jeffery “Chief” Rogers, the program aims to develop participants, mostly men, in their walk with God. Perkins believes it is essential to address both the body and the spirit by providing manual labor, teaching spiritual disciplines, and helping the local community.

Hillsdale College Chaplain Adam Rick encouraged the program’s ecumenical approach and gave Perkins advice on the direction of the program.

“I think my impulse was in the direction of the Society of St. Stephen, or a rule of life together, spiritual rhythms that include things like manual labor and service in the community, in keeping with the old dynastic rule of St. Benedict,” Rick said. 

This approach of targeting both the spirit and body helped guide Perkins to focus on the whole individual. 

“Some of the main goals are to help students grow in their faith, establish Christian rhythms and devotional life, serve in the Hillsdale community, grow in Christian brotherhood together, and establish mentorship with older believers,” said Brock Lutz, director of health and wellness. 

The program strives to prepare young Christian men to persevere in an antagonistic world, according to Perkins. 

“I look at the world outside of Hillsdale and see it becoming an increasingly challenging place to live as a Christian,” Perkins said. “We want to do everything in our power at Hillsdale College to prepare the young men to go out into the world after their four years here and to be the light of Christ.”

Perkins said this mission requires an increasing amount of courage, strength, and devotion to God. 

Lutz also said there is a need for defining manhood in a confused culture with a Christian context. 

“There are also various summer activities that students pursue over the summer, and we believe this is one of the most significant because the hopes are that they will establish rhythms during this summer that will impact the rest of their lives as they continue to live those things out on a daily basis,” Lutz said.

From May 23 to Aug. 7, the men worked six days a week, beginning the day at the Hillsdale Homestead at 7:30 a.m., Perkins said.

“We really want to build rhythms and patterns of spiritual disciplines throughout the summer so that every part of the day is in Scripture and prayer,” Perkins said. “On Sundays, we let students obviously go to their church service and spend time in the church community and resting.”

The first hour of a typical day is for the young men to work with their hands on the homestead. 

Sophomore Elliot “Desmond” Mowry, one of the two young men who participated in the program last summer, said the program’s partnering of faith and agriculture interested him. He said that after the homestead chores, they would spend a couple hours in prayer and study. This prayer and study is guided by both the young men and the leaders.

“We will work with each of the students to figure out a Scripture reading plan and provide questions for prayer and meditation through the day,” Perkins said.

After lunch, there is time for working out and small group discussion. The rest of the afternoon is spent completing GOAL programs and ministry work, Mowry said. He said some of the work was handyman projects, where he fixed lights and doors, and other tasks involved a lot of chainsaw work with trees. 

Mowry saw first hand the impact he made on the community, such as in Adopt-a-Grandparent, which cultivates a relationship between the college students and the elderly of the community by weekly visits to the local nursing home. 

“Adopt-a-Grandparent was one of my favorite GOAL programs to be involved in,” Mowry said. “It was just great to get to talk with the old folks there. It was a joy to see them smile and hear about their stories. Sadly, nursing homes are often lonely for the residents, so it was meaningful to get to be their friend.”

With the program being gospel and ministry oriented, much of its efforts are with the local church, Perkins said. They coordinate with the church by bringing in local pastors to meet with the men in the program.

Because developing young men’s fellowship with God is a crucial component of BUDS, each of the four leaders provides different guidance in this area. Last summer, Lutz taught on both the spiritual disciplines and on the men’s personal Christian story.

“We focused on our personal Christian story, discussed the idea of what it means to be a healthy Christian man and how to continue to focus on growing in Christian manhood, and then discussed some specific Christian disciplines for growth,” Lutz said. 

In the upcoming summer, Rick will teach on the life of King David from 1 and 2 Samuel. Rick said that David’s story has a lot to say towards young men, especially in exploring what godly masculinity is.

“That’s still a work in progress, but the life of King David is for all young men,” Rick said. “He models for us faithfulness, perseverance, repentance.”

Perkins said he taught the prayer, and Rogers discussed ministry and evangelism. 

“Whatever it is, each of the different staff leaders has something unique that they bring to the table and something that’s especially on their heart that they want to grow the men in,” Perkins said.

Mowry said that BUDS introduced him to many spiritual disciplines.

“It was really helpful for me to have accountability with keeping these practices,” Mowry said. “Also, the program’s leadership is basically an all-star cast of guys who are phenomenal resources for your spiritual growth. They have a lot of wisdom, and it was awesome getting to tap into that a little.”

Though the program is enjoyable, it is challenging, Mowry said, with the work being intense and requiring creativity. The spiritual disciplines also tested his faith specifically in confession, where Mowry learned how to be vulnerable with the young men.

“BUDS challenged me to get serious about my faith and my work,” Mowry said. “One of the things I loved about the program is that Ryan and Chief didn’t make work for us to do. There was already lots of work to do, both at the farm and in the GOAL programs, and if we slacked off, the homestead or the local community would suffer in really tangible ways. In other words, our work was valuable and needed.”