As Missional Team Leader of Ohio University’s Campus Crusade for Christ, Brian McCollister devotes a great deal of his time to ministering to others. In order to carry out the organization’s mission of turning lost students into Christ-centered laborers, he plays four main roles as the co-director: vision caster, spokesperson, direction setter, and coach. In order to reach the students of the campus, he leads in establishing and executing the strategic plan for the ministry. Brian leads our growing staff team in our efforts not only to reach Ohio University but also nearby campuses.
During his senior year as a member of the 1986 graduating class at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, Brian considered several options of how to continue his life. Earning a degree in international affairs, he could have taken on an internship with the state department or continued his education with grad school. However, at this point in time, he felt he was faced with two questions: “What kind of impact do I want to make in 20 years?” and “Where is the best place to do that?” Realizing that he wanted to spread the word of Christ to all he could, he decided his best choice was to go into full-time ministry. For five years he served as a Campus Crusade staff member at Virginia Tech. He then came to Ohio University in 1991 when the position for staff director opened. He has loved the time he has spent at OU because the students are a “good mixture of the socially adept and the academically competent.” According to Brian, college students are the most influential group of people. “They have the incredible zeal and enthusiasm of youth, but they are more thoughtful and engaging than any audience in the world.”
Since he’s been part of the OU Campus Crusade team, Brian has found the bonfires and fall and spring retreats to be the most rewarding moments. These points “show tangible fruits” of the staff’s labor as students share with one another how God has worked in their lives. Whether meeting him at one of these retreats or other events or just listening to him speak at weekly 180 meetings, students will have several opportunities to meet with Brian through their involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ. He longs to point students to the person of Jesus Christ and works to keep Christ at the center of his life and of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Brian and his wife Jenny, married in 1990. They have five children: Lauren, Jacob, Grant, Caroline, and Brynn.
Jenny McCollister leads a busy life as a staff member and mother of five. Jenny joined Campus Crusade staff in 1990 with her husband, Brian, just one week after their wedding. During her first year, she led a women’s Cross Training group at Virginia Tech and saw God produce much fruit. That year she challenged the 24 women she led to discipleship and 14 said yes. The following year, she and Brian were located to Ohio University when Brian accepted the position as Campus Director.
Just four months after moving to Athens, their first child Lauren, was born. Eighteen years later, she now has five children: Lauren, 18; Jacob, 16; Grant, 14; Caroline, 11; and Brynn, 8. As a staff mother, Jenny is granted the flexibility to stay home with her children as much as necessary. She home-schools four of the children and her days are spent planning, teaching and caring for all five of them. Two of the McCollister children have a rare genetic disease that is progressively debilitating. Lauren and Grant are now confined to wheelchairs and are in need of constant loving care. Jenny is a champion in looking after the kids, hosting staff and student leadership dinners in her home and in demonstrating ongoing trust in the Lord. Despite her full schedule, she is occasionally called upon to use her gift for public speaking by emceeing regional conferences for the Campus Crusade staff.
In her spare time, Jenny is an avid reader and a die-hard college football fall. On football Saturdays in the fall, you can find her cheering on her alma mater, Ohio State.
