Our mission:
Love God. Love Others.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:37-39)
Our Mission:
The entire identity and ministry of Jesus is built upon love: love for God, and love for the people in the world. Everything at Longhorns for Christ is built upon these two foundations. Growing in these kinds of love is what makes us more like Christ, and helping each other grow in these ways is what we call discipleship.
At Longhorns for Christ, these practices of love teach us two things: we need God, and we need each other. All that we do helps us to fulfill these needs.
Our Beliefs:
We believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
We believe that the Bible is inspired by God and teaches us all we need to know about God.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to have relationship with God.
We believe in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that it is the grace of God through our faith, not our merit, that allows us a new life in God and our salvation.
Our Values:
1.
We Value Spiritual Formation.
Everyone is on a journey. It is important to us that this journey be one that is taking us closer to the heart of God. Therefore, everything we do is for the purpose of helping everyone grow in their spiritual identity with God.
2.
We Value Community.
Faith is not to be lived alone. Being a part of the kingdom of God means sharing life with others and learning to love others as God has loved us. We work to grow these kinds of relationships.
3.
We Value a Lifestyle of Worship.
Worship is a way of living, not just an event. Therefore, LFC strives to instill a sense of worship that will pervade into all the corners of everyday life.
4.
We Value Prayer.
Prayer is our primary connection to God. It is how we express ourselves spiritually, and it is how we hear from the spirit of God. Everything that is possible through God must begin in prayer. It is important to us that everything we do come out of and be surrounded by prayer.
5.
We Value Scripture.
Scripture is the story of God in the world. It is through scripture that we understand the nature of God, our need for God, and life in God. Scripture forms the basis of all we do and teach.
6.
We Value All People.
Jesus himself made it clear that God loves the whole world, and that the gospel is the good news for everyone. This means that we must love all people in the same way, regardless of their backgrounds, choices, lifestyles, beliefs, gender, race, or identity.
Staff Leadership
Student Intern
Ana Berlioz
Student Intern
Will Sedberry
Student Intern
Reece Mathew
Student Intern
Samantha Garza
Student Intern
Abby Rader
Student Intern
Daven Ballejo
Campus Minister
Cary McCall
Cary has served with Longhorns for Christ since 2012 after moving with his wife Jinny to Austin to explore how to serve students at UT. This opened the opportunity to work with LFC and rebuild a ministry that had been reaching students for over 100 years. Cary discovered campus ministry as a student at the University of Oklahoma and went on to serve at University of Alabama, Abilene Christian University, and Kansas State University before coming to Austin.
Cary has been married to Jinny since 2011 and they have two daughters. He drives a classic Jeep for fun, has a strange affinity for QuikTrip, and reviews club sandwiches all over the world.
Assistant
Lane McLendon
Lane has served with Longhorns for Christ since 2007. Her connection to this campus ministry began when her parents moved to Austin and joined the University Avenue Church staff, primarily to lead the campus ministry. Throughout the years, this connection and involvement with LFC led her to work with and care for the community of students here.
Lane and her husband Carl live in Austin, and have a son and a daughter. She enjoys sharing life with family and friends, and attending Longhorn sports!
Worship Director
James Lavender
James began serving with Longhorns for Christ in the fall of 2022 and is a native Austinite and Longhorn. He has served in vocational ministry in the local church context for 20 years with stops along the way in Corpus Christi, Texas, Dallas, Texas, and Scottsdale Arizona before returning home to Austin in 2016. He is passionate about leading God's people into the presence of God through corporate worship and loves mentoring/discipling the next generation of ministry leaders for service in the church. Besides being a die-hard Longhorn, James loves the food scene in Austin, small music venues around town, and loves to get out into God's creation in his truck to just breathe and slow things down.