Our History

In 2010, INHEM celebrates 35 years of service to Indiana college and university campuses. -Read the Keynote Address

The idea for INHEM was conceived at an interfaith conference on campus ministry in 1974. In 1975, as a part of the Indiana Council of Churches, it was born as Indiana Office of Campus Ministry (IOCM) to serve campus ministries across the state. Lilly Endowment provided funds to start the organization. Rev. Erv Bode became the first director and Jo Bode the first administrative assistant. At the time, Indiana colleges and universities had approximately 100,000 students.

After three years as an arm of the Indiana Council of Churches, the organization was spun off as an independent ecumenical Christian organization. In 1982, it registered as a non-profit organization in the state of Indiana. As the mission was more refined, the organization began to focus particularly on providing education, resources and publications for campus ministers. The name was changed to Indiana Office for Campus Ministries to reflect this shift in emphasis.

In 1988, Rev. E. Max Case became the second executive director. Program participation was expanded to include others -- both on and off campus -- who had an interest in students’ spiritual lives. In 2000, the name was changed to Indiana Network for Higher Education Ministries (INHEM) to reflect the changing perspective on its continuing mission.

In 2001, Della Stanley-Green, M.Min., became the third director of the organization. In 2006, INHEM launched the Visions for Vocation pilot projects funded by Lilly Endowment. These projects provide opportunities for students, faculty, campus ministers, staff and administrators at BSU and IUPUI to explore the concept of vocation. In addition, the projects provide for a series of consultations to engage participants from other public institutions in considering how the concept of vocation is important for college/university students.