Resident Shepherds support their peers as spiritual leaders in the college journey
Finding the right people to trust and lean on is important at any stage of life, but the college years bring a new set of challenges as students must navigate life away from home. Liberty University recognizes the need for all students to have a strong peer support system and opportunities to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Liberty’s Resident Shepherds are meeting this need, ensuring that in a sea of thousands of students, every student is valued, connected, and loved.
Operating under the LU Shepherd program in the Office of Spiritual Development, the Resident Shepherd program is one of the many layers of spiritual and practical support a student will receive from the moment they move into their residence hall to the day they walk across the graduation stage.
Caring for One Another
There are currently 280 Resident Shepherds. All of them are students who serve their peers in their own residence halls. By having an open-door policy when students are in need, celebrating achievements, and lifting students up in times of failure, Resident Shepherds build deep relationships as they cultivate spiritual development and create a healthy hall community.
Resident Shepherds spend time in worship and training at the beginning of the school year.
Sometimes a simple act by a Resident Shepherd can make a big difference, like inviting a new student to share a meal in the dining hall and helping them make new friends.
Melanie Denney, director of LU Shepherd, said she is always hearing stories of how Resident Shepherds genuinely care for their fellow students. Last fall, when a freshman from the West Coast was in a car accident on the way to campus and her father was airlifted to a hospital, Resident Shepherds gathered notes, flowers, and gifts to welcome her when she moved in a week later than planned.
“The Resident Shepherds rallied every student on their hall and put all these notes in her room so when she walked in for the first time, it was this kind of welcome committee,” Denney said.
The same rally of love came when a freshman’s father passed away five days after move-in. The student had to return home quickly, and when he came back to campus, a card was waiting on his desk signed by students and Resident Shepherds in his hall — people he barely had the time to get to know — with touching words of encouragement.
Guiding Lights
Resident Shepherds not only serve as caring hallmates but as spiritual leaders, advancing Liberty’s mission of Training Champions for Christ.
“You have to have a heart like Christ, and that’s the reality of what I experience from our Resident Shepherds,” Denney said.
Because of its Christian focus, the program provides a resource to students that isn’t available on most college campuses, she said.
“What is really unique to Liberty’s student population is this idea of truly shepherding and caring for people, protecting people, guiding people, helping people flourish and prosper, to be supported, to be challenged, and to be sharpened in their faith. That’s why most people are choosing to come to a place like Liberty, because there’s this Christian emphasis.”
Resident Shepherds attend orientation at the start of the semester.
Resident Shepherds help equip students to live out their faith in a real-world context. They oversee the hall’s Community Group Leaders, who are student volunteers responsible for leading a discipleship program in their halls in conjunction with a Bible series taught during Campus Community services on Wednesday nights.
Each Resident Shepherd also has a full-time LU Shepherd staff member who serves as their own mentor. The program offers regular training and coaching sessions to guide the Resident Shepherds in their roles and support them in their own personal walks with Christ.
Training to Serve Well
Growing up as the daughter of missionaries in Bulgaria, graduate student Gabriella Binev (top picture) always had a heart for ministry. When she arrived at Liberty five years ago to pursue a bachelor’s degree in studio art, her career focus was on using her talents for ministry. But she wasn’t sure what that looked like. After serving as a Resident Shepherd in Campus East Dorm 170 and supporting her peers through trials and seasons of change, she realized her calling was to minister to others and started a master’s degree in pastoral counseling.
Binev said her past three years as a Resident Shepherd have been filled with incredible stories orchestrated by God.
Graduate student Gabriella Binev serves as a Resident Shepherd for Campus East Dorm 170.
“The biggest way that I’ve truly seen the Lord show up through this ministry is His intentionality,” she said. “The first night before the new students moved in, we had a prayer night where we prayed over every single door and bedroom for the future girls who were going to live in our building.”
She said her residence hall has become a special place: “People would come here from different places and say, ‘We just feel so restful here; we feel the presence of the Lord.’ That’s something that’s continued all three years I’ve been here.”
Students have even nicknamed the dorm “The Haven.”
Binev and her Community Group Leaders.
Senior Kirk Fryer, an exercise science student, served as a Community Group Leader during his freshman year then transitioned to Resident Shepherd in Campus East 146 his sophomore year. He said he wasn’t a very strong public speaker or leader, but being a Resident Shepherd has “pushed me out of my comfort zone, which resulted in pushing me closer to Christ because I’m having to rely on Him and walk in faith knowing that I’m not strong in certain areas. But where I’m weak, Christ is strong.”
Students must apply to become Resident Shepherds, demonstrate Christian character and leadership qualities, and meet academic standards. If accepted, they receive a scholarship from Liberty.
Before the school year begins, Resident Shepherds complete a week of orientation focused on leading faithfully and loving well. SHEPTalks are held throughout the year, where Resident Shepherds receive practical leadership development advice from guest speakers, including Liberty staff and local church leaders.
Fryer said his LU Shepherds have had a huge impact on his life and on his role as a Resident Shepherd over the last three years.
“Mentors are so important in everyone’s life,” he said. “The LU Shepherds are definitely placed here by God and have pushed me in my walk as a man and, most importantly, as a follower of Christ.”
Resident Shepherd Kirk Fryer (center) shares a meal with some of the students from his hall, Campus East 146.
Resident Shepherds attend a Connect class, taught by an LU Shepherd staff member. During the fall semester, the class went through a series based on the book “Leadership as an Identity” by Dr. Crawford Loritts, focusing on “radical, immediate obedience” to God. This semester, they are completing a study on the leadership principles found in Gideon’s story in the book of Judges. At the end of each class, they receive questions and prompts to consider how to apply the lesson to their roles.
Resident Shepherds also participate in a Bible study led by their assigned LU Shepherd that in turn prepares them to facilitate their own study with their Community Group Leaders later in the week.
Fryer said many students come to Liberty feeling unsettled in their new environment, but with the support of the Resident Shepherds and Community Group Leaders, he’s seen these students adjust quickly and smoothly.
“We’ve all been there (as new students), so we know how they’re feeling. And as an RS, you’re all the more aware of how those kids are feeling,” he said. “I know stories of students who come in and feel so isolated, but then they meet their CGL and their RS, and everything changes.”
Fryer said he practices intentionality with the peers he leads by sharing a meal, checking in with them on the hall, or just being there in times of need.
“Being an RS is about doing life with each other. I see how my mentor, my LU Shepherd, leads our times together and try to model that with the guys on my hall. We’ll go out, grab food, or go on little adventures and just do life with one another and be real.”
All of Liberty’s Resident Shepherds take a group photo on the steps of the Montview Student Union after arriving early for Training Week before classes started in August.
DID YOU KNOW?
- For every student who lives on campus, there are five student leaders who support them spiritually and practically: a Community Group Leader, two Resident Shepherds, and two resident assistants (RAs). Every student leader is equipped to serve others through training and support from Liberty faculty and staff.
- Liberty University Online Programs has dedicated online shepherd staff who support students through prayer, practical advice, spiritual guidance, and local resources. Since 2023, staff members have connected with over 3,800 students from around the globe.
