NUrturing Faith

Sharing Stories from LCMNU

December 2024

Whole Self: Daniel Hickox-Young

When Daniel Hickox-Young (’21) came to Northwestern as a graduate student pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, he knew he wanted to find a faith community. He had graduated from a Lutheran-affiliated college where he reenergized and reprioritized his faith through a senior theology course. Now, he sought a place to delve deeper into what and why he believed. Daniel wanted to explore what faith meant to him and how it impacted how he wanted to live in the world.

When he got to Northwestern, Daniel found LCMNU. He was immediately drawn into the intimate community and worship there. “You see yourself in the service, both worship and the service activities you do,” he noted, “it really quickly becomes something you are personally invested in.” Daniel pointed to language from Pastor Deanna that being called as part of the church and having faith is an important part of his identity that is not as frequently celebrated or explored outside LCMNU. Through worship services, meals, Bible study, and casual conversations, Daniel worked to build his faith as an essential part of his whole self with the community at LCMNU.

Over time, Daniel found similarities between the faith journeys and questions of the primarily undergraduate students at LCMNU and his own experiences before coming to NU. In LCMNU, Daniel found a place to explore his questions about faith and mentor others through their faith journeys. Pastor Deanna called Daniel more formally into a learning and mentoring role by asking if he would be interested in becoming a student minister, and he immediately was eager to learn ways to speak about faith with Pastor Deanna and apply those to conversations at 21theo Bible studies.

Daniel is no longer at NU, but he still feels the impact of LCMNU on his life. In his vocation as a professor of physics, he works to support the whole student—as LCMNU helped to support his entire self—noting that “I think of my work as a calling to give students a set of skills that will empower them to shape the world and find meaningful callings of their own.” He feels overtones of LCMNU in the way he structures classes and interacts with students when helping them deal with conflicts or career discernment. Daniel met Bethany Ketchem (’17), his wife, at LCM, too! Bethany herself had been a student minister and is currently in seminary, and hearing Bethany preach as a pastoral intern refreshes his faith as an essential part of his identity.

Your generosity in supporting LCMNU supports all of the programming that is so valuable to Daniel and others, including materials for 21theo study each quarter, wages for student ministers as they grow in their own faith while supporting their peers, and compensation for a full-time pastor who calls and leads students in their faith journeys.