After seven years of service, Chang reflects on ministry at Wheaton and hopes to stay connected to campus.
Ray Chang ’06 is leaving his position as Wheaton’s Associate Chaplain of Discipleship. His ministry will continue as a senior director of the Fuller Youth Institute, a branch of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. The Wheaton community will wish him farewell in a chapel service on his last day, Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Chang’s departure comes as Angulus Wilson begins his tenure as the college chaplain. President Ryken was not immediately available to comment on when the search for a new associate chaplain may begin.
For Chang, this new season of ministry comes with many mixed emotions. “The hardest thing about the transition is not working with students anymore, as well as leaving some amazing colleagues, especially on the faculty and staff side,” said Chang. “I’m feeling a mixture of emotions, elements of sadness, namely around not working with students, but also a sense of anticipation with what God will do.”
During his seven years at Wheaton, Chang oversaw Discipleship Ministries, expanding them from one category of small groups to four. He served the community by preaching in chapel, training staff and faculty members, and guest-lecturing in classes. He advocated for minority communities in chapels and discipleship groups. In the Aug. 1 announcement of Chang’s departure, Chaplain Wilson noted that Chang not only served on Wheaton’s Diversity and Evangelism committees but has also been a “consistent champion for diversity, inclusion, justice and unity,” according to the email. In 2021, he won the Rodney K. Sisco Students’ Choice Award for diversity.
Outside of Wheaton, Chang founded the Asian American Christian Collaborative, an organization that “aims to encourage, equip, and empower” Asian American contributions to the church and broader culture, according to their website.
Chang will be stepping into his new role at Fuller Youth Institute in the coming weeks. As a leader in the Fuller Youth Institute’s TENx10 gospel movement, he will teach churches and their leaders how to utilize effective disciple-making methods. Chang said that his work with Wheaton students will inform his teaching approach, especially his experience listening to some students’ doubts about the Church.
Chang says he is grateful for his time at Wheaton, and hopes to stay connected to campus. “This is a ‘see you later,’ not a goodbye,” said Chang. “I always loved hearing from students, whether I knew them well or barely knew them at all.”
Bella McDonald
By way of Des Moines, Iowa, Bella McDonald is a junior business/economics major on the journalism certificate track. She enjoys writing poetry, collecting vintage magazine covers, and finding new (and old) books to read.
