What we do
The Campus House has served students in the Greater Birmingham Area for more than two decades. It sits a few blocks south of the UAB campus and hosts gatherings, worship, small groups, weekly meals, campfires, and a place to connect. It is a big, old house sitting on the corner of 13th Ave. S and 15th St. S serving as the gathering place, worship facility, ministry office, and center of our campus outreach. Johnny Lieske has served on Encounter's staff as our Campus Minister and Director of Campus Ministry since 2015. Please read more below for updates on this exciting adventure.
If you would like to support Johnny's work you can help fuel the ministry by making a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation at the button below.
If you would like to support Johnny's work you can help fuel the ministry by making a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation at the button below.
stocked food pantry
Our partnership with the Church at Southside and Pastor Keith Akins, has allowed the Campus House to provide free food to any of our students who are in need. This resource and partnership has been a blessing in addressing some of the food insecurities that exist on campus among students. Up to 25 of our group in a given month have been able to utilize this pantry and help further meet their needs.
Service OPPORTUNITIES
We believe that serving our city and it’s people is an integral part of being Christ’s disciples here on earth. This is why we provide opportunities for our students and staff to both participate and coordinate service projects. Once every month Campus House students meet to help Homewood Church of Christ deliver meals to the homeless of Birmingham. We have close connections to the Horizon’s Schools, and have helped move new students into their new living spaces. We’ve helped friends move across town, and provided them with essentials as they’ve settled in. We’re up for any service project that comes our way. Our community is ready to help yours.
Our Staff
Johnny Lieske- Director of Campus Missions and Involvement
Jessica Haywood- Co-Director of Campus Missions
I'm Jessica Haywood and I am from Athens, AL and I moved to Birmingham to attend UAB. Go Blazers! I did my undergrad in Biology and my masters in Biology/High School Education. I was invited to Campus House during my early days in grad school, and I have just happened to stick around. Campus House is a place full of people who care and that was evident quickly when people remembered my name the second time I came as a student. Even on my Birthday, which happened to fall on a Thursday night a small group of individuals sang Happy Birthday to me, when they hadn't even known me a month yet. When you find people who truly care you stick around. I stuck around through grad school and even the semester after I graduated.
I have felt called to do many different things in life, but I have found a home here at Campus House. I was a high school teacher for a year, but during that whole year I felt called to do more ministry. I ended up deciding to pursue that call.
I am inspired by the students who continue to come, even if virtually, because they are the ones passing on that care and love I received to anyone who needs it. They care for each other, they love each other, and they have strong desires to strengthen their walk with God. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity to serve at Campus House alongside so many great ministers.
Jamie Dodson
I’ve been working at Encounter Ministries as an intern for four years, and as a part of full-time staff for one year. When I started coming to campus house as freshman back in 2015, I was coming from a place loneliness and isolation that had me longing for community. When I arrived at The Campus House I was immediately welcome and everything from the music, to the message, to the people was genuine through and through. From that point on, I knew this place was my campus ministry home. My first summer began by simply keeping the house clean and doing minor grounds-keeping, but by the end of the summer I was helping plan events, running the ministry’s social media accounts, and learning to keep a community together. I also joined a team of men that ministers to inmates in the Texas Department of Corrections through Encounter and John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Bootcamp. I have since been a part of 7 prison boot camps, participating in anything from running the Audio and Video, to teaching sessions.
After graduating with a bachelors degree in marketing from UAB, I am continuing my work with Encounter Ministries full-time. In this full-time position, I am still working with Johnny and Jessica at the Campus House to minister to students that are looking for a community. I meet with students for spiritual direction, facilitate a space for communal growth, and plan and execute events that keep the Campus House calendar full. While I do spend most of my time at the Campus House, another large part of my job here at Encounter is being a representative for our ministry in the many branches of ministry that Encounter has a hand in. Finally, I also look for new opportunities for partnerships and growth opportunities.
Jessica Haywood- Co-Director of Campus Missions
I'm Jessica Haywood and I am from Athens, AL and I moved to Birmingham to attend UAB. Go Blazers! I did my undergrad in Biology and my masters in Biology/High School Education. I was invited to Campus House during my early days in grad school, and I have just happened to stick around. Campus House is a place full of people who care and that was evident quickly when people remembered my name the second time I came as a student. Even on my Birthday, which happened to fall on a Thursday night a small group of individuals sang Happy Birthday to me, when they hadn't even known me a month yet. When you find people who truly care you stick around. I stuck around through grad school and even the semester after I graduated.
I have felt called to do many different things in life, but I have found a home here at Campus House. I was a high school teacher for a year, but during that whole year I felt called to do more ministry. I ended up deciding to pursue that call.
I am inspired by the students who continue to come, even if virtually, because they are the ones passing on that care and love I received to anyone who needs it. They care for each other, they love each other, and they have strong desires to strengthen their walk with God. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity to serve at Campus House alongside so many great ministers.
Jamie Dodson
I’ve been working at Encounter Ministries as an intern for four years, and as a part of full-time staff for one year. When I started coming to campus house as freshman back in 2015, I was coming from a place loneliness and isolation that had me longing for community. When I arrived at The Campus House I was immediately welcome and everything from the music, to the message, to the people was genuine through and through. From that point on, I knew this place was my campus ministry home. My first summer began by simply keeping the house clean and doing minor grounds-keeping, but by the end of the summer I was helping plan events, running the ministry’s social media accounts, and learning to keep a community together. I also joined a team of men that ministers to inmates in the Texas Department of Corrections through Encounter and John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Bootcamp. I have since been a part of 7 prison boot camps, participating in anything from running the Audio and Video, to teaching sessions.
After graduating with a bachelors degree in marketing from UAB, I am continuing my work with Encounter Ministries full-time. In this full-time position, I am still working with Johnny and Jessica at the Campus House to minister to students that are looking for a community. I meet with students for spiritual direction, facilitate a space for communal growth, and plan and execute events that keep the Campus House calendar full. While I do spend most of my time at the Campus House, another large part of my job here at Encounter is being a representative for our ministry in the many branches of ministry that Encounter has a hand in. Finally, I also look for new opportunities for partnerships and growth opportunities.
Welcome to the Campus House! I’m Johnny Lieske, the Campus Minister and Director of The Campus House. It’s been a joy to serve here. I am excited to start my fifth year in this role. I am originally from Northern Illinois, and my journey to Birmingham is still teaching me that God’s plans are different, bigger, and more adventurous than anything I could have dreamed.
My dream of playing professional baseball took me from Illinois State University to Heartland Community College and finally to UAB for my final two years where I received my degree in Communications, but my baseball career came to an end.
Through the invitation of a UAB baseball teammate, I was introduced to the Campus House. It had such and impact on me that upon graduating UAB I accepted an offer to become the full-time Campus Minister. It is amazing to look back at what God provided in my life just by being a part of the ministry, and how a simple invitation from a friend turned into a such a larger story.
My mission is to provide a place where students of all backgrounds can come as they are and be connected to each other and God in a community of Christian faith and ultimately serve and love others like Jesus did. I know what it is to feel confused, lost, spiritually down and out, and alone on the journey through college. Campus House provides a place to connect with others battling the pressures of college life.
Since settling into my role as Campus Minister in 2015, I have gotten married to my beautiful and fun-loving wife, Avery, we own a rescue dog named Mailbu. If not around the Campus House you can find me at the Rec center climbing the rock wall with students, serving others around town, watching Lord of the Rings, or having conversations about God and life around campus or our firepit.
We're also excited to announce our new Associate Director of College Missions, Jessica Haywood. Look for a new note coming from her soon.
Come and see for yourself as we strive to provide a Christian environment where we grow together serving and loving students, our community, and beyond.
See you soon!
Johnny Lieske
Director and Campus Minister
The Campus House
My dream of playing professional baseball took me from Illinois State University to Heartland Community College and finally to UAB for my final two years where I received my degree in Communications, but my baseball career came to an end.
Through the invitation of a UAB baseball teammate, I was introduced to the Campus House. It had such and impact on me that upon graduating UAB I accepted an offer to become the full-time Campus Minister. It is amazing to look back at what God provided in my life just by being a part of the ministry, and how a simple invitation from a friend turned into a such a larger story.
My mission is to provide a place where students of all backgrounds can come as they are and be connected to each other and God in a community of Christian faith and ultimately serve and love others like Jesus did. I know what it is to feel confused, lost, spiritually down and out, and alone on the journey through college. Campus House provides a place to connect with others battling the pressures of college life.
Since settling into my role as Campus Minister in 2015, I have gotten married to my beautiful and fun-loving wife, Avery, we own a rescue dog named Mailbu. If not around the Campus House you can find me at the Rec center climbing the rock wall with students, serving others around town, watching Lord of the Rings, or having conversations about God and life around campus or our firepit.
We're also excited to announce our new Associate Director of College Missions, Jessica Haywood. Look for a new note coming from her soon.
Come and see for yourself as we strive to provide a Christian environment where we grow together serving and loving students, our community, and beyond.
See you soon!
Johnny Lieske
Director and Campus Minister
The Campus House