Connectional Reflections: How to keep college students from falling through the cracks
by Anne Travis
I recently visited with a 2003 high school graduate, a member of one of our churches. I asked her where she is going to school this fall, and she proudly told me she is headed to East Tennessee State University. I said, “Oh, you must visit our Wesley Foundation there. You would really be an asset to their ministry.” She said, incredulously, “Visit the what?” I explained to her that Wesley Foundations are our United Methodist ministries on university campuses. She said, “Tell me more.”
So, let me tell you more. Two years ago, a Wesley Foundation director observed that the United Methodist Church was investing thousands into Igniting Ministry to win back the very college students that we let fall through the cracks. What a profound thought! Our Wesley Foundation directors provide a ministry to our students when they are away from home but still need the church's presence in their lives.
At ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn., the Wesley Foundation conducts a coffee house that regularly attracts more than 100 students who come to the Fatted Calf ministry for Christian music and alcohol-free fun. You should see the beautiful mural painted by Alison, one of their students. In addition, the students have formed a group called Future Ministers of the World, comprised of young people who are exploring their calls to ministry.
At Radford University in Radford, Va., Kwabena Osieparong, a student from Ghana, has become an integral part of their Wesley community. The students at the Wesley Foundation are helping Kwabena raise enough money to stay in school to complete his degree. Your help would be greatly appreciated in their efforts. (Contact Martee Buchanan by email for more information).
University of Tennessee Chattanooga Wesley Center is developing a model program using student interns to do ministry work and make student contacts all over campus. These interns are seminary students who come to the campus for a semester internship in campus ministry.
Betzy, a student at University of Tennessee Knoxville Wesley Foundation, recently wrote me that she is making plans to attend seminary to study urban ministry. How did she choose that area of specialization? She got tuned in to inner-city ministry when she worked at the Wesley House in Knoxville as a part of her Wesley Foundation service.
Amy, a student at University of Virginia College at Wise, and Beth Gibson, the new Wesley Foundation director there, are planning a new direction for the campus ministry. After a year of transition, they are making their ministry known all over campus. On the second night of school this year, they welcomed more than 20 students to their evening worship.
Vitality, mission, innovation, spiritual support – all words to describe our Wesley Foundations. If your church has students attending these colleges, please send their names to the Wesley Foundation directors. They want to contact and invite these students – to the what? To the Wesley Foundation!
Travis is Holston's director of connectional ministries.
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