by Rev. Laura Easter Rainwater, Director and Campus Chaplain for Wesley Foundation at The University of Wyoming

In college and seminary, each professor shared at the beginning of the semester the syllabus and his or her office hours.  It was important to know when the professor would be available for me to ask questions, seek advice, or just get to know. Truthfully, I didn’t take advantage of these opportunities as much as I could have . . . but I always knew the opportunities were there!

As a campus minister, the students I work with still receive the syllabus and the office hours, along with the professor’s email address (things have changed since I was in school!).  Although I don’t distribute a syllabus, I do give them a flyer for upcoming events.  I do give them my email address, along with our ministry’s website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.  But I have yet to set office hours.

Four years ago, when I arrived in Laramie, our (mainline) ecumenical campus ministry had each campus minister work a shift of the Listening Post – where we’d be available for any student to discuss any issue with any of us.  My Listening Post office hours were posted, and I often encountered my students during my shift.  But with leader transitions in our mainline campus ministries, and inconsistent attendance during our shifts, we put the Listening Post on hold.

Although I give my students all of my contact information, how important is it for me to have “official” office hours?  It’s a trickier question because my campus ministry does not have an official relationship with The University of Wyoming.  In other words, I don’t have an office on campus – this surprises many within our churches who assume that all campus ministers are recognized and supported by universities.  In my instance, our Wesley Foundation shares space with the only United Methodist church in Laramie.  Actually, we officially own 11.4% of the church facility.  (That’s a long story better saved for another blog.)  So my office space is 4 blocks north of the campus.  Official office hours in my office sounds a bit strange.  Yet, I know how important it is to provide that option for students to connect with me without making an appointment, in a way that can be encouraging as well as confidential if needed.

I will be spending much of my time this summer reflecting on how to be a presence on our campus and how to support  students, whether they attend Wesley or not.  I would love to hear how you handle your office hours.

If your campus ministry is not located on campus, do you provide office hours?

If your campus ministry location is at a church, how do you provide a presence on campus?

If you have any other ideas or stories to share, please do!

by Rev. Patrick Chaney, alumnus of the Texas Tech Wesley Foundation and Pastor at Grace Fellowship UMC Robinson Texas a campus of First United Methodist Waco

I was a part of the Texas Tech University (TTU) Wesley Foundation. The Foundation was a means of grace that I think God used to save me. My parents were just divorced, and my dad had left us. I was deeply in the party life of drugs and alcohol at TTU and, when I was at my lowest, I experienced one of my most spiritual moments. I was crying to God out of my emptiness and He directly let me to the Wesley Foundation. Coincidentally the campus director went to seminary with my cousin - in my mind that is not a coincidence. I fit right in because I was raised Methodist and was around a bunch of other students who at least had similar upbringings.

At the TTU Wesley Foundation I went on my first mission trip to Kenya, Africa. It was on that mission trip that I preached my first sermon, prayed with someone with AIDS, helped feed people, and built a church. It was on that trip that God called me to the ministry. One year later I would find myself and my future wife at Ground Zero, New York with the TTU Wesley Foundation. We worked directly where the twin towers stood in a feeding tent, feeding and praying with people. I had the privlidge of praying with a grandmother who is now raising her grandchildren because she lost both her son and husband on that day. I experienced a whole new side of God I never imagined - a God who really can and does console us in our deepest fears and loss. Again this cemented my call to ministry.

Through the Wesley Foundation I also saw the practical side of ministry. We were always cleaning up some part of the city or doing some local ministry on campus. One of the biggest was what we called P.B. & J. Fridays. We would meet on a Thursday night and after the worship service we would all make two or three coolers full of Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, to which we would then go on campus and hand them out. This ministry became such a big success that the students started looking for it every Friday, and when we did not have it they were disappointed. I saw first hand how loving and providing some need for them, in this case a lunch, without expecting anything back, brought people in.

Along with that, a lot of smaller communities would contact the Wesley Foundation when they needed a guest preacher, so in a sense I became a circuit rider with another friend of mine. At least once a month there was an opportunity for me and my friend to go a preach and lead worship at some church. Through the Wesley Foundation I gained practical experience in dealing with new people and getting to practice preaching. There are so many more examples, but I would need to put it in a paper.

For me the TTU Wesley Foundation was very formative both theologically and experientially. It gave me some of the best friends of my life and was a life line for me in college. I have not even scratched the surface of what the Wesley Foundation did in and for my life, but it was there when I needed it. It is what God used to reach down to me at my lowest point, when I did not deserve to be reached for, and also what God used to raise me up in my faith and become a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I was captivated by the love of Christ, through of the Texas Tech Wesley Foundation. I hate to think where I would be if those people and that ministry were not there for me.

Rev. Rob Rynders is the United Methodist campus minister serving Arizona State University and the other colleges and universities in the Phoenix area. He is currently the co-chair of UMCMA. 

On Wednesday night, April 11, it was announced, during worship, at The Wesley Foundation at Arizona State University, that effective July 1, 2012 I will be starting a new church in downtown Phoenix, AZ. I will be partnering with my very good friend and colleague, Rev. Brian Kemp-Schlemmer, on this endeavor.

Let me be clear, I do not believe I have become ineffective in campus ministry nor have I become less passionate about campus ministry. In fact, this new church has everything to do with my love for campus ministry and working with young adults. About a year ago I became aware of some United Methodist churches around the country that were trying a different model of ministry. These churches were all in urban areas primarily serving young adult (18-35 year olds) populations. Most of these churches were also started using two ordained pastors.

As someone who gets the honor and privilege of working with students during their college years, I many times get asked, by students, “where do I go to church after I graduate?” This is a question that, at times, has been difficult for me to answer.

So the question Brian and I started asking ourselves was could we create a new kind of faith community in Downtown and Central Phoenix that would be relevant to not only young adults, but also those who felt marginalized and disenfranchised for the church, those who are “spiritual but not religious,” and those looking for more than a traditional Sunday worship experience?

We began doing research on successful models like Urban Village Chicago, The Table UMC (Sacrament0), Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community (Pittsburgh), and The Gathering UMC (St. Louis). All of these are United Methodist, target young adult populations, are located in urban areas, utilize multiple clergy, and most of them are multisite.

After much prayer and discernment we felt that God was calling us both to begin a similar faith community in Phoenix. In December, we wrote a proposal and submitted it to the cabinet. We worked with them to do some more research and some tweaking of our proposal and then on March 27, 2012 we got the call informing us that our bishop intends to appoint us to start this new faith community, beginning July 1, 2012.

Our work will begin by building relationships and making connections in the Downtown Phoenix area as we build an initial launch team of folks excited about this new community. We will then move into forming small groups that meet in coffee shops, bars, restaurants, public spaces, and homes. We will begin preview services next winter as we work towards a worship launch around Easter 2013. Then from there is perhaps our second riskiest move (our first one is starting this church, in general!) as we will form another launch team and begin planting a second site in uptown Phoenix. From there our plan is to launch another site each year.

Our strategy will focus heavily on multiplication, discipleship, and apprenticeship. We want to build into our DNA a commitment to discipleship, a culture of continually inviting others to join us in this vision, a culture of service and outreach, and a culture of leadership development through training leaders and training leaders to continually be mentoring and training new leaders themselves.

We know we have a huge task ahead of us and we know that we will need to rely on God’s vision for this ministry in order for this to be successful. The threat and reality of failure is terrifying, however, we feel God has called us and that we have no other choice but to move forward with this powerful vision. In preparing the initial proposal for this ministry I talked with Rev. Matt Miofsky, lead pastor at The Gathering in St. Louis. Matt had a similar vision for starting a UM church that would be relevant to young adults (which now has over 800 in weekly worship, between two sites) and he said when he was discerning God’s call to move forward he asked himself these questions: “If not here, where? If not now, when? If not me, who?”

Those questions just kept repeating themselves in my head as I wrestled with God over the decision to leave campus ministry. Perhaps, though, as our leaders begin gathering in Tampa for General Conference to take on the seemingly impossible task of reforming the church, we must all ask the same questions. We must not stop at the asking, however, we must respond to God’s call to do new and bold things and truly begin bringing the message of God’s unconditional love for us, through Jesus Christ, to new places and new people.

If you have questions about this new church start, want to support us in some way, or just want to learn more, please do not hesitate to contact me.

by Rev. John Higginbotham, director of the Wesley Campus Ministry of Northwestern State University, Louisiana

Campus Ministry, along with many other significant ministries, is under siege.  As a denomination we have become so focused on institutional survival that we are no longer moved by Kingdom imperatives.

We seem to have become fixated on giving preference to the "Haves" and scorning the "Have Nots."  We seek to have the honored ones at our table, while making it clear that those “others” need to sit quietly in the back corner and not make a fuss.  I do not just mean the poor (though they are certainly part of that group) but all the "untouchables" of our society (the fringe, the outcast, the different).  In this gentrification of the church we lose touch with our roots among the poor, the weak, and the powerless.  When we lose touch with "these the least of our brethern," we lose touch with Christ.

I pray that we will refocus, but the issues of General Conference do not raise my hopes very much. Perhaps it is time for the ministries on campus to once more be radicalized for a new spiritual awakening. In the modern age, the campus has been the birthplace of the fires of revival and students have been the brands. Perhaps we can once more, through the questions and enthusiasm of our students experience a new push of the Kingdom of God.  We can only hope.

To paraphrase Wesley, if we will not willingly be used by God, we will be put aside. I do not fear for God's church (Kingdom).  God will provide. The question is, "Will we be part of the Kingdom?"

by Elzabeth Murray, alumnus of the University of South Carolina and the Methodist Student Network (MSN), current student at Duke Divinitty School, and a certified candidate for ordained elders orders.

My junior year at the University of South Carolina was the most exciting, scary, inspirational, and life altering year of my college career. Who knew that a campus ministry would completely rearrange the way I experienced college?  As I look back on my first two years of college, I can see God working in my life preparing me to be a part of the Methodist Student Network (MSN), the Wesley Foundation at the University of South Carolina.  Coming to college with five best friends from high school, I had a very easy college transition, yet found it difficult to stray from them to find a group of my own.  I decided that my third year would be different. As I browsed the organization fair, I stumbled upon the table for MSN, where one of the associates and, now, one of my best friends, warmly greeted me. Soon after, I started volunteering with MSN going to ESL classes for Spanish-speakers. If it had not been for the kind, welcoming people whom I had initially met, my involvement at MSN would have stopped there. 

Then, I heard about the mission trip opportunity to Brazil. Unsure of who was going or how I would finance the trip, I felt the Lord nudging me to sign up.  Little by little, I started finding myself at MSN more for Portuguese classes, VBS planning, and eventually Sunday worship.  The trip to Brazil flew by, complete with unforgettable memories, hard times, and the most amazing worship services. After growing so close to these people, it was impossible to keep me away.  Shortly after our trip, I finally accepted my call to ministry. Unable to find support from my family and close friends, I turned to my MSN family, who all were the most encouraging people I could have asked for. I felt closest to God at MSN and decided to take on leadership roles for my senior year. My senior year I held the positions of bible study co-coordinator, Latino outreach coordinator, and worship technician. Additionally, I was the director of VBS for our mission trip to El Salvador that year. Currently, I am finishing up my first year in the Master of Divinity program at Duke Divinity School. I am a certified candidate for ministry in the South Carolina Conference, elder track.

I have matured so much from my junior year of college and have learned more than I could have imagined through the opportunities MSN has offered.  MSN, a place I went as a safe haven after Brazil, became my home. I would like to thank everyone who welcomed me with open arms, loved me unconditionally, and encouraged me to be my best self. MSN changed my life and I would not have it any other way. 

Special post by Brandon Lazarus, student at Perkins School of Theology - originally posted to

http://lenguadelaz.blogspot.com/#!/2012/04/campus-ministry-matters.html

Last night Adam Hamilton and some others shared about the Call to Action. They talked about the four main areas that in short are supposed to be about empowering the local church to be more creative and adaptable and to raise up more young leaders. Many of you already know about many of my thoughts so I will not go into too much detail about what I think about the proposal as a whole. I agree that we will need change and we do need to work together as a church but I am not 100% certain what that should or will look like.

One thing in particular that I was hoping to hear last night, but did not, was about campus ministry. I shared this tweet:

by Brandon Lazarus, alumni of the Methodist Student Network at U. of South Carolina and student at Perkin Theological Seminary preparing for ministry as an ordained elder.

My church involvement has fluctuated throughout the years. I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and in middle school I was very active in my church’s youth group. I attended nearly every Sunday gathering, social, and retreat. As I entered high school I became active in sports and so my attendance to youth faded away. When I entered college at the University of South Carolina I wanted to reclaim my faith. Even though I was not active at my church in high school I still attended services nearly every Sunday. I knew there was more to church than Sunday services and so I sought out a campus ministry.

In my first few months I hopped around from campus ministry to campus ministry until I finally found the Methodist Student Network (the Wesley Foundation at USC). I enjoyed the diversity among the students, music, and worship style. I was also welcomed as soon as I walked in the door and quickly found connections with the other students. Oh yeah, and there was a free home cooked meal afterward! That was my first Sunday at the Wesley Foundation but it would not be my last. In fact, there were very few Sundays, retreats, missions, or social gatherings that I would miss over the next four years. I found myself being appointed to various leadership positions such as leading a group to the Habitat for Humanity restore, helping organize retreats, head of outreach, and eventually as Co-President my senior year.

 Through having a safe place to grow in my faith I eventually answered my call to ministry. There is not one event that I can look back on as the deciding moment but rather it was everything about Wesley both the small and the big. It was the spring break missions to Venezuela, Guatemala, Peru and Brazil that gave me a passion for Latin America and I would return to Peru on my own three more times. It was the trips to the local soup cellar that would lead to me currently living in a New Monastic House that ministers to the poor in East Dallas. It was the late night conversation about God that would lead to a passion about theology that would later grow in seminary. It was being there for my friends when they lost a loved one, found out their mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, or the inevitable break up with the girlfriend of boyfriend that they were “sure was the one” that lead me to understand the importance of going through difficult times communally rather than individually. It was listening to our campus minister’s sermons with an open mind even though I disagreed with his theology and politics only to learn that later I would look back and find myself more in line with him then I ever thought I would be. It was having a safe place that I knew whether times were good or bad, I would be accepted and affirmed.

When I decided to answer my call to ministry I also decided that I felt more called to my new conference home of South Carolina than the Holston Conference where I had grown up. I began searching for a way to transfer to South Carolina when I found out that about this time four years ago the body known as General Conference decided that the Wesley Foundation should be a recognized body through which a person could seek candidacy. I could think of no better way to give back to my Wesley than to seek ordination through the very body that had helped me reach that decision. Many before me and many after me have decided to answer their calling in large part because of their time at Wesley. In fact, I know of at least one person for the past 8 years who has pursued ordination as a result of their time at Wesley.

This year many of the proposals are highly influenced by business models. I do not always agree with the comparison but for those who do, I offer up a business analysis of the Wesley Foundation. Wesley foundations receive very little of the apportioned dollars of the UMC and many conferences have chosen to cut all programming dollars and only pay for the pastors’ salaries. Other conferences are reducing campus ministers to part-time pay even though they all know it still requires full-time work. Others are even deciding to close Wesley Foundations. Even with the little money spent on campus ministry, the UMC is receiving at least one clergy per year from USC and countless other campus ministries have a similar statistic. This does not even take into affect all of the active, passionate, and missional laity they are putting out at the end of about 4 years. If you ask me, that looks like a pretty darn good return on investment.

So as we now prepare for General Conference I hope we realize that legislation around Campus Ministry is very important. If it were not for the change in the 2008 Discipline to allow candidates to pursue candidacy through their Wesley Foundation I would most likely not be writing this post right now. More importantly, if I did not have the Wesley at USC I would most likely not be in Dallas right now where I am attending Perkins School of Theology en route towards my desire to be commissioned as elder two years from now. General Conference matters, Campus Ministry matters.

by Paul M. Shultz, Executive Director, Wesley Foundation at the University of Iowa

The largest problem with the Call to Action (CTA) might be two unforeseen consequences.  In the proposal to “align our structure with our mission,” we might actually harm our outreach.

Most commentators focus on the re-structing issues proposed by the “Call to Action.”  The debate has been focusing on a few CTA moves:

-      Toward congregationalism

-      Away from “freedom of the pulpit”

-      Toward consolidation of episcopal power, without building in accountability structures

-      Away from mission outreach, while we focus on congregations

-      Toward centralized programming structures, while the rest of the world decentralizes

Seems to me, we need to consider a couple of unintended consequences of CTA:

1.     Squelches innovation. By focusing on congregations, CTA looks backward and not forward to new expressions of Christian communities. “New Places for New People” could set free the United Methodist movement to become an evangelical movement once again. The possibilities for new ways of doing and being church seem endless.

Instead our church seeks to put our focus on existing congregational structures.  This focus could lead our denomination to shore up 20^th century ways of organizing church rather than challenging our best leaders and thinkers to proclaim the gospel for the 21^st century and beyond.

We need to invest in new forms of church and encourage innovation rather than looking back to the same old ways.

2.     Brain drain.  This term was in vogue in Iowa a few years ago, when leaders discovered that many of our native sons and daughters received excellent educations in our state only to leave to pursue careers elsewhere.

The same thing might happen for the United Methodist Church. Attending REVlead in February, I had the privilege to hear young ministry professionals talking to each other.  One of the lines that received the most attention at the conference, a young ministry candidate stated, “My advice to all of us going into ministry is to find another job.” Seems to me that many young clergy no longer see a sustainable career path in the United Methodist Church. Not a bad idea on the surface but in the long run we might hemorrhage the most innovative minds and leaders.

The church might be stuck with clergy who like the security of a professional careerist while seeing our innovators finding exciting opportunities outside the United Methodist structure.

What we need is a new mindset, a new vision, that doesn’t look backward but moves forward.

Instead of focusing on increasing the number of vital congregations, let us focus on “new places for new people.” Instead of burdening congregations with metrics, let us invest in entrepreneurs who will take risks in the world on behalf of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My advice to delegates:  Vote down Call to Action. Don’t even be tempted to tweak it. And demand our leaders develop a plan with vision and innovation and evangelical outreach as the guiding principals.

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Courier New"; panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:.5in; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:.5in; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:349646977; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-64468844 2108328174 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} @list l0:level2 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:o; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @list l0:level3 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level4 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} @list l0:level5 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:o; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @list l0:level6 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level7 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} @list l0:level8 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:o; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @list l0:level9 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l1 {mso-list-id:1611932552; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-59852370 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;} @list l1:level1 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level2 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level3 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l1:level4 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level5 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level6 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l1:level7 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level8 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level9 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} -->

by Paul M. Shultz, Executive Director, Wesley Foundation at the University of Iowa

The largest problem with the Call to Action (CTA) might be two unforeseen consequences.  In the proposal to “align our structure with our mission,” we might actually harm our outreach.

Most commentators focus on the re-structing issues proposed by the “Call to Action.”  The debate has been focusing on a few CTA moves:

-      Toward congregationalism

-      Away from “freedom of the pulpit”

-      Toward consolidation of episcopal power, without building in accountability structures

-      Away from mission outreach, while we focus on congregations

-      Toward centralized programming structures, while the rest of the world decentralizes

Seems to me, we need to consider a couple of unintended consequences of CTA:

1.     Squelches innovation. By focusing on congregations, CTA looks backward and not forward to new expressions of Christian communities. “New Places for New People” could set free the United Methodist movement to become an evangelical movement once again. The possibilities for new ways of doing and being church seem endless.

Instead our church seeks to put our focus on existing congregational structures.  This focus could lead our denomination to shore up 20^th century ways of organizing church rather than challenging our best leaders and thinkers to proclaim the gospel for the 21^st century and beyond.

We need to invest in new forms of church and encourage innovation rather than looking back to the same old ways.

2.     Brain drain.  This term was in vogue in Iowa a few years ago, when leaders discovered that many of our native sons and daughters received excellent educations in our state only to leave to pursue careers elsewhere.

The same thing might happen for the United Methodist Church. Attending REVlead in February, I had the privilege to hear young ministry professionals talking to each other.  One of the lines that received the most attention at the conference, a young ministry candidate stated, “My advice to all of us going into ministry is to find another job.” Seems to me that many young clergy no longer see a sustainable career path in the United Methodist Church. Not a bad idea on the surface but in the long run we might hemorrhage the most innovative minds and leaders.

The church might be stuck with clergy who like the security of a professional careerist while seeing our innovators finding exciting opportunities outside the United Methodist structure.

What we need is a new mindset, a new vision, that doesn’t look backward but moves forward.

Instead of focusing on increasing the number of vital congregations, let us focus on “new places for new people.” Instead of burdening congregations with metrics, let us invest in entrepreneurs who will take risks in the world on behalf of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My advice to delegates:  Vote down Call to Action. Don’t even be tempted to tweak it. And demand our leaders develop a plan with vision and innovation and evangelical outreach as the guiding principals.

By Vance Rains, Pastor of the FSu and TCC Wesley Foundation

I recently contributed a blog entry to a series of posts about ministry different generations at http://lenguadelaz.blogspot.com/2012/04/remaining-faithful-to-1000-generation...; This is my advice to pastors about ministry with young adults...

There are some things that I would like to say to pastors regarding ministry to young adults…and do whenever I get the chance…

• YOU, Senior Pastor, need young adults in your church.  YOU need them to push you the way they  push me!
• Young adults need you, Senior Pastor, to be YOUR priority – not a staff member, not a committee chair, not a nice old lady who sends care packages and birthday cards – YOU.
• Young adults deserve a chance to contribute NOW.  Give them a chance to serve use their gifts, and lead NOW.  Why make them wait?  They have time, they have recent training and education, and they have idealism!
• Every ministry that is already a priority of the local church will only be enhanced by young adult involvement – volunteers, creative ideas and talents for children and youth ministry, missions, local outreach, music, multi-media, discipleship, etc., etc.
• Stop looking for potential givers – think of young adults as a worthy investment of time, resources, and energy.
• Reaching young adults is easy – you just have to TRY!
• Don’t sell them short because they are young and because they have different ideas – they are ready to lead and make a contribution.
• Give them the freedom to be innovative, creative, and to take risks!  Quit hindering what can be!
• Love them for who they are – don’t just see them as potential nursery workers!
• They are hungry for Biblical depth and theological substance – give it to them!
• DON’T presume they will come back when they have kids – THEY MIGHT NOT!
• The idea that young adults have short attention spans is crap – they have a low tolerance for BORING and IRRELEVANT!!!
• They believe they can change the world – quit telling them that they are too idealistic – AND HELP THEM DO IT!!!
• Treat them like adults – THEY ARE!
• Scripture say God is faithful to the 1000 generations – Senior Pastor, are you???
• NEVER, EVER SAY…”I’m sorry.  We just don’t offer anything for young adults.”  DO SAY… “How can I help you find a place in our church?  We are so glad you are here!”

Though I may not be on campus forever, my commitment to young adults will not waver.  If they are our priority, the church and society will flourish.  If we neglect our God-given responsibility to reach, disciple, nurture, resource and empower young people, we will all suffer for it.