When I arrived at The University of Oklahoma in the fall of 1994, I thought I had my life figured out. I was going to play in the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band, major in Chemistry and prepare myself to go to Medical School. The furthest thing from my mind was going to a campus ministry. I only vaguely had ever heard of campus ministry. So when I received an invitation that first Tuesday of my college career to come to a Vespers service at the UM Campus Ministry called the Wesley Foundation, it barely registered when I was asked. Before I could say no though, I walked from the dorms to the OU Wesley Foundation, a walk that has influenced my life ever since, and a walk that I am eternally grateful God had me make. The OU Wesley Foundation stands for me as a place where my faith was nurtured and challenged to grow, a place where I made great friends, a place that nurtured a call to ministry, and a place that I now have the opportunity to serve as a board member.
I remember near the end of my first semester at OU, Rev. Brad Humphrey, Director of the OU Wesley Foundation asked me to lead my first small group, and to serve on the leadership team. I certainly felt unprepared for this calling, and yet I was so excited that he asked me. I accepted and led a multi-media ministry small group that spring. Following that I led other small groups and served on the student leadership team for the rest of my time as a student at OU. My last two years I had the privilege of being the Small Group Intern, which not only gave me the opportunity to oversee this ministry, but the opportunity to recruit and train leaders for those small groups as well.
My experiences and leadership at the Wesley Foundation prepared me to answer a call to ministry. I remember my third year at OU filling out the Medical School application forms, and when it came time to fill in volunteer work, I was astonished. I did not notice it, my roommate, Matt (another OU Wesley guy), did. I had listed almost a page of volunteer work with nearly all of it taking place either in my home church or the Wesley Foundation with little of it actually in a “medical setting.” This really caught my attention. So much so that I did not send in my application that year, and in fact I never did. I knew God was calling me to ministry, but I was certainly not ready to say yes. Later that year as my call to ministry became stronger and unavoidable, I spent a lot of time with Brad one-on-one, asking tons of questions and beginning to understand God had a call for my life. I wonder how long it would have taken me to accept God’s call on my life if it had not been for Brad’s love, support, guidance and sometimes “gentle” pushing! During this time, I continued to be in ministry at the Wesley Foundation. I think it is important to mention that it was in the actual building (which I had spent so much time in over the years) that I had the conversation with God that forever affected my plans. I spent time in the prayer chapel at Wesley a lot that semester, which is available to students 24/7, and came to realize that God had called me to ministry and I was beginning to understand my call to be a pastor. One Friday morning after extensive hours in the prayer room, I showed up at the Wesley Foundation and told Brad all that had been going on in my life and now my call to ministry. Brad’s response that day, “What took you so long? I have seen those gifts in you for a long time.” I thank God that Brad and the OU Wesley Foundation were in the right spot at the right time to care, love, nurture, challenge and support me. I look back and reflect about where my faith was when I came in 1994 to where it had gone by the time I graduated from OU in Spring 1999, and I am amazed! I started at Wesley because I did not want tell my friend across the hall of my dorm “no,” but I left closer to God than ever before.
Now, I am the pastor at FUMC, Fort Gibson, but I still hold a special place in my heart for campus ministry and especially the OU Wesley Foundation. I feel honored that things seem to have come full circle now that I am a board member at the OU Wesley Foundation. I thank God for the opportunity to give back to a ministry that meant so much to me. I pray that the work I do now as a board member might put into place the right circumstances for the next headstrong, sure of him/herself, life planned out young adult the chance to meet Christ, to serve Christ and to forever be a disciple of Christ. And who knows, because of the Wesley Foundation that young adult just might have the same opportunity I had to find out God might be calling!!
- Rev. Scott Rodgers, an Oklahoma Sooner, is the pastor at FUMC in Fort Gibson, OK
