I wouldn't be in seminary, I wouldn't care about God or Church, and I wouldn't have known about Pacific School of Religion if it wasn't for campus ministry at my undergraduate school. It will be an utter failure of the mainline churches to be relevant in today's world if campus ministry goes ignored, unsupported, and/or uncritically left on the sidelines.
Just the fact that I had a place to go, once a week, to have a free lunch (that wasn't from the cafeteria) and see fellow Methodists and other progressive Christians, was great enough. The fact is that many of my United Methodist campus ministers were revered by the whole college. But that's what not what had an impact on me. The best thing about our Wesley meetings were the openness, the lack of a preachy vibe, and the presence of adults who genuinely cared about the lives of college folk. These ministers didn't want anything from us, they didn't ask us to be someone we were not, and they didn't treat us like we were dumb. We were presented with new activities each week, and we were given the opportunity to express our opinions and values.
The Associate Chaplain my freshman year, a United Methodist pastor, went to the Pacific School of Religion, where I currently go to seminary. Without her encouragement as I stayed in touch with her and began discerning graduate school plans, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.
I am of the firm conviction that campus ministry may be one of the single most important aspects of ministry for the United Methodist church if the church is to survive. Not only should campus ministry be highly funded, but the leadership of campus ministry must be consistently held accountable for success. Not many people are cut out for leading a good campus ministry, but there is not a system of accountability in UMC campus ministry like there would be in a congregation. The focus upon campus ministry must continually increase. If the gospel is not adapted and made relevant and engaging for a new generation of postmodern young adults, then we might as well hang up our hats right now.
