Commentary: Campus spiritual awakening needs church support
3/5/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photo of the Rev. Harold V. Hartley III is available. A UMNS Commentary By the Rev. Harold V. Hartley III*
By the Rev. Harold V. Hartley III*
A spiritual awakening is occurring on college campuses
across the United States. Without intentional support from the church,
however, these flames of revival may die out.
Turning away from
the bankrupt values of previous generations bent on "me first"
materialism and greed, a new generation of young adults is desperately
searching for greater meaning and purpose in life, a new sense of
community, opportunities to serve those in need and a vital spiritual
connection.
United Methodist campus ministers and college
chaplains report record numbers of students attending their weekly
worship services, Bible studies and community service activities.
Increasing numbers of students graduating out of campus ministry
programs are seeking one- or two-year service opportunities and
considering ministry within the church, as evidenced by the steadily
declining age of seminary enrollees.
Despite reports that this
new generation is not interested in denominationalism, we find that
students are seeking vital connections to a deeply rooted tradition.
They may not be blindly loyal to one institution, but they are attracted
to a Wesleyan faith that combines vital piety and social holiness, and
is intellectually engaging while tolerant of other views.
This
increase in student religious involvement is accompanied by the
development in 1996 of a new United Methodist Student Movement, the
first national network of students within the denomination in nearly 30
years.
Attendance at the annual Student Forum, a national
gathering of United Methodist college students, has doubled in six
years, and regional gatherings at the annual conference and state levels
are sprouting up.
Recent shifts in higher education reveal a
new openness to issues of faith and religious practice. Immediately
following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, once-skeptical university
administrators turned to campus ministers to bring messages of comfort
and hope to students and faculty.
Furthermore, the renewed
interest in things spiritual is coupled with the largest growth in the
college student population in U.S. history, with an expected enrollment
increase of more than 15 percent by 2012.
This spiritual
awakening among our young could not come at a more opportune time in the
life of our rapidly aging denomination. According to a recent study, on
any given Sunday, nearly 90 percent of folk sitting in United Methodist
pews are over 30. Other reports note the shortage of ordained elders to
fill local church pulpits.
Paradoxically, this flourish of
student interest and religious activity on campus is coupled with a
steep decline in church funding of campus ministry in particular and
church-related higher education in general. Campus clergy are spending
more time raising funds and less time raising disciples.
The
retrenchment of campus-based ministries is evidenced in the rapid
turnover and declining morale of campus ministers and chaplains. Yet we
desperately need passionate, theologically trained campus clergy who can
creatively present the Gospel with integrity to a new generation.
Annual
conferences faced with over-committed budgets are looking to cut costs,
and campus ministry, with its significant personnel and facility needs,
is an inviting target. Frequently, a stopgap approach is to turn
ministry with students over to local congregations. But these efforts
all too often suffer from lack of commitment and expertise.
Rather
than commit to putting the best and the brightest clergy on the front
lines to minister with a burgeoning student population hungering for
spiritual guidance, we are trying to fill empty pulpits. Instead of
expanding programs and adding staff to reach unchurched students, we are
slashing financial support for campus ministries.
No longer can
we count on our young to return to United Methodist churches when they
reach their 30s and have young children. They will go where their
presence is intentionally sought and their gifts are warmly welcomed. We
cannot afford to lose this generation of young people to para-church
groups such as Campus Crusade or InterVarsity, which are investing
heavily in campus ministry.
Our denomination is faced with
difficult choices. At a time when new investment in ministries with
college students is needed urgently, we are experiencing funding
shortfalls, especially at annual conference levels. Yet, there are signs
of hope and promise. The Texas Annual Conference recently moved all of
its part-time Wesley Foundation directors to full-time status, a
significant financial commitment. The California-Nevada Conference is
establishing new campus ministries. The Tennessee Conference is
undertaking an ambitious $1 million capital campaign for campus ministry
facilities.
Methodism began as a campus renewal movement, led
by brothers John and Charles Wesley at Oxford University. The spiritual
reawakening on campuses today promises to bring much-needed renewal to
our church, but we cannot maintain this spiritual revival without
intentional nurture and financial support from the church.
Preoccupied
with institutional atrophy, theological fracture and efforts to
restructure, we may miss the opportunity that is before us. Without a
decisive commitment to student ministry, the fire of campus spiritual
renewal may burn out for lack of tending.
# # #
*Hartley
is director of student ministries in the campus ministry section of the
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Commentaries
provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily represent
the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.
|
Back : News Archives 2003 Main
|
|
“We believe in God and in each other.”The people of The United Methodist Church
Still Have Questions?
If you have any questions Ask
InfoServ
Purchase a $20 buzzkill t-shirt and help save a life
Buy a t-shirt
|