Forum helps students connect, hear calling
Christine Seymour and Jonathan Fell participate in the opening worship service of
the Student Forum at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. The
May 24-27 leadership event, sponsored by the United Methodist Board of
Higher Education and Ministry, brought together more than 400 college
students for a time of renewal.
UMNS photos by Vicki Brown.
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By Vicki Brown*
June 15, 2007 | TACOMA, Wash. (UMNS)
For Khou Lee, participating in Student Forum was an opportunity
to see the world - and discover the possibility of furthering her
education and seeking ordination in The United Methodist Church.
"In the Hmong culture, women are labeled as low, almost nothing,"
said the Merced (Calif.) College student, who served on the United
Methodist Student Movement Steering Committee this year.
The committee, with staff assistance and financial support from the
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, organizes
Student Forum, the only annual leadership event for United Methodist
college students. This year's event was held May 24-27 at the University
of Puget Sound.
"It's had a huge impact on my life," said Lee, the daughter of Hmong
immigrants from Laos. "I wasn't a churchgoer until I was 18. I really
got involved in the church through the Wesley Foundation, and that
really strengthened my faith. Then, Student Forum helped affirm that I
wanted to respond to the call I feel to ministry."
The "Student Forum helped affirm that I wanted to respond to the call I feel to ministry," Khou Lee says.
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The Rev. Luther Felder, the executive in the board's Campus Ministry
Section, said he has seen many Student Forum participants take
leadership roles in the church and the world. He mentioned Kenia
Guimaraes, a staff member of the Division on Ministries with Young
People at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship; Motoe Yamada, a
pastor in the California-Nevada Annual Conference; and Glen Sears,
legislative assistant and deputy communications director to U.S. Rep.
Dennis Moore, D-Kansas.
"Student Forum is a leadership training event where the great
tapestry of God's creation is viewed and engaged around issues that are
significant to The United Methodist Church and the larger society,"
Felder said. The experience enriches the lives and leadership gifts of
those who attend, he added.
Jumping on a bus
The event helped Christine Seymour stay connected to The United
Methodist Church, since Minnesota State University has no Wesley
Foundation or United Methodist campus ministry. Seymour, who chaired the
United Methodist Student Movement Steering Committee, attends an
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America campus ministry and learned about
Student Forum almost by accident.
"I heard a five-minute presentation at Youth 2003 and jumped on a bus
with three total strangers to go to Student Forum," Seymour said. "It's
really important that United Methodists realize Student Forum exists
and that the church doesn't forget about you in college."
Seymour believes her work on the steering committee has helped her develop consensus-building skills.
"I've had to learn that although we are all United Methodists, it's
not a narrowly defined church. How do you play to the middle so you
include the most people in what you are doing?" Seymour asked.
On a nuts-and-bolts level, she's learned a great deal about long-term
planning and also that "you can have differences of opinions with other
people but still love the heck out of them."
Seeking ordination
Several steering committee members said attendance and their work at Student Forum helped them decide to seek ordination.
Jonathan Fell, a University of Iowa graduate, starts seminary at
United Methodist-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in
Evanston, Ill., this fall.
"Forum has given me an experience working with other individuals who
are just as caring and committed Christians as I am, but who have very
different views," he said. "It's easy for me at home to be in a
leadership position because our Wesley Foundation is pretty like-minded.
... And it's easy to be in community with one another. But when you get
on a national committee, you have to open yourself up and be in
community with folks who have different views.
“Student Forum really speaks to the 18- to
24-year-olds in the church. We need something that makes us see who we
are, what we are, the reason we are Methodists.”
–Will Green, Student, Hendrix College
"I've learned there is a story and a reason why we all believe what we believe and have the convictions we do," Fell said.
Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, a student at American University,
Washington, said the Student Forum inspired her to get her campus
ministry connected with others in the Washington area.
"We had a retreat with three other campus ministries in D.C., and we
are trying to work with other campus ministries on some social justice
programming," she said. She plans to attend seminary, but said she is
more interested in social justice than local church ministry.
Birkhahn-Rommelfanger worked on putting together the hunger banquet
for the forum, including an information packet with facts on hunger and
steps everyone can take to fight hunger. "I had never put that kind of
information together," she said.
She is taking what she learned back home.
"I can share that with the people in my own church community. In
fact, I preached on why it's important to fund campus ministries," she
said.
Connecting young people
Will Green, a student at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., said he is
working on events in his own conference that are modeled on the forum
and that will stress the importance of helping young United Methodists
connect to one another.
"Student Forum really speaks to the 18- to 24-year-olds in the
church," Green said. "We need something that makes us see who we are,
what we are, the reason we are Methodists."
Forum participant Simone Furtado, a graduate of Rust College in Holly
Springs, Miss., agrees with Fell that one of the major benefits of the
forum is learning how to work with different people.
"It's a place where you learn to renew our relationships with the
church, an open place where we as United Methodist students can speak
our mind and be in contact with the church as a whole," she said.
Details on leadership opportunities for young people in The United Methodist Church are available at www.umsm.org, www.umsm.org/studentforum and www.ExploreCalling.org.
*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of
Interpretation, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
United Methodist Student Movement
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Method X
University of Puget Sound |