These students at United Methodist-related Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn., receive scholarships funded by local churches in the Tennessee Annual Conference. UMNS photos courtesy of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

A UMNS Report
By Vicki Brown*
June 12, 2009

The Rev. Lea Thornton was surprised when she learned her small congregation had agreed to raise $10,000 to fund a scholarship at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn.

Waynesboro First United Methodist Church only draws about 100 people for worship and had a small number of young people at the time. But Thornton, who was appointed pastor after the partnership commitment, has come to see it as important.

“We are looking to the future,” she explained. “We wanted to show the youth we are committed to them, and this tells our youth that we are supporting them and their future,”

The Martin Methodist church partnership program is one example of the work that church relations directors at United Methodist-related colleges and universities around the country are doing to strengthen ties between local churches and higher educational institutions. The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and annual conferences also are part of the effort.

Changing relationship

Ingrid McIntyre, director of connectional relations at the Board of Higher Education and Ministry, described the relationship between the church and its academic institutions as “ever changing.”

The United Methodist Church has 122 affiliated schools, colleges, universities and theological schools. While the denomination started the schools and supported them financially, none of the schools’ budgets today is totally dependent on the church.

“Part of the struggle is that the relationship is transforming from a monetary relationship into a more relational relationship, working together to develop leaders for church and society instead of just funding the schools,” McIntyre said.

When McIntyre came to her position nearly a year ago, she found an unwillingness among churches to partner and be in relationships with higher education institutions. “I thought that the schools would be hesitant and that the churches would be more than willing to partner and I found it to be a little of the opposite,” she said.

Although not reluctant to be in relationships with academic institutions, “the church is so consumed with other things and to add another thing on is not a priority,” she added.

Loosened ties

Linda Gesling, church relations director at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., believes the ties between the denomination and university loosened in the 1960s and 1970s. “There are people who still don’t know Hamline is United Methodist-related,” she said.

Faculty and staff need to realize that being a United Methodist-related institution carries a certain value, she explained, and sometimes faculty need to be reassured that a church relationship in no way prevents rigorous scholarship.

Gesling’s work has ranged from scheduling choir performances at local churches to helping set up the McVay Youth Partnership. The program, a church/university partnership funded by the McVay Family Foundation, provides after-school programs for middle school students at five sites around the city – two of those at United Methodist churches.

The Rev. Chip Nielsen, pastor of Arlington Hills United Methodist Church in Maplewood, Minn., pointed out that housing one of the after-school programs has benefited the church through closer connections with Hamline and by getting members involved in hands-on work.

“Coming in to tutor the children and mentor families has helped church members see the world from a different standpoint,” Nielsen said.

Melody Patterson, director of institutional advancement and church relations at historically black Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, makes direct connections with churches and six supporting annual conferences. She works on recruitment and programs that bring United Methodists to the campus, such as a fall harvest festival and a Friends of the Library Evening of Poetry.

In Buckhannon, W.Va., Stephen McGrew is the first full-time coordinator of church relations at West Virginia Wesleyan College in 25 years. He was hired in 2007 to work with United Methodist students who are interested in attending the college.

“The church is living out its mission through developing people into strong leaders and contributors in the church and society and the academy is celebrating its Wesleyan roots by infusing social justice and issues of service into a strong academic curriculum,” he said.

Nurturing ties

The Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, church relations director at Martin Methodist College, said Ted Brown, the college’s president, has been “really intentional about forming and nurturing relationships with churches because he sees the value of the United Methodist heritage and education.”

Martin, which is the only United Methodist-related college in the Tennessee Annual Conference, gets about $500,000 annually from the conference. “We believe we have something to offer the church, too, and we work to make it a two-way street,” Parrish said.

She works in the Cal Turner Jr. Center for Church Leadership, a partnership between the college and the conference, created to serve as a model of how academic institutions and denominational entities can share knowledge, deepen faith and support the work of ministry.

One Martin program aimed at achieving those goals is the Ben Alford Church Leadership Scholarship, which provides full room and board and tuition to two high school seniors who are active in their church. The college also has Martin representatives in about three-fourths of all the churches in the conference.

Any United Methodist attending Martin gets a $2,000 scholarship, but if a church becomes a partner—like Waynesboro First United Methodist Church – and commits both financially and in prayer, its students get an additional $3,000.

*Brown is associate editor and writer in the Office of Interpretation, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Linda Green of United Methodist News Service contributed to this report.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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Resources

Five Events Strengthen Academy, Church Ties

United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry

University Senate