Professional growth opportunities for campus ministers at Student Forum

Campus ministers attending Student Forum 2008 can take part in Campus Ministry at Forum, a new program designed to offer professional and spiritual growth opportunities, says the Rev. Luther Felder.

“Campus Ministry at Forum is a new approach to programming for campus ministers who accompany their students to Student Forum. This year, campus ministry professionals can attend lectures, share in spiritually uplifting worship, and engage in dialogue about the strengths their ministries offer the collegiate community,” says Felder, assistant general secretary of the General Board of Higher Education’s Campus Ministry Section.

The program is designed for campus ministers and other leaders who are attending the United Methodist Student Movement’s Student Forum with students involved in their ministries. Forum, scheduled for May 22 - 25, 2008, at American University in Washington, D.C., is an annual spiritual development and leadership training conference for college and university students.

On Friday, campus ministers will talk with Susan Burton, director for Seminar Design at the General Board of Church and Society. Burton will take the group to the Faith and Politics Institute, a nonpartisan, interfaith organization which was founded in 1991 to help public officials stay in touch with their faith and deeper values as they shape public policy. The word "faith" was chosen instead of the word "religion" to communicate a reference point broader than any single religious doctrine.

One of the founders of the institute was the Rev. Dr. Doug Tanner, a former campus minister who took his experience on campus and applied it to a congressional audience, Felder said.

Campus ministers will learn how campus ministry informs the nation, along with ways campus ministry may be enhanced through the seminar program.

On Saturday, at Wesley Theological Seminary, campus ministers will hear lectures by Dr. Bruce Birch, Dean and Woodrow W. and Mildred B. Miller Professor of Biblical Theology, and Dr. Shaun Casey, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics.

In light of the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, Birch will lecture on “Hope in Exile and the Implications for Campus Ministry.” Casey will focus on the impact of the Millennial Generation on the values of the twenty-first century, especially as it relates to the current 2008 presidential elections.

Campus ministers will also have an opportunity to take part in small group discussions both for fellowship and to learn about what has worked for other campus ministers and chaplains.

“We want campus ministers and chaplains to share success stories or ideas that may enrich the work of their peers,” Felder said.

For more information please contact the Campus Ministry Section at 615-340-7404, or by e-mail at campmin@gbhem.org. Register online at the Student Forum site, www.umsm.org/studentforum. The deadline to register is April 18. Participants can register as a student, campus minister, or seminarian.

Related Link: Schedule for Campus Ministers at Student Forum