Student Forum 2010

Student Forum Articles

2010 Student Forum Participants Explore Key Issues

Campus Ministers, Chaplains Focus on Retreat, Connection

Student Forum 2010 was held May 27 – 30, 2010 at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. The Student Forum of the United Methodist Student Movement is an annual spiritual development and leadership training conference for college and university students.

Excerpt from Keynote Address by Leland Spencer

I want to begin today with a story I heard about a pastor who took a new appointment at a rural church in the mountains of North Georgia. It so happened that the church’s lay leader was an active equestrian, and she invited the new pastor to come horseback riding. The new pastor came, and the lay leader, a particularly pious person, explained that she trained the horse to obey commands in liturgical language. “If you want the horse to go faster,” the lay leader explained, “say, ‘Praise the Lord,’ and if you want the horse to stop, say, ‘Amen!’” Ready to enjoy a nice ride, the pastor saddled the horse and shouted, “Praise the Lord.” The horse took off running. It was a beautiful day for a horse ride, and the pastor felt great. She kept saying, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” and the horse kept galloping faster and faster.

After a while, the pastor realized that a large cliff was coming up, and suddenly she couldn’t remember the code word to stop the horse. Her mind racing, she tried every liturgical phrase she could think of: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” “This is my body, given for you,” “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!” She became more and more frantic as the cliff approached, and right as the horse made it to the very edge of the cliff, she shouted, “AMEN!” The horse stopped. Seeing her proximity to a long fall, the pastor leaned back, wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, “Praise the Lord.” Read the entire keynote address here (PDF).