Get your colleagues together and see what can happen…!
The photo below is from our annual winter retreat with the campus ministers. Some stayed on a little later as a massive storm was working its way down I-40. Who would have known a bigger public health storm would arrive in mid March 2020 just weeks away that would change the way we all do ministry! What we have learned from these gatherings is that less is overwhelming when you have colleagues who help you do your work well and lovingly hold you accountable to what you said yes to when called to lead these ministries. We pray together, eat together, worship, read, share, encourage… At the heart of PCMofNC’s mission and vision is a commitment to the practitioners and ways to help them do their work better.
At this retreat we finalized our bylaws and worked through the details of becoming a legal 501(c)3 nonprofit. John was elected as the Executive Director and we left feeling encouraged with the steps we are taking to sustain the work of campus ministry in North Carolina. Retreats like this have been happening for the last five years where we created a conversation board that naturally led to launching PCMofNC. Yes, each ministry has a strong connection to its regional presbytery, but given the current financial climate and patterns of decreased levels of funding, something needed to happen or these colleagues would have less resources to invest in the lives of students.
Looking at the data over the short history of campus ministry in North Carolina and the corresponding synods, it is shocking to see what campus ministry looked like in its heyday (ranging from Delaware to North Carolina- looking at the current area of the Synod of the Mid-Adlantic). And then compare it to today! Yes, it is understandable based on the numbers in our PC(USA) denomination in those days was over 4 million people and today down to 1.3 million, that there would be less resources to share today. But these colleagues below kept pushing the common answers and critiques to possibly suggest that a divestment in campus ministry can have corresponding negative impact on denominational/ church involvement. Possibly. Or at least to name that when you divest in campus ministry at a time of students deep personal and theological inquiry there is serious risk of their not coming back— not even when the church once suggested they would return when they might get married and have children. So what should we do? How should the church adapt even at a time when it appears the traditional funding models will have to change? You can see it is easy for colleagues like these to worry- about their ministries, their employment, and especially their students.
So in the laboratory of thinking about campus ministry in new ways this group created PCMofNC. To be sure we thought of a lot of models, names, etc… but what we offer in PCMofNC is our best hope for sustaining the work across the state and hopefully helping to launch new PC(USA) supported campus ministries where viable. We have been intentional about honoring the five presbyteries in North Carolina and their current and past models of supporting campus ministries in their areas. On our board we have two representatives from each of the five presbyteries. We have active campus ministers and strong supporters on the board who can help this organization succeed. Here, in a time of pandemic, we are launching PCMofNC and have realistic hopes for how this ministry will carry on the strong investment our denomination has had for a long time. Below are the key aims of PCMofNC:
Listen to the campus ministers and their boards with what they need to better invest and disciple college students;
Create opportunities for the campus ministers and chaplains to gather together to foster healthy collegiality, collaboration, and fellowship;
Identify, reach out to, and foster relationships with key financial partners who can help come alongside and sustain the financial needs of the campus ministries;
Be in relationship with each of the five presbyteries, especially the executive presbyters, to best honor the hopes and needs of campus ministry within the boundary of their presbyteries;
And find ways to reintroduce a campus ministry presence on campuses where a campus ministry once existed and/or determine viable campuses where campus ministries can be introduced.
