Higher ed committee has visited the three largest campus ministries

By Christie M. Wills

Campus ministry has repeatedly been lifted up as a “Top 5” ministry priority among those at recent regional convocation meetings as well as by Executive Board leadership. A newly formed diocesan Higher Education Committee has immersed itself in learning more about college ministry in the diocese and has made recommendations about 2008 funding levels to the Executive Board finance committee.
The committee-- chaired by Dr. Jim Lott, a retired Mary Baldwin College administrator at Emmanuel, Staunton-- was formed to better oversee the whole picture of campus ministry in the diocese. Previously the Higher Education Committee was made up of all of the campus ministry coordinators who were then in the awkward position of dividing the approximately $50,000 in ministry grants among themselves. Now, the committee is made up of people from across the diocese who have an affinity for college ministry but are not campus ministry coordinators themselves.
So far, the committee has met several times and has visited the three largest Canterbury Club campus ministries: Virginia Tech at Christ, Blacksburg; Washington and Lee and VMI at R.E. Lee Memorial and Radford University at Grace, Radford. Lott said the committee enjoyed the visits and were able to gain a sense of the type of ministry at each place.
“All three are working to provide a ‘ministry of presence,’ a comfortable refuge from the stresses and frustrations of college life where students can worship together, share a meal, and talk about things that matter to them in a non-judgmental setting,” said Lott.
“They all are trying to offer space for spiritual exploration without insisting that anyone accept someone else’s truth. They are not competing with the larger evangelical fundamentalist campus movements. They are all working in the best of the Anglican/Episcopal tradition of communing together,” said Lott.
The committee recommended the same or slightly higher grants for each program:
• $20,000 for Virginia Tech, up $5200 over the 2007 budget amount
• $12,000 for Washington & Lee/ VMI
• $10,000 for Radford
• $2000 for Hollins University
• $1200 for Ferrum College
The committee has also designated $500 for a start-up ministry led by the Rev. Vince Carroll of Trinity, Richlands. Carroll has been using flyers and radio ads to connect with students at the law school and pharmacy school in Grundy. Since the nearest Episcopal Church is about 40 minutes away, he arranged to use the local Catholic Church to hold Eucharists twice a month. He also lead an ecumenical Lessons and Carols service on Dec. 23.
The first significant change in practice the committee has made for the future is that Community College Ministries, an ecumenical group that serves a population of about 35,000 community college students in Southwestern Virginia, will receive $10,000 in 2008 but thereafter, it will apply to the diocesan Outreach Committee for funds. Lott said the committee endorsed the work of Community College Ministries but that the committee believes higher education grants should be used specifically to support an Episcopal presence on college campuses.
Overall, the committee recommended a slight increase in college ministry funding, from $50,000 in 2007 to $55,700. In 2008 the committee will continue to monitor and support the three primary diocesan campus ministries as well as the smaller Episcopal outreach ministries at Hollins University and Ferrum College. It will also focus on how to meet the needs of college students not served by one of these five ministries.

Contact chairman Jim Lott at lottjd@aol.com.//

The members of the Higher Education Ministries committee are:
Geno Iannocone, Christ Church, Blacksburg
Erin Harden, Christ Church, Roanoke
Ed Craun, R. E. Lee, Lexington
Nina Salmon, St. John’s, Lynchburg
Jack Roper, St. Thomas, Abingdon
The Rev. Rachel Gardner, Trinity, Rocky Mount
Jim Lott, chair, Emmanuel, Staunton