“10 Days of Connectional Giving”
Members of the Winthrop University Wesley Foundation celebrate Advent.
Over “10 Days of Connectional Giving” – leading up to the Jan. 10 deadline for churches to pay their 2016 apportionments to the conference treasurer – we will share short stories to remind you what your church’s annual contributions mean to your fellow United Methodists and to those whose lives are touched by their efforts.
United Methodist campus ministries, more commonly known as Wesley Foundations, are vital both to college students and the local church.
The South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church supports campus ministry programs that serve students at more than a dozen colleges and universities across the state.
Rev. Simoneaux
“The students we serve often use words like ‘home away from home’ and ‘family’ to describe their Wesley Foundation communities,” said the Rev. Steve Simoneaux, campus minister for the Wesley Foundation at Clemson University. “Through small groups, retreats, mission trips, fellowship and weekly worship opportunities, Wesley Foundations are helping to shape the lives of these young adults in their most transformative years.
“Over this past year, our campus ministries have connected with well over 1,000 students in meaningful ways. These ministries are preparing these students to become vital leaders – both on campus and in local congregations after graduation.”
The Wesley Foundation at Winthrop University is helping senior Rikita Thompson navigate college successfully.
Rikita Thompson
“Being in college is hard, with all that we are introduced to and faced with, so being able to start my week out in a building full of college students wanting to do the same thing makes it easier to get through those challenges,” she said. “The Winthrop Wesley Foundation has turned into my church away from home.
“I am able to be myself, make friends, and – even more importantly – further my walk with Christ.”
That concept of “home” is important to everyone – young and old alike, said the Rev. Ricky Howell, director of Winthrop’s Wesley Foundation.
Rev. Howell
“Whether we find it among family, friends, at church, or as part of another group, feeling like we have a place and a people to call home is vital to our spiritual health and well-being,” he said. “As we all do, Rikita and other young persons regularly struggle to cling to hope and peace in the midst of a world that seems increasingly dark and frightening.
“Thankfully, due to the support of churches, faith groups, and individual United Methodists, Winthrop Wesley remains a safe place – a ‘home’ for students such as Rikita to find community, grow in faith, and learn to shine the light of Christ on campus and beyond.”
We hope this will encourage your congregation’s leaders to make sure they have submitted your church’s 2016 apportionment so the good work of all of the conference’s ministries can continue.
And to those churches that already have given 100 percent of their apportionments:
