Minute for Mission: College and Young Adult Sunday

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It’s often hard to imagine what Presbyterians were like 60, 75 or 100 years ago. The world was a very different place in 1925 than it is in today, and there were very different things going on in 1950 than in 1965.

But what each of these years has in common is that Presbyterians were inspired to invest financially and spiritually in the spiritual, intellectual and emotional formation of young adults on college campuses across the country.

The Koinonia Center at the University of Oregon in Eugene will celebrate its 100th anniversary this November. UKirk Tallahassee, originally begun as a Westminster House, will celebrate their 75th anniversary in October. The United Campus Ministry at the University of Arkansas celebrated 60 years in their building last fall, and over 75 years of ministry at the university. And UKirk TCU and UKirk Maryland will each celebrate their first anniversaries this coming academic year.

Presbyterians then and now still believe that nurturing the faith and development of young adults during a pivotal season of life when they are discovering their place in the world — and the church — and discern their future careers, develop lifelong friendships and often choose who they will marry is vitally important, not only for the young adult but also for the world that God so loves. On behalf of the PC(USA), the national UKirk organization connects, equips, and empowers this ministry so that local collegiate ministries and the broader church can help young adults experience and explore God’s inclusive love and be empowered to live for the flourishing of all Creation.

College and Young Adult Sunday is a day set aside to lift up college students and young adults in prayer, bless their journeys, and commission them to discover the gifts God has given them to serve the church and the world. Let us give thanks for the many ways God has made an impact in the lives of college students over the past 100 years!

The Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, UKirk Collegiate Ministries

Let us join in prayer for:

Sarah Sullivan, Assistant General Counsel, Legal and Risk Management, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Carla Sutton, Operations Administrator, Presbyterian Foundation 

Let us pray:

Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always! Amen. — Ephesians 3:20–21 (CEB)

Minute for Mission: College and Young Adult Sunday

August 4, 2024

Photo caption: Emma Rigler

Emma Rigler’s mom is a Presbyterian pastor, and Emma and her siblings grew up in PC(USA) congregations. Her Christian formation has involved Presbyterian church schools, camps, youth events and mission trips.

After high school, Emma attended Austin College (a PC[USA]-related college in Sherman, Texas). She received a Westminster Fellowship — financial aid for Austin College students who are dependents of PC(USA) professionals. She did children’s ministry in a local congregation and was active in the Austin College ACtivators Youth Ministry program. During her senior year, Emma was a Sallie Majors Religious Life Intern.

Emma graduated from Austin College in 2022 and became a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For her YAV year, she worked with New Mexico WILD, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection, restoration and continued enjoyment of New Mexico’s wildlands and wilderness areas. When she completed her YAV year, Emma was hired as director of Youth Ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney, Texas.

Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. – 1 Peter 4:10 (CEV)

Throughout its history, the PC(USA) has endeavored to invite, encourage, assist, and enable college students and other young adults to identify, develop and share their gifts.

College and Young Adult Sunday is a day set aside to lift up college students and young adults.  

Worship resources:
College and Young Adult Sunday: pcusa.org/collegesunday
Young Adult Volunteers: presbyterianmission.org/ministries/yav
Supporting college students: ukirk.org
PC(USA)-related colleges: presbyteriancolleges.org

Rev. Dr. John Williams, Chaplain and Director of Church Relations at Austin College

Today’s Focus: College and Young Adult Sunday

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Phillip Morgan, Associate, Music, Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Bill  and Ann Moore, Mission co-workers serving in Japan, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Generous and Extravagant God, you continue to do new things by blessing college students and young adults with abundant gifts they can share within and beyond your church. Help us support, teach and learn from each other as we all strive together to be instruments of your justice, mercy, reconciliation and peace. Amen.

Minute for Mission: College and Young Adult Sunday

August 8, 2021

Photo courtesy of Gini Norris-Lane.

Did you know that UKirk stands for University-Church (or kirk, a reference to our Scottish roots)? It is the name adopted in 2012 for the 200-plus PC(USA) and Cumberland Presbyterian-related collegiate ministries across the nation. The names of each ministry are as varied as the colleges that are their mission fields — UKirk or Presbyterian Campus Ministry or Presby Student Ministry or United Campus Ministry — yet what unites all of our network ministries is their passion for welcoming young adults into Christian communities of faith and practice where they can explore their faith and discern God’s call upon their lives. 

On any given day, if you type in the words UKirk, Presbyterian, Campus Ministry or a host of other words in the search bar on Instagram, dozens of links will appear that will give you a glimpse into the beautiful and dynamic world of collegiate ministry across the PC(USA).

This is a prayer discipline I have every few weeks as the executive director of the UKirk Collegiate Ministries Association (ukirk.org). 

Social media cannot share the breadth and depth of laughter, tears, prayers, songs, community and faith that is the soundtrack to collegiate ministry throughout the network. Yet it can give us glimpses — snapshots — of the amazing ministry happening in and through the UKirk network across the country, and the profound transformation that is taking place in the lives of young adults during this pivotal time in their faith formation. As the whole church celebrates College and Young Adult Sunday today (for resources, go to ukirk.org/worship-resource-for-college-and-young-adult-sunday-august-8-2021), I want to share one recent post featuring Consal, a member of United Campus Ministry and recent graduate of Texas State University (@ucmtxstate).

On this video post, Consal, a student leader at UCM and 2021 graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, we hear Consal’s story of being born in the Congo and raised in South Africa and Austin, Texas.  She shares her favorite memories of her time in campus ministry, and her hopes and dreams for the future (a job was of course on the list!). When asked what impact campus ministry has had upon her life, she mentions lifelong friendships and the community that has shaped her, and then she shares a story about a time when she read a prayer and “felt a sense of peace; God was right there next to me.” She goes on to say, “I felt God there, and realized God has been with me through it all.”  Considering that her final year of college has taken place during a pandemic, to proclaim that God has been and will continue to be with her through it all is a powerful testimony, and I’m sure it is just a glimpse of what Consal will take with her from her time with campus ministry.

Please join me in prayer for the campus ministers and chaplains as they prepare to welcome students (back) to campus post-pandemic lockdown, student leaders, volunteers and board members who will welcome and invite new students into their faith communities, and the congregations, individuals, presbyteries and synods who support this work financially. 

Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, Executive Director, UKirk Collegiate Ministries Association, ukirknational@gmail.com

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Elle Rogers, Marketing Manager, Electronic Resources & Strategic Business Development, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Lauren Rogers, Project Manager, Special Offerings,/Appeals, Mission Engagement & Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God of all times and places, we give you thanks that you are with us in all the seasons of our lives, when we feel you near and even when we wonder or wander. As students prepare to go to college for the first time or return to a community that has become like home, we ask that you guide, support and encourage them as they step into this new season of life. Be with the campus ministers and chaplains as they plan and prepare for the student’s arrival, and inspire in them a newfound energy, intelligence, imagination and love for your beloved ones. Through the church local and national, provide both the human and financial resources so that our ministries can flourish in this time and place. Continue to inspire your church to partner with your Spirit to care for, learn from and come alongside young adults in this season of life and ministry together. Through Christ we pray, Amen.