Mission Yearbook: Students, church leaders and alumni gather to celebrate 25 years of UKirk Tallahassee

Image

“When I visited this UKirk, I sensed something,” the Rev. Dr. Matt Frease, executive director of UKirk Tallahassee, said during its 75th anniversary celebration last fall. “I was seeing the good work that had taken place here.”

Frease reflected on how the ministry has navigated significant moments throughout its history, following the Gospel’s call to justice. Westminster House took stands on integration and the civil rights movement, reproductive rights and peace during the Vietnam War. A generation later, students led the ministry to publicly identify as an inclusive and affirming campus ministry for LGBTQIA+ people.

Students, alumni and church leaders gathered at Westminster House, on the campus of Florida State University, to celebrate 75 years of continuous Presbyterian campus ministry. The event brought together generations of students whose lives have been shaped by a ministry known for welcome and spiritual formation since 1950.

Ruling Elder Mary Hodges, moderator of the Presbytery of Florida, opened the evening with a prayer. Valerie Young, synod executive and stated clerk for the Synod of South Atlantic, sent video remarks. The Rev. Cece Armstrong, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024) of the PC(USA), attended and spoke about the unique role of UKirk ministries on college campuses.

Image

The Rev. Cece Armstrong (Contributed photo)

The Rev. Dr. Gini Norris-Lane, executive director of UKirk Collegiate Ministries’ national office, also participated, emphasizing the significance of UKirk Tallahassee within the broader network of Presbyterian campus ministries. According to Norris-Lane, UKirks around the nation are celebrating nearly a century of ministry. UKirk at the University of Georgia celebrated 85 and Koinonia Center at the University of Oregon turns 100 in a few weeks.

“I have been reflecting on the Presbyterians 75, 85, 100 years ago who invested in ministry to and with college students,” said Norris-Lane. “They not only were committed to walking alongside their Presbyterian youth who were going to college but were also inspired to create ministries where non-Presbyterian students could explore the Christian faith and find a spiritual home.”

Norris-Lane noted how those who invest their time and treasure in sustaining UKirks help generations of college students learn to be servant leaders at a formative time in their lives, which strengthens the fabric of the PC(USA). She asked the audience, “How do we revive that same spirit of investing in the next generation of leaders for the church and the world?”

“A donation to campus ministry not only helps for a semester or a year; it is an actual investment in the kind of future we hope for,” said Norris-Lane.

Frease shared a brief history of the ministry, beginning with Dr. Miriam Wilson, who rallied Presbyterian Women across Florida to raise funds for a dedicated campus ministry space. In 1950, the Synod of Florida built Westminster House for $90,000, establishing what would become a transformative presence in the lives of countless students.

One of UKirk Tallahassee’s most visible expressions of ministry began 16 years ago with Calvin’s Coffee House, which operates on a pay-what-you-can model. Calvin’s reflects the ministry’s values of hospitality and inclusion, offering a safe, creative place for the Florida State campus and Tallahassee communities. All are welcome to be who God created them to be and can build community, study, and showcase their artistic talents through open mic nights, art installations, jazz performances and longer-form shows.

“The ministry is one of two outwardly affirming campus ministries at FSU, and Calvin’s is a known safe space in the area,” Frease said. “It is also a space known for artistic expression and a community-forming environment.”

Current student and resident Rowan Rey Miller shared how UKirk has provided a sense of belonging that can be hard to find on a large campus.

“Being a freshman is lonely,” Miller said. “I found friends. I found a family. I found a place to live, and most importantly, I found a place to spread my wings both personally and spiritually.”

Miller said UKirk offers a space where doubts and questions are welcomed. “It didn’t feel like ‘we’ve got you in our claws, and we won’t let go,’” Miller said. Instead, it felt like, “we want you to come be our friend. How can we help you, wherever you are in life and faith today?”

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Life & Witness (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Bequi Jump, Translator, Global Language Resources, Administrative Services Group
Kevin Keaton, Engagement & Church Relations, Church Consultant, Houston, TX, The Board of Pension

Let us pray:

God of all our lives, inspire us by your Spirit to grow in mission and understanding as we work as partners with brothers and sisters to bring your compassion, vision and shalom to those places in your world where the need is great. In your name we pray. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: UKirk’s national gathering focuses on justice and joy

UKirk Collegiate Ministries held its annual gathering at Washington University in St. Louis from June 24–27. This year’s event was intentionally ecumenical, partnering with the campus ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the Episcopal Church of America and sharing through keynotes and workshops how to engage young adults in colleges and universities under the theme of “Justice & Joy.”

Image

PC(USA) partners and UKirk participants gather for a selfie at the UKirk luncheon (all photos contributed by UKirk).

“Joining together with folks from different campuses and denominations provided a meaningful space for collaboration,” said the Rev. Chris Bailey, campus minister at Marshall University. “I look forward to returning to my own campus with a renewed energy to work creatively alongside my local colleagues.”

"The Justice & Joy Conference was a beautiful ecumenical gathering that brought over 220 Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Lutheran campus chaplains and young adult ministers together to worship, pray and strategize about building ministry collaborations to grow the faith of young adults across our denominations,” said Canon Myra Garnes, officer for youth, young adult and campus ministries in the Department of Mission of The Episcopal Church. “Episcopal leaders are excited to continue these partnerships.”

Representatives of UKirk’s 200-plus ministries across the country were among the preachers and presenters at this year’s event. In some cases, these leaders represented ecumenical campus ministries, such as the preacher of the opening worship, the Rev. Kate Van Valkenburg of United Campus Christian Fellowship in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is a joint Lutheran Campus Ministry Network and UKirk ministry. The Rev. Nii Addo Abrahams of Pres House on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison preached the closing worship service and led a workshop. Other Presbyterian workshop leaders included the Rev. Joseph Moore with the Presbyterian Foundation, the Rev. Phil Dieke and Rudy Logan with the 787 Collective of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Carole Essen and Kristi Button from United Campus Ministry in Arkansas, and the Rev. Dr. Gini Norris-Lane, executive director of the national UKirk Collegiate Ministries.

Image

The Rev. Nii Addo Abrahams of Pres House preaches during closing worship.

According to Norris-Lane, a number of UKirk ministries receive ecumenical support, especially as denominational and congregational support for collegiate ministries wane. In addition to strengthening ecumenical partnerships, Norris-Lane said that "one of the reasons we decided to do an ecumenical conference was to help those campus ministers who usually have to choose which national gathering to attend each year have a space to connect with all of their colleagues."

Romans 12:15, which proclaims, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep,” grounded the event and the presentations of the three keynote speakers as they invited participants to “courageously face injustice, tribulation and brokenness in our world while faithfully bearing witness to God’s justice, joy and healing presence,” according to the conference’s registration webpage.

“What and where is the Spirit asking you to risk to resist incremental liberation?” the Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker asked in the opening keynote. Wise Baker is the assistant professor of contextual education and community engagement at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. In August 2014, she became the clergy caucus co-leader of the Gamaliel Network’s Metropolitan Congregations United, an organization that resourced clergy and congregations in the early stages of the Ferguson movement. She has also been involved in organizing movements to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in Missouri and building long-term grassroots power with formerly incarcerated youth, adults and their families.

The second keynoter, the Rev. Aaron Rogers, was also a preacher, pastor and leader within the Episcopal Church with a background in organizing in the St. Louis area before taking a call to Southern Ohio. In his address, Rogers both cautioned and encouraged participants to understand how “justice moves you to uncomfortable places.”

The Rev. Traci Blackmon, ordained in both the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ, emphasized the urgency of justice in our society, especially for young adults and those who minister to them. “You aren't babysitting the future, you’re midwifing the now,” she said. 

Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Louis DiBiase, AVP, Trust Officer, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation
Dawn Diggs, Manager, Compliance, Operations, The Presbyterian Foundation      

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, your unconditional love inspires us to be loving, welcoming and hospitable to our neighbors. Pour into our hearts your compassion and strengthen and guide us as we go forth to make your kingdom tangible. Grant us your peace and surround us with your presence. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - The Rev. Rachel Penmore, who leads UKirk campus ministry at the University of Tennessee, discusses the work of nurturing young adults

‘We’re just a bunch of weirdos all flopping Godward’ she quips during ‘Leading Theologically’

December 27, 2022

The Rev. Rachel Penmore

The pandemic taught the Rev. Rachel Penmore to pay closer attention to “the smaller pieces” of campus ministry.

“What makes me come alive is when people feel known, when I’m interacting with students or other folks and they feel seen and heard and known,” said Penmore, the director of campus ministry at UKirk at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Penmore was a recent guest of the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, senior director for Theological Education  Funds Development for the Committee on Theological Education of the PC(USA) and the Presbyterian Foundation, during his “Leading Theologically” broadcast, which can be seen here.

It’s that sense of connection that many of us lost during the pandemic, Penmore said. “When you’re able to feel safe in someone’s presence and feel safe to bring the fullness of who you are and who you are becoming … into that space — when I feel trusted with that, and I know it takes work together, those are moments when ministry has meaning, because it doesn’t always feel that way.” Most days, doing campus ministry feels more like “moving tables and picking up food and buying 80 cases of Cheerwine,” Penmore said with a laugh.

“I can see you’re somebody who notices,” Hinson-Hasty told her. “What are some practices to help you see and hear and recognize and name?”

Part of it is empathy, Penmore replied. “I study body language. What are the subtle ways people are telling me how they’re feeling?” she said. “People say so much with their body that often the words are secondary.”

“I’ve learned to look for the person who’s not the loudest in the room,” Penmore said. “I’m always paying attention to who gets missed. More often than not it’s about the ministry of presence, just sitting next to someone and letting them know that you see that they’re there.”

A friend recast the Parable of the Lost Sheep as the Parable of the Incomplete Community. “It’s not about this one lost person. It’s this community is not complete without you,” Penmore said. “That’s how I try to approach each person I interact with in ministry: You’re going to make our community different and better and more unique and sometimes a little weirder, but we’re just a bunch of weirdos all flopping Godward.”

“Faith is such an ungraceful process. We think for some reason somebody else is doing it well and better,” Penmore said. “We’re all just getting up every day hoping we’re flopping in the right direction. It’s a messy, beautiful process.”

UKirk in Knoxville meets for worship — and more — each Wednesday evening. “This is a place where [students] know they will get free food,” Penmore said. A recent study of universities in the Southeastern Conference showed 1 in 3 students are food insecure. Students, she said, gravitate to “the idea they know there will be a meal here every week and a no-pressure worship service where they can sit in the back.” It’s a “level of grace that I feel too. … Sometimes the bread and juice go down smoothly, and sometimes we choke on them.”

“A huge part of ministry,” Penmore said, “is checking in, catching up and remembering what’s going on with each other.”

Penmore is not a big fan of social media, but she does administer four separate accounts. “Social media helps me know the fullness of what [students] are doing,” she said. “People 18–35, this is the time with the most amount of change in your life. They are figuring out their identity and who they want to be in the world. Some students are learning and acknowledging their gender identity for the first time. There’s an unbelievable amount of change, and social media gives you access to lots of other people doing that, which normalizes a lot of things.”

Many of her students are into BeReal, she said, an app “that’s about taking a picture of what you’re doing right now. They love it. It gives you a notification and you take a picture of what you’re doing — no filtering, no curating, just who you are and what you are doing right now. It speaks to our want for authenticity.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Jewel McRae, Coordinator, Women’s Leadership Development & Young Women’s Ministries, Women’s Leadership Development & Justice Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Rebecca Means, Customer Service Representative, Hubbard Press

Let us pray

Gracious God, we thank you for the seed of faith planted in our lives by teachers and youth advisers, elders and pastors. We pray for churches large and small that are discerning tin your Word a fresh and bold new vision for ministry. As our hands are raised up to you in prayer, let your strong Spirit bless your church with the courage to walk toward the vision. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - What prevents your organization from being antiracist?

 

UKirk Collegiate Ministries wrestles with the question during antiracism training

May 11, 2021

In an effort to recruit students last year, Shaniya Auxier, at right, is pictured in front of the Pres House at the University of Wisconsin. (Contributed photo)

As the digital national “101 Racism & Organizing Training” event for UKirk Collegiate Ministries began, Shaniya Auxier admits she was “a little bit hesitant.”

The multiracial student leader of the Pres House at the University of Wisconsin was concerned about how the dynamic between co-trainers Sarah Dunne Pickrell and Dachia Busch would play out. But by the end of the training, Auxier left with a good feeling.

“They did a great job working together,” she said. “I related to what Busch said about how institutional racism exists on our campuses.”

The antiracism training event came together after many campus ministers told UKirk executive director Gini Norris-Lane that in light of George Floyd’s murder and the killing of Breonna Taylor, they — and many students — wanted to speak out against racism and white supremacy.

When the Office of Christian Formation heard their desires, associate coordinator Stephanie Fritz helped UKirk, a member of the Christian Formation Collective, by providing funding for the event. Norris said the office also them helped plan and organize the training and develop campus minister cohorts — one of which is working on dismantling systemic racism.

As co-trainers for the event, Pickrell and Busch are part of a cohort of about 20 racism trainers from The Open Table, a worshiping community in Kansas City, Missouri. The two were paired to work with UKirk because of the training experience they have around what UKirk wanted and needed.

As an educator, Busch said it’s important to her that real authentic dialogue happens during training. That includes being able talk about things that are not commonly talked about in mixed-race groups or in professional spaces around race. It can be challenging for white people to hear messages about race, she said, especially when the message is from people of color.

“This is more than just training for me. It’s a calling,” Busch said. “I have a husband, a father, a brother and uncles who any day could become the next dead victim on the local news due to the ‘everyday’ of racism.”

Initially, Pickrell, who is doing antiracism training work with Heartland Presbytery, pursued racial justice work because she wanted to see systemic change. But now that she’s developed deep relationships with people of color, she realizes how personal it is for her too.

“I see how racism and white supremacy shows up, how it keeps people from getting close,” she said. “And I see how it has damaged my own life.”

Nearly 50 students and campus ministers from 27 universities in the UKirk network participated in the event. Several said it was great to connect with one another in small groups and to address together the question from the co-trainers: “What prevents you as an organization, or your group, from being antiracist?”

The Rev. Amy Klinkovsky, campus minister and director of United Campus Ministry in Aggieland, said the race training will help her work with students for positive change at Texas A&M University.

Nii Addo Abrahams, associate director of campus ministry at the Pres House, said on the surface, the university in Madison, Wisconsin, is located in a nice progressive community. But by digging below the surface, Abrahams said, one will find deeply entrenched racial disparity around imprisonment and the policing of young Black kids.

As a 26-year-old Black man who doesn’t want to have to worry that if he looks at someone the wrong way or runs a stop sign that it might be his last day—leading a predominantly white campus ministry energizes him. Aware that many students may have never had a relationship with anyone who wasn’t white, Abrahams tries to help them make connections to how harmful racism is to their own growth and faith journeys.

“Most college students are in the most diverse community they’ll ever be a part of,” he said. “We want them to become antiracist here so they’re antiracist in the communities they become a part of as they move into the work force.”

Paul Seebeck, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Kevin Keaton, Board of Pensions
Andy Keeney, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you have taught us to celebrate with those who are celebrating and to cry with those who are crying. May our eyes be open to see and distinguish between the two. Keep us mindful of all those who need your Spirit shining through us as much as they may need our monies and our labors. Amen.