‘Christ is moving in young people’
Campus ministries connect college students during important season of growth
By Jessica Brodie
If you’ve ever been tempted to think college students don’t care about Jesus, spend a few minutes at a Monday worship at The Citadel or a Wednesday movie night at Winthrop Wesley. Their campus ministers think you’ll come away surprised—and heartened.
Week after week at campuses across South Carolina, students gather for Bible studies, meals, prayer times and other hangout opportunities, seeking a deeper faith connection in a world that can often feel tumultuous.
Across the state, 10 extremely active United Methodist campus ministry hubs—called Wesley Foundations—serve the non-United Methodist schools across the state. That’s in addition to the thriving ministry presence at the four United Methodist colleges in South Carolina: Claflin University, Columbia College, Spartanburg Methodist College and Wofford College.
“There’s an illusion that young people are not passionate about church, but I had a phone call from a young person just yesterday wanting to preach,” said the Rev. John Sterling Poole, director of the Charleston Wesley Foundation, which serves hundreds of college students all over the Charleston area. “Christ is moving in young people.”
Lou Jordan, campus director for Alive in Christ Student Ministries, the Wesley Foundation at Francis Marion University, agrees.
“College students are very interested in having a faith community to learn from about their Christian faith,” Jordan said. “This faith community is often the safe space and place that helps them get through a tough week, where they come to seek a better understanding of Jesus and faith.”
Every campus ministry operates a bit differently. For instance, Clemson Wesley offers worship on Wednesdays, followed by a home-cooked meal, while MSN, the Methodist Student Network at the University of South Carolina, does their big gathering on Sundays. Winthrop and Charleston Wesley have worship Mondays, while Furman does theirs on Tuesdays. Most offer time for hangouts, such as small group Bible studies and coffee chats.
And the students come—some just seeking community during a lonely time on campus, some because they genuinely feel a call to follow Jesus.
The Rev. Laurel Capesius is the new director and campus minister at Winthrop Wesley Foundation, and she knows how important campus ministry is at the heart of a lot of people’s faith journeys, including her own. She said she’s not sure she would have heard her own call to ministry until many years later if not for her campus minister.
Capesius doesn’t think many people in the UMC truly understand what is going on with campus ministry and why it’s so important.
“I think campus life in general, and campus ministry especially, is so separated from the rest of our larger community. Folks all too often lump college students together under one or two cliches, and we owe our young adults more than that,” Capesius said.
After all, she noted, John Wesley found his start in ministry on a college campus, and today, so many others do the same.
Poole agreed, noting campus ministry offers “a really good pipeline into vocational ministry.” He and several of his predecessors at Charleston Wesley, as well as a number of other pastors he knows, got their call because of campus ministry.
“When we think of college students, we think of them in a bubble, immune to the political environment and race relations and all of it, but it’s a hyperbolic chamber where everyone is telling you who you are, what you want, who you will be and what you worship,” Poole said. “And we’re sending these kids into that without really being empathetic to the challenges and the rigor of what they face.”
Yet into this, Poole said, “Seventy to 100 come twice a week because they love God that much and they realize they need God in this season, and that’s so horribly overlooked.”
Poole said he is incredibly impressed with the commitment to Christ he sees in these young people.
“I don’t think a lot of people in our conference realize an average of 100 college students make time out of their schooling to worship God, be in fellowship together and dive into the word,” Poole said. “That doesn’t get communicated, but that’s really good news.”
Jordan said campus ministry is able to guide students through their college years by providing a safe space and spiritual support.
“We pray with them, have Bible studies, provide food, provide faith discussions and provide opportunities to serve others,” Jordan said. “Whether its academic stress or personal challenges and struggles, we are there, providing care and support. Our campus ministries play an important role in helping students navigate the college years.”
The Rev. Edward L. McCutcheon, director of the Wesley Fellowship at Furman University, said campus ministry is vital to the students themselves and to the life of The United Methodist Church.
“It allows us to meet students where they are and let them know they matter,” McCutcheon said. “Our Wesley Foundations and Fellowships are the outward and visible expressions of the continued dedication that our church has to the beginnings of the Methodist movement … on the college campus.”
Students echo this.
Larnisha Matthews said being a part of Alive in Christ, the Wesley Foundation at Francis Marion, has been a wonderful experience.
“I got to go on adventures and make new friends all while worshiping God,” Matthews said. “Growing up in the church instilled many Christian beliefs in me. It wasn’t until I started attending Alive in Christ that I understood those beliefs. Alive in Christ not only gave me a secure organization that I could fellowship with, but a family that serves the community as well as the Lord. Going out in to the real world, I will take with me the lessons we learned, the laughs we shared and the memories we made. I am going to miss my AIC family.”
Kit Crosby said Winthrop Wesley has made such a different.
“It’s important to me because I believe that everyone should have a place to go where they feel safe and loved. Wesley has provided such a space for myself and many others,” Crosby said, noting the environment is welcoming and feels like home. “Some people get nervous going. I was, too, at first. The people who are there want you there and want to get to know you for who you are.
Funds for campus ministries in the South Carolina Conference of the UMC typically pay only for campus minister salaries. Churches across the state step up to pour additional funds, as well as meals and other help, into the various Wesley Foundations.
To learn more about the 10 campus ministries in South Carolina, as well as how to help, visit https://www.umcsc.org/campus-ministries.
Campus ministries in S.C.:
Charleston Wesley Foundation, led by the Rev. John Sterling Poole, ministers to The Citadel, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern University, The Medical University of South Carolina, The American College of the Building Arts, Trident Technical College and any other college student in the Charleston area.
Clemson Wesley, led by the Rev. Steve Simoneaux, ministers to Clemson University, Tri-County Technical College and Southern Wesleyan.
Coastal Wesley, led by the Rev. Emily Kirby, ministers to Coastal Carolina University.
Methodist Student Network at the University of South Carolina, led by the Rev. Jad Taylor, ministers to students at USC.
Francis Marion Wesley Foundation “Alive in Christ,” led by Lou Jordan, ministers to students at Francis Marion University.
Furman Wesley, led by the Rev. Edward McCutcheon, ministers to students at Furman University.
Greenwood Wesley Foundation, led by Mike Parrish, ministers to students at Lander University and Piedmont Technical College.
Spartanburg Wesley, led by the Rev. Megan Gray.
The WOO—Wesley Foundation of Orangeburg, led by the Rev. Shirley Gordon, ministers to students at Claflin and South Carolina State University.
Winthrop Wesley, led by the Rev. Laurel Capesius, ministers to students at Winthrop University.