TENNESSEE CONFERENCE REVIEW March 21, 2008
Contents in an edition of the REVIEW honoring the special ministry of Martin Methodist College
College Prep 101 class at Trinity United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
The fourth and final session will be held at Christ UMC in Franklin, Tenn., on Sunday, April 13. For more information about attending, contact the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, director of church relations at Martin Methodist College, at 931-363-9834 or 1-800-467-1273, ext. 3834, or e-mail her at mparrish@martinmethodist.edu.
The purpose of College Prep 101 is to equip youth of all ages and their parents as they prepare to go through the college selection process and to be a particularly key resource to those college-bound United Methodists in the Tennessee Conference.
“We recognize there are many questions that must be answered in order for a high school senior to identify the perfect college,” Parrish said. “‘How much will college cost and what financial assistance is available?’ ‘How far from home do I wish to travel?’ ‘What major should I select?’
“As the college of the Tennessee Conference, we at Martin Methodist College extend ourselves as a resource to the youth from the churches of our conference as they make this important decision regarding their higher education,” she said. “It will be beneficial to anyone in their college search.”
Eleven MMC students set to attend 2008 General Conference
Eleven students from Martin Methodist College will be attending the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, to be held April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
General Conference is the top policy-making body of the United Methodist Church. Church law provides for a maximum of 1,000 delegates – half clergy, half laity. A conference's representation is based on the number of lay members and clergy members in the annual conference with a guarantee of representation by at least one lay and one clergy.
The conference revises The Book of Discipline (book of church law) and Social Principles and adopts resolutions on current moral, social, public policy, and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for churchwide programs for the next four years.
Martin Methodist students who hope to attend: Brandi Belcher of Hermitage (Tenn.) Daniel Smith of Pleasant Grove UMC in Tullahoma, Tenn.; Cody Gilliam of Meridianville, Ala., who serves at Epworth UMC and Wesley UMC in Huntsville, Ala., in the North Alabama Conference; Matthew Johnson of Salem UMC in Clarksville, Tenn.; Melissa Stewart of Hendersonville (Tenn.) FUMC; Stephanie Woolam of Dickson (Tenn.) FUMC; Lyndsay Millo of Nolensville, Tenn., a member of LaVergne FUMC; Nate Danielson of Winchester (Tenn.) FUMC; Courtney Lancaster of Killen (Ala.) UMC; Doug Fuqua of Christ UMC in Franklin, Tenn.; and Katie Cooper of Smyrna (Tenn.) FUMC.
They will be accompanied by the Rev. Laura Kirkpatrick, campus minister at Martin Methodist College. Anyone who wishes to make a contribution to help offset the students’ expenses for the trip should contact the Religious Life Office at 931-424-7363, or e-mail religiouslife@martinmethodist.edu.
Graduate of the Academy for Congregational Leaders feels a call to servant ministry
7787 Nolensville Road
Nolensville, TN 37135
February 22, 2008
Academy for Congregational Leaders
Martin Methodist College
Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership
Dear Dr. Nigrelli,
About a year ago I began to feel that God was calling me into some form of full time ministry. For six years I have been an active participant on several ministry teams and a Sunday school teacher, as well as the developer and director of the preschool. These commitments together provided opportunity for more than “full time” service, but something was missing.
Terri-Ann Anderson
At 62, the prospects of investing in a seminary form of education seemed pointless. However, I was hungry for a theological and Biblical foundation for ministry that could give direction to my life. I believe that receiving the information about the program at Martin Methodist was nothing short of God opening a door for me to have the educational experience I was seeking. It also offered the possibility of developing a Personal Ministry Action Plan which translated to me as a “life direction.”
Every session and each course brought a new affirmation for a life of servant ministry. The Biblical and theological bases were clearly established through the readings and presentations of the faculty while the focus on strength based ministry clarified the gifts God has given me to be intentional about being in His service. I was able to discern and develop a ministry plan
The 2007 Academy for Congregational Leaders, one of the church development programs of the Center for Church Leadership
But the directed studies were only half of the benefits of the Academy for Congregational Leaders. The fellowship with other persons who were looking for spiritual direction for lay leadership revealed a commonality that proved beyond a doubt that the body of Christ is called to work together to carry out the great commission.
I want to personally thank you and Dr. Ewers for your vision and commitment to providing a quality program which offers a blend of spiritual formation, intellectual stimulation and fellowship leading to a commitment to not only love the Lord but to serve the Lord with heart, mind, soul, and strength.
I have written about the Academy in our church newsletter and referred a prospective participant. Please let me know if there is any way I can assist you in spreading the word about the Academy. I would be honored to speak on behalf of the program to churches or individuals considering participation. I look forward to continuing my studies in the specialized courses in the coming year.
In His service,
Terri-Ann Anderson
One student’s reflection on a trip into civil rights history
Over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a group of Martin Methodist College students, led by campus minister Laura Kirkpatrick, visited Selma and Montgomery, Ala., to retrace some of the steps of the civil rights leaders of the 1960s. One of those students, sophomore Amy Novakoski of Chesapeake, Va., reflects on the experience.
While I got so much out of the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, there is one major thing that stuck with me and that I keep coming back to . . . well actually, it’s a couple of things that are all tied together.
Students and Religious Life staff from Martin Methodist College retraced steps from the Civil Rights movement with a trip to Montgomery and Selma, Ala., during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
First of all, upon arriving at Brown Chapel the first morning, it was snowing. This in and of itself is a pretty big deal for Alabama, but it ended up being a “God moment,” if you will, for our group. When we entered into Brown Chapel, the pastor there started off by telling us that the first time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to this chapel for the first mass meeting it was a snowy day in January as well. While this might seem like just a coincidence, hopefully as you read on, this “coincidence” will seem more like a “God moment” to you.
Worried, anxious, and fearful people would pile into Brown Chapel for the mass meetings. They would enter the chapel with the burden of knowing they were risking their lives. After hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or another leader speak, they would leave the chapel with a renewed feeling of “nothing can bring us down.” What a change of emotions just in the course of hearing one man speak. They would leave the chapel with a renewed sense of faith in God, knowing that he was there to protect them, and they would be just fine. Their faith in God was what helped them through the fight for social justice. Their faith was what kept them going after many were murdered and many others brutally injured. Through their faith they moved mountains and paved the way for equality.
Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks were all average, ordinary people who stood up for what was right for humankind. They were ordinary people who did extraordinary things with their lives. In the same way, we are merely ordinary people of faith; however, we have the potential to do extraordinary things as well.
In Rosa Parks’ book, “Quiet Strength,” she wrote the following: “There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still. As long as a child needs help, as long as people are not free, there will be work to do. As long as an elderly person is attacked or in need of support, there is work to do. As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do. This is why I think it is important to tell my story. We have come so far since the days of segregation, but there is always something to do to make things better. All human beings should have equal opportunities.”
There is still work to be done today. There is still a great need for social justice. As Christians we believe that we are all God’s children, therefore we should all be treated equally. For that reason, we must join together through our faith and move mountains of injustice today.
In conclusion, this trip provided me with two things in particular, the first being a renewed appreciation for everything the civil rights leaders went through so the world might be as we know it today. Secondly, it provoked me to take a stand on the injustices of the world today. Yes, change was made during the civil rights movement; however, our world is still in need of great change today. We are ordinary people of faith who can do extraordinary things. Let us never take that blessing for granted.
Martin Methodist College has a unique relationship to the Tennessee Annual Conference –from launching innovation programs such as the Academy for Congregational Leadership to enriching the church leadership skills of students attending Martin on a full-time basis. This issue of THE REVIEW will help you understand Martin’s role in strengthening the Conference and the United Methodist Church.
1. The Learning Church by Dr. Ted Brown
2 .Church Leader Scholarships will have a major impact on UMC’s future
3..College continues to move forward toward Martin 2010 goals
4.Annie Martin Mitchell -- Remarkable life remembered through scholarship at Sparta FUMC
5. Church Partners in the Tennessee Conference
6. Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. to focus a full week on Social Justice issues
7. Burgett discovers passion for church leadership at Martin Methodist,
8. College’s trustees reflect commitment to church-related education
9. College Prep 101’ offers families insights about preparing for college
10. Eleven MMC students set to attend 2008 General Conference
11. Graduate of the Academy for Congregational Leaders feels a call to servant ministry,
12. One student’s reflection on a trip into civil rights history
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The Learning Church
By Dr. Ted Brown
President, Martin Methodist College
Dr. Ted Brown explains the future plans of Martin Methodist College to two students
Much has been written and said about the challenges the United Methodist Church faces, particularly the decline in membership of nearly 30 percent over the last four decades. Some say we have lost our evangelical fervor, some suggest that our decreased drive for mission is to blame. I say we have lost sight of the most fundamental Wesleyan principle provided to us by our founder – that we are a learning church.
Martin Methodist College, along with the other 122 United Methodist institutions in the United States, as well as the nearly 650 Methodist institutions worldwide, all stem from the same relatively simple act – in 1748 John Wesley founded Kingswood School. Now this was no inconsequential act for John Wesley. In fact, if you read his Journals, as I have done, you will find that the founding of Kingswood was one of the high and holy moments of his life. This school and its educational program figured centrally into Wesley’s understanding of his life work – his effort to make the life of faith more real to the people around him – to make the church more vital in the lives of the people of England. Kingswood’s mission was not just to provide educated clergy and an educated church membership, but also to seek out poverty-stricken children in the inner-city of London to give them a quality education. For Wesley, education had not only a theological motivation, but a social one as well – to lift the human condition.
Likewise in America, Methodists gathered in 1784 for the Christmas Conference, the founding event of the Methodist Church in the United States. One of the very first acts of that conference was to establish Cokesbury College in Abingdon, Md., but that was just the first step. Soon after the conference, Bishop Francis Asbury wrote to all congregations in the connection explaining their obligation to establish a school in the proximity of every church “to give the key of knowledge to your children and those of the poor in the vicinity of your small towns and villages.” And establish colleges we did – in the colonies, on the frontiers, and all across the country.
In deeply theological and spiritual ways, but also in important practical ways, these institutions have served as the lifeblood of our church. Over the years a kind of pipeline existed across our denomination that carried devoted young people from the youth groups of our congregations to our college campuses and nurtured them for leadership – not just for society but leadership in the church. And not just clergy and professional church leaders but also lay leaders – people who on our college campuses strengthened their interest in and capacity for the church. And upon graduation the pipeline returned skilled and dedicated leaders to our congregations to serve. For generations that was the pattern, and it served the United Methodist Church well for hundreds of years. It is no coincidence in my opinion that our slide in membership as a denomination has coincided with a gradual distancing of the church from its educational institutions.
For the last three or more decades various dynamics have been at work driving a wedge between the church and its colleges. For the church, the colleges were expensive – they seemed an unnecessary appendage – a distraction from our primary ministries as needs grew and resources did not keep up. And many of our colleges were willing to go their own ways to avoid some of the messy complications of the relationship with the church. Sad to say that many if not most of our colleges are now Methodist in name only. The pipeline I spoke about is now corroded and clogged, and it no longer supplies the leadership that will sustain our congregations for the future.
I am delighted to say that the Tennessee Conference and Martin Methodist College are in the process of rebuilding that pipeline. Throughout this special issue of The Review you will find clear evidence of the renewed vitality of the church-college relationship and new college partnerships throughout the conference – all dedicated to the development of future church leadership. We give thanks for the support and encouragement of the Tennessee Conference as Martin Methodist College seeks to be a model of church-relatedness for the United Methodist Church.
Church Leader Scholarships will have a major impact on United Methodist Church’s future
As he began his college search as a high school senior, John DeValk was fairly certain he wanted to go to a large campus and, in fact, was accepted at several major universities. But the more he thought about what was important to him and to his future, the more he embraced the idea of a small, private, church-related college.
John DeValk
That’s when he discovered Martin Methodist College and what was at the time a brand-new Church Leader Scholarship program.
DeValk applied for the scholarship in the spring of 2001, and he became one of the first two students to enroll at Martin Methodist as a Church Leader Scholar. He considers it one of the most important decisions he will ever make.
“I can’t say enough about how the staff at the Center for Church Leadership made the transition from high school to college as easy as possible,” said DeValk, who earned his degree in 2005 and is now pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy at Tennessee State University in Nashville. “During that first semester of college that trip up so many college freshmen, they helped me stay focused on what is important, to stay on the right track, to do the right thing. Those people cared about me, and that really made an impression.”
As one of the two inaugural scholarship recipients, DeValk took an active role in helping the church leadership program develop during his four years at MMC.
“It was amazing to see God work in that area,” he said. “Each semester we would ask, ‘What can we do more?’ and then a little more would be added each year. It was fascinating to see it grow so quickly.”
And it has been fascinating to see DeValk grow so quickly into a UMC leader. Once he graduated from Martin Methodist, he returned to Springfield (Tenn.) First UMC and became the Martin representative for his church, and he helped establish a Church Partner scholarship as well.
“It will really be amazing to see how the church leadership program at Martin Methodist impacts the Tennessee Conference in three or four more years when some of my classmates complete seminary or divinity school while others of us are working as lay leaders,” DeValk said. “I think it’s really going to show how important the Center for Church Leadership is.”
Current eight Church Leader Scholars (seated from left): senior Brandi Belcher, Hermitage (Tenn.) UMC; senior Melissa Stewart, Hendersonville (Tenn.) UMC; (standing, from left) junior Stephanie Woolam, Dickson (Tenn.) FUMC; sophomore Courtney Daniel of Mars Hill UMC in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; freshman Josiah Po’e of Antioch, Tenn. and Belmont UMC; freshman Lyndsay Millo of Nolensville, Tenn., and LaVergne FUMC; junior Will Frazer of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Good Shepherd UMC; and sophomore Katie Cooper of Smyrna (Tenn.) FUMC.
That kind of leadership within the United Methodist Church is exactly why the Church Leader Scholarship was created in 2001. The Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, the director of church relations for Martin Methodist College, looks at the commitment of the two high school seniors who, each year, are selected to receive the full-cost scholarships, and she sees great promise for the future of individual churches, their respective conferences, and the denomination as whole.
“While on campus, these students will be given a wealth of opportunities to continue to develop their leadership skills,” she said. “Students will also have an ideal environment to explore their unique and God-given calling while making a difference in this world as a disciple of Christ.”
Each Church Leader Scholarship is worth more than $88,000 over the recipient’s four years at Martin Methodist, covering tuition and basic room and board.
To be considered for a Church Leader Scholarship, students must be a youth leader in his or her United Methodist church, possess a minimum 3.0 high school grade point average, and show evidence of a long-term commitment and leadership in their local churches. They do not, however, have to pursue a church vocation as a result of this scholarship; while some past recipients have majored in pre-seminary or church education, others have majored in biology or business administration with plans to serve the church in a laity role.
The scholarships are awarded during the first week of April each year, but the two CLS recipients are not the only applicants to benefit by the scholarship competition. Three-fourths of the students who applied in 2007 enrolled in the freshman class that fall, all having received significant financial aid awards.
2007 Church Leader Scholarship finalists
And, like John DeValk, each of the 14 students who have received the Church Leaders Scholarship recognize the opportunities that lie before them.
“Coming to Martin Methodist College has changed my life in such a positive way,” said Katie Cooper, a sophomore from Smyrna (Tenn.) UMC. “I am truly nurtured here. Because of devoted teachers who challenge me, my world view has expanded; and as I build relationships with the students on our diverse campus, I continue to learn outside of the classroom. Both the college and the opportunities the Church Leader Scholarship have given me inspire me everyday. This scholarship has opened doors for me that I would never have imagined. I am confident that I will leave Martin Methodist as a cultured, open-minded, thinking follower of Christ. I am exceedingly blessed.”
For more information or to recommend someone for the Martin Methodist College Church Leader Scholarship, contact the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish at 931-363-9834 or mparrish@martinmethodist.edu. Interested persons can also get information and apply on-line at www.martinmethodist.edu/ccl/scholarships.
College continues to move forward toward Martin 2010 goals
In measuring the recent progress enjoyed by Martin Methodist College, it’s hard to argue with a world record and a national championship.
Granted, five students and one faculty member did successfully break the Guinness Book world record for continuous rocking in a rocking chair during a fund-raiser in September (the previous mark had been 75 hours and three minutes), and, two months later, the RedHawk women’s soccer team captured its second NAIA national title in three years.
Both events gave the college’s family and friends reason to celebrate. But what is really propelling Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn. – the only Methodist-related college in the Tennessee Conference – are the many advances resulting from Martin 2010, the college’s ambitious long-range plan adopted in 2001.
The Martin 2010 plan states its vision for the college clearly: “Martin Methodist College is committed to being one of the leading, small, nurturing liberal arts colleges in the Southeast, and a model of church-relatedness for the United Methodist Church.”
And the results, seven years later, have been remarkable.
·Enrollment, which stood at 379 students as the 1999-2000 academic year began, has reached record levels in six of the past seven years and now stands at 924, representing a 144 percent increase – well on the way to the 2010 target of 1080 students.
·Martin Methodist, which moved from junior college to baccalaureate institution in 1993, had four academic programs in 1999-2000. Today, the college offers 29 such programs in 14 different major fields.
·The number of faculty has increased from 37 in 1999-2000 to 81; full-time faculty has increased from 21 to 50.
·The number of students residing on campus has increased from 153 to 321, thanks in large part to two state-of-the-art student apartment buildings which opened in January 2005.
·Life outside the classroom has also made great strides, including the number of student organizations now in existence. In 1999-2000, there were 10 such clubs or groups; today there are 29. The college offered 13 cultural arts events in 1999-2000; this year, no fewer than 60 such events are scheduled.
·Giving to the college has reached all-time high as well. In 1999-2000, the college received $1.9 million in total charitable gifts. At the end of the 2006-07 fiscal year, total gifts exceeded $4.9 million.
Of course, one of the most important initiatives in the Martin 2010 long-range plan was the creation of what is now known as the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership, following a $5 million gift by the Nashville business executive and dedicated member of Brentwood United Methodist Church to endow the center.
The mission of the Center for Church Leadership is to:
1. Identify, recruit, and train future lay and clergy leaders;
2. Provide quality continuing education and support for current lay and clergy in ministry;
3. Advocate and uphold vocation as a calling;
4. Focus on the development of a theological and biblical understanding of leadership; and
5. Develop, adapt, and implement programs and curricula concerning practices and skills needed for effective leadership in the local church.
Today, the center has numerous programs serving both the campus community and the greater UMC. Along with leadership and service opportunities for Martin Methodist students, the Center for Church Leadership offers continuing education programs for UMC laity and clergy in areas such as youth ministry, children’s ministry, congregational leadership, and Christian communications.
Martin Methodist College is currently in the midst of The Campaign for Martin 2010, the comprehensive fund-raising campaign to underwrite much of the long-range initiatives. The $43 million campaign kicked off in April 2006, a celebration heralded completion of Phase I in October 2007. The campaign currently stands at just over $30.6 million – which represents 71 percent of the goal.
Annie Martin Mitchell -- Remarkable life remembered through scholarship at Sparta FUMC
Sometimes a memory and an opportunity just seem to be a perfect fit.
That was certainly the case for Dr. Charles Mitchell learned about the Church Partner scholarship program at Martin Methodist College and thought about the remarkable life and legacy of his late wife, Annie Martin Mitchell.
Annie Martin Mitchell
For the man whom folks in Sparta, Tenn., affectionately call “Doc,” the opportunity to honor the memory of his wife while furthering the education of talented young people in First United Methodist Church of Sparta could not be more appropriate.
“Annie Martin was really interested in education, and she loved the church. It was a natural fit,” he said. “She was president of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association, and she simply made the most of every gift that she had. She could have been a senator or governor. She was elegant but tough, and you didn’t want her as an adversary.”
The Church Partner Plan is a program established by Martin Methodist College through its Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership in which individual congregations in the Tennessee Conference commit to endowing a $10,000 scholarship that, once fully funded, provides substantial scholarship money to a Martin Methodist student selected by the congregation.
Taking part in a luncheon celebrating the Annie Martin Mitchell Scholarship established as part of the Church Partner Plan are (from left): the Rev. Richard Morgan, pastor of Sparta First UMC; MMC President Ted Brown; Dr. Charles Mitchell, the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, MMC's director of church relations; and church members Robert Gallaher and William West.
Currently there are 34 churches in the Tennessee Conference committed to the Church Partner Plan. In establishing a Church Partner endowment in the name of Annie Martin Mitchell, Sparta First UMC became the first church in the Cookeville District to join the program. Now, every district in the Tennessee Conference has at least one Church Partner.
“First and foremost, it is a means to increase the relationships with the churches of our conference,” said the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, director of church relations for Martin Methodist College. “The CPP has made a significant difference in the educational pursuits of many of our United Methodist students, not to mention the spiritual and emotional support of knowing that his or her church continues to support their walk with Christ.
“Churches like Sparta FUMC are using the Church Partner Plan and the scholarship from the endowment as a means to honor the life and memory of someone dear to their congregation and community,” Parrish said.
A resolution issued by the Tennessee House of Representatives soon after her death in April of 2006 points to the wide-ranging impact her life had on her community and beyond, including her local and national involvement with organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America and PTA. She was active in numerous women’s clubs, was a trustee for White County Community Hospital, and served for 13 years as chairman of the Tennessee Advisory Council for Education of the Handicapped.
At Sparta First UMC, she was president of the United Methodist Women, a longtime Sunday School teacher, and the first woman to be named chairman of the administrative board.
For church member Robert Gallaher, who also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at Martin Methodist College, the scholarship is only the start of a much more meaningful connection between church and college.
“My really great hope is that it not only benefits the students both academically and spiritually, but that it’s the genesis for other congregations in our district to become involved with a wonderful college,” Gallaher said.
Church Partners in the Tennessee Conference
1. Ardmore-Trinity Charge (Ardmore UMC, Cedar Grove UMC, Chestnut Grove UMC, Minor Hill UMC, Trinity UMC)
2. Belmont United Methodist Church
3. Brentwood United Methodist Church
4. Chapel Hill United Methodist Church
5. Choates Creek United Methodist Church
6. Christ United Methodist Church
7. Coleman Memorial United Methodist Church
8. Columbia First United Methodist Church
9. Connell Memorial United Methodist Church
10. Crievewood United Methodist Church
11. Dickson First United Methodist Church
12. Fayetteville First United Methodist Church
13. Franklin First United Methodist Church
14. Hendersonville First United Methodist Church
15. Hermitage United Methodist Church
16. Lewisburg First United Methodist Church
17. Loretto United Methodist Church
18. Lynnville First United Methodist Church
19. Madison Street United Methodist Church
20. McBurg United Methodist Church
21. Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church
22. New Chapel United Methodist Church
23. Olivet United Methodist Church
24. Pisgah United Methodist Church
25. Port Royal United Methodist Church
26. Pulaski First United Methodist Church
27. Riverside United Methodist Church
28. Salem United Methodist Church
29. Smyrna First United Methodist Church
30. Sparta First United Methodist Church
31. Springfield First United Methodist Church
32. Triune United Methodist Church
33. Tullahoma First United Methodist Church
34. West End United Methodist Church
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. to focus a full week on Social Justice issues
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. (Students Engaged in Reviving Volunteer Efforts in Society) has been encouraging Martin Methodist College students to serve throughout the area for the past two years. Service blitzes in the fall send groups of students into schools, food pantries, thrift stores, and nursing homes. Alternative fall break trips to Gulfport, Miss., continue the work of helping that area recover from Hurricane Katrina. April brings the students’ favorite service day – Spud Day – where thousands of pounds of potatoes are bagged and delivered to service agencies in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. student leaders know, however, that works of charity in themselves will not solve the problems of poverty and hunger. For that to happen, change must begin at the root of the problem – in systems that promote the cycle of poverty. Most often, change of that kind begins with education and awareness.
The week of March 10-14 was declared Social Justice Awareness Week on the Martin Methodist College campus. Each day focused on a different social justice issue: human trafficking, hunger and poverty, refugees, child soldiers, and AIDS and malaria. Social justice-minded students created displays and “confetti facts” for cafeteria tables and handed out items to remind students of the injustices that exist in this country and abroad.
For example, on the day emphasizing human trafficking, students were encouraged to make a “bondage bracelet” out of rubber bands to remind them of the 27 million people who live in slavery today. The next day, students were given small bags containing rice and asked to think about what would happen if that was their only food for the day, every day.
As students left the cafeteria, they were handed information about what they could do to learn more about promoting justice for people around the world. Awareness about these issues is the first step toward a life committed to justice for all. Next year, staff and students from MMC’s Religious Life office hope to offer the same type of educational opportunity to churches in the Tennessee Conference in the form of social justice seminars.
“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, NRSV).
How do you DO JUSTICE?
Burgett discovers passion for church leadership at Martin Methodist
When Martin Methodist College President Ted Brown talks about the need to cultivate future leaders for the United Methodist Church and the impact that a program such as the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership can have, he can point to a growing number of young alumni for illustration.
Adam Burgett, a 2006 graduate from Nashville, might be the ideal example.
He transferred to Martin Methodist College after spending his freshman year at the University of Tennessee-Martin, interested in determining if a church-related career might be in his future. To call the move life-changing would be an understatement, as he prepares to enroll this fall in the Vanderbilt University Divinity School on full scholarship.
Adam Burgett
“My experiences at Martin Methodist College jump-started a period of vocational discernment that has continued,” Burgett said. “The nurturing community, approachable faculty and the Center for Church Leadership were important elements that set Martin Methodist apart when choosing a school at which to do my undergraduate studies. Once upon campus, I realized that a multitude of opportunities to experience what ministry looks like was available to me because of the school’s commitment to being a church-related college.
“While at Martin Methodist College, I was able to look at and study different areas of ministry. This allowed me to learn about the US-2 program offered by the General Board of Global Ministries,” he said. “Through the encouragement of many people at Martin Methodist, including great support from President Ted Brown, I decided to participate in the US-2 program after graduation to explore my passions for social justice ministry while allowing myself two more years to more fully discern this calling that I first decided to act upon while in college.
“The US-2 program has pushed me to more fully understand the church’s role and, subsequently, my role in the church. To pursue this role I will be enrolling in Vanderbilt Divinity School in the fall of 2008 with the intention of being ordained. Much of this decision is attributed to the direction, nurturing, and encouragement that Martin Methodist College and the Center of Church Leadership offered,” he said.
College’s trustees reflect commitment to church-related education
Examine an organization’s leadership, and you’ll learn a lot about the organization. That adage certainly holds true for the Board of Trustees at Martin Methodist College.
One of the most significant factors tying these 40-plus leaders together is that all but two of them are members of a United Methodist Church congregation. For an institution that aspires to be a model for church-related higher education within the UMC denomination, that common denominator stands paramount.
Professionally, they may be attorneys or bankers or business executives or ministers, but, personally, their professed faith gives them a keen understanding of the Wesleyan tradition of a faith-based education.
1. The Learning Church by Dr. Ted Brown
2 .Church Leader Scholarships will have a major impact on UMC’s future
3..College continues to move forward toward Martin 2010 goals
4.Annie Martin Mitchell -- Remarkable life remembered through scholarship at Sparta FUMC
5. Church Partners in the Tennessee Conference
6. Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. to focus a full week on Social Justice issues
7. Burgett discovers passion for church leadership at Martin Methodist,
8. College’s trustees reflect commitment to church-related education
9. College Prep 101’ offers families insights about preparing for college
10. Eleven MMC students set to attend 2008 General Conference
11. Graduate of the Academy for Congregational Leaders feels a call to servant ministry,
12. One student’s reflection on a trip into civil rights history
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The Learning Church
By Dr. Ted Brown
President, Martin Methodist College
Dr. Ted Brown explains the future plans of Martin Methodist College to two students
Much has been written and said about the challenges the United Methodist Church faces, particularly the decline in membership of nearly 30 percent over the last four decades. Some say we have lost our evangelical fervor, some suggest that our decreased drive for mission is to blame. I say we have lost sight of the most fundamental Wesleyan principle provided to us by our founder – that we are a learning church.
Martin Methodist College, along with the other 122 United Methodist institutions in the United States, as well as the nearly 650 Methodist institutions worldwide, all stem from the same relatively simple act – in 1748 John Wesley founded Kingswood School. Now this was no inconsequential act for John Wesley. In fact, if you read his Journals, as I have done, you will find that the founding of Kingswood was one of the high and holy moments of his life. This school and its educational program figured centrally into Wesley’s understanding of his life work – his effort to make the life of faith more real to the people around him – to make the church more vital in the lives of the people of England. Kingswood’s mission was not just to provide educated clergy and an educated church membership, but also to seek out poverty-stricken children in the inner-city of London to give them a quality education. For Wesley, education had not only a theological motivation, but a social one as well – to lift the human condition.
Likewise in America, Methodists gathered in 1784 for the Christmas Conference, the founding event of the Methodist Church in the United States. One of the very first acts of that conference was to establish Cokesbury College in Abingdon, Md., but that was just the first step. Soon after the conference, Bishop Francis Asbury wrote to all congregations in the connection explaining their obligation to establish a school in the proximity of every church “to give the key of knowledge to your children and those of the poor in the vicinity of your small towns and villages.” And establish colleges we did – in the colonies, on the frontiers, and all across the country.
In deeply theological and spiritual ways, but also in important practical ways, these institutions have served as the lifeblood of our church. Over the years a kind of pipeline existed across our denomination that carried devoted young people from the youth groups of our congregations to our college campuses and nurtured them for leadership – not just for society but leadership in the church. And not just clergy and professional church leaders but also lay leaders – people who on our college campuses strengthened their interest in and capacity for the church. And upon graduation the pipeline returned skilled and dedicated leaders to our congregations to serve. For generations that was the pattern, and it served the United Methodist Church well for hundreds of years. It is no coincidence in my opinion that our slide in membership as a denomination has coincided with a gradual distancing of the church from its educational institutions.
For the last three or more decades various dynamics have been at work driving a wedge between the church and its colleges. For the church, the colleges were expensive – they seemed an unnecessary appendage – a distraction from our primary ministries as needs grew and resources did not keep up. And many of our colleges were willing to go their own ways to avoid some of the messy complications of the relationship with the church. Sad to say that many if not most of our colleges are now Methodist in name only. The pipeline I spoke about is now corroded and clogged, and it no longer supplies the leadership that will sustain our congregations for the future.
I am delighted to say that the Tennessee Conference and Martin Methodist College are in the process of rebuilding that pipeline. Throughout this special issue of The Review you will find clear evidence of the renewed vitality of the church-college relationship and new college partnerships throughout the conference – all dedicated to the development of future church leadership. We give thanks for the support and encouragement of the Tennessee Conference as Martin Methodist College seeks to be a model of church-relatedness for the United Methodist Church.
Church Leader Scholarships will have a major impact on United Methodist Church’s future
As he began his college search as a high school senior, John DeValk was fairly certain he wanted to go to a large campus and, in fact, was accepted at several major universities. But the more he thought about what was important to him and to his future, the more he embraced the idea of a small, private, church-related college.
John DeValkThat’s when he discovered Martin Methodist College and what was at the time a brand-new Church Leader Scholarship program.
DeValk applied for the scholarship in the spring of 2001, and he became one of the first two students to enroll at Martin Methodist as a Church Leader Scholar. He considers it one of the most important decisions he will ever make.
“I can’t say enough about how the staff at the Center for Church Leadership made the transition from high school to college as easy as possible,” said DeValk, who earned his degree in 2005 and is now pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy at Tennessee State University in Nashville. “During that first semester of college that trip up so many college freshmen, they helped me stay focused on what is important, to stay on the right track, to do the right thing. Those people cared about me, and that really made an impression.”
As one of the two inaugural scholarship recipients, DeValk took an active role in helping the church leadership program develop during his four years at MMC.
“It was amazing to see God work in that area,” he said. “Each semester we would ask, ‘What can we do more?’ and then a little more would be added each year. It was fascinating to see it grow so quickly.”
And it has been fascinating to see DeValk grow so quickly into a UMC leader. Once he graduated from Martin Methodist, he returned to Springfield (Tenn.) First UMC and became the Martin representative for his church, and he helped establish a Church Partner scholarship as well.
“It will really be amazing to see how the church leadership program at Martin Methodist impacts the Tennessee Conference in three or four more years when some of my classmates complete seminary or divinity school while others of us are working as lay leaders,” DeValk said. “I think it’s really going to show how important the Center for Church Leadership is.”
Current eight Church Leader Scholars (seated from left): senior Brandi Belcher, Hermitage (Tenn.) UMC; senior Melissa Stewart, Hendersonville (Tenn.) UMC; (standing, from left) junior Stephanie Woolam, Dickson (Tenn.) FUMC; sophomore Courtney Daniel of Mars Hill UMC in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; freshman Josiah Po’e of Antioch, Tenn. and Belmont UMC; freshman Lyndsay Millo of Nolensville, Tenn., and LaVergne FUMC; junior Will Frazer of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Good Shepherd UMC; and sophomore Katie Cooper of Smyrna (Tenn.) FUMC.That kind of leadership within the United Methodist Church is exactly why the Church Leader Scholarship was created in 2001. The Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, the director of church relations for Martin Methodist College, looks at the commitment of the two high school seniors who, each year, are selected to receive the full-cost scholarships, and she sees great promise for the future of individual churches, their respective conferences, and the denomination as whole.
“While on campus, these students will be given a wealth of opportunities to continue to develop their leadership skills,” she said. “Students will also have an ideal environment to explore their unique and God-given calling while making a difference in this world as a disciple of Christ.”
Each Church Leader Scholarship is worth more than $88,000 over the recipient’s four years at Martin Methodist, covering tuition and basic room and board.
To be considered for a Church Leader Scholarship, students must be a youth leader in his or her United Methodist church, possess a minimum 3.0 high school grade point average, and show evidence of a long-term commitment and leadership in their local churches. They do not, however, have to pursue a church vocation as a result of this scholarship; while some past recipients have majored in pre-seminary or church education, others have majored in biology or business administration with plans to serve the church in a laity role.
The scholarships are awarded during the first week of April each year, but the two CLS recipients are not the only applicants to benefit by the scholarship competition. Three-fourths of the students who applied in 2007 enrolled in the freshman class that fall, all having received significant financial aid awards.
2007 Church Leader Scholarship finalistsAnd, like John DeValk, each of the 14 students who have received the Church Leaders Scholarship recognize the opportunities that lie before them.
“Coming to Martin Methodist College has changed my life in such a positive way,” said Katie Cooper, a sophomore from Smyrna (Tenn.) UMC. “I am truly nurtured here. Because of devoted teachers who challenge me, my world view has expanded; and as I build relationships with the students on our diverse campus, I continue to learn outside of the classroom. Both the college and the opportunities the Church Leader Scholarship have given me inspire me everyday. This scholarship has opened doors for me that I would never have imagined. I am confident that I will leave Martin Methodist as a cultured, open-minded, thinking follower of Christ. I am exceedingly blessed.”
For more information or to recommend someone for the Martin Methodist College Church Leader Scholarship, contact the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish at 931-363-9834 or mparrish@martinmethodist.edu. Interested persons can also get information and apply on-line at www.martinmethodist.edu/ccl/scholarships.
College continues to move forward toward Martin 2010 goals
In measuring the recent progress enjoyed by Martin Methodist College, it’s hard to argue with a world record and a national championship.
Granted, five students and one faculty member did successfully break the Guinness Book world record for continuous rocking in a rocking chair during a fund-raiser in September (the previous mark had been 75 hours and three minutes), and, two months later, the RedHawk women’s soccer team captured its second NAIA national title in three years.
Both events gave the college’s family and friends reason to celebrate. But what is really propelling Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tenn. – the only Methodist-related college in the Tennessee Conference – are the many advances resulting from Martin 2010, the college’s ambitious long-range plan adopted in 2001.
The Martin 2010 plan states its vision for the college clearly: “Martin Methodist College is committed to being one of the leading, small, nurturing liberal arts colleges in the Southeast, and a model of church-relatedness for the United Methodist Church.”
And the results, seven years later, have been remarkable.
·Enrollment, which stood at 379 students as the 1999-2000 academic year began, has reached record levels in six of the past seven years and now stands at 924, representing a 144 percent increase – well on the way to the 2010 target of 1080 students.
·Martin Methodist, which moved from junior college to baccalaureate institution in 1993, had four academic programs in 1999-2000. Today, the college offers 29 such programs in 14 different major fields.
·The number of faculty has increased from 37 in 1999-2000 to 81; full-time faculty has increased from 21 to 50.
·The number of students residing on campus has increased from 153 to 321, thanks in large part to two state-of-the-art student apartment buildings which opened in January 2005.
·Life outside the classroom has also made great strides, including the number of student organizations now in existence. In 1999-2000, there were 10 such clubs or groups; today there are 29. The college offered 13 cultural arts events in 1999-2000; this year, no fewer than 60 such events are scheduled.
·Giving to the college has reached all-time high as well. In 1999-2000, the college received $1.9 million in total charitable gifts. At the end of the 2006-07 fiscal year, total gifts exceeded $4.9 million.
Of course, one of the most important initiatives in the Martin 2010 long-range plan was the creation of what is now known as the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership, following a $5 million gift by the Nashville business executive and dedicated member of Brentwood United Methodist Church to endow the center.
The mission of the Center for Church Leadership is to:
1. Identify, recruit, and train future lay and clergy leaders;
2. Provide quality continuing education and support for current lay and clergy in ministry;
3. Advocate and uphold vocation as a calling;
4. Focus on the development of a theological and biblical understanding of leadership; and
5. Develop, adapt, and implement programs and curricula concerning practices and skills needed for effective leadership in the local church.
Today, the center has numerous programs serving both the campus community and the greater UMC. Along with leadership and service opportunities for Martin Methodist students, the Center for Church Leadership offers continuing education programs for UMC laity and clergy in areas such as youth ministry, children’s ministry, congregational leadership, and Christian communications.
Martin Methodist College is currently in the midst of The Campaign for Martin 2010, the comprehensive fund-raising campaign to underwrite much of the long-range initiatives. The $43 million campaign kicked off in April 2006, a celebration heralded completion of Phase I in October 2007. The campaign currently stands at just over $30.6 million – which represents 71 percent of the goal.
Annie Martin Mitchell -- Remarkable life remembered through scholarship at Sparta FUMC
Sometimes a memory and an opportunity just seem to be a perfect fit.
That was certainly the case for Dr. Charles Mitchell learned about the Church Partner scholarship program at Martin Methodist College and thought about the remarkable life and legacy of his late wife, Annie Martin Mitchell.
Annie Martin MitchellFor the man whom folks in Sparta, Tenn., affectionately call “Doc,” the opportunity to honor the memory of his wife while furthering the education of talented young people in First United Methodist Church of Sparta could not be more appropriate.
“Annie Martin was really interested in education, and she loved the church. It was a natural fit,” he said. “She was president of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association, and she simply made the most of every gift that she had. She could have been a senator or governor. She was elegant but tough, and you didn’t want her as an adversary.”
The Church Partner Plan is a program established by Martin Methodist College through its Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership in which individual congregations in the Tennessee Conference commit to endowing a $10,000 scholarship that, once fully funded, provides substantial scholarship money to a Martin Methodist student selected by the congregation.
Taking part in a luncheon celebrating the Annie Martin Mitchell Scholarship established as part of the Church Partner Plan are (from left): the Rev. Richard Morgan, pastor of Sparta First UMC; MMC President Ted Brown; Dr. Charles Mitchell, the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, MMC's director of church relations; and church members Robert Gallaher and William West.Currently there are 34 churches in the Tennessee Conference committed to the Church Partner Plan. In establishing a Church Partner endowment in the name of Annie Martin Mitchell, Sparta First UMC became the first church in the Cookeville District to join the program. Now, every district in the Tennessee Conference has at least one Church Partner.
“First and foremost, it is a means to increase the relationships with the churches of our conference,” said the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, director of church relations for Martin Methodist College. “The CPP has made a significant difference in the educational pursuits of many of our United Methodist students, not to mention the spiritual and emotional support of knowing that his or her church continues to support their walk with Christ.
“Churches like Sparta FUMC are using the Church Partner Plan and the scholarship from the endowment as a means to honor the life and memory of someone dear to their congregation and community,” Parrish said.
A resolution issued by the Tennessee House of Representatives soon after her death in April of 2006 points to the wide-ranging impact her life had on her community and beyond, including her local and national involvement with organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America and PTA. She was active in numerous women’s clubs, was a trustee for White County Community Hospital, and served for 13 years as chairman of the Tennessee Advisory Council for Education of the Handicapped.
At Sparta First UMC, she was president of the United Methodist Women, a longtime Sunday School teacher, and the first woman to be named chairman of the administrative board.
For church member Robert Gallaher, who also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at Martin Methodist College, the scholarship is only the start of a much more meaningful connection between church and college.
“My really great hope is that it not only benefits the students both academically and spiritually, but that it’s the genesis for other congregations in our district to become involved with a wonderful college,” Gallaher said.
Church Partners in the Tennessee Conference
1. Ardmore-Trinity Charge (Ardmore UMC, Cedar Grove UMC, Chestnut Grove UMC, Minor Hill UMC, Trinity UMC)
2. Belmont United Methodist Church
3. Brentwood United Methodist Church
4. Chapel Hill United Methodist Church
5. Choates Creek United Methodist Church
6. Christ United Methodist Church
7. Coleman Memorial United Methodist Church
8. Columbia First United Methodist Church
9. Connell Memorial United Methodist Church
10. Crievewood United Methodist Church
11. Dickson First United Methodist Church
12. Fayetteville First United Methodist Church
13. Franklin First United Methodist Church
14. Hendersonville First United Methodist Church
15. Hermitage United Methodist Church
16. Lewisburg First United Methodist Church
17. Loretto United Methodist Church
18. Lynnville First United Methodist Church
19. Madison Street United Methodist Church
20. McBurg United Methodist Church
21. Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church
22. New Chapel United Methodist Church
23. Olivet United Methodist Church
24. Pisgah United Methodist Church
25. Port Royal United Methodist Church
26. Pulaski First United Methodist Church
27. Riverside United Methodist Church
28. Salem United Methodist Church
29. Smyrna First United Methodist Church
30. Sparta First United Methodist Church
31. Springfield First United Methodist Church
32. Triune United Methodist Church
33. Tullahoma First United Methodist Church
34. West End United Methodist Church
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. to focus a full week on Social Justice issues
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. (Students Engaged in Reviving Volunteer Efforts in Society) has been encouraging Martin Methodist College students to serve throughout the area for the past two years. Service blitzes in the fall send groups of students into schools, food pantries, thrift stores, and nursing homes. Alternative fall break trips to Gulfport, Miss., continue the work of helping that area recover from Hurricane Katrina. April brings the students’ favorite service day – Spud Day – where thousands of pounds of potatoes are bagged and delivered to service agencies in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Martin S.E.R.V.E.S. student leaders know, however, that works of charity in themselves will not solve the problems of poverty and hunger. For that to happen, change must begin at the root of the problem – in systems that promote the cycle of poverty. Most often, change of that kind begins with education and awareness.
The week of March 10-14 was declared Social Justice Awareness Week on the Martin Methodist College campus. Each day focused on a different social justice issue: human trafficking, hunger and poverty, refugees, child soldiers, and AIDS and malaria. Social justice-minded students created displays and “confetti facts” for cafeteria tables and handed out items to remind students of the injustices that exist in this country and abroad.
For example, on the day emphasizing human trafficking, students were encouraged to make a “bondage bracelet” out of rubber bands to remind them of the 27 million people who live in slavery today. The next day, students were given small bags containing rice and asked to think about what would happen if that was their only food for the day, every day.
As students left the cafeteria, they were handed information about what they could do to learn more about promoting justice for people around the world. Awareness about these issues is the first step toward a life committed to justice for all. Next year, staff and students from MMC’s Religious Life office hope to offer the same type of educational opportunity to churches in the Tennessee Conference in the form of social justice seminars.
“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, NRSV).
How do you DO JUSTICE?
Burgett discovers passion for church leadership at Martin Methodist
When Martin Methodist College President Ted Brown talks about the need to cultivate future leaders for the United Methodist Church and the impact that a program such as the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership can have, he can point to a growing number of young alumni for illustration.
Adam Burgett, a 2006 graduate from Nashville, might be the ideal example.
He transferred to Martin Methodist College after spending his freshman year at the University of Tennessee-Martin, interested in determining if a church-related career might be in his future. To call the move life-changing would be an understatement, as he prepares to enroll this fall in the Vanderbilt University Divinity School on full scholarship.
Adam Burgett“My experiences at Martin Methodist College jump-started a period of vocational discernment that has continued,” Burgett said. “The nurturing community, approachable faculty and the Center for Church Leadership were important elements that set Martin Methodist apart when choosing a school at which to do my undergraduate studies. Once upon campus, I realized that a multitude of opportunities to experience what ministry looks like was available to me because of the school’s commitment to being a church-related college.
“While at Martin Methodist College, I was able to look at and study different areas of ministry. This allowed me to learn about the US-2 program offered by the General Board of Global Ministries,” he said. “Through the encouragement of many people at Martin Methodist, including great support from President Ted Brown, I decided to participate in the US-2 program after graduation to explore my passions for social justice ministry while allowing myself two more years to more fully discern this calling that I first decided to act upon while in college.
“The US-2 program has pushed me to more fully understand the church’s role and, subsequently, my role in the church. To pursue this role I will be enrolling in Vanderbilt Divinity School in the fall of 2008 with the intention of being ordained. Much of this decision is attributed to the direction, nurturing, and encouragement that Martin Methodist College and the Center of Church Leadership offered,” he said.
College’s trustees reflect commitment to church-related education
Examine an organization’s leadership, and you’ll learn a lot about the organization. That adage certainly holds true for the Board of Trustees at Martin Methodist College.
One of the most significant factors tying these 40-plus leaders together is that all but two of them are members of a United Methodist Church congregation. For an institution that aspires to be a model for church-related higher education within the UMC denomination, that common denominator stands paramount.
Professionally, they may be attorneys or bankers or business executives or ministers, but, personally, their professed faith gives them a keen understanding of the Wesleyan tradition of a faith-based education.
Ken Pinkston
In July, the Board of Trustees experienced its first change of leadership in eight years, as Kenneth Pinkston, a 1962 graduate of Martin Methodist College and a member of Crievewood United Methodist Church of Nashville, assumed the post of chairman. He followed Michael Barton, a member of another Nashville congregation, Belle Meade UMC, who had served as chairman since 1998 and remains a driving force behind the $43 million Campaign for Martin 2010.
‘College Prep 101’ offers families insights about preparing for college
Nearly 50 United Methodists in middle Tennessee have brought their questions about getting their children – and their finances – ready for college to “College Prep 101,” and there’s one more opportunity to do so this spring.
College Prep 101 is a two-hour information session offered by Martin Methodist College’s Office of Admissions and the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership.
The first three sessions were held at First United Methodist Church in Pulaski, First UMC in Mt. Pleasant, Tenn., and Trinity UMC in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
College Prep 101 class at Trinity United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro, TennesseeThe fourth and final session will be held at Christ UMC in Franklin, Tenn., on Sunday, April 13. For more information about attending, contact the Rev. Mary Noble Parrish, director of church relations at Martin Methodist College, at 931-363-9834 or 1-800-467-1273, ext. 3834, or e-mail her at mparrish@martinmethodist.edu.
The purpose of College Prep 101 is to equip youth of all ages and their parents as they prepare to go through the college selection process and to be a particularly key resource to those college-bound United Methodists in the Tennessee Conference.
“We recognize there are many questions that must be answered in order for a high school senior to identify the perfect college,” Parrish said. “‘How much will college cost and what financial assistance is available?’ ‘How far from home do I wish to travel?’ ‘What major should I select?’
“As the college of the Tennessee Conference, we at Martin Methodist College extend ourselves as a resource to the youth from the churches of our conference as they make this important decision regarding their higher education,” she said. “It will be beneficial to anyone in their college search.”
Eleven MMC students set to attend 2008 General Conference
Eleven students from Martin Methodist College will be attending the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, to be held April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.General Conference is the top policy-making body of the United Methodist Church. Church law provides for a maximum of 1,000 delegates – half clergy, half laity. A conference's representation is based on the number of lay members and clergy members in the annual conference with a guarantee of representation by at least one lay and one clergy.
The conference revises The Book of Discipline (book of church law) and Social Principles and adopts resolutions on current moral, social, public policy, and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for churchwide programs for the next four years.
Martin Methodist students who hope to attend: Brandi Belcher of Hermitage (Tenn.) Daniel Smith of Pleasant Grove UMC in Tullahoma, Tenn.; Cody Gilliam of Meridianville, Ala., who serves at Epworth UMC and Wesley UMC in Huntsville, Ala., in the North Alabama Conference; Matthew Johnson of Salem UMC in Clarksville, Tenn.; Melissa Stewart of Hendersonville (Tenn.) FUMC; Stephanie Woolam of Dickson (Tenn.) FUMC; Lyndsay Millo of Nolensville, Tenn., a member of LaVergne FUMC; Nate Danielson of Winchester (Tenn.) FUMC; Courtney Lancaster of Killen (Ala.) UMC; Doug Fuqua of Christ UMC in Franklin, Tenn.; and Katie Cooper of Smyrna (Tenn.) FUMC.
They will be accompanied by the Rev. Laura Kirkpatrick, campus minister at Martin Methodist College. Anyone who wishes to make a contribution to help offset the students’ expenses for the trip should contact the Religious Life Office at 931-424-7363, or e-mail religiouslife@martinmethodist.edu.
Graduate of the Academy for Congregational Leaders feels a call to servant ministry
7787 Nolensville Road
Nolensville, TN 37135
February 22, 2008
Academy for Congregational Leaders
Martin Methodist College
Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership
Dear Dr. Nigrelli,
About a year ago I began to feel that God was calling me into some form of full time ministry. For six years I have been an active participant on several ministry teams and a Sunday school teacher, as well as the developer and director of the preschool. These commitments together provided opportunity for more than “full time” service, but something was missing.
Terri-Ann AndersonAt 62, the prospects of investing in a seminary form of education seemed pointless. However, I was hungry for a theological and Biblical foundation for ministry that could give direction to my life. I believe that receiving the information about the program at Martin Methodist was nothing short of God opening a door for me to have the educational experience I was seeking. It also offered the possibility of developing a Personal Ministry Action Plan which translated to me as a “life direction.”
Every session and each course brought a new affirmation for a life of servant ministry. The Biblical and theological bases were clearly established through the readings and presentations of the faculty while the focus on strength based ministry clarified the gifts God has given me to be intentional about being in His service. I was able to discern and develop a ministry plan
The 2007 Academy for Congregational Leaders, one of the church development programs of the Center for Church LeadershipBut the directed studies were only half of the benefits of the Academy for Congregational Leaders. The fellowship with other persons who were looking for spiritual direction for lay leadership revealed a commonality that proved beyond a doubt that the body of Christ is called to work together to carry out the great commission.
I want to personally thank you and Dr. Ewers for your vision and commitment to providing a quality program which offers a blend of spiritual formation, intellectual stimulation and fellowship leading to a commitment to not only love the Lord but to serve the Lord with heart, mind, soul, and strength.
I have written about the Academy in our church newsletter and referred a prospective participant. Please let me know if there is any way I can assist you in spreading the word about the Academy. I would be honored to speak on behalf of the program to churches or individuals considering participation. I look forward to continuing my studies in the specialized courses in the coming year.
In His service,
Terri-Ann Anderson
One student’s reflection on a trip into civil rights history
Over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a group of Martin Methodist College students, led by campus minister Laura Kirkpatrick, visited Selma and Montgomery, Ala., to retrace some of the steps of the civil rights leaders of the 1960s. One of those students, sophomore Amy Novakoski of Chesapeake, Va., reflects on the experience.
While I got so much out of the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, there is one major thing that stuck with me and that I keep coming back to . . . well actually, it’s a couple of things that are all tied together.
Students and Religious Life staff from Martin Methodist College retraced steps from the Civil Rights movement with a trip to Montgomery and Selma, Ala., during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.First of all, upon arriving at Brown Chapel the first morning, it was snowing. This in and of itself is a pretty big deal for Alabama, but it ended up being a “God moment,” if you will, for our group. When we entered into Brown Chapel, the pastor there started off by telling us that the first time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to this chapel for the first mass meeting it was a snowy day in January as well. While this might seem like just a coincidence, hopefully as you read on, this “coincidence” will seem more like a “God moment” to you.
Worried, anxious, and fearful people would pile into Brown Chapel for the mass meetings. They would enter the chapel with the burden of knowing they were risking their lives. After hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or another leader speak, they would leave the chapel with a renewed feeling of “nothing can bring us down.” What a change of emotions just in the course of hearing one man speak. They would leave the chapel with a renewed sense of faith in God, knowing that he was there to protect them, and they would be just fine. Their faith in God was what helped them through the fight for social justice. Their faith was what kept them going after many were murdered and many others brutally injured. Through their faith they moved mountains and paved the way for equality.
Dr. King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks were all average, ordinary people who stood up for what was right for humankind. They were ordinary people who did extraordinary things with their lives. In the same way, we are merely ordinary people of faith; however, we have the potential to do extraordinary things as well.
In Rosa Parks’ book, “Quiet Strength,” she wrote the following: “There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still. As long as a child needs help, as long as people are not free, there will be work to do. As long as an elderly person is attacked or in need of support, there is work to do. As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do. This is why I think it is important to tell my story. We have come so far since the days of segregation, but there is always something to do to make things better. All human beings should have equal opportunities.”
There is still work to be done today. There is still a great need for social justice. As Christians we believe that we are all God’s children, therefore we should all be treated equally. For that reason, we must join together through our faith and move mountains of injustice today.
In conclusion, this trip provided me with two things in particular, the first being a renewed appreciation for everything the civil rights leaders went through so the world might be as we know it today. Secondly, it provoked me to take a stand on the injustices of the world today. Yes, change was made during the civil rights movement; however, our world is still in need of great change today. We are ordinary people of faith who can do extraordinary things. Let us never take that blessing for granted.
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 12:38 PM
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