Ecclesiastes 3: 2-8 Everything Has Its Time
Everything on earth has its own time and its own season. There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping, for killing and healing, destroying and building, for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing, for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting. There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving, for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking. There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace. (Contemporary English Version)
Allow me to introduce myself – I am Kaitlyn Szczypka, the Chair of the Wesley Foundation at Michigan State University. I started along with a new board of ten individuals committed to rebuilding our beloved ministry this summer. Since then, we have been working diligently to connect with students in new ways and determine how to move forward with the United Methodist campus ministry at MSU.
As you may have heard, the MSU Wesley board has recently turned over following the decision in April of this year to hire a part-time campus minister to June when the board came to a mutual decision to let that person go so she could find a sustainable position for her professional and personal needs.
A new board with seven new members and three carry-over members met for the first time on July 30, 2023 and met again on August 13, 2023. We prayed on our path forward and strategized on how to provide ministry opportunities this year for incoming and returning students. The board determined several opportunities to provide ministry to students as well as ways for the board to develop and strategize for the future:
Ministry Opportunities for the Fall Semester:
- Attended Sparticipation with two (2) board members and two (2) MSU Wesley student leaders to connect with MSU students, inform them of ministry opportunities at University United Methodist Church and the People’s Church, and gather input from the student body on what ministry opportunities they would like to see.
- Collaborating with Haley Hansen, a UMC clergy member, at People’s Church to provide MSU Wesley community members a worship and ministry space, partnering on missional opportunities, and creating space for spiritual development.
- Partnering with UUMC for fellowship opportunities to build up and empower the existing student community (approximately five returning students) and actively planning an open mic night and laundry mat outreach event. This year there has been an increase in students attending UUMC for worship and 22 students attended the first open mic night.
- Encouraged and financially supported students to attend the Wilderness School and other retreats for Campus Ministries at Lake Louise Camp.
- Partnering with the U of M Wesley Foundation to raise funds for both of our campus ministries.
Board Development and Visioning:
- Several board members attended the Wesley Foundation training hosted at UUMC to network and bring back best practices to our ministry.
- We are planning a strategic visioning session at Wesley Woods camp to:
- Assess the ministry’s financial position and propose a comprehensive fund development strategy.
- Analyze data from students on what ministry options they would like to experience.
- Determine a way forward and action steps to accomplish our immediate and long-term goals.
- Determine if we would like to hire a full-time director at a total compensation cost of $75,000 per year.
We would like to thank Haley Hansen, volunteers at University United Methodist church, and all those who are helping re-imagine our ministry at this time. Thank you for prayers of support, financial contributions, and efforts as we take this time to contemplate and plant seeds to develop our beloved Wesley Foundation at MSU Wesley.
MSU Wesley Foundation 