Dear ideas!:
I’d like to thank you for your article in the fall 2004 ideas! magazine about an “Invisible” ministry. With
a University of Michigan student body approaching forty thousand
at our doorstep and as a brand-new, seminary-fresh campus minister,
it is my conviction that we here at First Presbyterian in Ann
Arbor should offer a ministry of hospitality to college students.
Our program has had low participation over the years, and I think
you may have hit on some points that are particularly relevant
to us.
I also thank you for the section “Ten Ideas for Congregations
Not in the Vicinity of a College Campus.” I think that
many churches, even in our presbytery, could learn a good deal
from your suggestions. So often churches abandon their college-aged
members, or at best leave them to the mercies of programming
that is well-intentioned but poorly focused. A ministry of “invisible
threads” is a necessity.
Please keep God’s ministry to college students here in Ann
Arbor in your prayers, especially as we seek to build a stronger
ministry.
Your brother in Christ,
Jeff Bryan
Campus Minister
First Presbyterian Church
1432 Washtenaw Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48103 |
