| LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (USA) will sponsor a Higher Education Ministry Summit in Richmond, VA, next month just before the start of the 216th General Assembly.
The event will bring together campus ministers, college students, college and university chaplains, synod and presbytery staff and others involved in higher education ministries in the PC(USA).
The four-day event will begin on June 23 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The Assembly opens on June 26.
The Rev. Jerry Beavers, a member of the conference planning team who works as a chaplain at Presbytrian-related Muskingum College in New Concord, OH, described the gathering as a “big tent-big picture event.”
“It’s a time to meet and learn from others in higher education ministries, and to find ways to keep the Presbyterian Church’s higher education presence and mission healthy and effective,” Beavers said.
The summit will have tracks for students, chaplains, and staff members in campus ministries, congregations and governing bodies.
One purpose of the summit is to lay the groundwork for a national association to represent and advocate for those involved in PC(USA) higher education ministries.
“With the current financial realities facing the denomination, we have to develop partners in the PC(USA)’s higher education ministry,” said the Rev. Bob Turner, associate for Higher Education Ministries and Students’ Ministries. “The denominational offices just don’t have the staff or funding to do much of the resourcing and program development required. The summit intends to draw out committed partners who will invest themselves in this mission.”
The summit was conceived by the denomination’s Office of Higher Education in response to an overture approved by the 213th General Assembly in 2001, which called for a churchwide strategy for higher education ministry.
The planning team includes leaders from the Presbyterian Student Strategy Team, the National Network of Presbyterian College Women and the Presbyterian College Chaplains Association
Turner said nearly 700 PC(USA) congregations are involved in ministries to college students.
For more information about the summit, visit www.phemp.org.
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