wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Higher education 'summit' in the offing

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Note #8242 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04240
May 19, 2004

Higher education 'summit' in the offing

Conference may be step toward PC(USA) college-ministry association

by Evan Silverstein

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 27.

	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 included 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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