Wesleyan Studies and United Methodist Programs

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In 1985, the Divinity School initiated a program of United Methodist Studies, designed to provide opportunities for United Methodist students to learn more about the life and traditions of their denomination. Under the direction of Professor M. Douglas Meeks since 1998, the program offers students opportunities for:

• General and advanced courses in Wesleyan Theology
• Required courses for United Methodist ordination: Theology, History, Polity, and Evangelism
• Fellowship and spiritual growth
• Nurture and support in discipleship through Covenant Discipleship Groups
• Study of developments in church life through visiting speakers
• Innovative worship services
• Wesleyan immersion trips to England and internships in England and elsewhere
• Annual retreat

United Methodist Student Association. The UMSA sponsors a number of opportunities for worship, fellowship, and growth throughout the academic year. Not only are there weekly worship services and covenant discipleship groups (see below), but each month the UMSA gathers for a plenary meeting over lunch. These gatherings are designed: 1) to discuss the Wesleyan heritage in relation to the students' preparation for ordained and lay ministry, 2) to discuss matters of spiritual formation, 3) to meet with regional and national leaders in the UMC (including yearly meetings with the Bishop, a couple of District Superintendents, the chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, and staff members of the UMC Boards), and 4) to work at deepening students' ecumenical awareness and involvement in the social and justice ministries of the church (these include meetings on health care and prison ministries, evangelism and UM media, congregational involvement in the community, and college chaplaincy). These meetings provide United Methodist students in the divinity school an opportunity for learning, interaction, and dialogue with persons of various backgrounds in ministry. Programs in the past have included:

• Harmon Wray, who spoke on issues dealing with the death penalty and restorative justice.
• Erie Chapman, President and CEO of Baptist Hospital in Nashville, who shared about issues of healthcare and the poor.
• David Lowes Watson, director of the Office of Pastoral Formation for the Memphis and Tennessee Annual Conferences, who spoke about his work with the Office of Pastoral Formation, clergy colloquies, and covenant discipleship groups.
• Dennis Dickerson, professor of history at Vanderbilt University and official historiographer of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who talked the history of the A.M.E. Church and its founder, Richard Allen.
• Dan Benedict, Carmen Lile-Henley, Vin Walkup and Susan Padgett, who shared with us about worship, ministry with the poor, and various aspects of the ordination process.
The 2006-07 Executive Committee of the UMSA includes:
• Katie Ziskovsky (katie.ziskovsky@vanderbilt.edu), president
• Bill St.Clair (james.w.st.clair@vanderbilt.edu), vice-president
• Molly Mattingly(molly.mattingly@vanderbilt.edu), secretary
• Ricky Shinall (ricky.shinall@vanderbilt.edu), Covenant Discipleship groups
• John Weaver (john.l.weaver@vanderbilt.edu) and Brad Smith (james.b.smith.2@vanderbilt.edu), worship coordinators
• Jenny Bushnell (Jennifer.bushnell@gmail.com), GDR representative
• Ryan Fasani (ryan.s.fasani@vanderbilt.edu), MTS representative
• and a first-year representative

The United Methodist Programs Office Coordinator is Tim Eberhart (timothy.r.eberhart@vanderbilt.edu).

United Methodist Boards and Agencies. Nashville is an important center for United Methodist boards and agencies, including the General Board of Discipleship, The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Publishing House, and United Methodist Communications. Here experts from all across world Methodism converge for the leadership of the church. These persons, who have acquired knowledge and insight vital to effective Christian ministry, are called upon for leadership roles in the Vanderbilt program. There is an annual dinner for United Methodist divinity students and the General Boards in Nashville. This is a unique opportunity to foster a relationship between divinity students and the officers and staff persons of the United Methodist General Boards, which opens up opportunities for dialogue, mutual cooperation in efforts in ministry, and internships.
The Divinity School is also located only a black away from the beautiful campus of The Scarritt-Bennett Center, a United Methodist Center for lay and continuing clergy education. An annual fall retreat for VDS United Methodist students is held at Scarritt-Bennett. This is only one aspect of the exciting developing relationship between The Divinity School and The Scarritt-Bennett Center. Under discussion are joint endeavors in worship, the arts, lay and diaconal education, and evangelism.

Covenant Discipleship Groups are designed to give students a regular setting for accountable discipleship and mutual support in spiritual formation. The groups meet for one hour each week and are organized around the students' actual experience of and accountability for acts of devotion, worship, compassion, and justice. The shape and theology of these groups are Wesleyan but are also adaptable to the main strands of the Christian tradition. Some non-Methodist students participate in the CD groups.

Methodist Praise and Prayers: In fall 2001 the UMSA under the direction of Wade Griffith began a worship service on Thursday mornings at Scarritt-Bennett Center's Wightman's Chapel. Over the years it has evolved and we now gather for worship on Tuesdays at 11:00 am in the All Faith Chapel, Vanderbilt Divinity School. Please contact this year's coordinators for more information or to get involved! It is a student led service and we always need musicians, liturgists, and preachers.

Wesley Heritage Immersion In England. Every few years, Dr. Meeks leads students on an immersion trip to England. The trip involves extended stays in Oxford, Bristol, and London and is concentrated on the Wesley historical sites. British church historians and church leaders have lectured on Wesleyan and Methodist history and the group visits sites of contemporary British Methodist ministries to the poor. Our next immersion in England will be in May of 2007. This immersion experience can be used for academic credit, either as United Methodist Worship (with some additional coursework) or as a Global Immersion and used for Field Education.

For more information, please contact our Methodist Program Coordinator, Tim Eberhart (timothy.r.eberhart@vanderbilt.edu)