University of Virginia Library

More Cooperation Than Unification

By ANDY BALLENTINE

If you participate in the
activities of one of the
churches around the
University, chances are that
the other churches in the
community know about that
particular church's efforts to
win you over. While planning
their individual programs, all
the churches in the University
community are linked together
by participating in a United
Ministry.

Campus Ministry

"United Ministry is a
cooperative way of developing
campus ministry," says Jim
McDonald, United Methodist
Campus Minister. Each church
works together, bringing
together both its lay and
professional resources into the
picture. As Mr. McDonald
says, "It's a way of extending
ministry beyond the
congregation."

Cooperation

Mr. McDonald does not see
United Ministry as pertaining
exclusively to students. "It is a
ministry to the University," he
says. "This includes
ministering to faculty and to
the administration also."

The aim of the organization
is not for all the churches
involved to unify together into
one church. Here the key word
is cooperation. United
Ministry works in terms of
each church cooperating in its
ministry. "It does its job when
it helps each congregation
become a more effective
University congregation," Mr.
McDonald states.

United Ministry works
primarily on the staff level.
The professional staffs of each
participating church cooperate
in planning and in developing
their church's personnel to do
the most effective job of
ministry that is possible. Mr.
McDonald points out that, in
addition to coordinating
ministries in a specific sense, as
the professional staffs
cooperate with each other
they help each other increase
their general knowledge of the
University, which also helps in
the development of an
effective campus ministry.

The Churches

The churches involved in
the organization are
Westminster Presbyterian, St.
Paul's Episcopal, St. Thomas
Hall, Wesley Memorial
Methodist, The Wesley
Foundation, St. Mark's
Lutheran, Immanuel Lutheran,
and Thomas Jefferson
Unitarian.

There is no strict structure
to the organization. There is
no spokesman for all the
professionals who participate
in the group. Mr. McDonald
calls it "a real team effort.
Everybody shares in the
leadership."

No Rallies

In United Ministry, you will
not find a visible unified
organization seeking you out
or attempting to bring
"religion" to the University. It
is not going to hold rallies or
monthly meetings for the
University's benefit. Many
churches participate in the
organization, but the reach of
United Ministry does not
exceed the reach of each
individual church.