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Saturday, Sep. 05, 2009

Religion 101: A difference in students' lives

Back-to-school season seems to come earlier each year.

As August came to an end we are fully into the season of classes and activities, no longer anticipating this new beginning that fall provides.

This week, our community welcomes back UC Merced students even as Merced college students have begun their studies and transition into the school year.

The beginnings of educating children in the United States began in the Sunday School classroom.

As Christians saw a need in the lives of children -- their own and others -- they provided reading lessons so that literate youth could have access to the scriptures.

Some traditions took this further and founded institutions for higher education.

My own tradition, the United Methodists, have established more than 1,200 schools, colleges, universities and theological schools throughout the nation during its history.

We continue to relate to more than 120 of these, including Stockton's University of the Pacific.

According to Frederick A. Norwood in his "The Story of American Methodism," the Methodist movement was begun by students at Oxford University in the early 1700s. John and Charles Wesley began a Christian club on their campus called the Holy Club.

Together, the students dedicated themselves to Bible study, prayer, service and holy conversation along with their school studies.

As a campus minister working with students at UC Merced and Merced College, I am especially aware of the spiritual needs of students in our community.

In today's society, being a person of any faith on a college campus can be a lonely life. Staying true to one's faith tradition cannot be taken for granted, but must be attended to during the college years.

Being part of a local faith community is one way for students to stay connected to their faith or to discover a new path of faith.

As students settle in to the Merced community from distances near and far, they may attempt to visit the religious communities of Merced, looking for a spiritual-home-away-from-home.

However, there are many difficulties to attending worship services and events for students. Everything from transportation issues to the lack of other young people within a faith community can limit the participation of students.

Providing a spiritual home for students is one way that the community can provide for the whole lives of those who are here to study and grow.

Perhaps you or your faith community will choose to go out of your way to welcome students this semester, providing hospitality and transportation, giving to student scholarships to ease the financial burden of education, or simply praying for God's grace to be with them as they enter a new period of life.

Together, the religious community can make a difference in the lives of students, caring for the spiritual as well as academic parts of their lives.

Religion 101 runs every Saturday written by a different pastor each week. The Rev. Jennifer Goto is a campus minister at UC Merced and Merced College with the United Methodists Wesley Foundation.