CAMPUS MINISTRIES PLAY VITAL ROLE IN STUDENT LIFE ON FLORIDA CAMPUSES

Steve Hambrick and Wesley Foundation Students at the University of Central Florida .

Steve Hambrick, who leads the Wesley Foundation at the University of Central Florida, believes that campus ministry is “our greatest mission field.” “Most churches do not effectively reach college students and young adults.” According to Hambrick, 18-to-22-year-olds are hungry to find something to stand and believe in. Hambrick calls his own experience as a student in the Wesley Foundation at the University of Georgia, “the most alive experience I have had in church in my life.” The Wesley Foundation is reaching the generation that will be leading the church in the next 20 years.

Students enjoy small group activities through Wesley Foundation at the University of Central Florida

According to Hambrick and fellow campus ministers throughout the state, a significant percentage of students who come to the Wesley Foundation in college go into some type of Christian vocation, such as missions, youth ministry, campus ministry, lay leadership or full-time ministry.

At the University of Florida, the Rev. Walter Monroe works with upwards of 500 students a year, many of whom have never been attached to a church before. At Florida A&M in Tallahassee, the program is outgrowing its facilities, and at Stetson University – a former Baptist College in Deland – the Wesley House Campus Ministry is the highest-funded program of any activity supported by the university’s Student Activities Fund.