Wesley Center

Katie D.

January 24, 2009 - 6:36 PM

For two years now I have been part of a student group at the Wesley Center. The Wesley Center is a campus outreach facet of the local United Methodist Churches in Eugene. We have a building next to the bookstore where we get together for meals and group discussions one night a week.

I hadn't planned on joining a church group while at college. I was raised in a Methodist church, but had never participated in youth group activities, instead choosing adult education classes and social justice groups. I love my home church in Colorado, but didn't look for a new church in Eugene. I was experimenting with lots of new patterns in college, living in the dorms and then in an apartment, living without my family close by and with new expectations of myself and plans for how to spend my time, including trying out life without structure to my faith.

Aside from that, I had had a home church that accepted me as I was, without making any demands on my faith life that I couldn't meet. They welcomed my questions, encouraged my interests, and helped me move toward a life focused increasingly on working for human rights and ending injustices. I loved that church, and all the friends I'd left there. And I was afraid of looking for a new church: scared of entering churches that would demand fundamentalist belief of me, or would make claims to a Christian moral perspective that I do not share on issues of war, homosexuality, consumerism, and abortion. Being a liberal Christian, at least in Colorado, is to be permanently embattled by the conservative majority. And I did not want to have to fight that fight.

So I spent all of freshman year outside of a church home. And it was fine, although I often missed having my church as a moral imperative in my work for change and justice.

The first time I attended the Wesley Center I knew it would be part of the rest of my college life. Three friends and I went to a Welcome Back BBQ during the first week of my sophomore year. Everyone was kind and welcoming, and had a good perspective on the God aspect of things: as a positive presence rather than an overwhelming and demanding force. Plus the food was excellent. I was hooked.

Since that first BBQ I have been a regular member. Two friends often come with me, and I have become very close to other members of our Wednesday night get-togethers. We eat our meal and share time together. We have time to share stories, to talk about challenges or joys in our lives, and to spend some time away from the normal pressures of college life. Then we clean up the meal and move on to our group discussions. Warren, our pastor, facilitates all of this, from welcoming us the moment we leave to making sure the fair trade chocolate gets passed around. He is an incredibly kind and supportive presence in our lives: encouraging of our interests and a great source of strength and insight. Although he is our pastor, he rarely leads discussions or even participates very much. For the Wednesday night talks he helps us choose topics and lets the students take charge. During the discussions he lets us lead and speak, then encourages everyone to participate and clarifies points, especially in areas of Christian history and in questions concerning his first profession, which was a lawyer. His encouragement and support extends beyond Wednesday nights, and he is consistently available for those who need counseling or encouragement. That is a rare gift in the life of a college student far from home.

Many of my favorite Wednesday night topics have little to do with church, at least at the most overt levels. Last week we had a talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which two of our members have experienced after serving overseas. We also recently had a presentation in concert with the International Day of the Disabled Person, with two of our group members presenting on the rights and issues faced by the Disabled community in our city, our country, and abroad. Both these evenings' talks led to greater insight into the realities faced by those around me, as well as specifically leading me to better understanding some of my friends at the Wesley Center.

I recently led a Wednesday night talk about my class in prison. I presented on the philosophies of the Inside-Out Program, about the structure of the discussions and the insights I gained during the class. We studied literature but really learned from our classmates' experiences. I also talked about how that class impacted my understanding of dialogue between people from normally divided groups. The distance between honors college freshmen and incarcerated felons is assumed to be great enough that there should be no common ground. We not only found common ground, but I learned more from my Inside classmates than I have from many regular classes at the UO. As a Wesley Center group we discussed issues of violence and criminality, as well as the justice issues connected to incarcerating large numbers of our citizens.

I love every opportunity I get to discuss these interests and experiences. Especially with a group of peers that is willing to really think deeply about the issues raised, who contribute their own perspectives and insights, and who are excited to hear about each other's plans. It is also something wonderful to share questions of morality and justice with a group of people who share similar faith principles as me.

My favorite example of this was a Wednesday night I led on the topic of my experience volunteering on the border with No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid group that works with migrants in the desert outside of Tucson. I shared my thoughts on immigration issues, and on the Christian implications of hospitality and outreach on an international situation that sees 300 deaths on our border every summer. We talked about times we have been strangers in strange lands, and have received welcome, or not. We talked about Jesus' radical ideas on who was worthy to speak to, to share meals with, and to be considered a child of God. These ideas were revolutionary then, as they are subversive now. So often we Christians tend to focus on the truth of Jesus' acts, and forget to question of what they have to tell us about our own policies. There is no more apt allusion than Jesus' quote "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

A small miracle has come out of that Wednesday night presentation. Several Wesley Center students will be accompanying me on a trip back to the border this Spring Break. We will be volunteering with No More Deaths for a week, providing migrants with First Aid, hiking food and water caches into the desert, bearing witness to their stories, and washing travel-weary feet. I am so excited to go back, and feel so blessed that I will be bringing my friends with me.

In addition to our Wednesday night meetings, we've developed several other subgroup activities. I recently became very interested in issues of local and organic food as a method for reducing our impact on the environment and on inequalities between nations. When I mentioned an interest in starting a garden, Warren had some good quality dirt delivered, and we tore out the backyard of our building and planted fava beans, lettuce, and spinach.

We also have a Bible study we have recently re-instated, which meets at 1st United Methodist Church after the services on Sunday. Warren leads these meetings, and it is a joy to discuss Biblical messages and history with someone who has the insight and background that he does.

We have also started a writers' group. We get together and drink tea and share writing projects. Four or five of us meet every week, and use that time to share our creative frustrations and successes. Participating in and facilitating these meetings has been a privilege and a real help for me in my own creative efforts. It's important for writers to have a community, just as it's important for people of faith to have a faith base.

That's what it comes down to. Community. A place, a meal. People who believe in each other. A pastor who cares for us deeply. Faith, enthusiasm, and support. Community.

And a blog...www.peaceuo.blogspot.com

Just in case you're interested.