Can you believe it? Here at The Wesley Foundation at Arizona State University, we just kicked-off our fifth year of full-time campus ministry! Last spring we graduated sixteen seniors and grad students and this year we welcomed a new group of students to be a part of our ministry. As always, we have an exciting year planned for students. We just returned from San Diego, where we spent Labor Day weekend having fun on the beach and exploring the sights. We also had a number of occasions to stop and reflect on God’s presence in our lives through daily devotionals and worship. In particular we focused on the verse from Psalm 46:10, which states “Be still, and know that I am God.” Indeed, this is a message that students will need to remember as they deal with the stress and challenges of college. 

This year we continue to focus our program around our Wednesday night gatherings, however, we have changed our meeting time! We now meet at 7 p.m. for dinner in Ross Hall, followed by worship at 8 p.m. We felt we needed to push our start time back in order to accommodate students with Wednesday evening classes. And it worked! We have already heard good things from students who are now able to attend Wesley because of the time change. On Wednesday nights we have also seen our student led worship band grow. We have a new student running sound for the band and another student has joined the band as a guitar player. The band now has eight members!

We have also made a new addition to our staff. Recent Wesley grad, Abbie Riekena, is spending the year applying to graduate schools and has asked to join our staff as a part time intern. Abbie will be leading our hospitality team on Wednesday nights and she will also be working on various missions opportunities for students to participate in throughout the year. Please join me in welcoming Abbie to the Wesley team!

We have a lot of other exciting things going on this year, including a Veteran’s Day weekend Mexico mission trip, an alternative spring break trip to participate in a seminar with the UM General Board of Church and Society and the UMW in New York City, and we are hosting an exciting event in January with Christian author, blogger, and speaker, Rachel Held Evans.

As always, we could not do all of this things without your prayers and support. On behalf of all of our students and our board of directors I thank and praise God for you and your love for our our ministry. Here’s to another fabulous year of ministry with college students! 

 

Peace and Blessings,

 

Pastor Rob

Author, blogger, and speaker, Rachel Held Evans, will be speaking at an event hosted by Valley Wesley and The Arizona Foundation for Contemporary Theology on Saturday January 21. More about Rachel from her website:

I'm a writer, skeptic, and Christ-follower from Dayton, Tennessee—home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. My first book, a spiritual memoir entitled Evolving in Monkey Town, released with Zondervan in July of 2010. My second book, an experimental memoir (tentatively) titled A Year of Biblical Womanhood will be released by Thomas Nelson in 2012 (at the earliest). I enjoy speaking, blogging, traveling, playing poker, and talking theology over coffee.

Rachel will also preach at Tempe First UMC on Sunday January 22. We are excited to be hosting Rachel and can't wait for this event! Stay tuned to the blog for more info as we draw closer to the event date.

Our worship band has grown to eight members!

 

Join Valley Wesley for the following events during Holy Week and Easter:

The Way of the Cross:  Wednesday April 20, 7 p.m. Join us following Wednesday dinner (it's free and begins at 6 p.m), in Ross Hall, for a powerful journey through final days and hours of Jesus's life. Participants will embark on a silent journey through different prayer rooms focusing on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The journey will end with a walk through a labyrinth and time to reflect on what Holy Week and Easter mean in our lives. Maundy Thursday Worship Service:  Thursday April 21, 7:30 p.m. Rev. Rob Rynders will co-lead, along with clergy from Tempe First UMC, a Taize style worship service in the main Sanctuary. Worshipers will participate in singing, prayer, deep reflection, and communion. Easter Sonrise Worship Service:  Sunday April 24, 5:30 a.m. We will meet in the parking lot of Tempe First UMC at 5:30 a.m. and head to the top of "A Mountain" to worship as the sun rises. Rev. Rob Rynders and Aaron Prillaman will lead worshipers in songs of praise, responsive prayers and litanies, scripture, reflection, and communion. Breakfast will be served at Tempe First UMC following the service. Please wear comfortable clothes and hiking shoes.

Valley Wesley students pose for a picture after a trip to Wesley Theological Seminary

Alternative Spring Break 2011: WASHINGTON D.C. March 13-18, 2011 Eleven Valley Wesley students and Rev. Rob Rynders spent their spring break in the Nation's Capital attending a seminar on "Human Trafficking," put on by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. Valley Wesley joined students and leaders from the Northern Illinois University and Winthrop University Wesley Foundations to learn from various speakers and organizations about the 27 million human beings (mostly women and children) who are currently being coerced into forced labor and/or sexual slavery around the world. Seminar participants also met with legislators, including our own congressman, David Schweikert and a representative from Senator Jon Kyl's office to advocate on behalf of trafficking victims and to encourage our legislators to support legislation that combats human trafficking worldwide. Participants visited the offices of International Justice Mission, a Christian non-profit organization that supports and advocates for trafficking victims and also works with governments around the world to reform and train their law enforcement agencies to combat trafficking in their own countries. To learn more about IJM and to find vast resources on the topic of human trafficking, please visit their website. Overall students had a meaningful and transformative time in Washington through the seminar program, visiting historical sites, monuments, and museums, connecting with other students from around the country, and most importantly by connecting their faith to issues of human rights and justice. This trip would not have been possible with all of those who supported these students with their prayers and financial donations and, for that, all of us at Valley Wesley are very thankful.