{"id":24702,"date":"2015-07-13T16:02:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T20:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=24702"},"modified":"2015-07-22T12:17:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-22T16:17:00","slug":"alumni-contribute-to-3rd-way-collective-ministry-at-penn-state-inspiring-faith-connections-to-peace-and-justice-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alumni-contribute-to-3rd-way-collective-ministry-at-penn-state-inspiring-faith-connections-to-peace-and-justice-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni contribute to 3rd Way Collective ministry at Penn State, inspiring faith connections to peace and justice issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The newest pastor at University Mennonite Church (UMC) in State College, Pennsylvania, never seems to be in the actual church building, and the advisory team that relates to him doesn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

In what is likely the first Mennonite ministry of its kind, 3rd Way Collective<\/a> and UMC\u2008campus minister Ben Wideman operate almost exclusively on the campus of a massive state university.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania State University is among of the biggest universities in the country, counting more than 46,000 students on its main campus. It has more than 60 student faith groups, but none with Anabaptist distinctives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this void as peace, justice and faith. There are people tackling peace and justice issues, but not from a faith perspective,\u201d said Wideman, who started a three-year term in October.<\/p>\n

\"3rdWayUPENN\"<\/a>
The “Positively Green” event partnered 3rd Way Collective members with Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light to build storm windows for low-income families to help lower their utility bills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though the church toyed with the idea of calling its project Anabaptist Campus Ministry, a wider vision came into focus: being rooted in the Gospels while inspiring students from all faith traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this huge movement to the party scene. It\u2019s the easiest way to feel like you belong,\u201d said Wideman, an alumnus of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg. \u201cThe second easiest way is in the Christian bubble of the evangelical scene. And if you don\u2019t fit into one of those two bubbles, you can feel really, really alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve sort of joked that we hope 3rd Way can fall into that third space with this alternative that is neither \u2018a\u2019 nor \u2018b\u2019 and a little bit different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the ministry is still finding its way, Wideman has developed a series of activities in which there may be little or no overlap among the attending students. The Monday night conversation group is different than the Wednesday morning global peace meditation group. Graduate students have a regular pub night or home-cooked meal, and another group gets together for service projects.<\/p>\n

The collective partnered this spring with other groups to bring Christian writer and speaker Shane Claiborne<\/a> and RAWTools<\/a>, an organization that turns guns into other objects, to campus for an event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s two miles from campus to church, but it may as well be two hours for students who just don\u2019t get off campus very much,\u201d Wideman said. \u201c3rd Way Collective doesn\u2019t do anything at UMC. I am empowered to be on campus 100 percent of my time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wideman produces a podcast called Peace Signs<\/a>, which interviews students and faculty from diverse theological backgrounds about why peace and justice is important.<\/p>\n

Long time coming<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"3rdWayPENN\"<\/a>
A small group of students started the first #blacklivesmatter protest during spring break, sparking a larger series of protests which 3rd Way Collective members joined. “We were privileged to be able to stand with them,” said Wideman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One Penn State faculty member with exceptional interest in the collective is Jim Rosenberger, a UMC member who has championed the idea of campus outreach since he and former pastor (now Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary professor) David Miller started organizing Anabaptist Congregations in Secular Education Settings gatherings at Mennonite Church USA conventions eight to 10 years ago. [Rosenberger, a 1968 graduate of EMU, will accept the 2015 Alumnus of the Year award at Homecoming this fall.]<\/p>\n

Wideman attended Rosenberger\u2019s workshop at the Phoenix convention two years ago. At the July\u2019s Kansas City convention, they presented together.<\/p>\n

A statistics professor, Rosenberger felt the odds were good that Penn State students would be attracted to Anabaptist values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe discussed it a few times at the Mennonite Education Agency, but it\u2019s a small agency and it doesn\u2019t have the resources to reach out way beyond to these big university settings where there are just a few Mennonites,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we needed an idea that would be more ground-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small group from UMC kept the idea alive and gathered donors who would contribute resources to get a ministry off the ground. It was a sizable undertaking for a church of about 100 attenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church was started as an outreach,\u201d Rosenberger said. \u201cWe\u2019re 50-plus years in town, but over the years even identifying the Mennonite students on campus has become more difficult with changes to student privacy laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

A work in progress<\/h3>\n

To give a campus minister necessary continuity, UMC gave Wideman a three-year contract.<\/p>\n

\"3rdWaySolarUPENN\"<\/a>
3rd Way Collective members pose for a photo during a bike ride organized by a Penn State professor and Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light. The ride begins in State College and travels to Washington D.C. with the purpose of raising awareness about a faith-based response to climate change. In D.C., the riders visit congressional representatives to show that people of faith care about climate change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still trying to figure out what 3rd Way Collective will be,\u201d Wideman said. \u201cAfter one year it\u2019s pretty clear we have started to address a need on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

To sustain the vision, Wideman and the church are looking at other partners, be they local non-Mennonite congregations, distant Anabaptists or other groups.<\/p>\n

Like starting a business or planting a church, it\u2019s a risky venture, and the result won\u2019t necessarily be more bodies in the pews on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Rosenberger, who knows a thing or two about statistics, said this kind of success can\u2019t be measured \u201cin an easy, quantitative way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve pointed out that Dick Thomas, the former moderator of Mennonite Church USA, is probably a Mennonite because our congregation existed when he was a Penn State student,\u201d Rosenberger said. \u201cYou have to look way down the road to ask if we impact students\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Reprinted with permission from the June 8 issue of Mennonite World Review<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The newest pastor at University Mennonite Church (UMC) in State College, Pennsylvania, never seems to be in the actual church building, and the advisory team that relates to him doesn\u2019t ... read more about Alumni contribute to 3rd Way Collective ministry at Penn State, inspiring faith connections to peace and justice issues<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,5589,5730],"tags":[16955,16956,7440,10257],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-24702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-bible-and-religion","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-david-miller","tag-dick-thomas","tag-peace-and-justice","tag-shane-claiborne"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni contribute to 3rd Way Collective ministry at Penn State, inspiring faith connections to peace and justice issues - 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