By Narcie Jeter
Campus Minister at Winthrop University Wesley Foundation in Rock Hill, S.C.

For the past three years at the end of Exam week at Winthrop I’ve had the joy of attending Refresh – an amazing campus ministry conference put on by the lovely folks at College Union [a ministry of The Foundation for Evangelism].  It has consistently been a welcome break at the end of a busy semester and at least in our calendar, always starts on the last day of exams so is pretty perfect timing as students have left or are leaving and things are drawing to a close.

"Genius Bar" small groups at Refresh - Photo by Joseph McBrayer

There are several things that I really appreciated this year.  All of our speakers this year were great – one of the best years yet in terms of content, a broadness of views, range of topics, and interaction with participants.  There were a lot more groups displaying material this year which was fun and informative!  It’s always good to connect with our United Methodist seminaries, GBGM, GBHEM, and service opportunities like Alabama Rural Ministry.  I really enjoyed the addition of the “Genius Bar” or small groups.  That was a great way to connect with people that we might not know and wouldn’t normally come in contact with and each time we met, we had good conversation – amazing me at the level of sharing and the instant camaraderie.  I also was thrilled that there was a showing of the upcoming Blue Like Jazz movie.  The movie is hardly anything like the book and was not what was expected in a lot of ways, but I was still glad to get to preview it with a room full of campus ministers and student leaders and be able to give feedback and have a chance to discuss and ponder afterwards.

Worshiping at Refresh - Photo by Joseph McBrayer

Some of the things that were challenges this year had to do with the same reasons that I love it – the timing.  At the end of a long semester, it’s hard to go straight through a day with small groups during lunch and stay focused and alert.  Maybe this speaks to my attention span.  One of the things that makes this conference different from other campus minister gatherings is the amount of staff/interns/student leaders that attend.  This is definitely a great way to get your whole team on board and to have a training opportunity.  It also gives the added benefit of hearing from some of these folks during small groups and other sharing times.  But, it also gives a different dynamic and different energy and there are pros and cons there.

The thing that I most appreciate about gathering with colleagues is those times in between.  I get more out of conversations over meals, during breaks or grabbing some dessert than just about anything else.  It’s not just a time to catch up with colleagues and check in with those in this wonderful community, but it’s a time to pick their brains and share the joys and the challenges and be with other campus ministers.  None of us have the same context or even necessarily the same type of student, but we do share a common mission field and setting which makes conversations rich.  So although I would potentially attend a conference because of a special speaker or band or workshop, the reality is that I attend these conferences because of this amazing community of campus ministers.  I attend because whether I zone out during the second hour of a speaker or if I don’t make it up for worship the second day, I feel refreshed afterwards.  I feel like I’ve been recharged not just personally and spiritually, but professionally – ready to take some ideas back, ready to listen to my students more, ready to be open to some of the things I’ve learned.