The Five for the Future Campaign
A Special Emphasis on Campus Ministry
February 19, 2002Dear Pastors and Congregational Lay Leaders:
Building for the future is an exciting venture!
Our 2001 Synod Assembly, with an enthusiastic voice, instructed our Division for Higher Education and Schools through its sub-division for Campus Ministry, to lift up this ELCA and synodical ministry, deepening our understanding of and building significantly our financial support for this crucial ministry. By this letter, I am inviting you and your congregation to be part of this gospel-inspired venture through the Five for the Future campaign. Let me explain further.
Our assembly supported our call for undergirding campus ministry with an intentional effort and strategy to address current funding shortfalls and to support initiation of a program at George Mason University. The 5 pillars of campus ministry are leadership, development, outreach, community, and service centered in worship. The 5 sites for campus ministry are the existing programs at the University of Maryland at College Park, Howard University, American University, Georgetown University, and a new venture hoped for at George Mason University.
In response to the direction from our assembly and the developmental work of our division, I strongly support this initiative and I invite every congregation to assist the division in achieving its in-gathering goal of $5.00 for every confirmed member. Our campaign will kick off in April of this year. The division foresees a three-year in-gathering. It is hoped that our congregations, during the Sundays in April, will receive a special offering from our worshipers, reaching for our goal of $5.00 from each member.
Over this time, through these offerings, the ongoing strong support from the ELCA, and our synod budget, it is our hope to be able to . . .
- stabilize support for our existing campus ministries
- establish a new program at George Mason
- increase support for all of our campus ministries, which have long been cash starved.
Our Five for the Future team is ready to work with you to develop
the best plan for your congregation. A member of the team will soon contact
you to answer questions and assist your efforts on its behalf. I
expect they will help shape your activity and will offer at least 5 resources
for your use: student teams, campus pastors, bulletin inserts, printed
materials, and website information. I encourage you to identify a
congregational contact person, perhaps even a campus ministry graduate,
for this initiative.
In the meantime, . . .
- Watch the synod newsletter for more about Five for the Future
- Check out the inserts in our synod s Newsletter
- Learn more from the Campus Ministry website (in development)
- Find out what ministry your $5.00 can enable on campus
- Be part of building the future through our Five for the Future campaign!
I pray that you and your congregation, come April, will join with sister congregations across our synod in this emphasis for campus ministries that can enrich the lives of people of all ages, particularly our youth and young adults at a crucial time of personal and spiritual formation.
In Christ,
+ Theodore F. Schneider, Bishop
