Church continues to carry on without pastor
Title
Church continues to carry on without pastor
Description
By: Ryan Norman
Posted: 4/25/07
Events such as the Virginia Tech shooting can be hard on some students. Besides psychological services, students seeking counseling can also find help at campus ministries.
Cornerstone Church at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, however, is having more trouble providing this service.
The former campus pastor of the church, Melissa Finlaw Draper, became the pastor at Northeast United Church of Christ earlier this semester. This left Cornerstone without an on-site pastor, said Lew Kaye-Skinner, an English lecturer as well as faculty adviser and chair of the ministry board for Cornerstone-United Ministries in Higher Education.
"The current absence of a pastor on staff has meant that we have not been able to respond as quickly as might otherwise happen to issues such as the Virginia Tech massacre," Kaye-Skinner wrote in an e-mail interview.
Kaye-Skinner said the mission of Cornerstone is to bring the message of God to campus and respond to the needs of students. Because Cornerstone currently doesn't have a pastor, volunteers have been providing these services.
"Volunteers have had to fill in," Kaye-Skinner wrote. "For instance, we have had to supply pastors for the Sunday evening worship services at Cornerstone since the first of February."
Worship services haven't been the problem, said Jessica Lauer, a senior philosophy and religious studies major and intern at Cornerstone Church. It's the services not on Sundays, such as prayer groups and bible studies, that have suffered.
"These events are always a time of great fellowship and fun for students, and we haven't been able to do much of that," Lauer said.
Kaye-Skinner said the search for a pastor is progressing but isn't moving quite as quickly as he would like.
"It has been very difficult finding qualified applicants for the position," Kaye-Skinner wrote.
Cornerstone has been struggling with low attendance this year, and it hasn't been easy to improve campus involvement without a pastor, Lauer said.
Despite the setbacks, Lauer said she is confident the church will rebound in the upcoming years.
"I am sad that I am graduating and will miss the opportunity to meet the new chaplain and see the wonderful things that are in store for Cornerstone," Lauer said.
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Original Source:<a href =http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/25/News/Church.Continues.To.Carry.On.Without.Pastor-2878333.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 25, 2007</a>
Posted: 4/25/07
Events such as the Virginia Tech shooting can be hard on some students. Besides psychological services, students seeking counseling can also find help at campus ministries.
Cornerstone Church at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, however, is having more trouble providing this service.
The former campus pastor of the church, Melissa Finlaw Draper, became the pastor at Northeast United Church of Christ earlier this semester. This left Cornerstone without an on-site pastor, said Lew Kaye-Skinner, an English lecturer as well as faculty adviser and chair of the ministry board for Cornerstone-United Ministries in Higher Education.
"The current absence of a pastor on staff has meant that we have not been able to respond as quickly as might otherwise happen to issues such as the Virginia Tech massacre," Kaye-Skinner wrote in an e-mail interview.
Kaye-Skinner said the mission of Cornerstone is to bring the message of God to campus and respond to the needs of students. Because Cornerstone currently doesn't have a pastor, volunteers have been providing these services.
"Volunteers have had to fill in," Kaye-Skinner wrote. "For instance, we have had to supply pastors for the Sunday evening worship services at Cornerstone since the first of February."
Worship services haven't been the problem, said Jessica Lauer, a senior philosophy and religious studies major and intern at Cornerstone Church. It's the services not on Sundays, such as prayer groups and bible studies, that have suffered.
"These events are always a time of great fellowship and fun for students, and we haven't been able to do much of that," Lauer said.
Kaye-Skinner said the search for a pastor is progressing but isn't moving quite as quickly as he would like.
"It has been very difficult finding qualified applicants for the position," Kaye-Skinner wrote.
Cornerstone has been struggling with low attendance this year, and it hasn't been easy to improve campus involvement without a pastor, Lauer said.
Despite the setbacks, Lauer said she is confident the church will rebound in the upcoming years.
"I am sad that I am graduating and will miss the opportunity to meet the new chaplain and see the wonderful things that are in store for Cornerstone," Lauer said.
--
Original Source:<a href =http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/25/News/Church.Continues.To.Carry.On.Without.Pastor-2878333.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 25, 2007</a>
Creator
Ryan Norman
Date
2007-09-03
Contributor
Sara AA Hood
Rights
Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
Language
eng
Citation
Ryan Norman, “Church continues to carry on without pastor,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1273.