PULSE CAMPUS MINISTRY - Prayer Updates

PULSE CAMPUS MINISTRY

Prayer Update June '20

6/30/2020

Summer News

Congratulations Grad. Congratulations to UCA graduate Sydney Elmore! Sydney graduated with a B.S.E. and will be teaching 1st Grade at Valley View Elementary in Jonesboro, AR. She became involved in Pulse at the beginning of the school year in Aug. 2018 and has been a warm, positive, and encouraging presence. Be praying for her as she makes this transition, that she will be a light for Christ in her workplace.

Ministry Team. The 2020-2021 school year will be our first with a formal leadership team. We're asking students to partner with us to help make Pulse the best it can be. Pray that God will provide a passionate, dedicated group of students to advance his kingdom on campus.

New Contacts. Much of our strategy for meeting students relies on summer orientations (which have been moved online) and Welcome Week activities (which may be heavily adjusted). Social media and online presence will be more crucial than ever.

If you know anyone attending UCA, have them visit our website and fill out our online contact form. We'd love to help connect them to a spiritual family. And be in prayer for the thousands of first-year students coming to Conway in August.

Summer Devotional. The shift to Zoom has made video conferencing part of everyday life for college students, which has opened up a valuable opportunity for us this summer.

This week we're mailing out a 6-week devotional based on our spring semester Bible study. Starting later this month we'll be hosting discussions over Zoom. If you'd like to see what we'll be studying, you can download a copy of our devotional here.

Like the rest of the world, Zoom calls are becoming part of our routine.

We appreciate your prayers! May God give all of us wisdom and safety as we begin the transition back into more normal routines and patterns

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Prayer Update March '20

6/30/2020

March 2020

It goes without saying that COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to everyday life. Campus ministries are no exception. Ministries across the nation find themselves surrounded by empty campuses.

Though UCA's campus will remain open, instruction has shifted to an online model. Many of our students will remain in Conway for the duration of the semester. However, our ability to gather has been severely limited. As campus ministries adapt to this new reality, we would appreciate your prayers.

Just a few days before campus closed, we hosted a fundraiser for our Spring Break Mission Trip. Not long after, it became clear that we would need to cancel our trip. Unfortunately, this will not be the last event we'll have to cancel this year. Churches across the country are facing this same reality.

With that in mind, here is one way you can pray for Pulse:

Pray that, spiritually, this time would not be a step back for our students, but that instead they would use this season of physical distancing to seek God through study and prayer.

Meal prep crew for our mission trip fundraiser! Due to the virus we had to cancel our trip, but nevertheless, we enjoyed this opportunity to serve our church family.

Though we're living through a strange time, I'm confident God will use this season to help build his church and advance his kingdom. To that end we continually work and pray.

In this time of fear and worry, may God bless you with peace.

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Prayer Update Feb. '20

6/30/2020

February 2020
"Make it Ours"

This semester is off to a great start! Here are some of the highlights:

Men's and women's small groups are up and running.
Our Thursday night meeting started off with 3 weeks on campus. The last few weeks we've enjoyed the retreat of getting off campus into people's homes.
Sunday mornings we're taking a look at our "spiritual family tree," honing in on individual characters from the story of Scripture.
Several of our students were blessed to attend Gulf Coast Getaway, an annual conference for college students.

Students (left to right: Sian, Cameron, Ciaran, Shay) at Gulf Coast Getaway. Trips like these help students block out distractions and drink deeply from the presence and word of God. They can be among the most meaningful times in a student's college experience.

A visual representation of our Sunday Bible Study. Beginning in 2 Timothy, where Paul reminds Timothy of his spiritual ancestry (cf. 2 Tim. 1:3-6), we've traced the family tree of faith from Abraham onward. Each week this semester we'll fill in another leaf.

Valentine's Day fun at Pulse on Feb. 13th! (clockwise from top left: Caleb, Becca, Olivia, Joe, Madison, Ashley)

Owning the Mission

March is all about mission. Our special events for the month will put serving God and others front and center:

March 11th - Mission Trip Fundraiser meal. We'll be serving the Wednesday night meal before Bible class at University Church to raise money for our trip.
March 14th - The Big Event. An annual day of service by UCA students for the Conway community.
March 21-24 - 3rd annual Spring Break Mission Trip. This year we're returning to Nashville, TN to work with organizations both new and familiar.

This emphasis on service affords our students an opportunity to put the Gospel into action: "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). "Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of all" (Mark 9:35).

Pray that God would use these activities to bless those we're serving and help our students grow in spiritual maturity.

Throwback: Pulse members serving alongside other UCA students at The Big Event 2019

As another way to help students take steps toward spiritual maturity, we've encouraged them to connect more deeply with God, others, and the mission of Jesus.

At our second Pulse of the semester, using the headings, “Love God,” “Choose Community,” and “Embrace the Mission,” we challenged students to envision one thing they could do this semester to lean into God, others, or the mission of Jesus. Some students have chosen to begin volunteering with ministries in our church. Others have said they want to have faith conversations with friends or family.

The goal in all of this is simple: that our students would begin to take ownership of their role in God's kingdom.

I pray that each of us, whatever vision God has laid on our hearts for life, work, church, or family, that we would make that vision ours.

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Summer Devotional

5/29/2020

Click the link below to download our summer study:

summer_2020_devotional.pdf
File Size:	4454 kb
File Type:	pdf

December 2019

12/9/2019

December 2019

It's finals week at UCA!

Last Thursday we celebrated the conclusion of another great semester. In a few days, students will be heading home for Christmas break.

Their return in January will mark the beginning of an important season for Pulse. Next semester we will begin the process of recruiting a student leadership team. Though we have always entrusted students with leadership tasks, this will be the first time we ask any of them to step into a formal leadership role.

For several of our students, the '20-'21 school year will culminate in graduation. We want to challenge them (and all of our students) to leave a lasting legacy of faith on campus by committing to be part of our '20-'21 Lead Team.

Pray that God will raise up a handful of passionate student leaders to help carry the vision of Pulse forward.

Semester Recap

It's been three months since our last newsletter, and a lot has happened since then!

Here are some of the highlights:

Sept. 27-29 at our 3rd annual Fall Retreat!

Our Fall Retreat theme was "Kingdom People." We spent the weekend walking through the Sermon on the Mount, examining how, through the Sermon, Jesus invites us into a life of virtue and wholeness.

Our girls small group. This semester we had two small groups that met 1-2 times each month.

Nov. 21st at Pulse Friendsgiving!

Why Campus Ministry?

I want to conclude with some thoughts about the importance of campus ministry. It's a valid question: with so many pressing ministry needs out there, why should churches invest time and resources in reaching college students, who are often indifferent and non-committal?

Two reasons...

1. Campus Ministry is Kingdom-Minded.

Campus ministry is a work by and for the whole church. When students graduate, they take their gifts, resources, and energy to churches all across our nation, and world. Effective campus ministries are a blessing to churches everywhere.

2. Campus Ministry Serves a Critical Life-Stage.

The college years have been called "the last open window to the soul." Campus ministry provides an invaluable opportunity to foster faith and discipleship in the lives of college students in a time when they are making critical decisions about life and faith.

This is why I am so grateful for your continued partnership in the work God is doing through ministry to college students. Never doubt the power of your prayers - they are making an eternal difference.

Thank you again for your support and encouragement, and may God bless you in this holiday season.

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

September 2019

8/6/2019

September 2019
"Growing In Every Way More Like Christ"

We're three weeks into the fall semester! The initial rush of move-in, welcome week, and classes has finally begun to slow.

Though the intensity has abated somewhat, the pace of this year will remain fast. Small groups, tailgates, and Fall Retreat are all on the horizon for September.

It's shaping up to be a memorable, Spirit-filled semester! Here are two specific events to be praying for over the next few weeks:

Sept. 14 - UCA first home game tailgage. A chance to meet people, connect students to our church family, and show support for our school.
Sept. 27-29 - Fall Retreat @ Camp Areopagus. A time of worship, reflection, and renewal.

Promoting Pulse at UCA's Conway Daze Expo

Find Your Place

When stepping onto campus for the first time, students come filled with excitement about what life will look like in their new context. But beneath every dream, every hope, and every aspiration for the future lies a more basic need to belong in the world.

Simply put, students are searching for their place.

That's why our theme for this semester is "Find Your Place." On Thursday nights, Sunday mornings, at our Fall Retreat, and in our guys and girls small groups, we'll be investigating this topic from various angles. Questions about character, vocation, purpose, church, and the story of Scripture will animate our discussion.

In precisely the areas of life it is easiest to ignore faith, we'll ask, "What does it mean to approach all of life as a Christian?"

Pray for our students, that they would be continually "growing in every way more and more like Christ" (Eph. 4:15)

New t-shirts!

Our first Pulse of the semester (Aug. 22nd)

It's often said that the church isn't a building, the church is people.

In his book Building a Discipling Culture, Mike Breen takes this idea a step further. He writes, "If you set out to build the church, there is no guarantee you will make disciples...[but] if you make disciples, you always get the church."

He continues:

"Jesus has not called you to build his church. In fact, in all of the Gospels he mentions the church only two times. One time he mentions it, it's about conflict resolution. The other time? To say that he will build his church. Our job, and the last instructions he gave us, was to make disciples. And out of this we will get the church" (Building a Discipling Culture, 11-12).

In the same way, the main goal of ministry should never be to build an organization or brand.

This is not to decry the many great marketing and outreach efforts bearing fruit all over the world, but merely to point out that these subsidiary goals should never trump the essential task of calling individuals into fully-committed discipleship.

I pray that all of our churches and ministries would be singularly devoted to the disciple-making mission Jesus entrusted to us.

We plant and water, but God gives the growth! (1 Cor. 3:7)

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

May 2019

5/20/2019

May 2019
A Year of Blessings.

Just like that, our second year is over! 2018-2019 has been full of new friendships, blessings, and surprises. Before we recap the end of the semester, I want to highlight an exciting opportunity.

This summer, for the first time, we will be attending SOAR, the University's summer registration and orientation camp. Each SOAR session takes place over a two-day period in which students register for classes, confirm housing assignments, and make final preparations for the fall. There are eight sessions in all, spaced out through May and June.

Pulse will have a chance during each session to meet incoming freshmen and their families.

We would love if you would pray the following for SOAR:

Pray for Pulse to make fruitful connections with incoming students
Pray for peace and success for the incoming students and their families

Spring Break Trip

It's been a wonderful semester at Pulse. Over Spring Break we traveled to Nashville, TN and spent three days serving with local organizations and enjoying time in the city. Spring Break is fast becoming a highlight of the year!

Below you'll see pictures from the Nashville Food Project, Second Harvest Food Bank, and (my personal favorite) the giant whisk!

Semester's End

Sunday, April 28th we concluded our semester-long study of Phillip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew. Three of our sophomore students helped lead these discussions. These students, and several others, will continue to take an active role in helping our ministry move forward next school year.

Final exams began on April 29th, and students headed home not long after. Over the summer our students have plans to work, take summer classes, and enjoy the slower pace these months often bring.

Two of our students have been given the opportunity to serve as youth ministry interns. Pray for Dillon and Olivia, that God would use them to make a difference in the lives of students, and that God would use their internship experience to shape them for greater service in the the kingdom.

A few of our students writing cards at the last Pulse of the semester on April 25th.

Preparations for next school year have begun in earnest (look for more information on that as we get closer to August). Until then, if you know of anyone who will be attending UCA, CBC, or Hendrix in the fall, please let us know!

Thank you for your prayers. You are a blessing to our students.

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Copyright © 2019 University Church of Christ, All rights reserved.

Prayer Update March 2019

3/21/2019

March 2019
Serving Like Jesus.

Slowly but surely the weather is warming up here in Conway! With the Spring season comes fresh energy and enthusiasm. Even as they study for upcoming exams, students are eagerly awaiting Spring Break.

This Saturday, March 16th, a group of Pulse students will head to Nashville for our Spring Break Mission Trip. We'll spend time serving alongside some local agencies who are making an impact in the Nashville area.

Pray for our Spring Break trip, that God would keep us safe on the road, and that God would use this experience to form us in the image of Jesus.

Spring Semester Recap

We've had a great semester so far. Thursday nights we've continued to meet both on and off campus. Last week we wrapped up a series on the book of Romans called "Belong."

Belonging to Jesus is God's gift to us (Rom. 1:6). It's also our gift to the world. Students were challenged to consider how God has invited them into fellowship with him and how they might invite others to experience this too.

Our Pulse family has continued to grow. Our girls have met bi-weekly for their small group. Back in January we had the chance to meet some prospective UCA students. It's a beautiful reminder that belonging, far from a fixed commodity, only increases as we extend it to others.

January 26th - Promoting Pulse at Bear Facts Day, an event for prospective UCA students.

Students writing prayers at a recent "Prayer and Praise" night.

Our girls small group has continued to meet this semester. It's been a great time for building deeper relationships.

We've had some wonderful opportunities to serve this semester. Saturday, March 9th our students participated in The Big Event, UCA's annual day of service.

Our students teamed up with several other organizations to assist a local preschool. The pictures below perfectly capture the spirit of the day: students of all stripes coming together to show love for the Conway community.

In everything we do, whether serving in Nashville, volunteering here at home, or welcoming new friends into the ministry, we hope to embody the spirit of Jesus, who "came not to be served, but to serve" (Matt. 21:28).

As we head into the latter half of the spring semester, continue to pray for our students and their "progress and joy in the faith" (Phil. 1:25).

Have a wonderful week and (if you're lucky enough to get one) a wonderful Spring Break!

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Prayer Update January 2019

1/23/2019

Janurary 2019
Discipleship DNA

Discover. Nurture. Act.

Together these three words describe the rhythm of discipleship.

This semester at Pulse we want to help students tap in to this rhythm. Whether through new students discovering faith, or longtime Christians finding new ways to use their gifts, this semester is all about discipleship.

In that spirit, we're excited to add a second discipleship small group to our lineup of activities. These groups are designed to help our students think more intentionally about their spiritual growth. Pray that God will be at work in these groups.

Additionally, please join us in praying for the following...

Bear Fair. Saturday, January 26th at 9am we have the opportunity to interact with high school students interested in or planning to attend UCA.
Pulse on Campus. We’re continuing to meet on campus most Thursday nights. For the next 6 weeks we’ll be discussing themes from the book of Romans, and what it means to belong to the family of God (Rom. 1:6).
New Connections. Already we’ve had new faces at some of our gatherings. Praise God for new relationships, and may these relationships bear the fruit of discipleship.
New Routines. A new semester means students must adjust to new schedules, which can either help or harm their spiritual lives. We’re praying that students use this opportunity to prioritize the right things.

Jan. 17th - Students (Shay, Olivia, Becca, and Caleb) at our first Pulse of the new year

Campus Ministry: the Impact

In December the Conway campus ministers gathered to celebrate the completion of another semester. At this event UCA President Houston Davis spoke briefly about ways campus ministries help universities. Davis said:

"[Success in higher education] is about the connection we have with students. It's about what happens in the classroom and outside. If there's not strength on both sides, a student won't graduate...You are critically important...You are right there with us...because this is a critical point in [a student's] life."

Conway Campus Minister luncheon

Davis highlighted what stands at the heart of any successful campus ministry: relationships. One of our goals at Pulse is to connect students to a relational environment where they can encounter God.

Here's what one of our students had to say about that:

"Pulse has been a home away from home for me and has helped me deepen my relationship with God as well as form many wonderful new friendships. I couldn't be more grateful for this group of people!" - Shay, Sophomore

Our prayer for Pulse this year is that we could make the blessing of spiritual community available to even more students.

One more thing - last month we published a Holiday Newsletter. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, you can view it here.

Thank you for your prayers, and may God bless you in 2019!

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry

Prayer Update December 2018

1/10/2019

December 2018
3 Takeaways from a Great Semester

It's Christmastime in the City of Colleges!

Finals wrapped up last Friday at UCA. Students have already headed home for Christmas Break, and all is quiet on campus.

It's been a great semester at Pulse, one filled with milestones. We celebrated our one year anniversary, began meeting on campus, started our first small group, and had lots of fun in between!

Through it all we've been reminded of some powerful lessons about ministry. Here are a few of our takeaways:

1. There Are Always New Opportunities

If I could sum up this semester in one word, it would be this: new. Even after three semesters, we're still finding out about on-campus opportunities. There's always something new to explore!

One new opportunity we took advantage of this semester was "Bear Fair," hosted by the admissions department in conjunction with "Bear Facts Day," an event for high school juniors and seniors. This event allowed us to meet students coming to UCA who might be interested in campus ministry. Moving forward, we hope to take advantage of even more events like this.

2. Be Ready to Adjust

In a fast-paced environment such as a college campus, adaptability is key. It's what we see in the book of Acts: a church always on the move. In college ministry, it's best to hold to plans loosely!

3. Ministry Multiplies as You Give it Away

Ministry, leadership, and service are not fixed commodities. Rather, as we empower our students to serve, God opens doors for even more kingdom impact.

Each week since Fall Break our girls have met for a devotional time. Anywhere from a handful to a dozen have gathered each week. This picture is from one of their first gatherings back in October. Student-led groups such as this are one of the best ways to help students spiritually and as leaders.

A Prayer for Graduates

One of the most bittersweet things about college ministry is that, after years of investment and memories, every student will eventually move on to a new chapter. Last week we said goodbye to Hayley, who just completed her M.S. in Occupational Therapy. Hayley's been with us since the beginning. We're sad to see her go, but we know God has great things in store for her in the future.

Join us in praying for Hayley, and for all 900 of UCA's December graduates.

More pictures...

Here are just a few more highlights from the last two months.

Students serve on Illuminate Sunday (Nov. 11). Illuminate Sunday is University Church's annual day of service. After a brief worship service we spend the rest of the morning serving alongside partners in the community.

Christmas Party on Dec. 6th - a great way to wrap up the semester!

That's all for now!

We'll be back in January with a preview of what's to come for Pulse in 2019. Until then, thank you for your willingness to petition God on our behalf - prayer is our greatest resource.

May God bless you richly this holiday season!

--

Corey Harrison
Campus Minister
Pulse Campus Ministry