A request from Pastor Kate Reuer Welton, campus pastor at the University of Minnesota: 

If you have people coming to the University of Minnesota, will you please connect us as soon as you have that information?  Your early connections mean that we can often find a time to connect with them over the summer.  If we can find a way to grab coffee with them and build relationships, they will not only have a trusted person on campus – but they will also probably show up in our community.  They may even bring friends.  This, I assure you, is a win for everyone.  So please, connect us with your folks!

A few ways to connect locally:

  • Our preferred way is individual emails or texts (especially with the people that you’re really connected with) connecting me with the student, and through that email or text letting them know that I am a trusted person. Ideally, you’ll let them know you’re going to do this first. My number is (612) 396-5911, if you want to use text.
  • Another option is to go to this link and connect us via our national network.
  • If that is too much, just send us any list, or bulletin, or really whatever you have that lets us know where people are going. We’ll connect with the Gophers, and refer out to the best of our abilities. If you can share their contact info somehow, that will help us connect over the summer.

If you don’t have any Gophers:

  • We still care about getting them connected and will help you do that!
  • You can go to this link, and refer them to their local campus ministry.
  • Please note that there is a lot of churn among campus ministry professionals right now – so if you are trying to find a connection and you can’t, or if you found one and they are not responding, please let me know. We’ll help out to the best of our ability.
  • And last of all, like I said above, if you don’t have capacity to do this, just send us any list, or bulletin, or really whatever you have that lets us know where people are going.  We’ll refer out to the best of our abilities. If you can share their contact info somehow, that is vital on some campuses that don’t have access to student databases.

We value the hard and often unglamourous work that you have been doing to nurture the faith of your youth, and are grateful to be partners with you in continuing that care and nurture and they grow in Christian faith and life.

Thank you again!

Pastor Kate Reuer Welton