Texas Methodist Student Movement

The Methodist Student Movement began in 1900 at Urbana, Illinois. By the late 1950s, its work in Texas had spread to nearly every sizeable college and university campus through the Wesley Foundations and Wesley Bible Chairs.

From the description of Records, 1958-1967. (Texas Tech University). WorldCat record id: 22962087

At the call of Dr. Glenn Finn, a small group of Methodist college workers and other interested persons from across Texas met in Dallas in 1922 to discuss student ministry needs. Meeting participants decided that a statewide organization should be formed to promote religious objectives among the 9,000 Methodist students in Texas. To that end, they recommended that a conference be held to consider forming such an organization.

On February 2-4, 1923, more than one hundred students from twenty-two schools met at Georgetown, Texas to establish the Texas Methodist Student Federation. The federation’s constitution and by-laws addressed four major concerns: the need for a closer fellowship among Methodist students of the state; the need for stronger church consciousness and a more vital church affiliation; the need for more effective coordination and union of the agencies doing religious work; and the need for a more vigorous and adequate approach to the problem of their Christian nurture and development.

Due to rising interest in ministry to students, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South annual conferences of Texas authorized a special joint commission to evaluate the nature and extent of the student ministries on college campuses. This study commission recommended the establishment of an Interconference Commission on Methodist Campus Ministry to provide overall supervision and support for campus ministry throughout the state. The commission began its work in 1926. In 1935, the name of the commission was changed to the Texas Methodist Student Movement (TMSM).

The commission’s responsibilities grew to include the establishment of a state-wide program, the solicitation of capital funds for the building of campus ministry centers and parsonages (for which it often held legal title), the enlisting and training of campus ministers, the reporting of data at each of the annual conferences, and the general supervision of the programs at each center.

Establishment of local centers and their ministries depended upon local interest while the state organization provided general promotion and supervision. A state office was organized in the 1940s, and by the 1960s the office, through the state director, supervised twenty-seven Wesley Foundations and coordinated student ministry programs for all of the Methodist colleges located in Texas.

The movement was disestablished in 1967 in favor of ecumenical campus ministry. After the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968, each annual conference began to assume responsibility for the Wesley Foundations within its boundaries. The Texas Commission on Campus Ministry (TCCM) replaced the state office of the TMSM. TCCM’s role was primarily promotional and programatic rather than maintaining property and training ministers. The TCCM disbanded in 1983.

Sources:

“Constitution and By-Laws of the Methodist Student Federation of Texas.” 1923, Texas Methodist Student Movement records, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

Monk, Robert. “Texas Commission on Campus Ministry Records.” Texas Methodist Student Movement records, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

From the guide to the Texas Methodist Student Movement records BridArch 302. 08., 1896-1981, 1950-1980, (Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University)