The NEXT Movement asserts that doing good work is the United Methodist way of life.
PAUL REISSMANN
Michigan Area Communications
The NEXT Conference was sponsored by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s Office of Collegiate Ministry November 4-6, 2016. NEXT16 was aimed to attract young adults exploring a call to ministry and looking to discover what is next on that journey— be it seminary, missionary service, or other hands-on ministry. More than an event, NEXT serves as a pool of partners, perspectives, and resources to help in faith formation and leadership development.
NEXT16 was also a time for United Methodist college students to retreat from school work and exams to focus on their spiritual gifts and envision how their faith will might evolve and grow after college.
Students from six Michigan campus ministries were present in Atlanta for NEXT16. There were representatives from Grand Valley State University, Central Michigan University, Ferris State University, Albion College, Western Michigan University, and Wayne State University. There were also participants from Motown Mission in Detroit.
MIConnect was able to be in conversation with Alyson Barra and Kelsey Burns, two women who were active at Motown Mission earlier this year. Currently Barra and Burns are leaders in their Albion Chapel groups, roommates at Albion College, and best friends.
Alyson Barra is in her junior year at Albion College and working on a degree in Piano and International Studies.
Barra first heard about the NEXT Conference in 2014. Alyson worked with Motown Mission at Metropolitan UMC during the summer of 2016 and was offered the chance to be the face of the mission at NEXT16. Motown Mission and Motor City Wesley Foundation helped to sponsor her journey to Atlanta.
With studying abroad next semester in addition to working, going to class, practicing music and attending recitals at Albion, Barra felt the physical escape from campus helped her to reconnect and focus on God— something she felt like she was missing in her routine schedule.
For Barra, the experience of talking with other students about faith and worshiping with people her own age were two of the prime take-aways. “Hearing other people’s stories really helped me to feel a resonance with others at that experience,” she said. “It helped me to relax and be calm, trusting that God has a plan.”
After NEXT, Barra felt reassured that there are future jobs, ministries, and service opportunities to serve that will utilize her skills and passions.
Kelsey Burns is a senior at Albion College. With a degree in Psychology and Spanish, Burns has interests of going into ministry after college.
Burns paid her way to the NEXT conference in order to seek retreat and reconnect with God. Like Barra, Burns felt that her busy schedule left little room to be “poured into.” That was her main thought when arriving in Atlanta.
Still, there were aspects of the conference that inspired Burns. One of these aspects was activism and how it intersects with faith. “We heard of different ways to be activists in the world from a United Methodist perspective,” Burns said, “from little things to big things. Deconstructing the idea of activism was key for me.”
Burns reconnected with several seminaries that were present at NEXT16 as well, including schools to which she has applied.
One of the most impactful experience for both Barra and Burns was visiting a resettlement community for refugees outside of Atlanta as a part of the NEXT experience. With that experience came a multi-cultural worship along with different presentations of the refugee experience of coming to America.
A thought exercise about the refugee experience was also something that NEXT participants entered into at the resettlement community. While Barra and Burns have studied the refugee experience at some length in their college courses at Albion, the reaction of fellow participants is what left the largest impression on both of them. Burns noted that people can live in a bubble of safety while in college and the simulation of the refugee experience helped put her own situation into context.
Being roommates and best friend, Barra and Burns were able to debrief and unpack their experiences on their way to and from NEXT16, allowing them to connect to a common experience in faith and relate to it in their lives at Albion.
Learn more about Next 16 and the Next Movement on their website.
Last Updated on December 14, 2016