23-24 UKirk Nashville Annual Rep : simplebooklet.com

The 2023-2024 school year was about deepening fellowship.UKirk Nashville’s numbers held steady, including students from Vanderbilt, Belmont, andoccasionally other schools. About half of regularly attending students had a priorconnection to the Presbyterian Church (USA) or Cumberland Presbyterian Church; otherscame from a diversity of Christian traditions, as well as from no tradition at all. Attendanceamong a core group was very consistent, such that a bonded community was able to form,and we have excellent, committed student leadership for academic year 2024-2025.As always, we sought to meet students where they are and help them grow in their faith.Students responded enthusiastically to this year’s content, which was intended to meet theunique spiritual needs of their age and stage. In the course of the year, we exploredtheological “hot topics,” the basics of Presbyterian theology, the Enneagram, and Jesus’smost essential moral teachings in the Sermon on the Mount in contemporary context.Service and social justice ministry made a comeback.Students served together more than in any year post-pandemic. We joined WestminsterPresbyterian Church for their fall Habitat for Humanity build and participated in the MartinLuther King Joint Day of Service with students from various Nashville schools. UKirk alsohosted a panel on social justice with local ministers and organizers and participated inadvocacy against gun violence.UKirk Nashville had another strong year financially. Fundraising efforts were successful,and we finished the year with a $4K surplus due to generous giving and prudentstewardship. These funds will be poured back into ministry in 2024-2025. We also sawchurch partnerships deepen, with several more congregations giving and volunteering thanin recent years.2We had a great year.Ou r M is s i o n: UKirk Nashville exists to provide areacollege students a place for Christian community andspiritual growth by: deepening relationships throughfellowship, experiencing God through worship, andencouraging discipleship through service.

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We are grateful to all the churches that made it possible. Churches that contributed time, talents,and treasure this year wereBellevue Presbyterian ChurchDowntown Presbyterian ChurchFirst Presbyterian Church (Franklin)First Presbyterian Church (Nashville)Harpeth Presbyterian ChurchHillsboro Presbyterian ChurchSecond Presbyterian ChurchTrinity Presbyterian ChurchWestminster Presbyterian ChurchWoodland Presbyterian ChurchWe also owe a debt of gratitude to our supporting presbyteries and synods in the PresbyterianChurch (USA) and Cumberland Presbyterian Church.We have you to thank.AN N U A L R E P OR T 2 0 2 3- 2 0 2 4 3

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On our end-of-year student survey, here’s what students had to say:"I appreciate the community of UKirk. I feel so welcomed by everyone at each event andfeel like I can really be myself.”“What I value most about UKirk are the relationships. It’s lovely to have friends that I cannot only casually hang out with, but [with whom I] can really discuss faith and othercomplex, potentially hard things.”“UKirk does a lot of things really well, particularly community building and providing aplace of conversation with communication and no judgment. I am still not sure about myfaith, and I don’t know the Bible very well, but I am learning and having conversations thathave helped me understand certain things in a clearer way.”“I most value the connections that I have made and the relationship that I have been ableto grow with Jesus.“Students say it best...4

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Abby’s StoryAN N U A L R E P OR T 2 0 2 3- 2 0 2 4 5Abby English (Belmont ’24), UKirk Nashville’s 2023-2024 Student Vice-President, sharedher experience of our ministry during our Soul & Spirits fundraiser in April. Here is someof her story, in her own words.“When Claire [the campus minister] invited me to try UKirk, I was hesitant. But I went. And Ikept going. And I never want to stop. There was no learning curve, no adjustment period.From the moment I sat down at Bongo Java for coffee that first Wednesday, I felt like part ofthe group. UKirk welcomed me with open arms, and I never felt like I was intruding onsomething that was already established. Their enthusiastic welcome was the driving forcebehind my commitment to the group.But UKirk isn’t just a social group. It’s a faith-based community. Faith is something I’ve goneback and forth with over the years. I’ve never thought of myself as anything other thanChristian, but before joining UKirk, I was a little lost. Finding this community and interactingwith people my own age who aren’t just Christian, but actively and wholeheartedly Christian,has changed the way I look at religion. I’m not saying that we don’t have space for peoplewho are still figuring it out. I can confidently say that I have learned the most from my peerswho are questioning their faith, because they challenge me to question the conclusions that Ihave made about my faith and ultimately become even more sure.” “UKirk is hands-down the bestthing that has happened to meduring my time at Belmont, andmy experiences with thesepeople will stay with me forthe rest of my life.”

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The Year in Numbers6L O C A L C H U R C H P A R T N E R S10Congregations of the Presbyterian Church(USA) and Cumberland PresbyterianChurch gave time, funds, and/orvolunteers.I N I N D I V I D U A L D O N A T I O N S$26.8KGenerous individuals give above andbeyond what our churches contribute.This was our most successful fundraisingyear in dollars for the second year in arow. We also saw our highest number ofgiving households (72) since 2016.A N N U A L R E V E N U E$117KOur partners’ faithfulness made 2023-2024 a high revenue year; we finished inJune with a $4K surplus.S T U D E N T S32+Several dozen students were served atUKirk events in 2022-2023, with around20 participating regularly by the end ofthe year.A N N U A L E X P E N S E S$113KConscious spending, focused on our mainministry priorities, kept our expenseswithin our means.

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On the HorizonAN N U A L R E P OR T 2 0 2 3- 2 0 2 4 7UKirk is moving into a new office. In May 2024, UKirk was asked by Vanderbilt Universityto vacate our office at their Center for Spiritual and Religious Life (CSRL). This decision,which affected other campus ministries as well, is part of a broader plan to redevelopCentral Campus that will eventually include the demolition of CSRL. While some staffoffices will be replaced, the university does not plan to replace UKirk’s office. We havechosen to see this challenge as an opportunity. In October 2024, we will move into a newoffice at the Scarritt Bennett Center, located in the Edgehill neighborhood, betweenVanderbilt and Belmont, the two campuses we most serve. We believe our new office willbe more accessible to all and look forward to discovering its full potential for ministry. Ourfriends and supporters should note that for worship, we will continue to meet at St.Augustine’s Chapel, as we have for many years. Furthermore, for the time being, we canstill receive mail at our Vanderbilt address.Our board is reflecting on our mission, vision, and values. Going through changes has madeus think about the “big picture.” What is UKirk’s purpose? Are we meeting the needs oftoday’s college students? Most of all, who is God calling us to be at this moment in time?Our 2024-2025 Board of Trustees is already working together to explore these essentialquestions and plans to share more soon.

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Thank you for your faithfulsupport of our ministry.Here's to another great year!The 2024-2025 UKirk Nashville Board of TrusteesRev. Dr. Rachel Thompson Orfield, Chair, Harpeth PresbyterianDr. Nathaniel Freymeyer, Vice-Chair, UKirk AlumnusMs. Kelly Christie, Secretary, Westminster PresbyterianDr. Ryan Fox, Treasurer, First Presbyterian FranklinMs. Tania Carter, Second PresbyterianRev. Lee Catoe, Unbound, Presbyterian Mission AgencyDr. Bill Christie, Westminster PresbyterianMs. Barbara Fay, Woodland PresbyterianDr. Brent Graham, Second PresbyterianRev. Shane Smith, Hillsboro PresbyterianRev. Taylor Young, St. Luke Cumberland PresbyterianRev. Claire Berry, Executive Director and Campus MinisterPlease contact us to learn more about UKirk Nashvillecampusminister@ukirknashville.orgFollow us on social media@ukirknashville8

23-24 UKirk Nashville Annual Rep