Lauren Weaver will serve as the United Methodist Church Liaison and Spiritual Life Coordinator at West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC) starting July 1.

The position was developed in a partnership between the West Virginia Conference and WVWC with a vision for the future sustainability of the connection.

Weaver is a lifetime United Methodist from Macon, Ga. She discerned her call to ministry after a short-term mission trip to Peru.

After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia in education, focused on recreation management, she went on to Asbury Theological Seminary to pursue her Master in Divinity.

While at Asbury, Weaver met her husband Nathan, who is a provisional elder in our conference.

Weaver brings energy, passion and gifts to the new position.

She previously worked at the University of Georgia Wesley Foundation. Centered in the call to love God with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength, she is passionate about holistic health — health of body, mind, soul, and spirit.

Weaver said that as she looks towards beginning this new ministry, her hopes for Wesleyan are twofold:

* To connect all ministries across the campus in campus-wide worship and prayer to give a united heartbeat of worship and prayer for all Christian ministries; and

* To bring into focus our Wesleyan theology and spiritual practices.

As part of her hopes to bring our Wesleyan heritage into focus, she hopes to utilize John Wesley’s band and class principles of studying Scripture and holding one another accountable on their spiritual growth and life together.

The hope is to provide space for students to learn about Jesus, grow in their spiritual life, and become a community confident in whose they are.

Weaver’s position as a liaison to the West Virginia Conference gives her the opportunity to build community and connection with the campus, students, and churches in the spirit of the connectionalism of the United Methodist Church.

With a vision for the future, Bishop Steiner Ball, in connection with the West Virginia United Methodist Foundation, has started the process of creating an endowment to sustain the position Weaver will occupy.

The West Virginia Conference is invited to join this partnership by making a donation to the endowment at the West Virginia United Methodist Foundation.

For more information contact the foundation at 304 342-2113 or info@umfwv.org