Nazarene student leadership officers for the  2010-2011 school year (left to right): Vice co-chair, Josh Dampf, MNU;  secretary, Jolaine Weller, TNU; student co-chair, Evan Karg, ONU; and treasurer, Preston O'Malley, NNU.

On January 21, General Superintendent J. K. Warrick met via video conference with student leaders of U.S. and Canada Nazarene colleges and universities. Student leaders met on the Point Loma Nazarene University campus with the chief student development officers of the Nazarene schools. Evan Karg, Olivet Nazarene University student government association president and Nazarene Student Leadership Association co-chair, led the two-hour discussion with Warrick.

Questions ranged from areas where the Church of the Nazarene is thriving to challenges facing the church. Student leaders were concerned about issues affecting the denomination and the changes taking place in the church.

The group discussed the denomination's response to individuals struggling with sexual identity issues in Nazarene churches and college campuses.  

Students expressed concerns about Nazarene college-age students who do not attend Nazarene institutions of higher education, and expressed interest in taking an offering on the Nazarene campuses for a Nazarene Student Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska.

Concern also was expressed about the high number of college students attending Nazarene institutions who are not Nazarene and the number of Nazarene students who leave the church after graduating college.

Warrick challenged students to "give small churches a chance" and "be the one who could get this small church moving."

"Our conversation with Dr. Warrick was a time of encouragement and honesty for the student leaders, and I know that what we discussed will be carried beyond this specific meeting," Karg said.

The conference agenda included a business meeting in which updates on campus activities were given from the student leaders. Woody Webb, Olivet Nazarene University vice president for Student Development, also chaired a day-long meeting with the chief student development officers.

"It is always energizing to spend quality time with student leaders," Nazarene Education Commissioner E. LeBron Fairbanks said. "They dream big, God-inspired dreams and are deeply committed to the Lord and to the Church of the Nazarene. The video conference with Dr. Warrick was the highlight of the meeting. The students were greatly inspired by his words and wanted to reflect on his responses."

--International Board of Education, NCN News