{"id":34595,"date":"2024-11-04T10:30:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=34595"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:34:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T20:34:47","slug":"with-open-arms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/with-open-arms\/","title":{"rendered":"With Open Arms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Members of the Wesley Fellowship jump while having their photo taken. Photo provided.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sixteen years spent with college students means a lot of wedding invitations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the Rev. Edward McCutcheon shows up, attending, officiating, celebrating with students who have been part of Furman\u2019s Wesley Fellowship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But 16 years as a campus minister also means a lot of questions, struggles and tears. And McCutcheon is there, too, helping students explore faith, grapple with big issues and even face death.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Caroline Brawley \u201924 was studying in Taiwan her senior year when her mom called to say her dad had died of a heart attack. Brawley\u2019s head spun as she packed to return home. She tried to go to bed, but sleep wouldn\u2019t come.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGod,\u201d she prayed, \u201cI need to talk to somebody.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then she remembered it was Thursday in South Carolina. It was lunchtime in Greenville. McCutcheon would be in the Dining Hall. She picked up her phone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe talked to me until I was like, \u2018OK, I can go to bed now,\u2019\u201d Brawley says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Back home, still reeling from shock and jet lag, she got a text from McCutcheon: \u201cSee you <\/span>on Wednesday.\u201d He meant in Tennessee, for her father\u2019s celebration of life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows how to listen to us, how to be there for us,\u201d says Dalmondeh \u201cDD\u201d Nayreau \u201925.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Edward McCutcheon, right, campus minister for the Furman Wesley Fellowship, poses for a photo with student members of the group. Photo provided.<\/p><\/div>\n

Since 2008, McCutcheon has led Furman students in worship and given them space to wrestle with faith. He\u2019s ready to talk about everything from broken relationships to NCAA tournament picks. He comes to mock trial competitions, concerts, volleyball games and, occasionally, the emergency room.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe shows up for students,\u201d Nayreau continues.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wesley Fellowship is one of several organizations that work with Furman\u2019s Office of Spiritual Life to tend to students\u2019 spiritual and religious needs. Student groups for other Christian denominations, as well as for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim faiths, meet regularly. There is a student-led Religious Council and ministers and advisors for Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal and other denominations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fortunate to have an excellent group of campus ministers to work with us in the Office of Spiritual Life. Edward has always been a leader among that group. He is a great colleague, a fine minister, and a caring soul. His presence at Furman has always helped us be better,\u201d says Vaughn CroweTipton, associate vice president for spiritual life, university chaplain and associate professor of religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Answering the call<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCutcheon\u2019s call to ministry goes back to his days at Wofford College, where a campus chaplain made a deep impact on him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought that was kind of the dream job,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He earned a master of divinity at Duke Divinity School, was ordained by the United Methodist Church (UMC) in 2002 and served as associate minister at two churches. He soon discovered that while he enjoyed study and sermon preparation, they weren\u2019t his favorite parts of pastoring.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would rather be with people than sitting in my office,\u201d says McCutcheon. \u201cI love that every day could be different.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Open invitation<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCutcheon has a phrase he uses so regularly that Wesley students can quote it: \u201cThis is always an invitation, not an obligation.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The invitation has nothing to do with UMC membership.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He estimates only half the students who find their way to Furman Wesley are connected to the UMC. A typical year for the fellowship is about 20 to 25 students. Other campus ministries host larger groups but McCutcheon is content.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know everybody,\u201d he says. \u201cI know people\u2019s stories, I know their joys, I know their concerns.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Edward McCutcheon, right, campus minister for the Furman Wesley Fellowship, speaks at an event. Photo provided.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nayreau felt that connection from the beginning. She grew up in Liberia and attended a UMC church there. College was her chance to figure out what the family\u2019s faith meant to her personally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just wandered into the first meeting of the year,\u201d she says. A student greeted her and McCutcheon was right behind, \u201cwhich is the routine for him, whenever there\u2019s a new face through the door.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brawley, who also grew up in the UMC, says Furman Wesley has space for students of all persuasions, and his example taught her how to meet people where they are.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEdward was so good at just being around people that he made everybody feel welcome,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not that those differences didn\u2019t matter, they just never existed with hostility.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wesley Fellowship schedule includes a Tuesday night meeting with singing, prayer, a sermon and fellowship. A first-year student group also meets weekly, and every Thursday students can find McCutcheon in the Dining Hall at lunch or at Starbucks in the afternoon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes they\u2019re gathered around the Bible; other times they\u2019re simply gathered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed,\u201d Nayreau says, \u201cwe\u2019re all open and committed to learning.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McCutcheon has a leadership team of students who help him serve the group. He makes a point to meet with the leaders regularly as a pastor, not a supervisor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe leaders are helping to care for other students and now I need to care <\/span>for your soul,\u201d he tells them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nayreau has been part of the leadership team since her sophomore year, when she led the first-year group. She served as treasurer her junior year and this year is a student facilitator.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a part of the team that ensures that Wesley remains a welcoming environment for incoming students, just as it has been for me through the effort of others,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Loving well<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Church law isn\u2019t central to his daily ministry, but he\u2019s been glad for the chance to walk with students through the upheaval in the UMC over the last several years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of his students have home churches that voted on disaffiliation because of the denomination\u2019s changing stance on homosexuality. Others have come from congregations eager to make more room in the church.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have felt that it was even more important to stay in my role, because of bridging that gap,\u201d says McCutcheon, who has seen relational impact in the broader church and is planning for the funding impact.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About one-quarter of the UMC\u2019s U.S. congregations disaffiliated between 2019 and 2023, primarily because of delayed resolution over the church\u2019s language and policies on issues of sexuality. The changes ultimately were approved by the General Conference in spring 2024.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For some, the revisions didn\u2019t go far enough; for others they went too far. One conservative friend told McCutcheon he no longer felt there was a place for him in the denomination.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want him to feel that way,\u201d McCutcheon says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want people in the LGBTQ+ community to feel that way, either.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s been available to talk through the turmoil with students, but it\u2019s not been a formal agenda item for the Wesley Fellowship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nayreau says students know McCutcheon isn\u2019t going to give them all the answers. Instead, he\u2019ll guide them through difficult issues in a way that uncovers the facts and lets them decide for themselves how to apply those facts to their faith.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversations in the group tend to focus more on how to treat others with dignity, kindness and respect than on cultural or political debates.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rev. Edward McCutcheon brings a philosophy of presence, understanding and dialogue to Furman\u2019s Wesley Fellowship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":34531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3055,3056,1963],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2024","category-features-fall-2024","category-furman-magazine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34595"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35263,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34595\/revisions\/35263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}