Called to the City: Urban Ministry, Urban Fellows & Intentional Living  

Urban Ministry Program

The Urban Ministry program at Wesley is open to any Master of Divinity or Master of Arts student. Contextual education - offering the chance to apply learning in a real-life environment - is at the heart of the Urban Ministry Program. The Urban Ministry program is based in downtown Washington, DC, in partnership with Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury United Methodist Church. The neighborhood is a mixture of deep poverty and expensive condominiums, homeless shelters and law firms. In the midst of urban transformation and gentrification, Urban Ministry students learn to engage the poor and homeless and the rich and powerful, meeting the needs of diverse cultures and populations. The Urban Ministry Program provides supervised study, specialized coursework, and an urban ministry placement. Coursework includes Introduction to Urban Ministry I & II, Sociology of Religion, Pastoral Care and Counseling in Context, and 9 elective credits from the urban ministry curriculum. After completing 30 credit hours, Urban Ministry students work with the Practice in Ministry and Mission staff to select an urban congregation, social justice agency, or other urban ministry setting in which to engage. Students should declare their intent to participate in the Urban Ministry Program prior to completing 30 credit hours.

Urban Fellows Program

Urban Fellows are a small cadre of outstanding Master of Divinity students who possess the experience, calling, and potential to become future leaders in urban ministry. Urban Fellows receive scholarship funding. They have exceptional opportunities for internships with urban congregations and not-for-profit organizations, including being mentored by experienced urban pastors and leaders. Urban Fellows learn to engage a broad spectrum of communities, meeting the needs of the diverse cultures and populations in the complex neighborhood in which the program is located. The Urban Ministry program is based in downtown Washington DC which provides a unique setting for the preparation of future leaders in urban ministry. In the shadows of the White House and the U.S. Capitol is a city grappling with the challenges of urban life. Urban Fellows will seek to live into Martin Luther King's vision of the Beloved Community by being in relationship and service with poor people, congregations, social service organizations, and social justice advocacy organizations throughout the city. Urban Fellows will seek faithful solutions to the challenges of homelessness and gentrification, addiction, failed schools, inaccessible health care systems, unemployment, and illiteracy. Urban Fellows will have opportunities to:

• Live in the Mr. Vernon Place Intentional Community
• Provide pastoral care in congregations and other settings
• Engage in community organizing
• Advocate and mobilize for justice issues
• Participate in collaborative action research projects
• Develop partnerships among congregations and agencies
• Bridge ecumenical and interfaith communities
• Practice congregational and worship leadership
• Learn from experienced urban pastors and leaders.

How do I apply?

All students interested in the Urban Fellows program are encouraged to apply to the Urban Fellows program when they apply for admission to Wesley Seminary. Urban Fellows must be full-time Master of Divinity students taking a minimum of 9 hours each semester. Urban Fellow applicants must submit an essay addressing the following questions:

• How have you experienced a call to Urban Ministry?
• What qualifications or experiences support your Urban Ministry calling?
• In what type of ministry setting do you see yourself serving in the future?

Essays of no more than 1500 words must be received no later than February 1. Essays may be submitted by email to admissions@wesleyseminary.edu, by fax to attn: Admissions at (202) 885-8585 or by mail to Admissions Office, Wesley Theological Seminary, 4500 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20016. Finalists for the Urban Fellows program will be invited to interview with members of the Urban Ministry Faculty Committee.

Intentional Living Community

Beginning in the fall of 2009, up to eighteen Wesley students will form an intentional community in the heart of Washington, DC. The community intends that members grow spiritually while fostering relationships with one other and within the broader community through relevant engagement and faithful service. The community will strive to reflect the diversity of Wesley. At the beginning of each semester, the community will form a covenant regarding group prayer and study, shared chores, community meals, and spiritual and academic accountability and support. The intentional community will receive guidance from a resident mentor, Wesley's Dean of Community Life, and the Mt. Vernon Place UMC pastor.

Location: The intentional community will be located in a new facility at 900 Massachusetts Ave NW, in downtown Washington, DC. The building is connected to Mt. Vernon Place UMC, a revitalized and engaged urban congregation that shares office and classroom space with Wesley Seminary's Urban Ministry program on the floors below the living community.

Mt. Vernon Place is in the heart of downtown, in an area characterized by tourism, power, and poverty. Expensive condominiums, low-income residential neighborhoods, the convention center, homeless shelters, law firms, Smithsonian museums, and the vibrant Chinatown business area all lie in the blocks surrounding Mt. Vernon Place. The area calls for students who want to learn and be engaged in an intentional living community as well as in a paradoxical urban setting.

Logistics: During their first year of seminary, students may apply to live at Mt. Vernon Place, and they may live in the intentional community for up to two years. All Wesley students who feel called to intentional community may apply, regardless of degree program. To be eligible, students must be enrolled as full-time students at Wesley while living in the community.  All students selected to live at Mt. Vernon Place will receive a housing scholarship to cover a majority of the actual living costs.

The housing arrangement includes six double dorm rooms and three efficiency apartments. A community lounge and laundry facilities are centrally located.