Campus Pastor Receives National Award

The Rev. Michael Waide, Campus Minister for the Wesley Foundation at Fairmont State University, has been honored as the Rookie of the Year in the Northeast Region by the National Campus Ministry Association.

The award was made at the annual NCMA conference in Portland, Ore. Each year, the award is presented to a campus minister who has served no more than three years. Waide has completed one year at Fairmont State. He was nominated for the award by the Rev. Richard "Dick" Bowyer, who served Fairmont State from 1970 until his retirement in 2005 as a part-time instructor and Campus Minister for the Wesley Foundation.

The NCMA presented Waide the award "in recognition of his effective innovative programming, his nurturing and developing a strong student community, his nurturing of significant networks among church, community, and campus; and his advocacy for spiritual and financial support.

Some of Waide's accomplishments include the following: developing an extensive ministry of a weekly free meal for students hosted by area churches; developing a free meal and a snack bag for students during exam week; doing significant work with international students; providing memorial services and grief counseling; responding to financial/academic/spiritual crises for students; building positive on-campus relationships with faculty and staff; and creating an evening coffee house program. Waide also teaches in the Medical Laboratory Technology and Laboratory Assistant programs.

Waide has been active in the local community, especially in the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church where he serves as the advisor for the West Virginia United Methodist Student Movement and offers support for the youth programs of the United Methodist Church in the state. He is a frequent guest preacher and has developed local church relationships that have strengthened support of his own ministry and campus ministry in West Virginia. Waide is a product of campus ministry as a graduate of West Liberty State College, where Rev. Margie Carr Nickell mentored him. In January 2007, Waide will journey to South Africa with others to participate in a United Methodist sponsored Global Gathering of Young People in hopes of developing ways that the church can continue to reach out to its young adults. Prior to his position at Fairmont State, Waide was the associate pastor at Lewisburg United Methodist Church in Lewisburg, W.Va. He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church.

The Wesley Foundation is the campus ministry for both the United Methodist and Presbyterian (USA) Church at Fairmont State. For more information, call the Wesley Foundation at (304) 363-8210.