Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), began with a college pastor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1907. Individual Lutheran college ministries were organized into a network called the Lutheran Student Association of America in 1922, which later became the Lutheran Student Movement, USA, in 1969. With the formation of the ELCA in 1988, campus ministry activities became located in its former Division for Higher Education and Schools, with national staff responsible for assisting its programs. Since that time, however, funding has become tighter for campus ministry, resulting in decreases in staff and resources at the national level and its restructuring under the Vocation and Education program unit. In 2004, established Lutheran campus ministries were active on more than 180 campuses and on more than other 600 campuses through cooperative campus ministries with local congregations, reaching out to over 44,000 students.131 The United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) traces its roots back to a college ministry of sorts, the Holy Club begun by John Wesley on the campus of Kings College at Oxford University in 1729. In the United Methodist Church in America, college ministry began with the establishment of the first Wesley Foundation at the University of Illinois in 1913. Since that time, Wesley Foundations have been established on many public and private campuses to extend the work of the UMC in higher education. The Methodist Student Movement operated conferences for Methodist students from 1937 to 1965. In 1989, the Student Forum was established by the denomination as an annual student-led conference for leadership development and to provide connection to the national church. The United Methodist Student Movement was then formed out of the Student Forum in 1996 to act as a network, linking Methodist students across the country and the world. The Student Forum and United Methodist Student Movement
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