It required persistence, but the United Methodist Church was finally found a chance to present a surprise honor to Dr. Leslie Wessman of the Hope College faculty.
Wessman, who is professor of education and chair
of the department at Hope, has been named the West Michigan
Annual Conference recipient of the 1997 "Francis Asbury
Award for Fostering United Methodist Ministries in Higher
Education."
She received the award on Sunday, Jan. 4, at
Allegan United Methodist Church. She was honored, according
to the citation, "for outstanding leadership in supporting,
strengthening and promoting the Church's Higher Education
Ministries," having completed longtime service on
denominational boards at both the regional and national
level.
Wessman was designated to receive the award
several months ago, but circumstances delayed its
presentation. First, the death of her mother-in-law in June
prevented her from attending the meeting at which she was to
have received the honor. The regional group scheduled a
picnic for later in the summer, planning to give her the
award then, but a fire at the chair's house prompted its
cancellation.
Committed to making the presentation meaningful,
the regional members opted to give Wessman the award during
the January 4 service at the church, where her husband
Robert is pastor. They also succeeded in keeping the entire
matter a secret during all the months in between--she didn't
know about the honor until the presentation itself.
"It didn't tumble until they got up to the
microphone what was happening," she said. "So it was a nice
honor. I appreciated the recognition."
The award is named for Methodist bishop Francis
Asbury, who in 1791 challenged all Methodists to "give the
key of knowledge in a general way to your children, and
those of the poor in the vicinity of your small towns and
villages." Through the award, the United Methodist Church
recognizes individuals who guide the church in ministries to
and with the learning community.
Wessman was a member of the General Board of
Higher Education and Ministry, a national-level appointment,
from 1989 to 1996, and served as chair of the Campus
Ministry Committee of the board's Division of Higher
Education. She played a leadership role in developing
"Vision and Reality," the division's visioning document, and
contributed to the writing of "Education: The Gift of
Hope," a local church study.
She was a member of the West Michigan Board of
Higher Education and Campus Ministry of the United Methodist
Church from 1983 to 1996, and also chaired the board.
The United Methodist Church's ministry in higher
education includes 124 schools and colleges nationwide; more
than 700 campus ministries programs; a loan and scholarship
program that assists more than 4,000 students each year; the
Black College Fund, which supports ministries through 11
historically Black institutions of higher education; and
Africa University.
The West Michigan board's responsibilities include
managing campus ministry programs at four state universities
and at the two colleges in the region that are affiliated
with the United Methodist Church: Adrian College and Albion
College.
Wessman has been teaching at Hope since the fall
of 1990. Prior to joining the Hope faculty, she was
director of the Michigan Out-of-Formula District Association
in Lansing. She had previously also been a master teacher
at LaVerne University in California, and had held teaching,
counseling or administrative positions at secondary schools
in Hawaii, Rhode Island, California and Colorado.