Your financial gift
to UKirk SMU
says to our students,
“You belong!”
The gift
of belonging
UKirk SMU gathers students in the spirit of Christ’s open table—connecting all who are seeking a place of community and care. Our ministry brings together those who share a curiosity about the relationship between life and faith, and how to live as compassionate people.
At UKirk SMU, students know that they can bring their questions, doubts, and challenges with the traditions and churches that don’t fit for them—or in some cases have unjustly excluded or harmed them. With UKirk SMU, in the spirit of Christ’s own ministry, these students find a place of comfort, peace, and non-judgment where they can experience God’s deep love.
UKirk SMU’s vision of what it looks like to follow Christ is to center those who may feel on the margins, to give a home where there was no home and make a way where there was no way, always looking to offer compassion and peace in an anxious world.
In the few years since its founding in 2019, UKirk SMU has grown from a handful of students, grateful for Christian community at the onset of an isolating global pandemic. We now serve dozens of students with relationships rippling out across campus life, and a community of supporters whose passion for this ministry of belonging has brought us together in a deep and lasting bond.
Our Mission
UKirk SMU is a worshiping community that looks for the sacred in the ordinary. We seek to follow God by wrestling with holy scripture, gathering weekly around the table for communion, and striving to embody Jesus’s unconditional love in the world.
UKirk SMU is a place where you are invited to come as you are. Bring doubts and questions, fears and past experiences, dreams and wonderings.
Bring your whole self. We are fully inclusive of LGBTQIA+ people and we strive to be an anti-racist community. We celebrate and embrace all people, exactly how they are.
All of who you are is welcome here.
UKirk SMU is a place of nourishment, care, and support.
College is hard—this is a community where students can rest, eat, de-stress, and connect in meaningful ways with people who care.
UKirk SMU is a place of belonging for all.
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“Every time I walk into Canterbury House, I feel at peace. It’s an experience I’ve never felt in a church community before. UKirk has been a life-changing and healing experience for me, for which I am eternally grateful.”
Sydni Walker, student
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“UKirk welcomes every student, just as they are, in a worshipping community where it is safe to wrestle with tough questions of faith. Traditional in worship, progressive in theology, and prophetic in its ethics, UKirk equips students to faithfully be the Church as they go out onto campus and into the world.”
Mark Chancey, academic advisor
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“Everything about my experience with UKirk feels entirely serendipitous, and I could not be more grateful for how this ministry grounded me and brought spirituality into my life.”
Ru Ferguson, alum
Annual Budget $200,000
Staffing: $120,000
The human connection, fostered through pastoral care, conversation, and a ministry of presence brings UKirk SMU to life. All of these rely on funding a dynamic, energetic, and compassionate staff. As with all non-profits, the small staff (in our case one permanent campus minister and two interns) makes the whole organization run. A contribution to our staffing budget goes to sustain the very heartbeat of UKirk SMU’s life on campus.
Our internship program trains and prepares upcoming leaders in the church with hands-on vocational discernment and practice. Gifted pastoral wisdom and experience are essential to the stability and growth of this important ministry. We also invite local pastors and musicians to our weekly worship, offering stipends for their services.
Meals & Fellowship: $15,000
Meals bring our community together and nourish our relationships. When we gather around a table, we remember what we have in common. We share meals after weekly worship, and also host small group gatherings with food as an entry point.
Service Trips & Retreats: $30,000
Service trips and retreats invite students to engage deeply with God and one another outside the campus environment. We ask students to invest in these activities, while also encouraging wide participation regardless of financial resources. Some retreats emphasize partnership with the larger church while others serve as pilgrimages to deepen spiritual connection and form communal bonds. Moving forward, we envision additional service opportunities.
Overhead: $45,000
For our ministry to be safe and supportive, it is necessary to have sufficient funding for the essential unseen components such as insurance, office supplies, and supportive work. Supportive work includes administrative tasks, accounts management, and event coordination.
How We
Get There
Each year we need to engage many donors for success. This chart will help you understand how we get where we need to be with a combination of gifts of all sizes—all meaningful and necessary!
Size of gift
$25,000
$15,000
$7,500
$5,000
$2,500
Less than $500
# of gifts
2
3
4
10
10
Many
Cumm. Total
$50,000
$95,000
$125,000
$175,000
$200,000
Goal Achieved
Ways to give
Each gift is meaningful. We want to meet you where you are in your giving. There are many ways for individuals to fulfill pledges, including: checks, credit cards, stock transfers, and planned giving.
In our ministry, gifts of all sizes are important and necessary. Our prayer is that your giving transforms you as much as it impacts our students.
Your Gift, Our Ministry, God’s Impact
As with all college experiences, a student’s participation with UKirk SMU begins at school, but extends for a lifetime as graduates and alums create an ongoing community of support.
In our brief time serving SMU students, the numbers tell the story of how this community is built:
