By Anastasia Pumphrey
Trinity UMC in Homewood, Alabama, hosted its most successful and golf tournament scholarship fundraiser to date on August 5, and this year it was led by a current CYMT resident!
Rhys Ferguson, class of 2024, has been attending TUMC and Element Youth Ministry since he was a youth himself and now serves this church with CYMT. Each year this active youth program goes on service trips and hosts many events for the community. In order to maintain affordability for a diverse population of students, TUMC has been putting on golf tournaments to fund full or partial scholarships for those who need it.
“We always want everyone to feel welcome,” Ferguson said. When asked to lead and plan this year’s 5th annual tournament, he said his belief in the “why” of the mission motivated him and his team to work harder than ever before at recruiting sponsors, networking with players, and even bringing in some professional golfers to support the cause.
Ferguson said that his team took a grassroots approach to recruiting, going door-to-door to businesses to spread the word about the importance of giving students, especially ones who may not be able to afford it, access to serve others on various levels. “You know, failure to me meant not having enough money for the kids to be part of these trips, so I just think we took that and put the most effort into making sure that didn’t happen,” Ferguson said.
Robert Studivant, a CYMT alum, also works at TUMC and was part of the golf tournament’s success. It was held at Hyland Park Golf Course in Birmingham and brought in nearly $9,000 in profit for scholarships in total. Ferguson attributes the success of both his leadership and the overall success of the tournament to how equipped he has felt since starting with CYMT a year ago. He said that the practical training the residency program offers prepared him to take on such a challenging but rewarding task, amongst the other 8 major events the church put on this summer.
We at CYMT are so proud of the work being done by our awesome residents to enhance the Christian development of young people!