Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup visited the university’s Wesley Methodist Church on Wednesday night to speak on leadership and faith in today’s world.

“”I have the best job today, better than I’ve ever had before,”” Walkup said. “”I am new to politics, and doing the right thing is the right thing to do. If you do the right thing, you will be rewarded, because that’s what the people want.””

The Wesley Methodist Church, located on Park Avenue, hosted Walkup and his wife, Robin, to give the sermon and to speak to young churchgoers in a personal setting. Walkup and his wife participated in the event’s gospel singing prior to the sermon, and stayed afterwards to have dinner with members of the church.

“”I wanted a few weeks of getting leaders in the community to come,”” said Dee Dee Azhikakath, campus minister and organizer of Wednesday’s event. “”Where students here could see that faith is beyond college, and faith is beyond one hour a week at worship, and that faith goes with you in everything that you do.””

The sermon that Walkup and his wife delivered dealt primarily with personal issues of faith and anecdotes on how their faith began. According to Walkup, the primary connection between faith and politics is serving the people.

“”For the last 30 years, I have been doing what I suppose God wanted me to do, which is to serve, and it is a magnificent job,”” Walkup said. “”What I think politics is really all about today, is that you have really got to get down on the floor and you have got to get with people you are serving and understand what their problems are.””

Walkup did not address issues concerning conflicts between religious views and politics, but rather persisted in his view that serving people, whether in regards to faith or regards to politics, was what was most important.

Walkup also spoke on his views on the Bible, saying that it should be read literally.

“”The Bible is a real book of historical events,”” he said. “”It is real, and you can read it with faith that these events happened.””

Walkup provided several anecdotes to the church, which related to how faith has become a part of his life, through his travels and his experiences, and how that has in turn affected his ability to govern. He originally had no intention of getting involved in politics, until he decided he wanted to serve the people of Tucson, he said.

Walkup and his wife are both members of the Wesley Methodist Church, and according to Azhikakath, there will be future sermons, which will bring leaders of the city of Tucson to speak about their faith and their roles of leadership in the community.