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Yesterday, I noted the BIG NEWS that Zondervan’s primer on college ministry, College Ministry 101: A Guide to Working with 18-25 Year Olds by Chuck Bomar, is releasing tomorrow. (Read that post for why you should buy this book.)
Since it’s not out yet, I haven’t read 101. But in light of New College Ministry Book Week, I thought it might be a good exercise to think through what books might be most helpful for the field of Collegiate Ministry. I would love your thoughts, too.
What makes a strong campus ministry book in general? Here are my first humble suggestions:
Biblically faithful. This one (hopefully) goes without saying. Certainly, I can consider a book a strong entry in our field even if I disagree with some of its theology. But a book woefully ignorant of biblical principles – or that draws invalid conclusions – will be unhelpful. Likewise, any book that prooftexts its way through college ministry principles hurts its readers and our field.
Knowledgeable. Another big need for any college ministry book is truly informed authorship. Are there reasons we should listen to this author on this topic at this time? Regardless of her position or tenure, does she actually know what she’s talking about?
Are the facts actually correct – and how does the author know? Are the ideas up-to-date? Have the book’s stances arisen more from careful investigation than from personal experiences and limited exposure? Does the book reflect an understanding of the very specialized nature of college ministry and the collegiate environment?
Unpresumptuous. It’s easy to “upgrade” our ideas as we write them. In order to win fans or write boldly, we might start treating “activities that work for us” as Best Practices, helpful principles as rules, and “the way we happen to do things” as a model worth copying.
Presenting principles and models is good, but is what an author is saying truly as valuable for his readers as he thinks? Does the author help readers understand WHY and WHEN those tools might work in their local situations?
Authors may handle this in different ways, and readers share some of the responsibility of discerning what’s applicable. But we look to books for training; those books can mislead uninformed readers through presumption.
Breadth-acknowledging. The most common critique I’ve heard of some college ministry books is that they only reflect the author’s own (limited) experience.
When writing books for foreign missionaries, I assume most authors realize they must consider not only Brazil but Bulgaria and the Bahamas. Less recognized is the similarly wide diversity between college campuses (let alone between the churches, parachurch groups, denominations, and other entities that hope to reach those campuses).
Because of this breadth, anytime one particular model is presented as “the” way to organize a college ministry, the author will be wrong. And most statements about “every” campus or “every” campus ministry or “every” church will be wrong, too. So any book that aims for breadth of impact needs to walk quite carefully.
Not all topics in college ministry require consideration of the wide spectrum of the field. But where the broad spectrum applies to a book’s conclusions, it must be recognized implicitly or explicitly.
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Again, I haven’t gotten my copy of College Ministry 101 yet. So please don’t assume the above connects to Bomar’s book. It’s just a good exercise to prepare to read it – and any other college ministry books – thoughtfully.
I’d love your thoughts on how you might critique a book on college ministry – as well as any critique of my ideas here. With a new campus ministry book on the horizon, there’s no better time to think through what kind of work makes a strong contribution to the field of Collegiate Ministry!
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I always want to keep everybody up to speed on the latest Big News in the field of Collegiate Ministry!
Today, there’s Big News!
It turns out Zondervan’s new book on college ministry, College Ministry 101: A Guide to Working with 18-25 Year Olds, releases THIS FRIDAY. And I’d argue that you should consider paying the $15 to buy this book to support college ministry nationwide. This is huge: the mighty Zondervan has chosen to publish a book about college ministry. So they (and other publishers) need to be encouraged that we will buy publications covering this vital subject matter.
So I encourage the $15 sacrifice. Before you hear the reviews. Before you hear about it from a friend. You read the book first; you be the reviewer; you tell friends. Or buy the book to give to a parent, a pastor, a college minister, a youth minister. (That’s at least 4 copies, right?)
I am not encouraging us to read any college ministry book uncritically or follow its recommendations without weighing their value. But simply purchasing this book supports more than just the book and its author. If you can part with the money, I encourage you to support our field in this way. This is big news.
From what I’ve learned: Get the book the fastest from Zondervan. College Leader has it a little cheaper. And Amazon will have it shortly for even cheaper!
Written by Chuck Bomar, the book apparently covers:
(For a look at the section / chapter titles, click here and scroll down. For Chuck’s brief post on the book release, click here.)
The book is written from a church-based college ministry standpoint, and it looks like that will be discussed in the first and last chapters. Also, as the title suggests, Chuck focuses on college-aged ministry, which I believe he considers 18-25 year-olds whether student or not.
BUT, many of the topics covered seem to be fully applicable for all of us. AND there are some solid recommendations of this book by some superstars.
Meanwhile, as part of the celebration of New College Ministry Book Week, I’ll probably post thoughts tomorrow on how I’d evaluate any book on college ministry (for all you aspiring Collegiate Ministry authors – and I hope many of us are!).
To find other books that connect to our field, check out these assorted posts.
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II I
In the last week, I’ve had the opportunity to visit two campuses – West Virginia University and George Mason University – which happened to be holding New Student Orientation activities during my visits.
For the uninitiated, NSO is a summer event when freshmen make their way to campus, often with parents in tow, in order to (presumably) get “oriented” for the year to come. This event often involves registering for classes, touring the campus, learning traditions and other school “rules,” and perhaps even moving in to the dorms.
Orientation also brings recruitment by countless organizations. Depending on the school, this can include extracurricular activities (frats, clubs, ministries, etc.), but it very likely also includes community establishments…
…such as banks, with their slick cups and pens and checkbook holders, recruiting students and their (parents’) money. You’ll also find newspaper subscription-hawkers, cell phone companies, and the ever-present bookstore, who will remind you from the beginning of your college experience that its convenience and support of the school make higher prices worth the cost.
Each business recognizes that this is a fresh crop, a group of pre-freshmen ready to be served! After all, a whole bunch of customers just graduated in May, and while their faces are long forgotten, their patronage is certainly missed.
(The credit card companies are probably absent at this point; they will instead show up within the semester, when parents aren’t around, with lots of free T-shirts or other flashy giveaways.)
This is Orientation.
But as missionaries, we look closer.
This is a land of fresh, wide-eyed potential. 18-year-old men and women walk these halls with maps they won’t soon need. Over the next four years, they will encounter a sort of life they haven’t known, with freedoms to do and be and become. The skin of high school, often so restrictive with its cliques and malformed “cool” and Babel-like, single-language culture, will be shed. New friends, new acceptance, new opportunities are here, whether this place is 50,000 people strong or much smaller.
A college is bigger than its numbers.
The hustle and bustle that will soon be found daily on campus will be a great visual metaphor for the life, the energy, the haphazard but steady progress that happens in this place.
Successes in the next four years will lead to the greatest joys imaginable, with experiences that last a lifetime or even lead these beautiful people to a new sort of life altogether. Reinventing oneself is not an uncommon event on a college campus.
These men and women will “find themselves” in all the best ways: within majors they didn’t know existed, within communities they didn’t know could exist, within new routines and challenging schedules and the maturity that makes life breathe easier. Leaders will rise up, either realizing the potential we always knew they had… or shocking everyone with ability we never knew existed.
Some of these men and women will find husbands and wives over the next four years, and many others will have their “antes upped,” as co-ed friendships help raise the bar on what they’re looking for in a significant other.
In even the first month of school, many of these guys and gals will join clubs that will “stick.” Many will start a friendship that will last forever. Many will be invited to a Bible study. Many will find their church – or at least start looking with intentionality. Many will reflect on this new experience after a few weeks, grin, and look forward to an amazing four years.
In those next four years, plenty of these men and women will get a leadership position. Or two. They’ll get in shape. Get a kiss (even their first, in some cases). Get engaged. Learn to schedule. Get a 4.0. Get honored. Make 2,000 Facebook friends. Find a career. Study abroad. Let go a little, loosen up a bit, mature a lot, and laugh nearly every day.
Some of these nearly-collegians will be back smiling next year at Orientation, happily representing the glories they’ve found to a new batch ready to be influenced and trained. Many of those glories would pleasantly surprise them today.
And some of those booths will be ministry booths, because the college ministry communities will have welcomed in Christians and non-Christians for discipleship and fellowship and conversion and love. Lots and lots of love. Boys and girls will come to school uncommitted and will leave vibrant, wide-eyed Jesus followers, and the whole world will be different because of it.
As missionaries, we look.
This Orientation also presents a land of unspeakable danger. 18-year-olds walking these halls at Orientation don’t realize the changes about to take place, and there are few good maps. Over the next four years, they will encounter a sort of life they haven’t known, with freedoms to fail and waste and destroy. The buffers of high school and family, often places of unappreciated coziness and naiveté and ever-present help, will be long gone. New kinds of pain, new temptation, new harshness are here, whether this place is 50,000 people strong or much smaller.
A college is bigger than its numbers.
The hustle and bustle that will soon be found daily on campus will conceal much of the death, the hurt, the haphazard and steady decay haunting this place.
Simple “mess-ups” in the next four years will lead to the deepest pain imaginable, in some cases pains that last a lifetime or even lead these beautiful people to take their lives altogether. Collegiate suicide is not an uncommon event.
These boys and girls will “find themselves” in all the worst ways: within temptations they didn’t know existed, within relationships they didn’t think could exist, within new routines and schedules and the stresses that can color days gray. Cults will rise up: cults of personality, cults of pleasure, and even real religious cults.
Many will “play house” over the next four years, and even today at Orientation the girls flaunt bodies, and even today the boys muster courage and methods to take them up on it. Many boys and girls will lower their expectations, willing to do much and accept many that they wouldn’t have only a year or two before, in hopes of touch and friendship and love and promise.
In even the first month of school, many will be invited to parties that get them in over their heads. Many will get drunk for the first time. Many won’t be invited to a Bible study. Many will attend church for the last time for many years. Many will reflect on this new experience after a few weeks, shudder, and walk forward into four long years.
In those next four years, plenty of these men and women will make a life-changing bad decision. Or three. They’ll get in heavy debt. Have a homosexual encounter (even their first, in some cases). Get an eating disorder. Get depressed. Reject their faith. Abort their education. Abort a child. Bring shame to themselves, their family, or their student organization. Masterfully learn “the world,” in all its selfishness and evil and temporary gratification. Lose friends. Let go of too much, loosen up too much, mature too little, and cry on many, many days.
Some of these nearly-collegians will be back smiling next year at Orientation, happily representing the “glories” they’ve found to a new batch ready to be influenced and trained. Many of those glories would repel them today.
This is the brink called Orientation, as men and women walk the halls of campus with their soon-tossed maps and their soon-absent parents and their fearful hope in tow.
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I’m sure I’ve been seeing Brink’s Home Security commercials since I was little. So when I caught a very similar commercial yesterday – a scene of a woman’s house being broken into, the alarm scaring off the intruder, the woman receiving an immediate call – I figured it was the familiar commercials I’ve been watching most of my life.
But the voice on the other end of that phone call announced that it was Broadview Security calling to make sure everything was alright. I was immediately annoyed that someone was clearly copying the ads I was used to.
But then the commercial revealed the point: Brink’s Home Security has changed its name to Broadview Security! And I’m a little uneasy about the whole thing. I wasn’t aware of it, but apparently I’ve built quite a schema inside my head of Brink’s as the name in home security.
Obviously, their name change is not actually something that’s going to bother me… too much. But plenty of us who are used to seeing the Brink’s shield might be a little thrown off by the name change.
And here was my campus ministry-connected thought: How many of our college ministries have nearly the identity that even this random security company has? Yes, most college ministries probably avoid the Rigid Traditionalism and static-ness that infamously besets some Christian work. That’s good. But pitching our tents on the other side, in the land of Continual Upheaval, is quite detrimental to our long-term effectiveness.
It wouldn’t be surprising at all to observe 5 or more “renditions” of a college ministry across a decade, caused by leader turnover, structure changes, new “visions” for the ministry, and the like. Not all is directly controllable by the college minister, but that doesn’t make it any less problematic.
If the time comes when your ministry needs to change its name, make a major structure adjustment, change leadership, or otherwise significantly alter its identity, will you have built the ministry to the point that people care? I’m not just talking about “branding,” but community identity – does your campus, its community, its administration, and its alumni know your college ministry well enough that a Big Change… would be noticeable?
More important question: Are you building the ministry in such a way that this will be the case in 10 years?
(And feel free to pass this on to whomever oversees you – not giving college ministers long enough to succeed is a major cause of this problem…)
For more on building for longevity, you can check out former posts discussing longevity… or the many posts in the “Assessment & Strength” category.
I also wrote about the need for – and lack of – campus ministry longevity in the very free Reaching the Campus Tribes.
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A week ago, I wrote about a recent theme in my college ministry research – and, I suspect, a trend within college ministry right now. That trend is Vocational Discipleship, helping students think about what it means to live out their workplace callings in light of the Lord.
As a follow-up, at least a few resources that look like they could be helpful for these things; I learned about each of these through my investigations and connections on the latest road trip, so I wanted to put them on your radar, too!
The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness: A Guide for Students by Donald Opitz and Derek Melleby and the companion blog.
As I meet with college ministers, this is one of the few books I hear about frequently. It was GREAT connecting with one of the authors, Derek Melleby, on the recent trip. He gave me a copy of the book, which I look forward to finally reading sometime, and the blog is impressive! (Plus, for further exploration, see the links along the side of the blog.)
God in the Marketplace by Henry Blackaby and the companion site (which has, among other things, monthly devos).
…while those in the marketplace may have excellent educations and access to world-class leadership seminars, they often feel inadequate in matters of spiritual influence. God in the Marketplace will help them better understand what the Bible says about integrating their Christian faith with their work lives and provide biblical answers to the common yet difficult questions that are often raised for Christians at work.
If you check out the books above on Amazon, you might scan through the “related books,” too.
Christianity & Vocation talk – Matt Perman.
I found this audio when I was preparing to meet with a guy from Campus on a Hill, a college ministry at Cornell. I haven’t gotten to listen yet, but the speaker is the Senior Director of Strategy with Desiring God. (The message and Q&A links are in the bottom right corner of that page.)
Revisions magazine from Manna Christian Fellowship.
This Ivy League college ministry puts out a magazine that touches on these issues. (Does your campus ministry publish a magazine?)
Anything you want to add to this measly little list? Let us know the resources you’ve found!
Hope you have a phenomenal day!
As for me and my house, my family doesn’t have any special July 4th traditions. I enjoy fireworks in the same way I like Pop Rocks – they’re pretty awesome when you get a chance to experience ‘em, but I don’t go out of my way to make that happen. But when I hear them, in the sky or in the mouth, respectively, I come running to take a look!
I think my metaphor broke down in there somewhere.
But wherever you’re doing fireworks, I hope they have humongous shapes or make it all the way to the moon or somethin’. And if they have sparklers, I hope your name is short enough to write in smoke before it fades away – more like “Ben” and less like “Chrysanthemum.”
If you want something collegiate to pray for today while you’re enjoying your fam, remember our college students, home for the summer, hanging with family. Not all of them have great family situations – “fireworks” of another kind – and others will see immediate and extended family this summer who they would love to have spiritual conversations with!
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