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As a college minister, you probably have some room in the schedule over the next few days. Of course, family and football take precedence, but if you have some time beyond all that, I want to encourage you the same way InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network just encouraged its readers:
Add Reaching the Campus Tribes to your Thanksgiving Break to-do list.
www.reachingthecampustribes.com
If you haven’t had the chance to read my (free and full-of-pictures) book yet, this week is a magnificent time to do so. The book offers major encouragement and major ideas for anyone involved in ministering to college students. Could you use a huge boost as the semester or quarter draws to a close – and as the next one is right around the corner?
You can easily read the whole thing in a day – especially a lazy, cozy day during Thanksgiving Break. And there’s even a mobile version if you need it, perfect for loading onto a phone and sneaking a peek during Halftimes!
I appreciate the thousands who have visited the site and downloaded the book so far. I’m excited that it seems to be helpful to a wide range of college ministers. After roaming the country over the last few years (and 8 years of direct college ministry before that), it’s still the best way I can share with you the fruit of what I’ve seen.
And if we’ll pass Reaching to other American Christians who need to understand what we do… it might just be a tool God uses to grow their support for our work, too.
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Meanwhile, as many of you are indeed beginning your Thanksgiving break today, I’m going to join you and take a few days off of the ol’ blog. Personally, it’s a doubly good time for me to take a pause, since…
…the enormous Road Trip 13 comes to a close today (presumably, at least).
I’ll have recapping to do next week, but for now it’s going to be a good time to rest up, hang with family, and clean out my car once more. It’s amazing the entropy that sets in during 7 weeks on the road!
See you on Monday.
written from Dickson, TN
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Day 52 recap
recap: VA to mid-TN, with a fun stop at Tennessee Tech (see all explorations so far)
mileage: 9,213 miles (so far)
new campus: Tennessee Tech (#36)
new state: Tennessee (#24)
T-shirt: the Huskies of UConn
wednesday: I make my way home to the Dallas area! (final T-shirt today: the Pride of Widener University)
Yesterday, I noted a few questions that had arisen in my own curious mind about one of the BIG, vital aspects of collegiate ministry: finding the funds to get the job done. Today, I continue with a few more Qs for all of us, beginning with one I wish I didn’t have to ask.
4. What is your reaction to those who are funded differently from you? Is there any legalism or pity mixed in there?
Heartbreaking: Some college ministers on BOTH sides of the personal support-raising fence seem to look at those on the other with actual disdain! I think some have adopted homemade rules about how funding should happen, based either in biblical principles or personal experiences. Do you hold those in contempt who have to raise funds – or those who don’t raise funds? Are they “lesser” ministers / missionaries?
But others struggle not with judgment but with (wrongful) pity, especially regarding those (in the clear majority) who do raise their support personally. When I talk to college ministers raising their full support (even for decades and decades), they often report that it’s a wonderful life they lead.
And for those who have received funding through other means, that, too, can be celebrated! Right?
5. Are there a bunch of alternate funding sources we’re missing here?
As you may know, this is a pet hope of mine: That we might find many opportunities to help fund college ministry work and college ministry workers in creative (and even sometime ministry-enhancing) ways. This isn’t to supplant “Ministry Partner Development,” tithes at churches, or endowments and donations at Christian colleges. But could some kind of “entrepreneurial enterprises” or other creative models enhance the work we’re doing? I haven’t seen too much, although NewChapter has one strong idea in this area – and I myself was heavily funded this way for a couple of years.
I still figure there have got to be more options. Lots of ‘em, even.
6. Have you collaborated with others to gain funding wisdom?
We should collaborate on this issue, even with those outside of our organizations or branches of college ministry. Obviously. Even if we never switch to others’ models of fund development, others’ models for funding could easily offer us wisdom and “tweaks” for our own.
7. Is the mission you share compelling enough that supporters share your mission with others?
This was another main point in the talk (given by Cru NE Regional Team dude Ryan McReynolds) that I described yesterday. You and I believe that college ministry is exciting, world-changing, and undervalued, right? So are we telling that AWESOME TALE in such a way that others “get it”… and get it enough to spontaneously share the story, too?
It’s not easy to get good at our story-sharing. But it’s so, so worth it, that we might receive all the “ministry partnership” (in finances and otherwise) we possibly can!
written from Charlottesville, VA
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Day 51 recap
recap: a rainy day of exploring the Cavalier tribe of UVA (see all explorations so far)
T-shirts: the Billiken (!) tribe of Saint Louis University
tuesday: I begin to head home… Probably past Nashville by the time I stop tomorrow!
Whether you happen to raise all, some, or none of your salary and operations budget personally, I encourage you to check out today’s questions, offered humbly to all of us. Because we all have to get financed from somewhere.
I haven’t written much about raising support, in large part because it’s something I’m not particularly acquainted with. But I recognize – and we all should recognize – that most college ministers personally raise their support from individuals and groups. Let us who live in helpful financial arrangements (because of our region, our branch of college ministry, or something else) not forget that fact. Support-raising is the norm.
But I try to limit myself in this blog and in conversations to things I’ve studied or experienced, and fundraising doesn’t fit either category too much. However, I did have the fantastic opportunity to sit in on some lengthy support-raising discussions yesterday, among none other than Campus Crusade staffers in the Northeast (who doubly know something about the need to raise funds – or participate in Ministry Partner Development, as they call it).
That certainly doesn’t make me an expert, but it got me thinking about what I have been able to see around the country in this area. The first of my questions today, with more to come.
1. When raising support – whether it’s financial, prayer, organizational, or any other kind of support – do you focus on connecting people to the mission or only to you?
That was the big point of my friend Ryan McReynolds’s portion of yesterday’s presentation: Don’t just win people over to supporting you; bring them into the wonderful idea of participating (with you) in transforming college students’ lives. And this applies to intangible support, too – which might make all the difference in keeping your job, growing your ministry, and impacting a campus. (Read more on that here.)
2. Regardless of how you’re presently paid and the work is supported, could God have other means in mind, too?
If you don’t have ministry partners… could you? Should you? Even a few? Even in church college ministry or Christian college spiritual life?
If you do support-raise, are there any alternate options for financing alongside that? Even a little bit?
We shouldn’t dismiss options simply because of inertia and a good argument or two for “the way we’ve always done it.” What if God has something surprising in mind? Would you even give Him a chance to show you?
3. How much (and how quickly) are alumni connected to your ministry after they graduate, as prayer support, moral support, and perhaps even financial support?
This seems like low-hanging fruit to me – again, even for church-based and Christian college spiritual life, not to mention for campus-based college ministry and collegiate churches. Having gone to Texas A&M, I’ve seen a great picture of alumni outreach in a secular environment; sadly, it doesn’t seem like this happens much in college ministries. But it could have benefits both for college ministries and their alumni!
This discussion continues in the next post!
Meanwhile, do you have any thoughts – or questions of your own? Many of you know more than me about this – I’d love to hear your wisdom, links, etc.
written from Charlottesville, VA
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Day 50 recap
recap: More of Campus Crusade’s NE Regional Staff Conference in NY, then a 10-hour drive to Charlottesville (see all explorations so far)
T-shirts: the Prof (!) tribe of Rowan University
monday: exploring the University of Virginia!
As Road Trip 13 is drawing to a close, it seems to be getting even zanier! But while much of my time this weekend has involved driving through Upstate NY in the dark, the daytime has reminded me just how pretty it is up here!
I was really excited that this week’s post listing the college ministry blogs I read (Russ Martin helpfully posted some of these as a public feed), was much-visited and much-shared. As college ministers, we should all be learners – including learning from each other – and blogs are a great way to do that! If you know of other college ministry bloggers, check out that post, and then please let me know!
Now on to some of the fantastic college ministry discussions this week, which include Evangelism resources, college ministry history, new DVD teaching curricula, atheist college “ministries,” and more!
defining success in college ministry: Quite providentially, several college ministry thinkers have turned their attention simultaneously to the very important topic of how we define success in college ministry. (God is a gracious Synergist, isn’t He?) HeartOfCampusMinistry began a weekly series on the topic – with a post by the much-respected Dean Thune. (I’ll be posting in that series in a few weeks!) Aaron Klinefelter wrote a great (and interesting) post on an “ecological” understanding of college ministry success. I posted on why aiming for numbers isn’t (usually) a good college ministry priority. And Ian Clark is asking the same question about how we define success.
atheist campus groups (from ABC news): Yesterday, ABC News ran a story online titled, “Atheist Student Groups Flower on College Campuses.” Check it out here. (HT: Kirby Oaks)
dvd series for college ministries: Famous book guru Byron Borger turns his attention to two new DVD series, each of which might fit a need for large-group or small-group teaching next semester. One is from a group of major (and hip) Christian thinkers about compassion / social justice issues, and the other series is from Don Miller. (Of course, the Hearts & Minds Books blog is always good reading, to learn about… potential good reading.)
a short history of an interesting college ministry: The Austin Stone Community Church has one of the more interesting models of college ministry out there, and they’ve happily begun posting a short history of their transition to this model! (Have you considered doing this? Have you done this? Let me know!) Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.
the weary life of a campus missionary: A cool, personal reflection from Alice Connor on what it means to be in the messy, difficult, awesome vocation called “College Ministry.”
evangelism resources for college ministry: Keith Davy lists several resources for evangelism among college students – specifically for discovering “where they are spiritually,” in fact.
service and evangelism: Why do Christians feel like they need to witness amidst their service? Glen Davis offers a helpful response to that question, in light of a recent mini-controversy that popped up on the Stanford campus. (He links to a Stanford Daily article on the issue, which involves Charles Darwin and evangelist Ray Comfort. And free books.)
attending a conference as a college minister: Not only did Nick Melazzo blog his thoughts on a conference he attended this week, but he blogged from the standpoint of a college minister. Hooray. As I’ve argued recently (like Nick noted in his intro post), college ministers should be good at viewing what we learn through the lens of our calling! (Hopefully Nick will be adding to this mini-series on the conference, so check for new entries…)
jimmy fallon meets the millennials (once more): This blog has actually had a pretty big week, too! Besides the aforementioned posts, I also was able to complete another entry in the Jimmy Fallon & Gen Y series, on Jimmy’s use of Eclecticism to reflect / reach Millennials!
written from the collegetown district next to Cornell University; posted from Camp of the Woods, Speculator, NY
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Day 49 recap
recap: finished up at Cornell and made my way to Campus Crusade’s NE Regional Staff Conference in the Adirondacks! (see all explorations so far)
T-shirts: the Bearcat tribe of Cincinnati
sunday: I’ll spend the morning at the conference, then make my way to (or toward) Virginia
This week’s Fridea is a day late, yes. But it might also appear to be 2 full months early, since it’s about college ministry recruiting… and that’s something we do at the beginning of a Quarter or Semester, right?
BUT WAIT! There might be plenty of up-side to spending a little energy recruiting between T-giving and the Winter Break. And there are a few different things “recruiting” can mean.
Some college ministry recruiting opportunities for the coming weeks:
- Recruiting new students. Classic college ministry recruitment can take place on campus, via many of the same forms we usually use: postering, mailboxing, chalking, emails, passing out things on campus, etc. Instead of pointing to a specific event, just point students toward the opportunity to be involved in the group when they return to school.
- Recruiting present students to return. This may be even more of an important step. How often do we take for granted that students will plug right back in to our ministry – when we know that’s not necessarily the case? This sort of “recruiting” involves not only thanking students for taking part and saying how much you’d like them to return, but giving them details on dates, times, and anything else you can.
- Presenting the glories of campus ministry together. What if you and other college ministries in town joined forces to encourage students to think about involvement in the New Year (perhaps even as a New Year’s Resolution?). Placing that seed in students’ mind on this side of Christmas Break might just be something God uses in the crazy, lazy days at home.
Some of the better reasons it’s a cool time for recruiting:
- It focuses on becoming part of the group, rather than simply taking part in the group. Without an upcoming event to focus on, we get to highlight the community we’re offering in the upcoming semester.
- Some students are more likely to feel the need for spiritual involvement now, at the end of a long semester. If they consider involvement at this point, that impression could stick.
- It doubles their exposure to your college ministry (if you plan to recruit when they return).
- It increases word-of-mouth. Remember, this is the strategy “Glee” used before the Summer Break – and it worked! Present good reasons to be excited next semester, and you might just see the excitement spread over the next month or two.
- There’s more “room” for your group to make an impression. When students come back to school, your college ministry will be one of many student organizations competing simply for their invitations to be heard, let alone to be heeded!
- Who knows? It might serve as a spiritual anchor during the Holidays. God just might use the expectation of spiritual involvement to encourage students spiritually across the long Winter Break.
- You (might) have the time. I know the closing days of a semester – especially Finals Week – can often provide a little more time-elasticity. Recruiting might be a great way to use that time before you cross the finish line!
See a quick description of all the Frideas so far!
written from Horseheads(!), NY
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Days 47 & 48 recap
recap: finishing up at Rowan, a late-night drive to NY, and hanging at Cornell (see all explorations so far)
T-shirts: the Panther tribe of U of Northern Iowa and the Badger tribe of Wisconsin
saturday: finishing out at Cornell, then heading deeper into Upstate NY for a gathering of Campus Crusade directors (another out-of-the-blue opportunity)
After a late-night drive from Southern Jersey to the middle of New York State (near Ithaca), sleep is more important than blog. I’ve got a big day tomorrow at Cornell, and it should be a lot of fun. If I’m not falling asleep.
But I should have time to post today. So expect this week’s Fridea to be up sometime today (hopefully sooner rather than later), or, at the very least, for Saturday’s post.
Hooray for Frideas! Sorry for the delay!
Based on a conversation I had with a college minister this week (who said it was encouraging, so I figured I’d pass the thoughts along!):
Building our best campus mission, not growing a big college ministry, is the weight we should have on our shoulders!
I have yet to be sold on ministry size as a clear indicator of college ministry strength. Certainly, size means something; numbers, because they represent actual students, always mean something. And big numbers can be celebrated. But they’re not a key to ministry success. And they should rarely be a primary focus.
In fact, based on what I’ve seen, I believe an unwise focus on numerical growth – either by a college minister or his/her overseers – keeps many ministries from the success they could have had.
I believe…
- If we primarily aim for health and strength, we will often grow larger, too. And either way, God calls us to be good steward-shepherds of the flock He’s already given.
- If we focus on gaining numbers, we may not achieve numbers, health, OR strength. And if we do gain numbers, we may find ourselves drawing students to a weak and/or unhealthy ministry, while potentially making it harder to achieve health and strength in the future.
Yes, I love recruiting and talking about recruiting, because we get to participate with God in connecting students with our ministries. I want good ministries to grow! I want students (both Christian and non-Christian) to find our ministries and connect well!
But in a college ministry, the specific outcome labeled “Numerical Growth” should only be aimed for as often and as energetically as we’re called to aim for it.
For more, check out page 51 of Reaching the Campus Tribes (download the book for free here), check out How to Build a College Ministry to Crumble, and see other Assessment & Strength posts.
written from Williamstown, NJ
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Exploring College Ministry Road Trip 13: Day 46 recap
recap: exploring Rowan University (see all explorations so far)
mileage: 7,494 miles (so far)
T-shirt: the Sailfish tribe of Palm Beach Atlantic University
thursday: more Rowan U… then a late-night drive toward upstate NY!
I wanted to leave an extra day to gather any ideas for doing eclectic college ministry in light of yesterday’s post. If you’ve got any ideas – even wild and crazy stuff – I’d love to hear ‘em. And I should chime in tomorrow on how we might reflect the Millennial characteristic of eclecticism!
Meanwhile… Earlier this week, Dan Turis of the CCO asked for the list of college ministry theory blogs I read. So, since I’m a big fan of college ministry blogging, I figured I’d put the list on here.
Some important points:
- I’m only including blogs that have updated this semester.
- These blogs have a wide range of usefulness; sorry I can’t annotate too much at this point.
- I will, however, asterisk the ones I have found MOST useful or am especially intrigued by right now.
- Don’t be overwhelmed by the size of the list – many of these are only rarely updated, and you’ll be able to tell pretty quickly what you want to keep up with.
I recognize that many college ministry blogs are written for their students and other constituents, with discussions of Scripture and updates. But we also need blogs that take a wider angle, describing either college ministry theory or methods. So if you know of more blogs of that kind, please let me know!
And to see some of the best online discussions in recent weeks, check out the weekly reviews!
[Even if some entries are cut short below, you can still click the links.]
| Aaron Stern | aaronstern.typepad.com/aaron_sterns_blog/ |
| Abbie Smith | www.conversantlife.com/blogs/abbie+smith/%2A |
| Academic Faithfulness* | academicfaithfulness.blogspot.com/ |
| Adam Reynolds: Thoughts From Jesusland | azreynolds.com |
| Alice Connor: simul justus et peccator | justusetpeccator.blogspot.com/ |
| Ashlee Alley: A Long Obedience… | ashleealley.blogspot.com/ |
| Ben Coleman | gbencoleman.wordpress.com |
| Betsy Prosise: Affirmed Passion | affirmedpassion.blogspot.com/ |
| Bill Victor: BillyVs Quickhits | billyvsquickhits.blogspot.com/ |
| Bill Westfall: Campus-Cultural Mission* | williamwestfall.wordpress.com |
| Bob Fuhs | bobfuhs.typepad.com/bob-fuhs/ |
| Bob Hetzler: Bob’s Blog | www.cenational.org/cenational/bobsblog/index.asp |
| Brandon Reed | brandonreed.wordpress.com |
| Brandon Smith: MyNameIsBrandon.com* | mynameisbrandon.wordpress.com |
| Brian Barela: The Necessary Things* | brianbarela.typepad.com/the_necessary_things/ |
| Brian Beckstrom: Missio Dei – Following Jesus into the world | brian-beckstrom.blogspot.com/ |
| Byron Borger: Hearts & Minds Books* | heartsandmindsbooks.com |
| Campus Crosswalk Web Journal* | campuscrosswalk.org/ |
| Campus Renewal Ministries | www.campusrenewal.org/blog |
| Carson Conover: Sophisticated, Stimulating, and…Stuff | carsonconover.wordpress.com |
| Chad Logan: Just Think | chadsthought.blogspot.com/ |
| Chris Bean* | chrisbean.info |
| Chuck Bomar: College Ministry Thoughts | www.collegeministrythoughts.com |
| City Campus Ministry | www.citycampusministry.com/blog |
| College Union* | collegeunion.org |
| CPYU BOOKSHELF* | cpyubookshelf.blogspot.com/ |
| CruBlogging | crublogging.com |
| Curt Harlow | curtharlow.com/wordpress |
| Dan Wilkinson: The University Frontier | theuniversityfrontier.wordpress.com |
| Daniel Curran | danielcurran.blogspot.com/ |
| Emerging Scholars Blog* | blog.emergingscholars.org |
| Glen and Paula Davis | glenandpaula.com/ |
| Graham Helms: Update | sweepusaway.com |
| Guy Chmieleski: faith on campus* | campusministryguy.blogspot.com/ |
| Heart of Campus Ministry (ACM)* | naccm.wordpress.com |
| Heather Lodovico: if we ever leave a legacy… | heatherlods.blogspot.com/ |
| Inter-School Christian Fellowship | iscf09.blogspot.com/ |
| Jason Yarnell: College Ministry OJT* | collegeministryojt.blogspot.com/ |
| Joe Blanchard: CCF at NC State | ccf-ncsu.org/home |
| Jonathan Weyer: The Thomas Society* | thomas2026.wordpress.com |
| Keith Davy: CoJourner* | cojourner.blogspot.com/ |
| Ken Cochrum: On Leading Well | www.onleadingwell.com |
| Matt McComas: Leadership, Technology, Innovation* | www.mattmccomas.com |
| Michael Mears: More than listening | michaelmears.com |
| Mike Filicicchia: This is Church* | www.thisischurch.net |
| Mike Reading: a missional dramedy* | amissionaldramedy.tumblr.com/ |
| NEWCHAPTER* | newchapterblog.wordpress.com |
| Nick Melazzo: symbiosis* | nickmelazzo.wordpress.com |
| Reformed University Fellowship Articles | www.ruf.org |
| Reformed University Fellowship Blog | www.ruf.org/ruf-blog/ |
| Reformed University Fellowship Sermons | www.ruf.org |
| Russ Martin: DoubleDerivative.ca* | www.doublederivative.ca |
| Ryan McReynolds: The McReynolds Story | mcreynoldsccc.blogspot.com/ |
| Sammy Rhodes: Sammy’s posterous | sammyrhodes.posterous.com |
| Steve Lutz: the SENTinel* | stevelutz.wordpress.com |
| Steve Rankin: Rankin File* | steverankin.wordpress.com |
| Threads | threadsmedia.com/ |
| Tim Elmore’s Leadership Blog* | elmoreleadershipblog.blogspot.com/ |
| Tim Hudson: Shadowlander | shadowlander.wordpress.com |
| Todd Engstrom: Ethereal Thought Train | toddengstrom.com |
| Wes Woodell: West Coast Witness* | westcoastwitness.com |
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