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I’ve come to learn that relatively common college ministry methods still aren’t always widely known. This week’s Fridea is one of those tools that I’ve seen in a number of ministries, but I would still guess it hasn’t come into play in plenty of others.
This idea is also a particularly Missional undertaking – and just happens to be one of the many ways college ministries have been “missional” since long before “missional” was cool.
The Fridea? Encourage students to stay in the dorms, as intentional ministers to next year’s residents.
I hope it’s not too late to share this idea, but it’s amazing how God can turn students’ plans, even at the end of the school year – and even in the summer.
Certainly, in some contexts this method takes place “organically”; students, having been gripped by Jesus, recognize the unique soil provided by the dorm environment. So instead of jumping into an apartment or splitting a house with buddies, they decide to renew their dorm lease for another year… or in some cases, even choose to return to the dorms after a hiatus off-campus.
But unless this is happening in a widely known way on your campus, you might need to nudge your students to consider this sacrificial sojourn. The OU BSU did that through a student testimony just last night; they also have that as one of their scrolling announcements on their home page right now.
And here’s the thing: An intentional decision (maybe even especially if it’s a hard decision) to live in the dorms will help students become even more “on mission” than they were before. It’s the principle of your heart following your treasure (Matt. 6:21), which is actually a psychological principle (and thus the way God made us). As students give of their comfort-treasure and coolness-treasure and money-treasure and alone-time-treasure and Christian-environment-treasure to live in the dorms… their heart will find itself more firmly embedded in those places than ever.
So might this be worth an announcement, an email, a push? If not, could you put it on the calendar for next year?
Written from Motel 6, Oklahoma City, OK
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 15 (see all explorations here)
new campuses: Oklahoma City Community College (#22), Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, Moore, OK (#23)
yesterday: exploring OKC and another run to OU in Norman!
today: more at OU… and then, we’ll see. If nothing comes up for the weekend, I’ll probably head home!
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My visits to CU and OU notwithstanding, this short road trip has afforded more great opportunities to visit some cool campuses that aren’t of that “household name” variety.
One of the things I’ve been pondering recently* is college ministry’s attention toward the millions of collegians** who aren’t attending Duke, Texas A&M, or UCLA.
This is one area in which I (and you) can’t judge any individual calling for a particular ministry or a particular person to reach a “name-brand campus.” Certainly, God does and will call some of us to the better-known mission fields – even fields with a dozen or more present campus ministries.
But as I (and we) observe the sum total of campus missions efforts, I don’t think it’s presumptuous simply to question whether every national ministry is predestined to establish a beachhead at Wake Forest… whether every local church is called to reach the University of Texas rather than Austin Community College… or whether every brand-new college minister is meant to serve a school with a real possibility of producing either a future U.S. President or a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.***
Perhaps we in the field of College Ministry can pray for Macdeonian calls, that some blessed adventurers might be called to reach Front Range Community College, Oklahoma City University, University of Northern Iowa, or the countless other schools that are highly unlikely to beat Kansas in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. If I had dream-invasion skills****, I might just have to use them.
There are millions of students at campuses you’ve never heard of (and that’s just in our country). What are the chances that at least some of us are called to labor for Christ on the less-reached fields, to build works in places where few or no works exist (of any kind)? (Such an ambition would be oh so Pauline, sayeth Romans 15:20!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*All this traveling (and my brain) tune me to pondering new ideas all the time. Feel free to ask.
**Collegian = noun. Collegiate = adjective. Always.
***There are four that have produced both.
****Not an implied tie-in to the new Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Rather, an implied tie-in to Acts 16.
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 14 (see all explorations here)
new campuses: Southwestern College (#18), Oklahoma Christian University (#19), University of Central Oklahoma (#20), University of Oklahoma (#21)
new states: Oklahoma (#5)
yesterday: finished up in KS, then made my way to the OKC area
today: continued exploring in the Oklahoma City and Norman areas
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For a year or two, I’ve been pondering a little scheme that would add college ministry value to something already quite valuable. Several college ministers have already expressed an interest in this – and I hope YOU will consider hanging out with us this October.
Announcing…
THE CASUAL CATALYST CONFERENCE COLLEGE MINISTERS COHORT!
If you’re unfamiliar with the Catalyst Conference, it’s the premier annual Christian leadership training event, held for over a decade now in the Atlanta area each fall. (October 6-8 are this year’s dates.)
The idea of the Cohort is simply to ADD VALUE for us who impact college students. If you’re a college minister already planning to attend Catalyst, now you’ve got the opportunity to hang out with others! And if you haven’t considered going to Catalyst… well, maybe this is the push you need!
Benefits to “cohorting?” There are plenty:
- collaboration (including with some top thinkers and practitioners in our field)
- lasting connections
- potentially a cheaper rate
- recognition from sponsors and organizers (I’ll be working on freebies and connections, but we’ll see)
- and hopefully more!
The casual part of this “cohort” highlights that we’re simply adding value for those of us who attend Catalyst from the College Ministry profession. Two words: FREE and OPTIONAL. During the Conference, anything we do will be low-key, since the Conference itself is pretty intense. If we do more, it will likely be a day before or a day after.
Presently, Catalyst doesn’t even include “College Minister” as a registration option – but is that totally their fault? This is one chance to show other Christian leaders that we college ministers care about learning and leading alongside them – and that the work we do is truly vital.
For now, I’d love to hear if you’re interested – and please share any ideas you’ve got! But otherwise, just stay tuned. I will hopefully have more details in a week or two. I’m in contact with Catalyst about ways we can benefit as an official “Group,” so I’ll keep you posted!
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 13 (see all explorations here)
new campuses: Sterling College (#14), Hutchinson Community College & Area Vocational School (#15), Newman University (#16), Wichita State University (#17)
yesterday: drivin’ kinda criss-cross through Kansas, with some great (last-minute-planned) college ministry explorations
today: I’ll start with Southwestern College in Winfield, KS, then on to the OKC / Norman area!
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Yesterday, I posted some expanded thoughts on Unity & Cooperation within college ministries. Not only is this one of the topics that comes up most often in my chats with college ministers, but the theme has arisen several times on this trip.
Here are some additional thoughts, first written in a comment during in the Campus Ministry Blogference, but now edited and expanded a bit:
how do we decide when / how to cooperate with other ministries?
I start with assuming that we keep our actual commitments – obeying our particular leaders and keeping our promises. Cooperation that demands we break our allegiance to our particular organization, church, or other overseers isn’t really doable, is it?
But beyond that, I don’t think there’s a Magic Rule to be applied every time (though we would all prefer a Rule).
Instead, we should take each opportunity on a case-by-case basis, evaluating what is gained and lost and comparing that with the outcomes we’ve already determined to aim for within our ministry. So if we haven’t cataloged each semester what our Aims are, all is lost already! I can’t make a good decision about cooperation if I don’t know how it might help (or hurt) my ministry’s goals.
For some of us, taking each opportunity on a case-by-case basis will provide a remedy to our knee-jerk acceptance of any and all cooperative invitations. For others of us, it will fight our auto-assumption that each invitation couldn’t possibly be worth our time, input, or effort.
My bold guess? Either always cooperating or never cooperating with other ministries is likely unhealthy.
I would aargue that our Aims should likely include goals that involve the bigger campus tribe. It’s hard for me to imagine that any ministry should be satisfied with a reputation as the “aloof ones,” whether rightly or wrongly deserved. But those campus-wide goals shouldn’t be our only goals, either, so it’s likely we’ll need to say No quite a bit.
An example of weighing cooperation with our Aims: Perhaps you’re invited to give up one Large Group a semester for a Multi-Ministry event. Giving up that Large Group will indeed interfere with your goals for Large Group – perhaps Evangelism or Teaching a certain topic or Building Community in your ministry or all of the above.
However, it may be worth it because of what you gain – perhaps helping the campus as a whole thrive, providing an outward show of unity (which also helps with Evangelism in its own way), building students’ unity with other believers, and influencing students with the emphasis of the event. So in that case, cooperation may be wise – while some Aims are set aside, others are accomplished.
In other cases, cooperation may not be the best move.
Once again, the big suggestion: Take each opportunity at face value, and discern what’s best for your students that time around.
Written from Motel 6, Salina, KS
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 12
new campuses: Fort Hays State University (#11) Kansas Wesleyan University (#12), & Bethany College (#13)
yesterday: some great chats with college ministers at FHSU that worked out at the last minute, and a little drivin’ and campus-visitin’
today: not exactly sure (for the 2nd day in a row), but making my way through Kansas!
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This is Part 1 of this discussion; click here for Part 2.
For some reason or another, this Road Trip has already led to several discussions of efforts to build unity between various college ministries on a campus. This is actually a recurring issue in the field of college ministry, and it’s one of those areas in which – seemingly – it helps to have a wide-angle lens. Up-close, it’s easy to theorize and philosophize. But look at enough ministries, and one starts to see that intentions and hopes don’t always equal success in this area.
Sadly, I’ve heard of far more cooperation / unity efforts that seem to have failed than those that have gone well. In the former case, sometimes ministries (or at least their ministers) may end up less unified than before the “unity attempt” took place! That’s no good!
This topic came up in the Campus Ministry Blogference only a few weeks ago. Since it was within the comments there, I wanted to edit and slightly expand the thoughts I wrote. My hope is to help us think about this wisely – and also encourage those who might have struggled in this area.
I’d also love any additional questions / comments on this. I know it’s a touchy issue.
thoughts for college ministers hoping to build unity… wisely
1. Go slowly. Far better to remain here than to be even more disunified in 3 years. There’s no biblical mandate for HOW unity has to look, so take the time to pray and think things through before launching an initiative (even an initiative that seems “simple”).
2. Understand. Many longtime college ministers have lived through (or at least heard about) cooperative attempts that wasted time (at best) or ended in disaster (at worst). So it’s understandable for them to be skeptical.
3. Occasional or short-term activities seem to work best. A month-long project may be better than some permanent agreement. Monthly prayer meetings may work better than weekly ones. And so on.
4. Remember that everybody has their own agenda – and they should. They’ve been hired (by an organization or by supporters) to accomplish certain aims and/or do certain things. Approaching unity as a confederation rather than a republic or a democracy seems to foster unity the best.
5. Activities need a leader. …for each project, each monthly prayer gathering, each campus-wide event. It’s far easier to unify for a common project/mission under a designated point person – that’s why Veritas Forum and similar outsider groups can help produce unity so well. Of course, some projects may have different leaders for different parts of the project. But the main point is that Unity doesn’t require that nobody take the lead.
6. Sometimes true unity doesn’t look like it. I’ve shared with several on this trip: One of the coolest unity ideas I’ve ever heard are those ministries (on multiple campuses) that have decided to adjust their schedules to hold Large Group on the same night! To the untrained eye (like the students’), that looks like competition and disunity. But those ministries do it to help their students choose a ministry and go deep in it. It’s actually a unified attempt to shepherd their students, even though every ministry’s weekly attendance will probably go down. That’s some amazing cooperation!
There may be other unity attempts that look “weird,” too. But we shouldn’t let our methodology be driven by students or others who don’t understand the full picture.
7. Relationship trumps. In places where there is distinct unity (even between a couple of groups), it doesn’t seem to be because it was “master planned.” It started from people being buddies.
Because I don’t believe a certain methodology here is mandated by Scripture, building unity is a question of wisdom, not obedience to any specific methods. And it is HIGHLY contextual – which means how unity works out on one campus will be very different from how we should approach it on another campus.
Remember, my suggestions here are borne from numerous, nationwide conversations (and my own years of college ministry). Personally, I would prefer a “step-by-step approach” or some other “rule” (I like my rules). And if I felt like the Scriptures demanded some certain methodology, I’d push for it regardless of the pragmatism.
But since I don’t think they do, then pragmatism is part of wisdom here, and observing what has worked (and what has hurt) is important.
[Part 2 of these thoughts in tomorrow's post]
Written from Motel 6, Hays, KS
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 11
new state: Kansas (#4)
yesterday: lots of needed rest, and a fun church visit
today: not exactly sure, except for making my way through Kansas!
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For most of us in the college ministry world, Summer Break is just around the corner – and for others (like those on the Quarter System), it’s not that far behind.
“Tabling” is often a major part of recruitment efforts at the beginning of a semester – and even during summer freshman orientations. Alongside numerous other student organizations, we set up our booth and participate in one of the most impactful discipleship efforts we ever undertake: helping students make involvement choices.
So here’s the question: Have you ever thought about “tabling” at the end of the year?
I know it seems crazy to recruit “on the flip side” – but why? Why not get your foot in the door with
- Students who are feeling empty at the end of yet another shallow school year
- Students who have already begun “de-involving themselves” in another campus ministry because it’s not a fit
- Students who have slacked off on their involvement with your campus ministry, but really just need a push to come back
- Students who might be interested in any activities you have going on this summer (whether they’re generally a part of your group or not)
- Anyone else who might be ready to give your ministry a look (or another look) – especially when they don’t have to wade through all the other tables, the new classes, and the front-of-semester decisions.
What if you gave it a shot, and tabled it up? On the flip side?
Written from Motel 6, Hays, KS
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 10 (click here for all explorations so far)
new state: Kansas (#4)
yesterday: left the snow of CO behind, drove to Kansas, and am laying low. Much needed rest.
today: Church, catching up on several things, & probably more rest.
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Some of my views from this adventurous trip. It’s been a really big 9 days; this only scratches the surface.
What kind of great church leaves up the placards from the Ascent Conference? They mentioned God working through college ministry around the U.S. THREE times in the service I attended!
The Glen Eyrie castle at The Navigators HQ
Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy (Protestant chapel)
The Pagan Worship Circle recently instituted at the Air Force Academy, which led to quite the brouhaha in some quarters
One kind of work our college ministries - & our students - should be known for (this wasn't produced by a ministry, by the way)
I already blogged about this one.
Three of the better-known college-ministry-related large group services: Here, the Merge high school through young adult service of Flatirons Community Church...
...the Annex college ministry of First Presbyterian, Boulder...
...and The Mill college & young adults of New Life Church
Written from the Shaloskys’ house, Colorado Springs (these Cru staffers have been kind enough to host me!)
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 9
yesterday: was shocked and apalled by the heavy snow that fell much of the day. And I did some college ministry stuff.
today: Leaving Central CO, headed for Kansas and – presumably – less snow.
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Why does it seem so much more common for college ministries to pray for change to come to the campus than for blessing to come to the campus?
I was reading a flier yesterday at University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, and it was discussing upcoming Student Government elections. And it hit me: I wonder if anybody prays for this?
Now if I had to guess, I’d imagine that Student Government at UCCS isn’t considered that big a deal by the majority of students, similarly to perhaps most campuses. (But I’m just guessing.) And yet as citizens of our campuses, why wouldn’t we spend real time in prayer for the outcome of such elections?
How often do we pray for the present fundraising crisis, or about the ongoing construction on the Student Union Building, or for the Provost’s wife who is ill? When the College Bowl team wins state, or one of the professors is featured in an HBO movie, how regularly do we lift those things up in praise?
So that’s this week’s Fridea: Consider playing out your campus citizenship through purposeful prayer.
This idea may be simple, but we all know that prayer affects us. Help turn your college students into intercessors for all the needs of the campus (not just the spiritual ones), and watch your students fall in love with their tribe. And once they’re truly in love with their tribe, watch everything change.
Written from Colorado Springs
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 8
new campus: University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (#10)
yesterday: dropped in on CCU chapel, then back to Navs HQ, and then I topped it all off with some time at UCCS with the Cru folks!
today: a few explorations around Colorado Springs – and hopefully more catching up on life & sleep
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I wasn’t sure I should blog about Tuesday’s afternoon exploration. I’m cognizant of the fact that on any given day, it could be someone’s first day here at the blog… and this may be an interesting first impression.
But my attempts to learn the field of college ministry mean that sometimes it’s right and good for me to observe the darkness on our world’s campuses. That darkness is not the only or even the main reason for college ministry (and plenty of Christians need to realize that). But it is ONE reason for missions to the campus tribes.
Early on my yearlong road trip, I learned about a particularly pungent campus celebration of debauchery, Brown University’s “Sex. Power. God.” on-campus semi-orgy (that links to my post about it). Blue Like Jazz filled the world in on another, Reed College’s Renn Fayre (that links to Wikipedia). And yesterday, I saw another: CU Boulder’s 4/20 pro-marijuana gathering.
And lest there be any doubt: I did not partake.
the crowd on the outskirts of the field near where I was standing
As you may know, “420″ is code within the Pot Culture for marijuana. So the ideal of smoking pot each year on 4/20 at 4:20pm is a sort of liturgy, you might say, for devotees. At the University of Colorado, a tradition has grown of doing just that, and many thousands gather to participate. Though the Buffalo tribe isn’t the only location to hold such an event (and get away with it), it seems to be one of the better-known pro-marijuana gatherings, which are (perhaps rather loosely) connected to the drive to legalize marijuana.
Please understand: I am in no way celebrating this crazy event. But since I can be your eyes and ears among the campus tribes, I’m glad to share what I experienced Tuesday (in brief; you can ask questions if you want to know more).
While I had assumed the gathering at CU would mostly organize around the 4:20pm moment, people were already gathering at the site by 2pm (and perhaps much earlier). That site is Norlin Quad, the largest “green space” at CU. (It does provide a great “center of campus” spot; I really appreciate such spaces in my campus visits.)
I had heard – but perhaps I misunderstood – that police line the edges of the field, but that certainly wasn’t the case. What appeared to be a mixed force of several dozen police and hired Event Staff instead dotted the campus. Mostly they were concentrated around the field, but I saw others at different locations – including some seeming to sweep a building near the field, perhaps making sure that the pot smoking was limited to external areas.
I forgot to note that as I drove to campus, I met my only obstacle. A staffperson was dialoguing with each of us as we drove onto campus. However, I was only asked for the purpose of my visit to campus; when I replied that I was visiting campus, that seemed to suffice. (It’s possible they were there simply to emphasize that “someone is watching” – potentially quite psychologically effective as people descended on campus. It might also provide some sort of legal defense.)
I expected a similar consultation on the way out, since driving under the influence would be hazardous to both CU’s students and their legal fund. But no such luck.
my view at 4:20pm
The gathering was certainly not only collegiate. Many of the participants appeared to be high school age. Many others… have probably been smoking marijuana longer than the CU students have been alive. Another segment of the rally population that’s important to mention are the countless bystanders, who seemed (like me) simply there to observe. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if for many locals and students this is the one day of the year in which they do partake in the drug. There was much sharing; the adult cameraman next to me certainly offered me some product.
That leads me to an interesting turn in my observations. My cameraman buddy made an interesting comment while we were observing from the edge of the field. He reflected that the environment before us was wonderfully “chill,” that “this is the way it should be.” He clearly saw in this event a reflection of the peace, fun, fellowship, relaxation, and unity that he envisions in a “perfect world.”
I saw plenty of creativity, too, which is notable and important even when directed toward darkness.
What do I occasionally hear from people wiser than me? That sin is fulfilling legitimate desires in illegitimate ways? I don’t think it’s unwise for us to notice the capability, the genius, the hopes, and the passion of the campus tribes – even when we have to observe those things through the haze (figuratively or literally).
In any case, I certainly learned more in those few hours about Pot Culture (and pot odor) than this sheltered fellow had ever learned before. And I prayed. I cringed. I watched. I hoped. I wondered how we reach into this version of the darkness.
And then I Febrezed, scrubbed, shampooed, and stuck my poor Dartmouth T-shirt in an ice chest.
Road Trip 14 recap, Days 6 & 7 (click here to see all explorations so far)
new campuses: Front Range Community College – Westminster Campus (#9)
last 2 days: including the weird exploration described in this post, Tuesday was one of the “largest” days I’ve had in my many explorations – with a phenomenal time with the Cru Regional Team and experiencing The Annex church-based ministry. Wednesday was finally a day for some (very much needed) rest, as well as a couple of more cool encounters.
today: Chapel at Colorado Christian University, and more!
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O
One year ago today, I e-published Reaching the Campus Tribes: An Opening Inquiry. The response – then and continuing – has been utterly encouraging.
So I want to THANK YOU. Thanks to the many of you who helped spread the book: electronically, of course, but also via CD, via email… even via paper! Thanks to everyone who has said the book encouraged them, taught them, or catalyzed some part of their work.
If you haven’t read the book yet (c’mon, what are you waiting for?), I’ll tell you what I tell everybody:
You can easily read this book in a day… and it’s even got lots of great pictures!
But I’ll also add this: I really believe this book reflects much of the collective wisdom that can be found throughout the country, because it was borne from interviews with hundreds of college ministers. We know that what we do isn’t like most other ministries in Christendom; this book simply gives us a framework to make sense of this incredible thing we get to be a part of.
And hopefully – and this is one area that depends on you guys – those outside of college ministry will read Reaching the Campus Tribes, too.
Because they need to understand this. They need to value this work. They need to support this work.
So, again, THANK YOU for helping Reaching to thrive over the past year. I hope it continues to inspire, encourage, and teach. I’m blessed to have any hand in it at all.
thanks to the many who helped spread Reaching online
(if I’ve left someone out, let me know!)
Center for Parent / Youth Understanding · Chi Alpha Campus Ministries (National) · Emerging Scholars Network of InterVarsity · Impact Campus Ministries (part of the NACCM) · Internet Evangelism Day · The Ivy Jungle Network · Jesus Creed blog at BeliefNet · School Christian Fellowships, Canada · Matt Adair, Pastor, Christ Church Presbyterian, Watkinsville, GA · Brian Barela, Campus Crusade, Cal State Chico · Joe and Heidi Barrale, Freedom Life Christian Center, Christiana, PA · Chris Blair, Kats for Christ, Sam Houston State · Chuck Bomar, Founder, CollegeLeader · Chris Bridgeway, Great Commission Ministries national staff · Alice Connor, Lutheran Campus Ministry, University of Cincinnati · Nathan Creitz, ChurchETHOS · Glen Davis, Chi Alpha, Stanford · Jeff Dyer, Calvary Assembly of God, Dover, DE · Tom Grosh, InterVarsity Graduate & Faculty Ministry / Emerging Scholars Network, Central PA · Michelle Geesaman, Pastor, LSU Chi Alpha · Joel Hughes, professor, Kent State University · Kairos College Ministry, Colorado Springs, CO · Brian Kiley, former and future college minister, Pasadena, CA · Larkin Avenue Baptist Church, Elgin, IL · Steve Lutz, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Penn State University · Nick Melazzo, Baptist Student Ministries, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada · Ben Moore, Nazarene Student Ministry, Boise State University · Morschmellow blog, Xenos network · Kirby Oaks, Youth Minister, First Reformed Church, Mitchell, SD · Peace & Power Christian Fellowship, Drexel University · Nick Stromwall, Campus Outreach Minneapolis · University Fellowship of Christians, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia · Bill Victor, statewide Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Missouri · Bill Westfall, Impact Ministries, Boise State University · Wes Woodell, Campus Ministry United · Kevin Wright, Sheridan Hills Baptist Church, Hollywood, FL · Xenos Christian Fellowship, Stow, OH · Youth Ministry Institute, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Written from Longmont, CO
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 5
i finally updated the Itinerary page: click here to see all explorations so far!
new campuses: University of Colorado (#6), Colorado School of Mines (#7), & Colorado Christian University (#8)
yesterday: a breakfast with college ministers and visits to THREE campuses! I also took Mark to the airport, so I am a solo traveler once again.
today: several explorations, mostly in Boulder, including an… adventure.
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