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One of the most illuminating interactions I’ve been a part of occurred a few years ago at a forum for college ministers.
At the event, a major publisher sent a representative to gauge our interest in their products. They had marketed quite heavily to the collegiate ministry crowd, and they wanted to know how to connect with us even better. (Kudos to them for seeking our opinions!)
What followed was quite interesting.
The college ministers in attendance kept asking if this publisher planned to release any collegiate editions of their Young Adult small groups materials. Or, they suggested, perhaps the publisher could put out collegiate “study guides” to go along with the present materials, which – again – were targeted toward young adults.
It was fascinating to watch, because the representative was quite confused. In fact, I’m not sure he ever wrapped his head around what we were asking for. In his mind, their materials were for college students. But college ministers know better: What is needed by Young Adults isn’t always the same as what’s needed by collegians.
lumping
This is one example of the ways outsiders to the field of College Ministry often “lump us together” with other ministry fields. And so we’ve got another BIG opportunity to help advance our field – by helping delineate our arena of ministry from others.
College ministry isn’t the same as youth ministry. College ministry isn’t the same as young adult ministry, either. Sure, some events (like some large group meetings) might fit multiple groups. Sure, some positions (in churches, at least) might have to cover multiple arenas. But none of that means these fields are close enough to be lumped together in general. It’s like with veterinarians: They may be able to treat different species, but all those species are still different enough to matter.
We’ve got a long way to go here. Far too many churches, for example, treat “18-25″ (or an even larger span) as a natural grouping for ministry, when that’s only applicable in a few very specific contexts. Some seminaries try to put both youth and college ministry training under the same umbrella. Publishers, as noted above, might not even imagine we would want something different for our students than their standard Young Adult or Youth fare.
delineate
When we kindly, patiently, and clearly delineate these areas for outsiders, we’re actually helping advance our field! How?
- They realize that what goes on in our field is something unique.
- They realize that college students need different things than either high schoolers or young adults.
- They realize that college ministers need different things than ministers in other fields.
- …So they have the chance to tailor services and products that help us best.
Often, doing this can be combined with the Catalytic Questions idea: By asking what groups have specifically for college students or for college ministers instead of these other groups, you’re automatically delineating the arenas!
Other times, you may just need to ask for clarification, or provide clarification when outsiders lump us with other fields. (I’ve done that at least two or three times this week!) A question like, “Wait – did you say this was for youth ministers or for college ministers?” helps them know you see these arenas (rightly, I’d argue) as different enough to matter.
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A couple of announcements: The first is for everybody, including those who WON’T be able to join us in Atlanta next week. The second is for those who are planning to attend the College Ministers Cohort at Catalyst!
1. Our heroes, proving (once again) they care about college ministry.
Clearly college ministry is not a celebrity cause in the American Church, so it takes a special organization to be willing to pay real money so real college ministers can have a really great event. Even for those not attending the Cohort next week, I want to make sure I let you know about our amazing sponsors.
I’ll alert you to more of these heroes in the days to come, but the first few that stepped up include:
OneLife from IMB Students
This is an exciting program for college students that the International Mission Board is unveiling at Catalyst – making their sponsorship of our Cohort all the more exciting. Since the “launch” is next week, I’ll save details for now. Stay tuned!
IMB Students is actually serving as our premier sponsor of the Cohort. They were the first entity to jump on board, and I’ve long seen their commitment to helping college students and college ministries!
Newchapter
I’ve blogged on these guys before, and once again they’re stepping up to the plate to help campus ministries. That’s what they do on a regular basis: Work to help college ministries thrive in a very unique way. How? By establishing ministry-sponsored Student Living Centers that not only allow for an incredible ministry opportunity with residents, but can also help a ministry run in a self-sustaining way. Learn more here.
Financial Peace: Foundations for Life & Money
One of Catalyst’s biggest sponsors in the last few years has been Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. But now that organization has gone a step further and agreed to sponsor our Cohort. Did you know they’ve released a curriculum for college students? It’s true – and you can find it right here.
FPU is one of those sorts of organizations that we need to lend their considerable talents to our field. Hooray for that bridge being built!
2. If you’re coming to the Cohort…
- Please make absolutely sure you’ve RSVP’d as “Attending” at the Event page.
- Please make absolutely sure anyone who’s coming with you has also RSVP’d.
- Watch for VERY important details in the next few days, sent via Facebook to those who have RSVP’d. There will be details you have to see, or you’ll risk not getting in on our free lunches, etc.
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I’ve generally lain low about this particular method, but since I’m on the topic of Advancing the Field of College Ministry this week, I wanted to put it out there. (Read the intro post here.)
One of the easiest ways to advance our field within greater Christendom is to ask key questions of outside groups. The point is to help those groups realize that either…
- there is an interest in connecting their organization with the College Ministry world, or
- there is a market for their product in the College Ministry world.
An example: I love using this method when I attend conferences that have booths set up for various vendors. As I browse the booths, I try to ask catalytic questions of those groups I believe should consider aiding the field of College Ministry.
With seminaries, I ask what programs they have for training college ministers. I might also ask how they’ve connected with college ministers to help undergrad students think about attending seminary.
With publishers, it depends – but if I know the publisher, I can tailor the question. So I might ask about potential curriculum (for college ministry small groups), training materials (for college ministers or student leaders), or whether part of their marketing plan is to connect with college ministers. If they already have materials for Youth, Young Adults, or other demographics, I can ask if they’ve produced any collegiate versions.
Even denominations need to hear the occasional, “How do you resource the college ministers under your umbrella?” or “I saw everything you have for Youth Ministry; what kinds of College Ministry programs do you guys have?”
And we can ask any other parachurch ministry similar questions:
- “How have you connected all the campus ministries with what you’re doing?”
- “What inroads have you found with college students?”
- “What benefits have you seen connecting your ministry with people early-on, like in college?”
As college ministers, we’re masters at this questions-for-the-sake-of-discipleship technique already. Our goal is to help them realize for themselves how beneficial this connection could be. We need to be genuine as we ask questions – but it’s hard not to be in this case; of course we’re genuinely curious about these sorts of things.
Of course, this isn’t just for conferences and other face-to-face venues. It’s great to send an email to groups you’re connected with (or just groups you know about). There may even be people in your life who could help the field of college ministry in some way – have you “put the bug in their ear”?
Christian organizations need to realize that the field of College Ministry shouldn’t be overlooked – not just because it’s such an important and valuable mission field, but because their very aims (of both ministry and sales) would benefit.
You never know when a seminary representative might return to her campus and say, “Have we ever thought about training college ministers here?”
We never know when a publisher – after getting questions at a few conferences in a row – might make a suggestion at a meeting back at the offices.
When they hear from us – especially if they hear from many of us – it’s going to make an impression.
If you’ll take a little time, this is one big way to help advance our field.
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How invested are you in helping advance the field of College Ministry?
I recognize that most college ministers have to tend to active ministries that can – and should – take the majority of their time. They are shepherds first, so fighting for the spiritual success of their immediate flock takes precedence over helping the entire field of College Ministry (or “Campus Ministry” or “Collegiate Ministry” – they’re all interchangeable terms).
But I would still urge you to see yourself as an “advancer of our field” (and to act on that identity, of course). Because if you won’t advance the field of College Ministry, who will?
We don’t have the reputation of foreign missionaries.
We don’t have the backing of youth ministers.
We don’t receive the attention that teaching pastors do.
We aren’t seen as “real ministers” by many American Christians.
Our work is misunderstood (or just “non-understood”) more than most other ministers’.
And yet we college ministers labor at the crux of education and culture, among millions from North America and millions from around the world, at the first moment individuals (and entire generations) are “released into the wild”, at the unique transition point for millions between the world of high school and the world of young adulthood, in places that serve as laboratories for the future of culture and the future of Christian ministry.
If you’re nodding along, it’s because you know these things to be true. Chances are, you’re one of only a few in your city who know these things.
If we won’t join the work of advancing our field, who will?
In the days to come (not every day, but some days), I’m going to look at simple ways we can each advance the field of College Ministry. Since what we do is a vital task, advancing what we do is a vital task.
[See the first method for advancing our field right here.]
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As I occasionally do, I’ve built up a handful of college ministry-related articles from around the interwebs. So hopefully you’ll find some good Sunday (or Monday, or Tuesday) reading that helps you in your ministry!
(And if you ever come across articles you think might be interesting for others, send ‘em my way, and I’ll check ‘em out! I’d love to pass good stuff along.)
Something to talk about with your Catholic college minister friends: Part of the Pope’s visit to the U.K. last week involved overseeing the beatification of John Henry Newman, for which the Newman Centers are named. “Newman Centers” (or similarly-named groups) serve Catholic students at non-Catholic universities. Beatification means they’re working on naming him a Saint; you can find more about Cardinal Newman right here. But again, it might just be fun to chat with your local Newman Center director about!
Top 5 books on the Problem of Evil: John Stackhouse lists his faves (including both C.S. Lewis books on the topic) for Christianity Today.
An argument against “settling down”: A solid (brief) critique of many Christians’ calls for emerging adults to get married, etc. At least good thoughts for the other side of the story, whichever way you lean with your college students.
The wisdom of abstinence: I found this article by comedian Steven Crowder pretty interesting, and it does a pretty great job pointing out the wisdom (from, as far as I can tell, a secular perspective) of abstaining from sex. Might be worth passing along to students (but make sure you read it first and decide); better yet, it might just give you some new ideas for talking about an always-important topic.
KFC advertising on college girls’ rear ends: Not sure how this might be usable, but this USA Today article is – at the very least – a discussion-starter.
Greek InterVarsity and the Utes: It’s always fun when college ministries are highlighted by the campus newspaper.
Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, & a political season: Your campus may or may not be tuning into this political season, and you may or may not have decided to talk about the Jesus connections yet (I wrote about that here). But if it is a topic of importance, you should notice what two of the foremost politicos for the collegiate crowd are up to.
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This would probably be a little early for most of you serving Quarter System campuses, but for the rest of us, it’s not too early to remind your students to plan on using their summers well!
Perhaps your ministry has pre-arranged options for summer missions or other activity during the summer. Maybe not. But regardless, we want students to pray this through, give due diligence, and wisely examine ways to use their summer well, no?
Now’s the time to start talking about it.
Many of the options – big missions opportunities, summer camps, internships, other endeavors (even student-originated ideas) – will require applications sooner rather than later. And the end of the semester isn’t the time to first be thinking of such things.
They might also not achieve their first choices, they might have to whittle down the options, they might discover something new they never would have considered… if they keep from procrastinating.
Just an idea. Just a Fridea, actually. Use as applicable.
The biggest point: Help students use their summers well. They don’t have many.
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Recently, a college ministry friend wrote me to ask about college ministry books that specifically address college ministry missiologically – the very stance I take in my own book, Reaching the Campus Tribes. I wrote the following response (though I’ve edited it a little bit). It’s not a formal bibliography – as will become obvious – but I still thought it might be edifying for those who’d like to expand their exposure to college ministry books.
Here’s my note:
I do have Shockley’s book but haven’t read it. [My friend had asked me if I'd seen Campus Ministry: The Church Beyond Itself.] The two college ministry “primers” I have read recently I really can’t endorse – and when we’re talking about college ministry missiology, they’re even less helpful.
But here are some thoughts; hopefully they help or at least give you some things to check out!
The most “academic” resource I know of on college ministry is the Christian Education Journal of Spring, 2008 (vol 5, no 1), which had a “mini-theme” of College & Young Adult Ministry.
Certainly, The Blueprint by Ma received some attention and definitely applies a sort of missiology (though many college ministers doubt its true effectiveness).
Young, Restless, and Reformed does some pretty good “anthropological” work, it seems, including looking at collegiate settings (RUF and Passion are both discussed, I think).
Reach the U is the most promising primer I know for missiological discussions, because it’s put out by Chi Alpha – which sees all their college ministers as Campus Missionaries. (It also has multiple authors; if that’s not a “must,” it’s certainly a Best Practice for college ministry “primers” because of the diversity of our field.)
More anthropological / historical discussion might be found in When God Walked on Campus and the new God on Campus. Campus Aflame, too. I think all three discuss revivals connected to college campuses. So does Revival! by Avant, specifically about the Brownwood (and beyond) revival in 1995. I own a couple of other reflections on revivals that have taken place at Asbury and the one at Wheaton that sprang out of the Brownwood (Howard Payne University) one.
UnChristian would be good for more anthropology, as would Lost and Found.
Ooh – You might check out The College “Y” by Setran for some historical research. And the well-received books Finding God at Harvard and Unlikely Disciple might provide helpful looks at individual campuses.
Also, Religion on Campus seems to be a very cool anthropological look at 4 diverse schools – they used it as a textbook at Beeson Divinity when I taught a lecture down there last year.
Decoding the Campus is Campus Crusade’s look at exegeting a campus.
Other books I’m noticing on my shelf: Souls in Transition by Smith (looks at present “emerging adults” and their spirituality), In Search of a City by Jones (discusses the early history of the International Church of Christ, including their major campus work – which turned out to be quite unhealthy), It’s All about Jesus (apparently a less-friendly-to-Evangelicals take on religion on campus), Campus Ministry by Dickey, Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students by Dunn, Blue Like Jazz (note its chapter on college ministry at Reed College), To Transform the World: Vital United Methodist Campus Ministries, Red Moon Rising, Essential Church?, Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening, They Like Jesus but not the Church, The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness (definitely a well-respected book, but may not fit your topic), The College Chaplain by White, University of Destruction, Listening Inside Out (by Kyncl, et al. – Nazarene, written about what they’ve learned listening to 20-somethings), Taking the Cross of Christ to the Campus by Senn (an approach to college ministry from the more fundamentalist strain).
I’ve left some primers out because they don’t seem to fit the present topic, and I can’t guarantee that what I’ve left in does, either! And most of those are anthropological, clearly, but that’s because our field is. We’re not in a place to publish a lot on “theory” yet. (Although for publishers, this is one more place where the early birds could get the worms… if they’re wise.)
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A couple of days ago, I got to attend a lunch hosted by Youth Specialties. (If you’re unfamiliar, YS has been a driving force for the field of Youth Ministry for the last 40 years; I mentioned that as a comparison point in the last chapter of the Reaching the Campus Tribes ebook.) I figured I’d drop in on the lunch (and got permission). It was a good time.
But since I’ve been to maybe a few dozen various gatherings of college ministers over the years, I immediately began to notice… differences. So while this is rather off-the-cuff and just my ponderings from one little lunch, I thought it might be fun to blog what I noticed.
1. More girls. Per capita, there seemed to be more females in this flock. If this holds out across the field of Youth Ministry, it probably wouldn’t be because there are more female head youth ministers than female head college ministers; there may actually be more of the latter than the former. Instead, I’d guess that youth ministries are much more likely to have the budget for multiple staff, and in cases of multiple staff, someone of the opposite sex from the director is often the first recruit.
(There could be a lot of reasons, but that’s my top guess. In any case, I noticed there were several ladies.)
2. Church-based predominant. Of course, in Youth Ministry the most recognizable form seems to be church-based youth ministers. While groups like Young Life do exist and have a mighty impact, I wouldn’t think they’d be considered the “classic” form. In College Ministry, that’s switched. (And we have two additional branches, as well: institutional college ministry and collegiate churches. I’m not sure if Youth Ministry has anything comparable, at least in any great numbers.)
3. Younger, on average. Not all youth ministers are young; that’s for sure. But there are reasons that a group of youth ministers might skew younger than a group of college ministers. When I’m in forums of college ministers, it seems like I run into quite a few that are over 30. (Of course, this depends on the organization – some orgs do perpetually have a large crop of 20-something leaders.
4. “Liveliness.” I’m not exactly sure how to explain this without sounding derogatory, but this was definitely a livelier (more evidently extroverted? more “youthy”?) gathering than most College Ministry ones I’ve attended. I do think that ministers take on the characteristics of their groups, and that’s not a bad thing. But might that mean a group of youth ministers would happen to act younger than a group of college ministers?
5. A sense of a developed “field.” It’s hard to explain, but listening to the speakers at the lunch gave a real impression of a true field of ministry in a way that College Ministry doesn’t have yet. Of course, some of that came from the fact that YS – which has helped drive and solidify that field – was the group sponsoring the lunch.
6. More discussion of development theory and other theory issues. This is one of the ways it quickly becomes clear that the field of Youth Ministry (as a whole) is quite a bit more developed than the field of College Ministry (as a whole). It is very rare – with one big exception I’ll note in a second – for lifespan development processes, theories of personal spirituality, and other more heady topics to come up in most college ministry conversations. There will be a day when our field “gets to that,” but right now we haven’t really developed to the point where this is a front-burner issue.
The exception (as I’ve noted on this blog before): institutional college ministers. Those who lead spiritual development at Christian colleges seem to have a penchant for discussing the more theoretical / academic sides of our field. (It’s something we can all gain from them!)
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About a year and a half ago, right after I had published Reaching the Campus Tribes, I wrote here about an idea I had addressed in the book: the hope for some kind of “super-sized hero” to help serve the field of college ministry. I didn’t know if that should happen, but I was pondering that it could be just what we need!
Over time, I’ve come to realize that in fact many groups and people may end up playing the role of “servant to the servants.” Many Christian ministries without an official presence on the college campus might be able to help us – not by planting full-fledged college ministries, but in complementary ways: providing resources, gathering ideas, lending their expertise on certain issues, and so on.
And some groups may even focus specially on our field in a full-time way, nurturing it and resourcing it and connecting it and advancing it.
For now, the need (and want) for these helps outweigh what’s actually taking place. So since remains a vacuum, there’s an enormous chance for “the early bird(s) to get the worm.” In a big way.
Because that’s true, here’s the “formula” I noted then:
vacuum + growing concern = wide-open opportunity
But I noted a corollary, as well:
vacuum + growing concern – deep understanding = wide-open opportunity for waste or even damage
I’ve had the chance to discuss that idea with at least three outside groups in the last week! And I’m glad to do it, because I’m nervous… very nervous… that we’ll have early birds swoop in without the wisdom that’s required.
The truth is, it’s already happening.
Not all that glitters… or gets blogged… or gets published… or gets delivered in a seminar… or seems like it really should work… or even bears awesome results on one campus or in one region… is gold.
Meanwhile, there is much within college ministry that is “gold.” (I’ve seen great and wonderful things all over.) But in our underdeveloped field, it doesn’t often float to the top. It has to be mined or sifted out. It doesn’t always even look golden at first.
One day, a developed field of Collegiate Ministry will be much better at “peer review” – so the cream will rise to the top, and the unwise will be sifted out. We’ll still have disagreements and differences, sure, but even those will be wiser. Like those who consider involvement in foreign missions, American Christians will be sensitive to the fact that any involvement in college ministry (whether “on the ground” or in supporting roles) is a delicate business, a grand responsibility, a noble calling that many should nobly hesitate to join. And we’ll all stand guard – not in heavy-handed ways, but in ways that recognize that wisdom is needed by all, for the sake of these students we serve.
“Not many of [us] should presume to be teachers,” and the rest of us must indeed beware of “laying hands to quickly,” of endorsing books and methods and organizations simply because they’re something and not because they’re wise.
I wrote last week (with the help of Jurassic Park) about being careful as we approach the task of reaching college students. Today’s post is more a call for hope and prayer that all early birds be wise – and for us each to work in our own worlds (and our own selves) to ensure that’s the case.
It’s not exactly a worm, but I did take that banana slug pic at the school that claims it as its mascot! Not only that, but UC Santa Cruz’s school year is actually getting under way THIS WEEK (see yesterday’s post on that surprising fact).
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Welcome to the new school year! All the students are back (or soon will be), all the ministry plans have been detailed, and you’ve got a fresh canvas on which God wants to paint something amazing in your college ministry this year!
…pardon me?
While most of us see this week in our college ministry as something like Week 4 (a.k.a. We’re Finally in the Groove Week), there are lots of college ministers – including in some very major schools – who are getting underway. Now. They’re many of the schools on the Quarter System, which divides the school year into thirds (with a fourth quarter in the summer). In most cases, that school year starts about now, has a much shorter Winter Break, and ends later than other schools.
So if my opening paragraph seems like a blast from the past to you, don’t forget that for many, it’s apropos indeed.
One of the guys in the college ministry I volunteer in has a cousin on Campus Crusade staff at UCLA. He mentioned that UCLA is getting underway this week – and it’s true. Campuses like UCLA, Stanford, Ohio State, Drexel, and others are starting this week. (And I noticed UW doesn’t start classes until September 29th!)
UCLA’s classes start this Thursday, with a whole host of first-week activities (like tomorrow’s second annual Volunteer Day). If you’re interested in a stroll down Welcome Week lane to see how UCLA pulls of an activities fair, service day, etc., they’ve got a great article with a lot of links.
And the very fact that some of you might have time to surf through the various sites at the UCLA web page reminds us that we happen to be well into our semesters, well past the craziness of those first weeks. But some college ministers out there are just getting started, and NOW is their craziness.
So we can pray for them. We can send some messages of support. We can go visit or even go help (if we’re nearby a Quarter System campus). And we can be reminded that the world of college ministry is a wide, wide world indeed!
Quarter System people, you are a major part of our world. And while we may have been jealous of your enjoyment of several more weeks of summer, we’re behind you heart and soul as you join us in the 2010-2011 school year. We hope it’s absolutely amazing!
Picture: The Anteater tribe of UC Irvine is one of many Quarter System schools getting started this week.
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