Welcome to Exploring College Ministry!
This site connects you with the college ministry explorations of Benson Hines. I started the blog right before I took a yearlong road trip to examine college ministry throughout the U.S., and I’ve followed that with other major trips and the publication of a free ebook about what I’ve learned, Reaching the Campus Tribes.
In the last few years, I’ve visited around 300 campuses and discussed college ministry with over 400 individual leaders. My main goal is to help develop the work of College Ministry as a whole – step by step, exploration by exploration, project by project.
If you’re new to this site…
- For a brief bio of Benson Hines, keep reading this page.
- To find out more, check out the row of links under the header.
- To dive in to the 500+ blog posts, try the Blog Topics on the side.
- To see the various explorations of 2009 (past and future), click here.
- Or just start reading the newest blog posts here.
You can find all my contact info here (including email, Facebook, and Twitter); my upcoming travel/speaking schedule is here.
exploring
After serving in college ministry for 8 years, I took a year-long road trip to research Collegiate Ministry around the country. My trip (from August 2007 to August 2008) ultimately reached 181 campuses and 44 states. (You can see the basics of that trip here.) Since then, I’ve continued to explore college ministry in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex (where I live) and around the U.S. in six additional multi-state road trips (so far).
The hundreds of ministers “on the ground” I’ve connected with include leaders in some of the best-known and most successful U.S. college ministries (and churches). But I’ve spent time with plenty of amazing guys and gals in less-known ministries, too. I’ve also had the chance to discuss college ministry with national leaders, seminary professors, church pastors, church planters, and others who impact our field and want to see it get even stronger.
college ministry experience
Before the yearlong trip, I was involved in college ministry in one way or another for about eight years in three very different settings: a “college town,” a “college-affected town” with three Christian schools, and finally as a full-time church college minister in a metropolitan area. During that time I also learned as much as I could, visiting college ministry conferences at least yearly, collaborating with other leaders when I could, and even exploring campuses on various cross-country road trips. I’ve also had the opportunity to write a bit, including a gig as a regular correspondent for one statewide Christian newspaper and a few articles in national publications. And now I’ve been blogging regularly about college ministry since July 2007.
developing college ministry
There is a lot of great work going on in the world of college ministry, but as an entire field, we’re still very underdeveloped. What I offer is an understanding of the true “national scene” of Evangelical college ministry – a viewpoint we desperately need if we’re going to develop wisely.
Nowadays, I’m working hard to share what I have learned and experienced, beginning with blogging daily about college ministry at exploringcollegeministry.com. As I undertake various projects, write, and speak, the goals include encouraging college ministers serving students around the nation, advocating for college ministry, and helping develop our field of ministry. As I noted above, I’m pushing to help college ministry develop – step by step, exploration by exploration, project by project.
My biggest recent project is the publication of a free ebook, Reaching the Campus Tribes, which has already received phenomenal response from throughout the Evangelical spectrum. I’ve also had the chance to speak at a few events, including lecturing for a seminary course, and I continue to connect with new college ministers every week. More and more, we see college ministry finding its way into national discussions, local churches, books and blogs, and other communities and forums.
education
B.A. in Psychology, Texas A&M University (Summa Cum Laude – 4.0 grade point)
M.A. in Theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, with majors in Biblical and Theological Studies and the completion of a thesis.
15 comments
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August 26, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Shane
I was roommates with Benson at A&M for a bit. His undergradute degree description is accurate and true, however the rest of his profile information has yet to be confirmed.
August 26, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Benson Hines
Thanks, Shane. I appreciate the confirmation. I will seek out other experts to confirm the rest. :)
December 18, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Patti Brock
Hi Ben. Your mom gave me your business card and told me to check out your web site. It appears you are doing well and learning quite alot. You’re in my prayers!
January 1, 2008 at 8:29 am
rhettsmith
Benson,
Came across this site. Great stuff. If you make it to Los Angeles, let’s grab coffee and chat about college ministry.
Rhett Smith
College Pastor
The Quest (Bel Air Presbyterian Church)
http://www.rhettsmith.com
January 4, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Ty Waardenburg
small world , I am in the process of planting a Church at Ohio State and doing some research on college church plants, you were something I googles, after reading I realized I met you at the Ivy Jungle Conference. I need to be in conversation with you sometime, we are trying to put together a clear vision and I would love to learn about what different people are doing. I had also come across, the church plants in Boston, so I will get in touch with them.
January 4, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Ty Waardenburg
PS I will be friending you on facebook, just if you wonder who I am.
February 5, 2008 at 9:07 am
Rebecca Mayfield
I would just like to say I was there in the formative years. Back when Benson was ministering via small canines. Still brings a tiny tear to my eye.
February 9, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Jake
Shane, I can confirm that Ben is from Warsaw and that he is actually in Los Angeles doing his work here for 3 weeks.
February 13, 2008 at 12:33 pm
livegenerously
Hi Benson,
Your site was recently recommended to me, and I’m enjoying reading about your experience. I’m a college pastor at a church in Oceanside, CA, so I particularly enjoyed reading about your experience at different churches in San Diego the San Diego area. Thanks for the work that you’re doing, I’ve appreciated your insights into college ministry.
-Brian Kiley
College Pastor, New Song Community Church
livegenerously.wordpress.com
April 13, 2008 at 10:38 pm
TheDeeZone
Benson,
Interesting: My husband went to A&M & I went to HSU. We both are graduates of SWBTS. Currently, we work with college students in Gainesville, FL. Quite a different environment than Abilene, Bryan-College Station or Ft. Worth.
DH
February 25, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Curt Harlow
Thanks for the kind words and help highlighting The Seat of Power.
March 1, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Benson Hines
No problem, Curt! Here’s the video Curt’s talking about – and it’s DEFINITELY worth spending the 4 minutes watching:
http://vimeo.com/2587774
July 27, 2009 at 10:30 am
Matt Stephens
Benson,
Did you happen to pay New Life OSU (Ohio State) a visit on your trip? They have probably one of the largest, most successful college churches in the U.S. As of now, they’re connected with the New Life Network (based out of Gahanna, OH), but are in the process of (probably) affiliating with the SBC.
Interestingly, I read your 2007 post about collegiate church planting in which you said that the SBC was moving toward collegiate churches vs. BCMs. However, talking with Jason (OSU) yesterday, he said the topic is a “firestorm” right now and that collegiate churches are frowned upon in the SBC at large, including in the denominational collegiate ministry leadership (the Ohio college ministry director is hoping to reverse this opinion, with NL’s help).
Anyhow, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if denominations took their money out of campus ministries and put them into collegiate churches. NL-OSU’s success is an embarrassment to BCMs across the country and should serve as a wake-up call not just to Baptists, but to denominations and donors to campus ministries like IV and CC. I believe this is the next key move to being missional about reaching college students for Christ.
His Kingdom come,
Matt
July 27, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Benson Hines
I didn’t get to see them – it seems like I might have heard about ‘em, but I’m not sure. But that was a year ago.
I don’t know the size of New Life, but there are several large collegiate churches in the U.S. – several hundred in attendance each week, probably, with longevity of decades. (Longevity is a major factor in determining success in many cases, clearly.)
As for the SBC, I think the post you’re probably talking about is here: http://exploringcollegeministry.com/2007/11/30/the-collegiate-church-model-episode-one/. I only wrote that at that time, the SBC was tilting toward a church-planting model in Boston, and that was true. They certainly didn’t tilt that way nationwide.
As for collegiate churches causing a “firestorm,” that’s probably overstating the case – college ministry isn’t important enough in ANY denomination to cause any firestorms. :) There are some church-based college ministers and campus-based college ministers who don’t love that model, some who are fans of it, and some who are happy where it excels and see it as one of several possible college ministry models.
One of the things I gained from these trips the past two years was realizing how circle-centric we all can be: We know our circles, our networks, our regions, and we too often generalize from those. I definitely disagree that any form of ministry has been an “embarrassment” or a “wake-up call” to others – no one model has tested, widespread, significant . Remember, BCM has struggled in many places in Ohio, while OSU is far from “standard” among collegiate ministry situations in general (from what I could tell). So the success of a very different model isn’t surprising.
As for people’s concerns about collegiate churches, the big issue for many people seems to be Ecclesiological, not Methodological. The best thing anyone can do who wants to advocate for that form is to present theological arguments alongside practical ones. If those get hashed out, those who have concerns will probably find that model more palatable! In general, that’s the kind of deep, solid discussion we need in the field of college ministry – as long as it reflects a understanding of the national scene. Like foreign missions, it’s a hard field to talk about without really wide exposure.
I redirected this conversation back to that post, so the additional comments on this issue can be found here.
July 27, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Benson Hines
I redirected the above conversation to the post mentioned. You can find the additional comments on that issue here:
http://exploringcollegeministry.com/2007/11/30/the-collegiate-church-model-episode-one/