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I’ve used the word “politics” on this blog in exactly one post since October of 2008. While I enjoy the sociology of politics, it’s not something I keep front-and-center.
But every two years (at least), we are presented with a rather stark “lab” for teaching college students about faith in public. Of course, I call it a “lab” because it’s not only a chance to discuss “Jesus & Politics.” It’s a chance to discuss “Jesus and everything,” using a topic that just happens to be ripe for student attention.
Why is this such a “teachable moment”?
- Campuses are more “political” than a lot of places already
- Students may actually have been confronted (for the first time) with good reasons to reconsider their families’ political stances
- It’s controversial
- Few Christian students have ever taken a hard look at how their faith connects with their political beliefs (beyond the caricatures)
- Few non-Christian students have heard well-reasoned discussions about faith and politics
- Rightly or wrongly, students feel like they should care about this politics stuff
- There are plenty of students who probably care far too much about politics, or they’re far too “sure” of themselves in this arena
- Regardless of your opinion of President Obama, he caught the attention of a lot of our present collegians 2 years ago
- Regardless of your opinion of President Obama, lots of those collegians are disillusioned or confused about their feelings toward him now
- Many of your campuses have political student organizations that are stirring the pot… and may also be very willing to discuss faith’s connection to what they do
So it’s a topic that can get college students’ attention, especially in the next couple of months.
Obviously, don’t just “go political” because it’s a hot topic. But if discussions of this nature actually seem to accomplish your college ministry’s purposes, it’s worth considering!
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For many of us, it’s THE weekend before the school year starts. Perhaps on Monday, perhaps later in the week. And I just noticed that the University of Michigan doesn’t start ’til after Labor Day, and of course the Quarter System schools have even longer to enjoy the summer.
But since many are headed for College Ministry Season this week, I figured I wouldn’t add to the workload with another blog post over the weekend. You’ve got work to do (or resting to do).
But know that I’m praying for you, excited for you, and hopeful about another year of helping serve you in what you’re doing.
Last-minute questions? Need some help brainstorming something? Wanna give me something to pray about? Give me a shout.
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On this day three years ago, I took off on a great big adventure – what would become a yearlong road trip through 44 states and to 181 campuses. Taking this trip wasn’t “like me,” that’s for sure; as I’ve said many times since, I’m not naturally an adventurer.
Instead, I had come that summer to realize a new call, a call to help advance the field of Evangelical college ministry. So I prayed through what that meant next. Would I get hired as a college minister and use that spot to advocate for and advance our field? Would I broadcast what I’d learned already, in eight years of ministering to students? (Surely not, since my experiences so far weren’t quite the stuff of “See How I Did It” books.) What paths might most help our field, and most help the hundreds of college ministers whose ranks I was part of and whose work I adored?
As I wrote in Reaching the Campus Tribes,
It was my friend Steven who first threw out the idea of taking a road trip to see college ministry in action across the nation. I scoffed a bit at first, but the truth is, that suggestion wasn’t as out-of-the-blue as it might seem. (page 13)
I had taken some surprisingly large road trips before, and I’d also spent a lot of time seeking wisdom from various college ministers. At conferences, as a journalist, locally, and otherwise I picked many a campus minister’s brain. And I realized that the national wisdom was much greater than what I – and perhaps every other college minister – had access to so far.
In other words, as I prayed, I came to recognize that breadth was one thing our field desperately needed. (Then, as now, we campus ministers were fairly niched, regioned, denominated, and otherwise isolated from the greater wisdom of the greater field.) If I could do nothing else as a 28-year-old single devotee to collegiate ministry, I could explore that wide, wide world and offer the resulting breadth back to us.
After much prayer, thought, and wisdom-seeking, I decided I would indeed take that big trip.
Knowing this was now a matter of obedience, I took out loans, packed up my stuff, and left Dallas in time for the fall semester – only three weeks after deciding to take the trip. I counted on God’s provision for His call, and He certainly confirmed that call throughout the year. (Reaching the Campus Tribes, page 14)
The three years (so far) that began on that day have been, of course, radically life-changing. I would finish that particular trip 370 days later, indebted financially but also forever indebted relationally because of the rich tapestry of college ministry that hundreds of people had allowed me to see.
Soon after, I would start blogging daily, to share everything I had gained. I would take seven more road trips – none a year long, of course, but still plenty adventurous and fruitful. I would publish that ebook the spring after the trip finished, make it freely available, and watch it spread widely and happily through our field. I would give away whatever wisdom I could however I could, and I’d have opportunities to share in other forms – speaking, writing, consulting.
All of this was partaking in adventure at the hands of the great Adventure-Giver. The yearlong trip wasn’t the only adventure – though that was the most far-flung. But so was the adventure of wondering how this all gets provided for (and still wondering). The adventure of seeing college ministries (and college ministers) grow during the last few years – and having chances to help that growth happen. The adventures of encountering heroes, of fighting against unhealth in our field, of advancing our field any way I can… step by step, project by project.
I don’t know what adventures lie ahead, bundled under this call of “advancing college ministry.” Sometimes – like now – it feels like I’m in the narrows, hoping I can continue to push forward well. Other times, I’ve gotten glimpses that thrill: about our field… where it’s going… its future impact… and a future where Christians care about it like they should (which, as we know, is much, much more).
As I could have said a month or two in, I still say today: “A wide door of effective ministry has opened to me,” and while most of the adversaries aren’t (so far) of the flesh-and-blood type, there are many difficulties indeed.
It all started three years ago today, a day that put my world on wheels and brought into action the awesome call to serve the field of college ministry. Thanks for it, Adventure-Giver. And thanks, college ministers, for letting me partake of the beauty of your many calls.
Evangel University (pictured at the top) would be the first campus of the yearlong trip. I stopped in on August 17th (mostly to take a nap); I returned in the last month of the trip for further exploration, T-shirt purchasing, and picture-taking.
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Another interesting story connected to religious dialogue and religious freedom on campus came up this week. (If you missed it, here’s the rundown of the recent Supreme Court ruling against a college ministry in Northern California.)
This week’s news involves the University of Illinois firing a prof for sharing the Catholic teaching against homosexuality. The especially pertinent fact of the issue at hand, however, is that the professor teaches religious courses – specifically, an intro to Catholicism, which provided the context for his comments.
Notably, the University of Illinois is now reviewing their firing of this professor. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do.
The Chicago Tribune reports,
Chancellor Robert Easter has asked the University of Illinois’ Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure to determine whether the university violated the academic freedom of adjunct associate professor Kenneth Howell by barring him from teaching classes on introduction to Catholicism and modern Catholic thought.
Howell, who has taught on the Urbana-Champaign campus since 2001, was barred last month after explaining during class why the church believes that homosexual behavior violates natural moral law. He elaborated later in an e-mail to students, which lawyers say circulated around campus and prompted complaints.
For more, here are some links you might find helpful:
U of I to Review Removal of Religion Professor – from the Chicago Tribune
Alliance Defense Fund remarks on the issue, including links to a couple of other cases from around the country
U. of I. Too Quick to Fire Catholic Prof, an editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times
U. of Ill. to Review Catholic Instructor’s Firing, the AP story as carried by the Tribune
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In case you’re coming for the follow-up to yesterday’s post on how to road trip, I needed to put that on pause to fill you in on this week’s adventures. Sorry about that – look for further tips this weekend or next week!
I’m headed to Arkansas today! I’ve been graciously invited to give a seminar at Campus Ministry United’s annual summer conference, held at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. This was one of several conferences I attended on the yearlong road trip, so it kinda holds a special place in my heart. It’ll be good to be back.
I’ve also been really looking forward to my theme: I’ll be speaking on Better Brainstorming, a very practical topic I’m pretty stinkin’ passionate about. If you can, please pray that I’d be effective and encouraging – not just in my seminar on Saturday afternoon, but in the rest of the time I get to hang with the men and women at this conference. I really appreciate it!
(And if you know anybody who might like to hire me for something like this – or a whole host of other ways to make use of my learnings – check things out here!)
are you in the group?
It’s a good time to note: If you didn’t realize I was headed to Arkansas, you probably aren’t in the Exploring College Ministry with Benson Facebook group. It’s definitely the place to get the best low-down on news like this. And there are chances to help me out; members of the group have been helping me figure out some connections to make and things to enjoy on the drive to Arkansas today!
Finally, in case you’re wondering, this does not count as an official Exploring College Ministry Road Trip. (So Number 15 is still to come!) Though I’m perfectly happy to be on the road again, this is just a straight-there, straight-back, one-state-away sort of trip. Not exactly worth comparing to the more humongous explorations.
some good reading for our field
I did want to point you to two newsworthy items you should check out:
Scot McKnight discusses the younger generation “falling away”: In reviewing a new (cool-looking) book, McKnight examines this notion as a potential myth, and College Ministry has entered into the Comments section. So if you’ve got something helpful to say (pro, con, or otherwise), add your two cents!
Alec Hill, President of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, looks with concern at CLS v. Martinez: This is another place that could use wisdom from college ministers! Add to the comments if you can, but this is yet another good resource for better understanding this important Supreme Court case. (And if you need to catch up, my recent post on it is here.)
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The several links at the bottom are the main purpose of this post. I’d encourage you to have at least a working knowledge of this case, since nobody’s really sure how it might show up on YOUR campus this fall or in the future.
Because of the holiday, I’ll see you next on Tuesday – so take some time with this one if you can!
The Supreme Court’s decision this week against the claims made by the Christian Legal Society at Hastings College of the Law was a very important decision for a field, in no small part because Collegiate Ministry has very few cases of settled law to point to.
In case you haven’t been keeping up:
- Hastings (a public law school) has established a policy requiring all officially recognized student organizations allow any and all students to participate at any position.
- The Christian Legal Society has official members (unlike most college ministry groups), and it requires these members to abide by certain practices and hold certain beliefs.
- Therefore, Hastings would not allow CLS to become an official student organization (though it did allow it access to the campus, etc.).
For now, it’s also important to note that…
The complete case hasn’t, in fact, been settled. The litigation is going back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in order to test the claim that Hastings inconsistently applied its rule (that kept CLS from being allowed as a recognized student org). As the case proceeds, the importance for the rest of us seems to be how definitively Hastings will be required to follow its own rule (called in many of this week’s articles an “all-comers policy”). If in the weeks or months to come it becomes abundantly clear that
- this “all-comers” rule must apply equally to all groups on the campus (i.e., that all groups must allow all students access to all positions, even if those students are hostile to the purposes of the group),
- that many groups are thereby threatened by a potential “takeover” or simply interference from hostile students,
- and/or that the policy at Hastings is indeed very unique among public colleges and universities,
then the rest of us may not be much affected. In fact, it seems the more clarity on this, the better; my largest concern is not that campuses will faithfully apply this ruling, but that they’ll incorrectly apply this ruling in an overreaching way.
Again, it’s important to recognize that the ruling was narrow, directly testing whether a college ministry was, in fact, running afoul of a very specific, unusual policy. The dissenters (it was, after all, a narrow 5-4 vote) went after the rule itself as absurd.
So for more, some of the items you might find most helpful:
Still perhaps the best for a solid, easy-to-read analysis: Christianity Today’s extensive, balanced, and very helpful synopsis, which I linked the other day.
InterVarsity’s press release on the decision (with links to more) – IV seems to have dealt with more such cases in recent years than anybody, so it’s especially helpful to hear their take
Vikram Amar’s academic look at why and how the Supremes reached their decision – really helps understand the workings of the court, regardless of whether you agree with the author’s thoughts on the decision
Adam Goldstein at the Huffington Post likewise examines the Supreme Court’s process here, but unlike Amar above believes the decision “sucker punches the First Amendment”
David Opderbeck wrote about the case at the Jesus Creed blog awhile back; now he and others have several careful reflections at their Law, Religion, and Ethics blog (and regularly dialogue with each other in the comments), starting with Robert Vischer’s original reflection here.
This week at Jesus Creed, lawyer “T” shared thoughts on the decision; as often happens at the Jesus Creed blog, many comments ensued too!
Christian Legal Society obviously has some things to say; info and plenty of links can be found here; their interesting “FAQ” is here.
Hastings College of the Law’s own (brief) statement is here; also see PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly’s interview (from April) with the Dean and Acting Chancellor of Hastings, a fascinating look at how Hastings claims the policy can and should be applied
Alliance Defense Fund on what the ruling did and didn’t do, and where things go from here
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As you may have heard, the Supreme Court decided against the Christian Legal Society at California’s Hastings College of Law. But the decision actually seems to have been quite narrow, because the rule in question was in fact quite specific.
Hastings has a rule on its books mandating that no campus organization can limit its membership or leadership, even around its statement of beliefs. The Supreme Court yesterday upheld this rule, which keeps the Christian Legal Society from becoming a recognized student organization because of its ban on homosexual members.
As Christianity Today’s excellent summary noted,
The majority opinion, issued by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said that Hastings College of the Law’s “all comers” policy, which required all groups to open all positions to all students, “is a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to the student-organization forum.” The Christian Legal Society (CLS) chapter at the University of California school, Ginsburg wrote, “seeks not parity with other organizations, but a preferential exemption from Hastings’ policy.”
However, some commentators are pointing out the very important fact that the rule at Hastings is specific to Hastings. And if, in fact, it turns out that Hastings allows some groups to “discriminate” in membership but not others (as CLS has argued), then all this could be moot anyway. The case now travels back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to address that very issue.
Further, perhaps Hastings would even be persuaded to amend its own rule, if various other organizations realize how problematic this ruling could actually be. If any organization must allow any member to take place in any conceivable way, then it seems that all groups could lose their “groupness.”
As for the rest of us, there’s room for both hope and concern. On the one hand,
“It’s unlikely [that other universities will adopt the rule Hastings has], because an all-comers policy by and large defeats the purpose for which state universities allow student organizations to be created and recognized by the educational institution,” [Carl Esbeck, University of Missouri constitutional law professor] told CT. “Namely, that like-minded people can band together in an association or organization and thereby have not only common reinforcement among themselves but also have a greater voice because they’re speaking as a united group.”
But on the other hand, things like this can embolden both schools and students who are already inclined to make things more difficult for Christian campus ministries. So even if rules are created or actions are taken that actually run afoul of the Justices’ narrow decision here, it could take years for everything to get sorted out. That’s the way these things can pan out “on the ground,” as organizations and people are liable to overcorrect. (Of course, that could easily have happened in the other direction if the decision had gone the other way. I’m just noting the concern.)
I encourage you to take a look at the Christianity Today article, as well as Inside Higher Ed’s, which has several additional links. Inside Higher Ed has also promised complete coverage today, so that would be very worth looking at.
In case you’re wondering, the scale up there is at Xavier University!
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In case you haven’t heard, today through Thursday is the RE-Think Blogference – basically a mash-up of college ministry (and some other-ministry) thoughts from over a dozen authors (including yours truly). All housed in a blog.
Easy. Free. And BIG potential for learning.
I really want to encourage you to take a look and engage in the topics that interest you. The idea of a “blogference” is to read and comment, so go for it – with gusto!
[UPDATE 11am Central]: There are several great posts up there on Day 1! My personal favorites are Russ Martin’s encouragement to tithe our time online and a phenomenal post on using Facebook in college ministry – from a refreshingly studenty perspective. But that’s picking 2 out of five excellent posts, so I wouldn’t just limit yourself to those.
Remember, this is a rare chance for your voice to be heard by a broad range of college ministers – including quite a few in Campus Crusade. Ask questions, share ideas, share concerns, and learn. Just don’t forget to be a good guest!
Check in to the Blogference HERE. On Wednesday, I’ll be hosting one of the topics – but you should see me in the Comments each of the three days! Be sure to say hi – and as always, feel free to vociferously disagree with me. Or back me up. Whatever!
For more, check out the Blogference Facebook page – which includes nifty things like getting the content via RSS, etc.
The topics, to whet your whistle:
- Evangelism
- Social Media in Ministry
- Moms, Wives, & Women in Ministry
- Self-Directed Leadership Development
- Getting Better at College Ministry through Collaboration (my topic!)
And if you need even more encouragement, read my post about the blogference from last week.
As you may know, I’m a big fan of the NCAA Tournament. As a fan of colleges in general, it gets me fired up to see 65 campus tribes on display for a few weeks. It’s a great time, as I’ve noted before, to call people’s attention to this amazing mission field; if they’re fans of the tournament, it’s pretty easy to bridge the conversation into what we get to do!
As I’ve been very much enjoying this year’s Tourney, I picked up a few things you might enjoy, too. Not all are ministry-related (but some are).
First, some facts that are of little importance but perhaps some interest:
- I filled out 18 brackets this year, 10 of which are at ESPN and 3 of which are on Facebook. Except for two “pick-with-my-gut” brackets, I employed a weird, tedious, educated-but-chance-influenced method this year. It was actually pretty fun, and it gave me much more variation among my brackets.
- Of my ESPN brackets, 2 are in the top 90 percentile (95.8 and 92.9), and 2 are – shockingly – under the FOURTH percentile (2.6 and 3.9). In many ways, it’s probably harder to make that many bad picks than to be in the 95th percentile… All in all, I don’t seem to be doing great, although several brackets have a lot of Possible Points Remaining – and that matters a lot.
- Of the 16 teams remaining in the Tourney, I’ve had the marvelous blessing of visiting 14 of them. (Sadly, St. Mary’s and Butler haven’t made it into a trip yet.) Of the original 65, I have visited 45.
making the case for college ministry: If you missed it ’cause you were on Spring Break (or want to see the pictures I added a few days ago), I posted my 2010 edition of “Sixty-four: A Vision Trip.” It’s a short essay connecting the tournament with our campus “missionary” work. Hopefully it encourages you – and highlights the importance of college ministry to those who should support it!
those crazy tribe identities: Glen Davis sent me this awesome bracket of crazy mascot nicknames from a blog I’ve never read before. I’m including it because it’s really fun, but it’s also a chance to discuss the uniqueness of the students and campuses we serve!
Georgia Tech, fasting from cell phones, and community: This ESPN article about Georgia Tech’s players giving up their cell phones makes really valuable points about the benefits of putting that stuff on hold in any group trying to build community. Could be great for sharing how that stuff distracts your students from “real life” sometimes, as well as suggesting a policy you might want to introduce (like at a college ministry retreat, for instance). And it’s a pretty fun article. (After GT finished playing the other day, it was hilarious to see those guys texting away in the stands, too, since I knew they had been “abstaining.”)
the smarts of this year’s Tourney teams: Inside Higher Ed posted its fifth annual “Academic Performance Tournament,” which takes the same bracket as March Madness but advances teams based on the players’ academic achievements. While some low seeds like Holy Cross have won it all in the past, this year was very good for the #1 seeds… except for one, which faced a bitter loss in the first round.
A few more Tourney-related items: A recent story on some college ministry success at Syracuse. The newest WVU Mountaineer mascot is also the prez of FCA. And Athletes in Action apparently hosts an annual breakfast during the Final Four.
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