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Please check out TWO requests for ideas at the bottom of this post!
One of the best projects I was ever a part of involved giving roses to the girls in our small group. I led a freshman Bible study my sophomore year of college, and I got all the dudes to secretly donate, come particularly dressed up that night, and then meet just before group time to get roses. As our lovely ladies walked down the hall, we were looking sharp and carrying flowers.
Valentine’s Day is possibly in the Top Ten of regular opportunities college ministries have to
- be counter-cultural and redefining
- shine
- serve
- make people’s day
- develop group community
- raise expectations for spouses
- or all of the above.
So though I recognize today is Valentine’s Day, you’ve got a whole day ahead of you and then a whole “Valentine’s Week” ahead of you, too… It might not be too late to seize the Day, as it were.
and now, two ways I could use your help:
I would love to hear any and all examples of how you’ve seen ministries do well with Valentine’s Day (this year or otherwise). PLEASE either leave them in the comments or send them to me directly, so I can spread the wealth!
And while we’re at it, could you send me any Super Bowl party suggestions, along the same lines? Anything you’ve seen or done would be really helpful.
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Drew Brees, Purdue
Peyton Manning, Robert Meachem, and Jabari Greer, Tennessee
Gary Brackett, Rutgers
Jeff Saturday, the Tarheel tribe
Ryan Diem, Northern Illinois
Dwight Freeney, the Orangemen tribe
Marques Colston, Hofstra
Antonio Johnson, Mississippi State
Pierre Garcon, Mount Union
Scott Shanle and Carl Nicks, the Cornhusker tribe
Robert Mathis, Alabama A&M
Austin Collie, BYU
Jerraud Powers, Auburn
Jahri Evans, Bloomsburg
Will Smith, the Buckeye tribe
Jermon Bushrod, Towson
Sedrick Ellis, USC
Jeremy Shockey, Jonathan Vilma, and Reggie Wayne, the Hurricane tribe
Darren Sharper, William & Mary
Remi Ayodele, the Sooner tribe
Kyle DeVan, Oregon State
Roman Harper, ‘Bama
Melvin Bullitt, Texas A&M
Tracy Porter, the Hoosier tribe
Daniel Muir, Kent State
Joseph Addai and Devery Henderson, LSU
Jonathan Goodwin, Michigan
Philip Wheeler, Georgia Tech
Dallas Clark, the Hawkeye tribe
Ryan Lilja, Kansas State
Charlie Johnson, Oklahoma State
Scott Fujita, California
Jon Stinchcomb, Georgia
Antonie Bethea, Howard
Pierre Thomas and Kelvin Hayden, the Fighting Illini tribe
Clint Session, Pitt
Bobby McCray (plus #45, the star of one particular commercial), the Gator tribe
and a bonus #46, Carrie Underwood, Northeastern State
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This week’s Fridea was inspired by a recent post by my college minister friend Steve Lutz (who serves among the Nittany Lion tribe). In his post, he looked ahead to a discussion group he’d be holding this semester – including the very timely topics the group would be contemplating.
This is common in some ministries, but I would guess that most – especially those campus ministries that are larger or more well-developed – don’t make intentional space to discuss such issues with students. Perhaps we occasionally teach about the issues of the day – which can have major benefits, to be sure. But there’s a deeper chance to disciple students by illustrating how a Christian thinks through various issues – including things that could easily be categorized as only “secular.”
So that’s this week’s Fridea: Spend one “session” thinking with students about the issues of the day.
Can this take place regularly? Sure. But that’s not this Fridea. This is just an encouragement to think about doing it once, in a very intentional and explicit way. It might look something like this:
- Designate a normal portion of your ministry schedule – either a regular teaching time or one week in small groups.
- Prepare multiple topics to look at – with questions that strike at the spiritual angles of each issue, including angles students might not naturally consider. (See examples at the bottom.)
- Walk students through the thinking process. This might be taught – with a large dose of audience feedback or Q&A – or it might be true dialogue. Use the method that’s best for your group.
- Whichever method you use, I’d encourage you to lead. The purpose is not to get students to have the same sorts of discussions they may have already had on Facebook or in their dorms. It’s to use real-life, pressing issues to illustrate the ideals of a Christian College Student Thoughtful Response.
Sadly, many students haven’t viewed current events through a spiritual lens; it’s hard to think of many more valuable ways for us to disciple them. And the topics they’re interested in provide teachable moments; I encourage you to seize the moment!
topics / questions
One of the reasons this idea might be especially useful right now is that several BIG issues have popped up in the last month. [If you're reading this later, of course, I'm sure you can find some other great issues to dialogue on.]
In case you’ve forgotten, some of the recent topics (with suggested spiritual angles worth exploring):
- Haiti (compassion, donating, wisdom when donating, “What if I don’t feel passionate about this?,” responding to needs close to home, Pat Buchanan’s response, other Christians’ response to PB, etc.)
- Avatar (a better world beyond earth, religious issues, dealing with other cultures, etc.)
- Brit Hume & Tiger Woods (proselytizing, the Gospel, tolerance & relativism, public Christianity, various responses to the situation, etc.)
- Colt McCoy (public Christianity, response to suffering / loss, the Gospel, success, how we respond “in the moment,” etc.)
- Lane Kiffin (what “loyalty” does and doesn’t mean, students’ angry response, other responses, career ambition, etc.)
- Health Care (providing for the less fortunate, making choices politically, not being idiots about politics, Christians in politics, abortion, campaign promises, etc.)
- Conan O’Brien & Jay Leno (conflict, public conflict, compromise, “kindness” vs. “business,” etc.)
What other topics are ripe for collegiate spiritual discussions?
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(click the picture for a better view)
I recognize that this weekend is probably the first “downtime” many of us have had, as our semesters or quarters have come to an end. So I don’t mean to rain on that parade. Rest. Rest well.
But I encourage you even now to start praying (or keep praying) about how these next weeks could lead to an upgraded college ministry. For most of those working with semester-system schools, you’ve got four or five weeks; even those on the quarter system have a couple of weeks, I believe. How could your ministry (or you, as leader) be upgraded in that time?
I would guess that improvement between the fall and spring is one of the least-tapped opportunities within college ministry. And yet it’s probably a period which, for many of us, actually is the most “free” of any point during the year. Is there any way to take advantage of that, coming back in 2010 with the best college ministry you’ve ever led?
Yep. There are ways.
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If you aren’t already aware of the public conflict (and resolution) between Christians over Foster & Wilhite’s Deadly Viper book (and marketing), it would be very worth catching up on.
One of the really helpful things about Twitter is staying current on topics of interest to us as college ministers. And while I haven’t been able to follow the Twitter-stream nearly as much as I would hope to (participating in a 7-week road trip and all), I did happen to catch wind of this very helpful teachable moment for all of us.
The very brief summary of the conflict is that Deadly Viper, published by Zondervan in 2007, seems to have insensitively pictured Asian stereotypes, and their recent marketing push went (in the eyes of many) even further “over the top” in this regard. As a result, many expressed deep public concern – especially after the authors did not respond well to the original confrontations. Since then, the authors have expressed deep regret and a desire to learn. And others are pointing to this as an opportunity for us all to learn.
And indeed it is. I certainly learned much by taking a look at some of what has been said.
Of course, this is important for us as Christians. But it’s also extra-important because of the climates in which we get to serve – climates which are often some of the most (integrated) multicultural environments in America. We need to understand how students and others in our campus communities view the world. And we should also be helping our students, teaching them wisely on navigating the sometimes-tricky waters of community.
So how can you explore this important topic? Here are three good places:
- Eugene Cho offers an excellent summary of both the situation and the concerns
- D. J. Chuang offers links aplenty on this situation, as well as some wisdom on the value of a very public conflict
- The major catalyst in airing the concerns has been Professor Soong-Chan Rah, a (well-loved) prof of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Seminary. I’d encourage you to scan his progression of posts through the last several days, beginning with the initial major posts from November 3rd.
- And of course, don’t miss the chance to read the comments on those posts. As always, they present the opportunity to view a wider spectrum of reactions to this issue.
written from Toledo, OH
please pray for me as I speak to a conference of college ministers tonight!
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Road Trip 13: Day 36 recap
recap: finished my time in Ann Arbor, down to Toledo (see all explorations so far)
mileage: 6,773 miles so far
new state: Ohio (#16)
T-shirt: the Jumbos of Tufts University
monday: flying to Cedar Falls, IA, to speak at the Collegiate Ministries Conference for the Lakes & Prairies Synod of the PC(USA). I’ll be there ’til Wednesday.
Chi Alpha director Brad Lewis mentioned last night that NDSU and Minnesota State Moorhead have had plenty of students come down with the swine flu. And though that news is true for campuses nationwide, I sadly hadn’t connected that issue to potential college ministry activity.
My thickness bums me out. I (and we) should be really good at recognizing “reachable moments,” opportunities for ministry that connect with the present Zeitgeist. Serving others involves connecting with their felt needs when we can, and “dealing with swine flu” is certainly a felt need for many of our campuses.
So, better late than never, this week’s Fridea:
Minister in light of the swine flu.
I would love to hear any ways ministries have connected with their campus / with students around this issue. Please post a comment if you’ve done it or heard about it!
Obviously, our response will vary campus-to-campus, and maybe this isn’t something your campus needs. But here are some ways campus ministries just might minister in light of the present “swinegeist.”
- Help with the campus’s swine flu prevention / awareness efforts
- Passing on to your group any messages the campus wants them to know
- Serve students who are quarantined or otherwise swinfluenza’d. (Cookies? Class notes? Tutoring afterward? Nice notes? Serenading?)
- Pray for students with it
- Pray for students not to get it
- Help in similar ways with faculty and staff
- Work with faculty to help out, as they face difficulties of irregular student attendance, etc.
- Help in similar ways off-campus – in the community
- Talk to administrators, staff, and faculty about other actions they’re taking – and consider any ways your ministry might be able to pitch in, complement, or just plain love
Truly integrating with our campuses means connecting on the things they find important sometimes, even if it’s not the brightest spot on our own radar screens. Ministering in light of swine flu might just be a simple, servant-y way to play helpful roles among the campus community.
Find synopses of all the Frideas – interesting little college ministry methods that might be worth a shot – over here.
written from Motel 6, Fargo, ND
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Road Trip 13: Day 26 recap
recap: finally made it up to Fargo; exploring some ministry at NDSU and Minnesota State Moorhead (see all explorations so far)
new campuses: Minnesota State Moorhead (#20), North Dakota State (#21)
new states: North Dakota (#10), Minnesota (#11)
T-shirt: the Wildcat tribe of Cal State Chico
friday: mostly a much-needed Sabbath, it looks like (I’d appreciate your prayers for rest and encouragement!)
For many of you, the school year begins this week (or has already begun). For those whose school calendar doesn’t start for another month (thanks to the Quarter System), enjoy the rest of your summer. But for many of us, this is the beginning!
So I’m praying for you guys, AND I want this blog to be as helpful as possible in these crazy, busy, important days. So, I want to clue you in on two things that you might find encouraging and useful – especially here at the start of school, both for you and for any leaders in your ministry.
(And if you missed it, yesterday’s blog was a list of seven “best ways to start the school year.”)
40 days, 40 prays
If you haven’t already seen it, I encourage you to tune into our United Methodist campus ministry friends, who have issued a nationwide call for 40 Days of Campus Ministry Prayer. They’re blogging a new intense, solid prayer for college ministers each day. I think you’ll find their prayers encouraging and refreshing – and perhaps taking time to pray through them each day might be a great spiritual discipline as you begin the year.
This could also be valuable for your student leaders, adult volunteers, and even your supporters to be reading/praying along with you.
You can find a good description of the project, a prayer guide, and all the prayers so far right here. As a reminder, I’ll also link to the prayers occasionally at the bottom of posts (see below). You can also find posts from the coinciding “40 Conversations” series here.
what I learned in my first year
Meanwhile, I plan to start a timely new series tomorrow: Each day, one major thing I learned in my very first year of college ministry that has had a BIG impact on my college ministry work ever since. (I learned a lot of interesting things that first year – you’ll hear a little about it in the posts to come.)
[The whole series can now be seen right here.]
These won’t be fancy posts – and they should be quite short, in honor of the busy season. But I figure that looking at some powerful, basic ideas and Best Practices isn’t a bad thing at the beginning of the school year. I would also love to help your student leaders or adult volunteers with these posts – I really think they will cover some strong practices that might “upgrade” anyone’s ministry, whether they’re longtime ministers or first-time volunteers.
For those of you who do have a little time to interact with the blogs, these may also be great posts for commenting and adding your thoughts, illustrations, contrasting ideas, connected ideas, or anything else. Sometimes little nuggets make the best springboards!
Enjoy your school year, whenever it starts. I’m praying for you.
It’s Day Eight of College Union’s 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry
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