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I’ve been talking about niche-based and complementary campus ministry for the last couple of days, largely because they were discussed a few times with the Ohio ministers who brought me up there last week.
After offering a sort of primer on the two paths yesterday, I wanted to offer the first of some random thoughts. There’s no real organization here; it’s simply a collection of some of the things I’ve noticed, wondered, or imagined for these two areas.
Gamers. One of the campus niches that seems like a really good example of a new, fairly well-defined niche is the Gamer Culture. I’ve heard of at least one ministry reaching out to that group, too.
Niches that seem obvious. Besides athletes, international students, and ethnic-specific ministries (which I mentioned yesterday and are fairly well established in our field), several others come to mind as strong candidates for niche-based ministry at many campuses. These include academic / honors students, apartment-dwellers, specific majors that have particularly stringent workloads (like Architecture), students drawn to or studying the arts, individuals from specific countries (rather than simply working with all internationals), and Christians considering going into ministry.
Niche ministries you should know. Though less well-known, it’s been fun for me to learn about Lifelines, a niche ministry of Cru focused largely on outdoors-lovers, and the Christian Medical and Dental Association, which is active on many campuses for those entering those fields.
Complementary options. While any strength (of a particular minister or an entire ministry) could eventually be used to complement other ministry work taking place in town, some opportunities seem more widespread than others. I wish we’d see more ministries helping with Leadership Training, campus-wide Service, Preparation for life after college, Missions Mobilization, and supporting the particularly academic students – just to name a few options!
Spin-off style. For both complementary and niche-based endeavors that start within a present, full-fledged college ministry, it’s always worth considering whether those efforts should eventually spin off into their own ministries. That’s not always the best plan, but it’s a valid – and sometimes better – option.
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I’ve certainly written about these before, but in light of yesterday’s post, I wanted to talk about two options that I think far too few college ministries consider. Further, while any present campus ministry can consider adding these to its repertoire, it’s even more important that any – and perhaps every – new ministry consider one of these roads instead of the standard path.
Niche-based college ministry
Why do most college ministries start by trying to reach throughout the campus? Many campuses clearly have “tribes within the tribe,” so it might often be more missional to aim specifically for one portion of campus. Further, this can make a lot of sense from a growth perspective – reaching critical mass within a smaller group is far easier than reaching critical mass from a pool of thousands.
Sadly, niche-based college ministry is rare… except in the situations where it’s so common we don’t even think about it. Think about it: ministry to athletes (a la FCA), ethnic-specific ministry, and international student ministry are three instances of “low-hanging fruit” in our world. Right?
So I think it’s vital for any college minister – from any organization or church – to consider if they’re perhaps not called to compete as directly with the present, full-fledged, classic ministries on that campus. Who are the unreached groups? Who’s underrepresented? Are there populations, geographies, or other niches that would be impacted better by your mix of skills, personality, and opportunities?
Complementary college ministry
Complementary ministry is like niche-based, in that its aims are more modest – while offering potentially more impact. In this form of ministry, an organization (or individual college minister) specializes in one form of ministry. So instead of trying to fully disciple students in all the ways they may need, instead this ministry complements what more “full-fledged” ministries do.
Leadership training, missions mobilization, apologetics training, vocational preparation, a city-wide Bible study (without any other structures, like small groups). These are just a few examples of what complementary college ministry can look like.
This one requires new thinking on both sides, of course: It takes a college minister recognize that they’re more impactful by specializing, but it also requires other college ministers recognizing that complementary ministries can play a role in impacting their students.
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I’m in Ohio this week, meeting with some college ministers and church planters looking to impact a campus up here. So fun!
In the course of a chat yesterday, we discussed a principle that fits really well into this whole discussion of Hospitality of College Ministry… but also gives us a bit of a “bonus” reason for practicing hospitality, too.
The principle? As God draws individuals into your ministry, He might use their attributes to help set the course for your ministry. For example, an influx of fraternity students into your ministry this fall might indicate you should explore opportunities within their frat houses. If God brings a student with disabilities, that might be a chance not simply to meet individual needs, but also to pray about how that community might be better reached for Christ. If upperclassmen begin to choose your ministry, it’s worth praying through whether you should begin to recruit among the Juniors and Seniors.
This doesn’t mean that every type of student needs to be met with an entirely new emphasis or niche-based ministry. Instead, the point is that we get to know people enough that we can see ways God might be directing us through whom He brings our way. A party host surely tries to get to know her guests at some level; are we at least offering that same level of hospitality within our ministries? Would we even know if God was bringing 10 people from the same sports team?
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As I’m working my way through this series on Hospitality in College Ministry, a vital note:
Perceptions always matter, but even more so in aiming for hospitality.
We’ve all had moments of sadness when we hear that students who visited our ministries didn’t feel welcomed. But we’ve also probably (wisely) learned that sometimes the visitors themselves are at fault – they expected something that wouldn’t have expected in any other venue, for instance, or they unfairly extrapolated after running into somebody who was unfriendly (who might have been a visitor themselves!).
But the danger is that we’d lean too heavily on the excuses (true though they may be) and miss the opportunity to still work on helping these perceptions change. I know “perception is reality” is a cliche (though it’s often important to see the truth there) – but in this case, the act of being hospitable does hinge on people’s feelings – feeling welcome, feeling invited, feeling happy they came.
So how are you (A) discerning visitors’ perceptions, and (B) helping improve them?
We won’t get 100% positive impressions. But if we want to be hospitable, we should probably be trying to get there.
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Last week, I jumped back into my earlier series on Hospitality in College Ministry (see all the posts so far here). I’m focusing on quick ideas for serving our students through our structures. And the series continues…
As college ministers, we’re at least roughly familiar with the generalizations of the generation we serve. We’ve come to understand their musical appetites, the varieties of discipleship that seem to impact them most, and how – by and large – they respond to our various challenges.
Throughout this blog, I’ve been a major proponent of learning – and using – the sociological findings about the Millennial Generation (which happens to be the generation we’re serving right now, for the most part).
But what can get lost as we attend to the generalizations is the fact that each student corresponds to these generalizations to varying degrees. On any given issue – whether it’s how you teach, the way you do small groups, your music, your focus on (or lack of focus on) “traditions,” etc. – some of your actual students may be “outliers,” holding a view that doesn’t exactly fit the stereotypes.
And that brings us to the question that ends this post:
For each of your structures and themes, how do you serve those outliers while also serving the majority? Have you considered it?
Our answers will be different. But it’s the act of considering this, of praying and pondering, that proves (or disproves) our hospitality.
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Earlier this week, I continued my earlier series on Hospitality in College Ministry – see all the posts so far here!
Are you geographically hospitable toward college students? In other words, do you try to accommodate their locations when you can?
This might show up in more ways than you think. Check out this list of possibilities, and feel free to add your own!
- Where you hold your Large Group Meeting
- Offering carpools / pick-ups for activities off-campus
- Recognizing that many students don’t have cars – and responding in hospitality
- Meeting students on-campus for meetings / discipleship / etc.
- If you don’t have a building – or are a church-based college minister stationed a ways from campus – considering finding a way to have some permanent space near / on campus.
- Purposely hanging out (having a “ministry of presence”) in public places on campus
- Holding leadership meetings near your students
- Offering small groups in apartment complexes where you have students
Hospitality often means simply thinking through the unique situations of those we want to serve. Have you considered where most of your students live? Where they congregate? How you could make things easier for them? Other ways to be “geographically hospitable”?
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As I picked up the Hospitality series again yesterday, I urged us to consider if there are some mature Christian students we might be overlooking in our ministries.
Before moving on, I wanted to post some quick ways to make sure we’re addressing the needs of those who have been walking with Jesus for awhile.
- Use them as leaders (of course), but also attend to their own needs for growth.
- Ask them for input, not just management of your ideas (or longstanding traditions).
- Offer “201″-type studies, specifically geared for those who have a steady, growing walk with Christ and are ready to be challenged in that way.
- Find mentors / disciplers for them – even from outside of the college ministry.
- Get them to disciple other students one-on-one.
- Open them up to “self-mentorship,” by exposing them to classic books, special topics, etc.
- Provide chances to learn from fellow mature students, including mature students of the opposite sex.
- Treat them as individuals, seeking to discern (and help them discern) where they need to grow next and how they can be used best. Be creative, and allow for messiness and new opportunities. The further we walk with Christ, interestingly enough, the more and more “individual” we seem to become.
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I’ve been working on a book about my visits to churches around the country (165 of ‘em in a year), so I think a lot about Hospitality these days. Early this year, I wrote a 6-part series on Hospitality in College Ministry – and this week, I wanted to continue that series.
The posts will be short – it seems like that kind of week, for many of you and for me. But hopefully they’ll be helpful as you ponder Hospitality for this summer or Fall 2012!
the solid… but ignored
I recognize that there’s a lot of merit in college ministries (and churches) focusing on the unsaved and immature. We rightly work hard to cater to them, draw them, welcome them, share Christ with them, and disciple them in the basics of faith.
But in the midst of all that, it’s easy to ignore some of your more solid, faithful, long-present students. We don’t seek out the mature Christians within our ministries, even though God has been building them to use them. Nor do focus often enough on helping them “excel still more” in their walks with Christ; how many of your Bible studies or talks would actually stretch someone who’s been a growing Christian for 12 years?
Many of your students have been growing Christians for 12 years.
So for the sake of Hospitality – at the very least – I urge us to a better “both-and” approach here. I know it’s a little messier and a little harder and a little less exciting. But shouldn’t we seek to impact everybody God brings to us?
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My guess is you have some pretty good info on your students: Class Year, Major, Phone Number, maybe a Birthday or their Hometown.
Have you asked them their passions? (Surprisingly, these may not be the same as their majors…) Have you asked them the ways they really like to serve others, or what they’d do if they had unlimited time and opportunity? How do they hope to change the world? How do they hope to change their world, and soon?
Might God want to speak to you about the future of your ministry through the passions, strengths, talents, and other characteristics of the students He’s brought you? Or is the format and programming of your ministry far more about your passions, personality, etc., than it is about theirs?
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