You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘for teaching & small groups’ category.
I’m throwing out some Spring Break thoughts this week – see Monday’s for thoughts on Spring Break traditions, and Tuesday for the crazy Mad Libs eBay Road Trip idea.
Today, a simple question: Have you thought about impacting those who will stay in town?
“In town” means different things for different campus contexts. But for many of us, there might be an opportunity for short-term, high-impact discipleship. Maybe a one-week book club? Perhaps a few-night topical small group? What if you and a few student leaders spent a chunk of the week brainstorming? What if you did something for students well beyond your own ministry?
It could mean a lot of different things, of course, and for many it’s not a doable idea. But the question – especially in light of my encouragement Monday – is, Have you thought about it?
And one last thing: There are few better times to think about impacting international students. They’ll likely be around, even if nobody else is! What homes and/or hospitality will they find in a lonely week?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
It’s probably right and good for most of us to rise to the occasion of a new semester, rallying students with vigor and reminding them why they’re a part of our group. But it’s also a shame if man-made timelines (like the end of a semester and beginning of a new one) cause students to move too quickly past everything God wanted to teach them in Fall 2011.
So the Fridea is along those lines: Remind students of what God did and what He showed them last semester (or quarter).
Whether you push students to ponder this on their own OR actually recap the teaching and other impact of Fall 2011 (or, preferably, BOTH), this is a good chance to add continuity within the year… and to “give God space” to finish the good things He began only a few months ago.
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
I don’t know what your plans are for teaching and other discipleship activities this semester, but I wanted to encourage you with a principle that college ministers need to remember (but we’re always going to be tempted to forget):
Some of the best things we can offer today’s students are the things we offered yesterday’s students.
Surprised?
I know it might seem more normal to encourage us not to take the easy, lazy route of relying on past efforts for present students. And in some cases, that really is the lazy route. Innovation is important. Constant tweaking of our ministries for better impact is important. Keeping current with our students and their needs is important.
But the point of today’s principle is to remind us that there are some “tried and true” methods – whether it’s teaching topics, discipleship tools, small group materials, or even conferences – that we personally may be worn out on… but that this year’s students haven’t benefited from yet.
The nature of college ministry is in some sense cyclical. If we’re focused on always trying to be “fresh” and “new” simply because we don’t want to repeat ourselves, we might be discounting some of the very methods God wants to use. Just because you’ve personally been to Passion conferences a zillion times or taught freshmen how to have a Quiet Time each year for the past ten doesn’t mean that the students in front of you won’t be just as impacted.
Don’t grow weary with the best stuff you teach or the best stuff you do. This year’s students might need the exact same things!
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
And… we’re back!
Over my break, I’ve been working on a possible book – only this one’s not about college ministry, it’s about the weird, intriguing, magnificent time I spent visiting 165 weekend church services during my yearlong road trip. Yes, the main purposes of that trip – and by far most of the hours spent – were all about exploring American college ministry. But I’m kind of a church geek, so I took the chance to visit a jillion churches on the weekends. It was pretty stinkin’ interesting, to say the least.
Anyway… a real focus of that book is how churches think about hospitality toward visitors (whether newcomers or longtime attenders). And that’s something that needs to be thought about constantly within our field, Collegiate Ministry, too.
So since I’ve been mulling those sorts of thoughts, I figured I’d make a blog series out of them; the start of a semester or quarter is a great time to think about Hospitality anyway. And since this is the first entry, that’s actually what I wanted to ask: How much have you thought about hospitality lately?
Sure, I imagine you’ve got some “plays” designed to welcome guests, and you designed some other things (maybe awhile back) to make your Large Group Meeting fun and inviting. But when’s the last time you really thought about how well it was accomplishing those purposes – and all the other purposes that make up true “hospitality”? Can you even list out what a truly “hospitable” college ministry might look like in your context?
Or what about your small groups? Do the leaders there think regularly about hospitality?
Have you identified students and leaders within your ministry with the spiritual gift of Hospitality? What roles do they play in your ministry?
In the days to come, I’ll be looking closer at some of these areas – and I’m sure a few more, as well. But for today, I’d encourage you to ponder (and even pray about) what role Hospitality – as a disciplined, purposeful pursuit – has played in your campus ministry… and what role you want it to play in the future!
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
I first posted this idea last year, but it’s a good challenge for our students (and for us) this time of year.
I realize there are plenty of “big,” radical ways we can encourage students to let Christ reign during Christmas. But what about this idea:
Have you challenged your students to let Christ “impose” even on the gift portion of their Christmases?
Assuming most of your students aren’t foregoing gift-receiving altogether, challenging them to look through spiritual eyes at what they ask for is great spiritual practice. They’ve got two big chances to put Jesus square in the middle of the gifting:
- What they put on their Christmas wish lists
- How they spend their Christmas money
How many of your students are likely to ask for / use their Christmas money for a Christian book that would be well worth reading? What about a new Study Bible or Bible Commentary? What about a video game they know will specifically help develop relationships with their dorm-mates? Or a DVD they know will help inspire them spiritually (whether it’s a Christian movie or not)? Will they buy iPhone apps that help them be better students? Will they ask their parents for Wal-mart gift cards to keep from spending so much on fast food?
More importantly, will they at any point pray for God’s wisdom in what they ask for? And will they pray for God’s wisdom in how they spend any cash they receive?
In other words, are we raising up students who “in all their ways acknowledge Him”? Will their Christmas lists reflect the Jesus inside them?
My list of examples surely don’t cover all the possibilities of Jesus-directed gifting. The great thing is, a little prayer and a little thought can help students realize how they can purposely grow, serve, and live best in the New Year. And while – again – I recognize it may seem holier to focus on “Christian service” or “Christian witnessing” during the Christmas season, Jesus probably wants to be Lord even of our wish-lists. And if our students practice that lordship here, who knows where they might let Him impose next?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
Before Thanksgiving Break, I wrote plenty about the need to prepare our students for the Break. And, whether we had the chance to do that or not, I encouraged us to work strategically to ready collegians for the long Christmas Break.
But there’s another important step a friend helped me realize last night: Debriefing.
What if this week’s small groups or Large Group Meeting was dedicated to talking through the good, the bad, and the ugly of your students’ Thanksgiving Breaks? Or what if you offered the opportunity at a special lunch or online forum? If you can’t take those steps, what if you at least encouraged students to talk to you, other adults, or student leaders about what they faced at home?
Some of your students feel like a semester’s worth of spiritual growth was unraveled in just a few days, and they’re wondering what that means or how in the world they’re going to handle Christmas. Some feel a tinge of homesickness now that they’ve returned – maybe for the first time this semester. Others were reminded – deeply – of all the reasons they were so glad to leave home for college. Some feel like they missed some opportunities to impact their friends or family.
Others had really neat times at home – and their stories would be great for other students to hear. (And some made mistakes that they can help others not repeat.)
There are all sorts of reasons why a post-break Debrief makes enormous sense. Yes, if you can’t get that together this week, then I’d definitely encourage starting that tradition in January. But as my friend pointed out, debriefing Thanksgiving is one more GREAT way to prepare students for the Christmas Break that’s coming soon.
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
Sorry to miss a couple of blogs this week – it’s been a bit of a busy one (to say the least).
What if you could increase your time discipling students by a month this school year?
I’ve been pondering methods for Thanksgiving Break and – looking beyond that – Christmas Break. How do we meet students where they are, with these breaks (and especially the latter) potentially mattering as much as they could?
In the last blog, I mentioned (among several possible methods) an email (or printed) daily devotional. Have you ever done this for your campus ministry?
I’ve seen this done, and I’ve done this. It might occur most often on mission trips, when college ministers prepare a series of devos for students to read through the week. The best example from my own ministry was a 40-day devotional walking through Hebrews 11; once it was typed up, I was able to use it with students a couple of times.
This can be an amazing avenue for “proxy discipleship” during the Christmas break. Even if it’s something simple like everybody in your ministry reading through the same Scripture passage each day, the community-building opportunity is clear. (Especially if they can comment about what they’re reading on Facebook or on a blog.) But what’s more, you’re helping students abide in Christ during the break… and, if you wish, you’re able to address specific topics that may come up in their lives in that specific month. (I mentioned those topics last time.)
If you choose to do this, there’s definitely still time to put it together – and if it’s an email or blog version, it doesn’t have to be completed before the Break starts, anyway!
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
I had the awesome chance to speak last weekend for the college ministry retreat of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto. A great group of students (from Stanford, Santa Clara U, and a few other schools) and their college ministers gathered in a cool little retreat spot, and we got to hang out Friday through Sunday.
And as always, I tried to notice what I was learning or being reminded of for our work as a whole.
Since taking my yearlong road trip and better developing my view of “campus ministry as missions,” I haven’t had too many opportunities to share this idea directly with students. (This view is best laid out in my ebook, Reaching the Campus Tribes.)
But every once in awhile, I’ve had the chance to speak either to a college ministry’s student leadership team or – in this case, at least – the ministry as a whole. And what I’ve noticed is that college students are able and willing to rise to the challenge as “college ministers” themselves. Even though they are in the throes of the college experience themselves, like the “indigenous” leaders raised up within foreign missions, students can get excited about serving as “missionaries to their own tribe.”
This is more than just asking them to serve as Student Leaders within the college ministry we (as college ministers) are directing. This is empowering them and encouraging them to take the added step of taking responsibility for the reaching of their campus. Yes, it’s still often best for them to have direction or oversight from somebody a little bit older. But there’s a difference in how much ownership they assume.
When I called the students to this – and encouraged them therefore to be open to ALL the ways God might direct their “missions” – they ran with it! For example, several students apparently stayed up late one night conspiring to reach a local community college with a Bible study (even though only one of those students actually attends that school).
In the days to come, I’ll share some of the points I used this weekend to push this idea. Hopefully those will help you do the same! But for now, my point is this: College students can rise to the challenge of a high level of “ownership” in your mission to the campus. How much do your students “own” the mission right now? Have they taken on the role of missionaries to their own campuses?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
Recent Comments