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Yesterday’s post, “The Surprisingly Unmissional Approach to College Ministry,” garnered with some really great comments. So in case more people want to chime in (or people want to chime in again), I didn’t want to post on an entirely new topic – just extend the conversation.
First, I encourage you to read yesterday’s post and comments if you haven’t.
Further, Todd Engstrom of The Austin Stone Community Church very helpfully posted their collegiate methodology on his blog in response to my post. It’s an excellent example of a church that runs in “Emerging-Missional” circles but has seen the need to impact students as students (while also assimilating them into the church).
For my addition to the conversation today, I felt like it might be good for us to help each other remember some of the reasons the college campus is a unique “neighborhood” of its own, deserving of being reached on its own terms.
Clearly, for many Americans the collegiate experience certainly “feels” singular, not particularly similar to any other time of life. But I would go further and say that this “feeling” reflects something very real. Several aspects of this experience are drastically different enough that – at some level – students need to be reached like the collegians they are.
(That’s not to say we don’t also integrate / assimilate – read yesterday’s comments for some really great thoughts on that balance.)
I think any well-performed study would find significant differences between college students (as a group) and other groups in at least the following areas. As with any sociological grouping, there are variations along each of these lines. Each student is different. But as a group, college students experience a special world.
To get us started, some of the differences many college students experience:
- Financial situation
- Employment situation
- Schedule flexibility / “Margin”
- Weekly schedule
- Annual schedule
- Opportunities for stretching / growing experiences (study abroad, special summer activities, travel, etc.)
- Center of community (that’s a huge one)
- Felt needs (to some extent – but college ministers recognize students don’t always have a great grasp on what they need most. See next.)
- Actual discipleship needs
- Lack of intergenerational encounters
- Nearly all single (and those that are married have often left the “collegiate world,” even if they are still attending classes)
- Less sociological diversity in other ways, too (because schools are both selective and selected, and they function as fairly closed systems, resulting in true “tribes” of varying homogeneity)
What would you add?
The point is, these factors directly affect students’ present discipleship needs, opportunities to involve them and disciple them, or the impact discipling them now instead of later has. So if all we ever do is pull them out of that world, their experience of Jesus won’t have much correlation with the very unique world they actually inhabit.
On page 30 of Reaching the Campus Tribes, I broach a subject that I believe is really important for churches to ponder. The interesting dilemma is that some modern-style churches may actually impact students worse while striving to break with tradition. In fact, while trying to be more missional, some churches may end up less missional.
Some churches have opted to go the “non-traditional” route by pointing students directly to their intergenerational structures, “fully assimilating” them into the adult programs of the church. They plug them into small groups, Bible classes, or other activities alongside the church’s adults – without any opportunity for small group discipleship as college students or specialized outreach to local college campuses.
(Certainly, this sometimes takes place by default when churches haven’t taken the time to plan anything for students, leaving collegians to trickle into other areas of the church – and otherwise not stick around. That’s not what I’m talking about.)
As I write in Reaching, the full-assimilation method “certainly reflects a clear respect for college students as full members of the local congregation.” So on one hand, I applaud the motivation behind not separating college students and treating them as a distinct congregation (as one leader at a famous Emerging church described).
But for these highly missional churches, the funny thing is that this approach may be LESS missional in regard to those college students. Why? Because this method usually involves yanking them out of their actual community.
Though a college campus is located geographically within a particular area, it rarely has a high degree of sociological similarity to the rest of that area. Especially at residential colleges, many college students have one primary community – and it isn’t the local neighborhood, nor is it particularly similar to the local neighborhood. It’s the campus, and it’s (obviously) a world of its own.
This means that these otherwise missional churches are being highly “attractional” (in a sense that’s opposite from their normal efforts). If I’m not mistaken, this format pretty clearly demands that collegians leave “them” to come away with “us” to do church – both in location and in identity.
If we desire to be missional with college students, we have to think through what that means in their special case. Just as reaching our neighborhood missionally involves connecting with people “on their terms” and “on their turf,” impacting college students missionally involves recognizing their unique terms and turf, too. While it’s good for college students to get out of their small worlds some of the time, learning to live for Jesus within those worlds is vital, too.
The way I put it in the book was:
At the same time, it must be remembered that many college students’ cultural identity and community are located not in the local neighborhood but specifically within their collegiate experience. Thus any church aiming to reach people “missionally” and contextually should consider the special situation of college students. Unless efforts are made to reach campus tribes on their own terms, we may actually be missing opportunities for relevant impact in this important life stage. And we will be removing students from the very communities in which they presently have the most influence for God’s Kingdom.
I’m still thinking this one through. That’s one way we advance college ministry – through debate and rigorous thought. So while I’ll keep thinking, I did want to address this here. And I’d love to hear your thoughts – positive, negative, or illustrative.
[(This post got some really helpful comments - if you can't see them below, click here to see the post with the comments. Meanwhile, the next post continues the discussion.]
Two ministry positions that, if implemented throughout America, might radically change our success at helping produce strong Christian adults:
1. An intern* in a Youth Group (whether church-based or parachurch) dedicated to keeping up with, impacting, and helping transition people in the year(s) after they graduate high school. Basically, this person would function as a college minister within the youth ministry.
1a. Since this is in fact a college ministry blog, I’ll note that an intern* within a college ministry could also function in much the same way – as a freshman-focused minister, for example, or (in a church-based ministry) purposefully impacting away students.
2. An intern* in a College Ministry (whether church-based or parachurch) dedicated to keeping up with, impacting, and helping transition people in the year(s) after they graduate college. Basically, this person would function as a young adult minister within the college ministry.
*these activities could also be done by part-time ministers or within the larger job description of someone who is full-time.
Any way you cut it, a champion for the “next steppers” (at either of those next steps) could be just what we need.
An article in the Telegraph yesterday discusses some key principles for Christian “grown-ups” to remember if they want to connect well with college students and other young people. (By “grown-ups” I mean pastors, denominational leaders, parents, and even some college ministers.)
The short but fascinating article, “YouTube ‘spammed by U. S. Congressmen,’” can be read in its entirety here. It describes the awkward attempts by members of Congress to appeal to younger voters on YouTube. And it all fits perfectly with the difficulties many adults have in connecting with college students (and other Millennials). Senior pastors, especially, should read this.
Two months ago, YouTube started an official channel for the U.S. House of Representatives. (It’s called “HouseHub” for short.) The Telegraph notes that Dems and Republicans were invited “to share quirky political messages with voters.” It continues,
But analysts say the move has been hampered by politicians’ inability to adapt to an online audience.
Andrew Rasiej, founder of the political technology site Personal Democracy Forum, said too many messages consist of warbling monologues that miss the point.
Other postings, including one by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, were said to be too eccentric or random to resonate.
And then the key quote:
Mr Rasiej said: “The problem for Nancy Pelosi, or anyone who tries to do this, is that you can’t fake authenticity.
“The more you try to make the video authentic, the more inauthentic it becomes. And Nancy Pelosi’s cat video is the perfect example of overdoing it, and watching one’s head disappear in a pool of quicksand.”
If you’re interested, the Pelosi video is at the bottom of this post. Most pertinent to the discussion is the fact that the video ends with a “rickroll” – a non sequitur scene from Rick Astley’s 1987 music video that has become an internet fad. Clearly, whoever made the video is trying to fit in by including something trendy, but they do it in a way that doesn’t fit the usual context (and to be “rickrolled” is considered somewhat of an insult, in fact).
So it comes off like someone trying to be cool AND in fact being insulting… Either of which is worse than not trying at all. (The comments and reply videos on YouTube express viewers’ “immense displeasure,” to put it nicely.)
When adults aren’t familiar with the younger culture, it’s easy for “warbling monologues,” “eccentric,” “random,” or “fake authenticity” that appears “inauthentic” to describe their efforts. Sometimes they attempt shortcuts by including “cool” references or “cool” elements they’re clearly unfamiliar with. And sometimes their words or attempts can even be insulting to the very people they were hoping to serve.
But the article ends with one more principle that could provide some comfort for our grown-up friends. Millennials’ love for authenticity actually allows people to be less “slick” than they otherwise think might be necessary:
[Mr. Rasiej] told Politico: “It is important that [politicians] understand it’s different culturally. They all need to relax. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”
As part of the series, I’ve been writing thoughts on helping people thrive when, from our perspective, they’re dead-and-gone. Because, of course, our former students are STILL ALIVE after college graduation… though I’m not sure we structure our ministries around that fact often enough.
(This topic in the series starts here.)
Here are some topics that might serve well in preparing students for that Transition. (Please add any others you find compelling!)
Some in this list might be perfect for last-semester teaching topics; others might require years’ worth of emphasis. The point is, each seems particularly useful for promoting continued growth as students enter the “young adult” world.
In no particular order, then, some topics that seem to be important for post-college Christians:
- God-centeredness (as opposed to self-centeredness or even people-centeredness)
- True community
- Facing trials well
- Spiritual disciplines (and why they matter)
- Money management
- Commitment
- Why theology matters
- A biblical understanding of “work”
- Making decisions
- Biblical churchmanship (including in churches that don’t cater to young adults well)
- Friendships in a post-college life
- Dating relationships in a post-college life
- Family relationships in a post-college life
- How to study the Bible
- How to find good answers to tough questions
- Finding / choosing a church
- Why and how we don’t “outgrow” a need for complete integrity / obedience
- Loving people
- The idea that God has a story for them to live, and college doesn’t have to be the “high point” of their lives
This is no brilliant list, but it still might get us all thinking about which – if any – of these themes our graduating seniors truly excel in.
Are we impacting students for four years of following Jesus… or forty?
The “Big Idea” series is now at number 8:
Help students transition from college.
This is yet another opportunity to transform our college ministries – by beginning to take the long view of student discipleship.
I would argue that our greatest aim should not be for our students to be awesome spiritual leaders by the time they get to their senior year. Our greatest goal should be for our present students to be awesome spiritual leaders when they’re senior adults.
Remember, in the last Big Idea post I suggested that youth ministers (and parents, etc.) have the primary responsibility for a successful transition to college. Just as a quarterback must be more “accurate” than a receiver, so those “throwing” college students into college have primary responsibility for how they land.
But before anyone gets mad about that – and before we college ministers get too comfortable – let me note that I’m fair in my logic. I have the exact same argument for the Latter Transition.
Except for the students themselves of course, we have the primary responsibility for helping students transition well from college to young adult life. Not young adult ministers, singles ministers, or new spouses(!). It’s our job. Not that others shouldn’t help; they should help, just as we college ministers should certainly invest in helping the transition to college.
But either we’re preparing them for the post-college leap – and for the years following the leap – or we’re not.
In many cases, we’re not. I’m guilty of that, too.
I’ll flesh this out more in the days to come. Feel free to add your thoughts along the way.
Yesterday, I recapped most of what I’d noticed in five church visits last Sunday. Because it was clearly a special day in Christendom (the Sunday before Christmas), I figured I would pay special attention to anything unique. Here’s the conclusion of those observations!
All signs point to college ministry. Actually, I only saw one sign, but it was still exciting. Even though they don’t appear to have a regular college ministry, First United Methodist does have a 
special Christmastime Sunday school class (see the foyer sign on the left and the bulletin announcement above). That’s a great idea for churches with lots of away students!
In the other churches, I saw some bulletin entries: in one, a college group meeting listed on a church calendar (hooray for continuing to meet during the break); in another, an outdated college ministry announcement (which was inaccurate during the Winter Break).
These were probably the things most pertinent to our field I saw all day. I wish college ministry was more prominent and simply more present in our churches, including at Christmastime. One day.
Tweaks for a Big Day. Only one of the five churches appeared to make any drastic adjustments to its program for Christmas Sunday.
In this case, that one church made three interesting Christmas Sunday tweaks. The first was to have a classic “invitation” toward the end of the service (for conversion, needing prayer, or rededication). While I know that’s not this church’s normal pattern, a special explicit invitation does fit on a day when non-Christians could be present and everybody is particularly mindful of spiritual things.
Second, the pastor had congregants pray together for a minute at the end of the service (in pairs). That was a pretty cool thing for connecting with each other, as well as for encouragement and supplication in the face of a week that can be strange, hard, hectic, and/or exhausting.
Third, that same church rather inexplicably decided to test a new worship service method. We watched a video replay of the sermon from earlier the same day, instead of the pastor preaching live – even though the pastor was present. Christmas Sunday seemed like a strange day to try that out, for all kinds of reasons… so I have to guess that there was some unexplained reason the church was testing this method this Sunday (illness of the pastor? an immediately upcoming need to use recorded sermons? Christmastime fatigue?). In any case, it was one more tweak on this Christmas Sunday.
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So… that’s kinda it for my Christmas Sunday observations. I’m sorry I didn’t see more for students and young adults… maybe that’s coming during tomorrow’s Christmas Eve services?
- College Ministry and Young Adult Ministry are not one and the same. There are major differences, even though there’s some overlap, too.
- If we want really strong Young Adult Ministry in Christendom, it makes sense to build strong College Ministry.
- We (college ministers) should listen to young adult ministers as we determine how to prepare our students best.
- Young adults can make for really great College Ministry staff and volunteers.
- The growing focus on better ministry to 18-30-somethings is going to help everybody, and there are a lot of resources, research, and events that will help both types of ministry at the same time.
- In some churches, it’s best to connect College Ministry with Young Adult Ministry in the organizational structure. In some churches, something else is better. We need to make sure we’ve thought this one through; it might have bigger ramifications than we’d expect.
- Campus-based college ministries can’t forget that they’re sending their students on to Young Adult Land, and opportunities for discipleship will mostly be church-based in that land.
- Church-based college ministries can’t forget that Young Adult Ministry isn’t usually like College Ministry, so students have to be specially prepared for success in that new world.
Few things have the potential to help the field of Collegiate Ministry as much as the burgeoning emphasis on Young Adult Ministry.*
Few things have the potential to damage the field of Collegiate Ministry as much as lumping it too closely with Young Adult Ministry.
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* “Young Adult Ministry” = ministry to young adults through late 20s or early 30s, often including both singles and married people
A study of great importance for the field of college ministry came out today from Lifeway Research – a new arm of our convention that I think I’m falling in love with.This time, they’ve done the newest study (a very welcome study) on the church dropout rate post-high school. The results should fuel us to get better at this stuff. The headlines listed below should indicate a little bit of what they found.
USA Today’s story on the research: Young adults aren’t sticking with church
Lifeway’s full version, more articles, and a podcast: Church Dropout Study
Baptist Press coverage: Study looks at college age church dropouts
And here: Parents can help teens stay in church
And here, too: Study shows need of collegiate ministries
Discussion about it (where commentary will continue through this week) at the director’s blog: edstetzer.com
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