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One of my big hopes for this blog is that I’m able to provide a solid view of college ministry around the U.S. – including a helpful perspective on groups that minister to your own local campus tribe. If we’re called to college ministry, we should be learners. And one thing we should learn about is what God’s doing in other circles and regions.
So today I continue my “outsider’s perspective” on Chi Alpha Campus Ministries! (Read the first part here.)
an established college ministry
In the underdeveloped field of collegiate ministry, it’s disappointing that even the most major of organizations – except perhaps Campus Crusade – are not very familiar with college ministers across the board. Here in Texas, for example, Chi Alpha is not particularly well known – unless, for instance, you happen to be at Sam Houston State. There, the Chi Alpha ministry apparently draws students in the range of many hundreds or a thousand per week – placing it among the largest campus ministries of any kind.
Other Chi Alpha groups draw several hundred students (as I’ve seen firsthand at UVA and the multi-campus Fargo/Moorhead chapter). But like all major national ministries, Chi Alpha ranges in size, with plenty of groups drawing dozens rather than hundreds. Yet with its geographical spread (nearly 300 chapters), number of students reached, and a history stretching back to 1953, Chi Alpha is certainly one of the most established college ministry (both historically and presently).
theology and sleeves
Many outsiders to the Chi Alpha world are probably surprised to learn that it’s the denominational ministry of the Assemblies of God. But from what I can tell, many members might be, too – or at least they’d be surprised if their campus pastors suddenly started wearing their specific theologies on their sleeve. Like most college ministries, Chi Alpha Christian Fellowships seem to place “great-in-the-basics” discipleship above discussion of doctrinal complexities.
Clearly, denominational college ministries are (and should be) a bit more specific in their beliefs than fully parachurch ministries. As an A of G ministry, Chi Alpha ministries and staff do hold to Charismatic doctrine and other Assemblies distinctives. Yet these show up in different ways and in different measures campus-to-campus. And as in most college ministries across the Evangelical spectrum, Christian students from different backgrounds presumably feel comfortable and find opportunities for growth in the average Chi Alpha chapter, even when the students remain in their original faith tradition.
missions. it’s missions.
I noted yesterday how intrigued I’ve been by the apprenticeship structure in Chi Alpha. But I’ve learned something else about Chi Alpha that excites me all the more: Chi Alpha Campus Ministries very explicitly considers its staff missionaries. As I note in Reaching the Campus Tribes (p. 56),
The Assemblies of God promoted a missiological understanding of college ministry by declaring Chi Alpha to be a “campus mission” and moving its oversight from the denomination’s youth department to U.S. Missions in 1986. National leaders feel the change has significantly aided Chi Alpha’s growth since that time.
I certainly can’t argue that every denomination needs to make this specific move, though it’s worth their consideration. But I can (and do) argue that American Christians will reach college students best when they approach it as a true missions effort. Chi Alpha has chosen to do that, and far more than just “on paper” – at least from what I’ve seen as a well-traveled outsider.
for more: the history of Chi Alpha, their beliefs, their locations, and their home page. Plus, an amazing video on the importance of college ministry they created.
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I’ve had a few cool opportunities recently to “dive in” in extra-special ways to various campus ministry groups – and then to return to the surface with something to share. After the Urbana conference, I got to highlight InterVarsity. After the local Campus Crusade Winter Conference, I shared the ways it reflects Cru as a whole. And after my surprise trip to a conference last August, I shared some distinctives of the campus ministries of the Independent Christian Churches. (For all the Profiles of individual ministries, check out that category.)
Hopefully those posts have been helpful, whether you’re outside of those groups (like me) or whether you’re inside (to see the viewpoint of an educated outsider)!
So that leads to today’s post, yet another Profile on a major college ministry org, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries. If you’re unfamiliar, not-super-familiar, or completely familiar with Chi Alpha, below you’ll find my take on some of their key distinctives – especially in comparison to the wider world of college ministries out there.
But make no mistake: Whether you know a Chi Alpha ministry or not, this is one of THE major college ministries in the U.S. – certainly among the 4 or 5 best-known. (More on that tomorrow.)
This past semester, I had the marvelous chance to visit 10 chapters of Chi Alpha. The innovative National Office guys actually sponsored me to visit their ministries around the country, attend their large group meetings, visit with their Campus Pastors, and write articles about what I saw. Not a bad plan for sharing their strengths with supporters and other constituents, I thought.
I had, of course, been around Chi Alpha ministries before. And those guys have actually been some of the most supportive of my exploits – including spreading my free book – of anybody out there. Now that I’ve gotten an even bigger national picture, I wanted to share some of the perspective I’ve gained. Hopefully it’s a helpful introduction…
College minister, meet Chi Alpha.
community
I recognize that a sizable portion of college ministry energy across the board is spent working to build community, so it’s not particularly interesting that XA ministries aim for that target. What does seem to be noticeable is their success in hitting it.
“Community” – or if you prefer the trendy use of Greek, koinonia – is of course fairly intangible and even more unquantifiable. But the fact that I’ve visited hundreds of college ministries in the last few years, yet notice a high level of “community-ness” in Chi Alpha ministries, has to mean something, right? I don’t mean that they’re nice to me – although they’ve been great hosts and seem to have built a cool climate of hospitality (or at least meal-reimbursement!). I mean that I observe out-of-the-ordinary camaraderie – among students and between students and leaders – in chapter-after-chapter, in a unique way.
Like all aspects, your local Chi Alpha ministry may differ. But the level of community I’ve seen in XA has been noticeable. That’s all I’m sayin’.
training
Perhaps more than any other aspect of Chi Alpha, I get excited about the way new Campus Pastors are trained. (Check that: There’s an aspect I’ll bring up tomorrow that’s even better.)
While I haven’t learned every detail of the XA system, the distinctive point to me is the standard internship year. New Campus Pastors (whether recently graduated or older) apply to various internships around the U.S.. Only a handful of Chi Alpha chapters have generally housed interns; these designated locales seem to be strong campus ministries that also have experienced Campus Pastors to oversee the internship. So the internship year is a sort of “apprenticeship” – notably, at a location where most apprentices did not go to school and where most will not remain.
I recognize that other ministries have training and internships, and maybe some do it this way, too. But here’s the huge asset for Chi Alpha: They end up with so many college ministers with multi-campus experience! I am totally devoted to the idea that having experience in multiple settings prepares college ministers in profound ways – I’ve seen the fruit time and time again, in conversations with all types of college ministers and through my own multi-campus exposure.
Think about it. If I’m doing the math right, a large percentage of Chi Alpha campus ministers have experienced two or three different campus ministry settings AND have spent at least a year under a particularly strong leader. I’m telling you, the fruit of that system becomes clear with the XA Campus Pastors I meet.
more tomorrow! Here’s the continuation of this post. And feel free to add what you’ve seen (or correct what I’ve seen) – whether you’re a Chi Alpha insider or outsider!
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I had the neat opportunity during the past week to attend the local Campus Crusade Winter Conference, one of ten college student conferences put on by Cru around the country. And as I began describing yesterday, the DFW Winter Conference did a great job of reflecting on Crusade’s ministry as a whole.
Today, I note a few more ways this conference mirrored the Campus Crusade ministries I’ve come to know around the country.
smoothness
Another way the DFW Winter Conference reminds me of the various Cru meetings I’ve attended is the “smoothness,” “excellence,” “streamlining,” or however you might choose to characterize well-assembled presentation. The speakers were solid, the schedule flowed nicely, students were consistently pointed to next steps of involvement (as described yesterday) without seeming heavy-handed, the band on stage (a student band from LSU) was superb, the many videos were professional-quality, etc.
It’s obviously hard to convey “smoothness” in a post, but the presentation of everything was simply done well. It wasn’t “amped up” like I imagine participants in the Passion Conference experienced. But it was certainly far from rough.
basics
Another characteristic of Campus Crusade that seemed to show up at Winter Conf was a devotion to basics, in both theological discussion and methodology. Crusade’s methodology mantra is “Win. Build. Send.” – and that simple pattern (especially in the latter two areas, in this case) is simply and concretely taking place at Winter Conference. Meanwhile, Crusade’s discipleship focuses tend to be the basics of the spiritual walk; at the conference, themes rarely strayed far from foundational concerns like prayer, evangelism, Bible study, and being “on mission” for God. Even the presentation style of large group meetings (as described above) is smooth and simple – both at Winter Conference and in probably every Cru large group meeting I’ve ever attended.
commonalities
Finally, another element of Campus Crusade for Christ that I recognized within the Winter Conference might not be abundantly apparent to a casual or one-time observer. But having seen and discussed Cru ministry all over, I was reminded of how well the official Cru Methods are transferred throughout the organization.
The terms I’ve mentioned yesterday and today – like “Winter Conference” and “Summer Project” and “movement” and “Win-Build-Send” – are elements that one will hear anytime they hang around Cru folks long enough. I heard other “commonalities” in the conference, too:
- “Ministry Partner Development” (Crusade’s term for fundraising)
- the Four Spiritual Laws (along with newer, widespread evangelistic techniques within Crusade)
- emphatic claims that Crusade encourages students to be “sent” in whatever calling they have, even if that’s not to join staff (the in-house term for this push is “100% Sent”)
- encouraging students to take the initiative to start Crusade chapters at new campuses (either now or later)
Each of these ideas, methods, or themes is a major commonality shared throughout Campus Crusade.
Without attending the other Winter Conferences, it’s hard to say how similar they are; I have seen first-hand the uniformity shared by the local campus ministries. So I’d be surprised if the DFW Winter Conference “felt” terribly different from any other. (The most interesting difference I did notice was the use of “background technology” – like blogging and Twitter – between the various conferences.)
I’ve written before about Crusade’s masterful building of this kind of national commonality, if you’re interested. But the point here is that this commonality, which showed up at Winter Conference as easily as it might anywhere, is one more major facet of Crusade as a national college ministry.
You can find all the Winter Conferences online here. To see other reflections on my time at WC, you can read back through my tweets from Saturday and Monday, or see the dozen or so I tagged.
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As you may have seen via Twitter, I’ve had the wonderful chance to visit one of Campus Crusade for Christ’s famous Winter Conferences. These annual conferences are seen as key components of Cru ministry to students, so it was a joy to experience one.
(As you may have seen, I also got to learn InterVarsity through its mega-vanguard, the Urbana conference, last week!)
Unlike my surprising St. Louis voyage last week, I didn’t have to go too far to get to Winter Conference – simply across the Metroplex to Ft. Worth. What’s particularly cool about attending this one is that the Dallas-area’s Winter Conference seems to be one of the most historic. (So now I’ve been to the UCLA movement and DFW Winter Conference… I just need to make it to Ocean City Summer Project, right? What am I missing, Cru friends?)
So, as I did last week with Urbana / InterVarsity, I’d like to reflect on some ways this Winter Conference seemed to reflect the organization from which it comes. For those unfamiliar with CCC, maybe it’ll be a helpful primer. But please note: This is neither meant to be comprehensive or comparative (with other organizations). It’s just some of the distinctives that seemed to show up at Winter Conference.
I’ll make a couple of points today, with more tomorrow. If you want to see more of my varied reflections, you can read back through my tweets from Saturday and Monday, or see the dozen or so I tagged.
fun
One of Cru’s hallmark strengths, from what I can tell, is the preponderance of fun in its chapters. I’ve written before about this being something the other branches can learn from campus-based ministries – but even among those ministries, Crusade certainly seems to be one that places a high value on fostering a Culture of Fun.
Of course, that showed up at Winter Conference. School pride was on display, the emcee-gal was full of dry humor, a crazy monkey-suited fellow roamed about, students and leaders seemed to share true camaraderie inside and outside of official activities, and the atmosphere itself “felt” really lively – that final point being the most noticeable difference between the average Cru chapter I visit and some other ministries.
movement through levels of commitment
One of the most fundamental aspects of Campus Crusade for Christ methodology is its focus on pointing students toward next, deeper steps. Not only are attending students pushed toward small groups, but Cru also places a big premium on funneling students to Winter Conferences, Summer Projects, STINTs (short-term international missions), and, after graduation, staff involvement. In other words, their efforts at movement are energetic, to say the least.
(Cru calls their chapters “movements,” but my use of the word here actually comes from the book Simple Church; there, “movement” describes how organizations help attendees flow toward deeper involvement.)
Winter Conference certainly reflects this aspect of Crusade; the same focus on “movement” found on-the-ground was quite evident across those conference days. While many of the large sessions and seminars did focus on topics students can apply now, there was also plenty pointing students to future (and more committed) experiences. Seminars (often with free food attached) on upcoming Summer Projects, staff opportunities, and international missions through Crusade made up a sizable percentage of the week’s offerings. And those kinds of opportunities were also discussed at every main session I attended, I believe.
More tomorrow! [Here's the continuation, with three more points!]
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My amazing and out-of-the-blue opportunity to view THE Urbana conference this week has provided a really solid window into the InterVarsity campus ministry world. (To clarify, LOTS of non-InterVarsity college ministries and other Christians attend Urbana, and I would highly recommend it. But it is indeed organized by InterVarsity every three years, and they do so in a way that’s very consistent with their identity and emphases.)
Yesterday, I posted three ways Urbana reflects its parent organization; today, three more. My hope is for all of us to get to know all of us better. If you could use a primer or a brush-up on the InterVarsity world, read on!
inductive Bible study
InterVarsity calls their specific style of inductive Bible study “manuscript studies.” This format is very widely used within IV’s small group settings nationwide, to the point that it’s known as one of the “classics” among college ministry methods – up there with Four Spiritual Laws and the Navigators’ “Wheel” illustration. From what I can gather, it really just involves treating selected texts of Scripture as manuscripts – with an emphasis on inductively learning from the texts themselves, without bringing in too much preconceived “baggage.” (Their use of the Book of Mark for these studies is especially traditional in the IV world.)
Urbana’s schedule is chock-full of manuscript study; in this case, the mornings were used to work progressively through the first four chapters of John. Students practiced manuscript studies for an hour-and-a-half first thing each morning, then the speaker in the main morning session picked up the exposition where the morning’s manuscript study had left off.
a different sort of Big Show
Another way Urbana seems to somewhat reflect InterVarsity’s work on the ground is through a pretty “unshowy” large group gathering experience. Neither the worship nor the speaking feels especially “popular” but instead seems to aim for different ends – including a large emphasis on multiculturalism, as I shared yesterday. From what I’ve seen, I think this methodology extends to many “on the ground” IV college ministries.
I don’t really know how to describe this without sounding like I’m either bashing InterVarsity or bashing those ministries that do aim to build large-group experiences in a different way. I certainly don’t consider either sort of methodology bash-worthy in the least! They’re just different, with different purposes behind them. Perhaps it suffices to point out that the large gatherings of Urbana feel very different from what next week’s Passion gatherings (if they resemble years past).
Again, I’m a fan of both.
an international allegiance
Finally, an aspect of InterVarsity that comes out bigtime here at Urbana is its connection to the larger Christian world. InterVarsity USA and Inter-Varsity Canada are members of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, “a community of national student movements who are committed to being partners in global student witness.” In other words, IV is a happy member of a network of worldwide college ministries. And it’s clear InterVarsity celebrates this fact – most explicitly through the fact that many of the main stage speakers aren’t North American.
While local InterVarsity campus ministries might not hype the IFES connection on a weekly basis, it certainly seems to be an important part of understanding IV. Clearly, the missions focus of Urbana further points to InterVarsity’s desire to be involved in the nations – both in witness and in works, but also beginning with a deep respect for the glories of the Christian communities that already exist in those many places.
for more!
www.urbana09.org (Urbana 2009 main site)
www.intervarsity.org (InterVarsity USA)
www.ivcf.ca (InterVarsity Canada)
www.ifesworld.org (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students)
Written from Motel 6 by Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
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If an outsider – someone from outside the InterVarsity world, I mean – shows up at their triennial Urbana conference, what might that experience “shout” about IV? Would it be accurate?
Of course, like any conference, not all aspects pertain to the ministry “in general”; for instance, it’s rare for a local InterVarsity chapter to draw 16,000+ individuals… But from what I can tell, seeing Urbana provides an immediate and largely accurate window into the world that is InterVarsity. (Not all college ministry conferences are like that.)
So having seen InterVarsity around the country (but still being an outsider, of course), I thought I might reflect on what Urbana reveals about the broader work of InterVarsity.
ethnic diversity
In the session I attended yesterday, the speaker joked at one point about 2/3 of the room being Asian. Students laughed a little bit (since there were plenty more non-Asians in the room), but the fact that such a joke “landed” says a few things:
- The room really was quite ethnically diverse
- Much of that diversity was of Asian persuasion
- Students and leaders all recognize that IV has a large percentage of Asians
As far as I can tell, InterVarsity may be the only national college ministry that can be described as thoroughly multicultural. (And yes, much of that – but certainly not all – comes from Asian students.) IV is also quite clearly intentionally multicultural. Both of those aspects quickly become clear in a trip to Urbana – for example, the high ratio of non-Caucasian faces reveals the former, and the program lineup (in speakers and worship) reveals the latter.
a major campus ministry
Regardless of the state of InterVarsity on your campus or in your region, this ministry is probably the second-most-prestigious college ministry in the U.S. Attending Urbana provides a glimpse of that – there are, after all, over 16,000 people here from an enormous number of different ministries.
As I just described to someone at lunch, it saddens me that our field is so underdeveloped that many of us aren’t familiar with the national scene of College Ministry. Hopefully that will change, and we’ll learn about groups that are prominent – even if they’re not prominent where we happen to serve. But I think coming to Urbana (or even learning its history) might provide a clue that InterVarsity is a major force in our world.
theological diversity
Attending Urbana has also reminded me of how wide the Evangelical spectrum is under the Urbana umbrella. Case in point, the exhibit hall includes booths from Crossway and Christians for Biblical Equality, Duke Divinity and Moody Bible, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Campus Crusade and Navigators and FCA! Of course, this is the missions conference to end all missions conferences, as well as drawing thousands of college students hungry to serve. So it might be a little ridiculous not to show up.
But I feel like each of those booths and the wide-ranging dozens of others fit here, better than they might at a lot of places. I get the feeling – again, Urbana’s crowd simply reflecting what I’ve seen elsewhere – that IV has a wide theological diversity. (Among students who attend IV and Urbana, the diversity is of course all the wider – including, I believe, a number of non-Christians and non-Evangelicals.)
Their teaching-offerings reflect the same thing. This is a missions conference, but scanning the list of seminars provides opportunities to learn about everything under the sun. (You can see the topic categories here.) Think about the spectrum from which InterVarsity Press publishes; that might be a helpful way to think about its sister organization’s diversity of emphasis.
See Part II here, with 3 additional thoughts on how Urbana reflects IV as a whole.
Written from the Starbucks across from Urbana 2009, St. Louis
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The last 48 hours have been pretty exciting, in large part because I’ve gotten to spend some great time with some great people. And I noticed that I happen to have encountered three groups that can truly be considered major, important, even historic elements within the field of College Ministry.
These groups are not “hidden gems” within the field of college ministry. They’re well-known, well-established groups that have had a major influence on the field of college ministry. But as I’ve found time and time again, we are often not familiar enough with even these major aspects of our vocation. So if you’re less familiar with these groups than you’d like to be, I encourage you to take a look – and even dig in deeper on your own.
Urbana
In the future, when we have glorious things like college ministry history books, the triennial Urbana conference will be a major fixture – maybe even its own chapter. It was exciting to get a great tour of the national offices on Tuesday from national staffmember Eric Holmer – but all the more exciting because Urbana approaches! (Several employees are focused solely on Urbana during this time.)
A blurb from their web page (urbana.org) points to a glorious past and a vision that continues today:
Since 1946 InterVarsity has been providing a place for college students to see, hear, and respond to God’s global mission at Urbana conferences. If you want to see the world in a whole new light, come to Urbana 09. You’ll learn about critical global issues from dynamic teachers, worship with thousands in one of the most diverse gatherings in North America, and hear missional students and recent graduates testify to God’s faithfulness to the ends of the earth.
As someone noted recently, Urbana is so clearly connected to the heart of InterVarsity that understanding this conference really does help one understand its parent organization. But for us in the wider world of college ministry, it’s also important for us to realize that this conference is a rich part of our history. It clearly is, even today, the King of Collegiate Conferences. And not nearly all who attend Urbana are IV students and leaders; it’s wide open to any interested in learning of God’s global call.
You can read more about Urbana – even plenty about its great history – at urbana.org. Yes, it was historically held in Urbana/Champaign – but Urbana09 will be the second one held in St. Louis. Yes, you can still go. And I’m thinking about it myself…
Ivy Jungle Network
Many of you are well-familiar with IJ but, alas, I run into plenty of college ministers who aren’t. And their intro on the site (ivyjungle.org) really says all there is to say:
Welcome to the Ivy Jungle Network, a loose association of men and women who minister to collegians. We exist to serve church-based college ministers, para-church campus workers and college and university chaplains. If you work in campus ministry, then you should be part of the Ivy Jungle Network.
And you know what? It’s true.
Yes, it’s a loose association – the major “thing” to Ivy Jungle has simply been annual or biannual conferences over the last several years. But many college ministers also know the value of being on the monthly email list, and other items – like the large-scale Campus Ministry Survey – continue to inform.
But there is no better connection these days to the world of Evangelical college ministry than Ivy Jungle. It was a blast to sit down with Director Evan Hunter yesterday to hear more as IJ looks to the future – and continues to hope to advance the field of college ministry.
Great Commission Ministries
As far as I know, Great Commission Ministries is the one U.S. ministry with widespread work in collegiate church planting, and they’re on a whole bunch of campuses. Here’s one way they describe themselves on their site:
GCM mobilizes missionaries to serve in U.S. churches that are missional in nature: churches that do extensive outreach to the unsaved and unchurched, in a culturally relevant way. Our missionaries serve in churches that otherwise could not financially support their own staff.
While GCM certainly has some non-collegiate-oriented churches, collegiate church planting is a major pillar of what they do. The group has an interesting history; like some other things born in the zealous times of the Jesus Movement, it has had bouts with unhealth – which the group publicly acknowledges. But under what appears to be largely a second generation of leadership, GCM continues to plant churches and work to impact students all over the country – and some of their collegiate church plants have gotten really, really big. (I got to chat with Mike Filicicchia yesterday, who’s fundraising right now to join the staff of one at UMichigan.)
While I couldn’t find a full list of GCM campus churches, there’s a fairly good chance that any collegiate church plant on your campus is GCM – so you can always ask. The ones I’ve probably heard the most buzz about are New Life Christian Fellowship at VA Tech and New Life Church at University of Michigan (which I’ll be visiting this weekend). (They’re not all called New Life.)
written from the McCords’ in Palatine, IL (one of my great homes-away-from-home)
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Road Trip 13: Days 31 & 32 recap
recap: Chicagoland, including fun with friends and great chats with college ministry people
T-shirts: the Bulldog tribe of Louisiana Tech and the Cobbers of Concordia College, Moorhead
thursday: finishing up in Chicago, then on to Ann Arbor! (see all explorations so far)
A few weeks ago, I mentioned my friends at NewChapter as one example of outside specialists who complement the work of college ministries. I’ve been hoping to highlight NewChapter for a long time, because they’re not only a solid example of that, but their specific work could be revolutionary for some college ministries around the U.S.
NewChapter is actually a construction company that has been (re)building fraternity and sorority houses for several years. However, with several Christians in the mix, they took the opportunity to embark on something new: building a big student housing complex for a college ministry (at Purdue).
And in that process, they began to realize that they could help other ministries, too, by partnering with them to build “Student Living Centers.” I have encountered several examples of ministries dabbling in student housing. This is that idea on steroids! It provides:
- An alternative funding source. In the case of NewChapter, this Center doesn’t just pay for itself, but also ultimately could provide additional funds for the ministry, for salaries, for whatever. How would that change your ministry?
- An alternative platform for impact – the chance to connect with residents under your own roof. And those may be students from the general population of your campus, or international students (who often need affordable housing options).
- An alternative to the classic “college ministry building.” While a Center provides the benefits of worship- and office-space, it doesn’t come with the headaches of normal “ministry houses” (bills, upkeep, etc.). NewChapter brings their management expertise, so the minister doesn’t have to be the go-to-guy (or gal) for their building.
- An alternative to everything else. “Student Living Centers” are not the norm in college ministry (even if the Greek system uses them all around us). So a Center might reach a whole segment of campus that’s unreached, help your ministry integrate with the campus in new ways, or even introduce a new season for a college ministry.
Whether or not you go with NewChapter, have you ever thought “outside the box” in big ways like this?
If you read this blog regularly, you know I don’t hype too many things. NewChapter is a group I feel really comfortable “hyping,” though. For one thing, they’re intent on making sure this is truly a fit for a ministry before proceeding. We’ve had several discussions this year, and I’ve been floored by how intent they are on understanding how they can help college ministries best. (I wish more organizations paid closer attention to what goes on in our world!)
In fact, NewChapter’s support for college ministry has also led them to help me financially on occasion. I honestly would share what they’re doing even if that wasn’t true, but maybe that’s one more “push” toward contacting them: By connecting with them, you might even be helping me out! (So please tell ‘em you heard about this from me!)
Clearly, undertaking a large-scale building project is a BIG deal and certainly isn’t for every ministry. (They actually just discussed that fact on their blog.) It takes a calling and a commitment, for sure. But it’s crazy enough that it just might work, and it’s backed by people who know what they’re doing.
You can certainly contact me to learn more (and I’ll be objective). But of course their site and their blog have lots of good info, too.
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written in the Memorial Union, Arizona State University
Road Trip 13: Day 4 recap
finished at Arizona State, made my way across the border to Blythe, CA
T-shirt: the Redhawk tribe of Miami University (Ohio)
today: the trek to the Sacramento area!
I had the neat chance yesterday to meet with Kevin Twit and Syneva Colle, staff members of the RUF chapter at Belmont University. Kevin is the 14-year director of the ministry.
But aside from the fact that all college ministries are worth getting to know, this one has a particular claim to fame. It’s the home base for Indelible Grace.
Indelible Grace Music is dedicated to pairing old hymns (and Scripture) with more contemporary music. As Kevin writes on their site,
Our hope is to help the church recover the tradition of putting old hymns to new music for each generation, and to enrich our worship with a huge view of God and His indelible grace.
Indelible Grace Music grew out of ministering to college students, primarily through Reformed University Fellowship (RUF). We saw many touched by the gospel, and gripped by the rich theology and great poetry of the hymns of the Church. As these students began to taste more of the depth of the gospel and the richness of the hymn tradition, many began to join the music of their culture with the words of our forefathers (and mothers!), and a movement was born.
(Read the whole IDM philosophy here.)
Indelible Grace’s music has been widely distributed, apparently; not only have they sold 50,000 CDs but the songs make up the official “RUF Hymnbook,” and their lyrics/music are available for free online. There’s more – including a touring band that I believe has led worship at multiple Ivy Jungle conferences.
In other words, from the efforts and talents of one ministry arose innovation that helped RUFs throughout the country – and other ministries, too.
It’s probably no surprise that this particular innovation arose from
- A school dedicated to Music and Music Business education
- A ministry situated in the middle of Nashville
- A campus minister with a Music and Music Business background
- Ministry years that just happened to include participation by the Jars of Clay guys, Sandra McCracken, and other future music notables.
But I would argue that innovative practices or resources that have nationwide impact should REGULARLY come forth from
- College ministries.
Clearly, what Indelible Grace has done is awesome, and I don’t mean to diminish that at all. But we who serve college campuses are on the frontlines of new generations, on the frontlines of culture, and in situations that (should) force radical creativity and (should) promote radical community and cooperation. It seems that we should see examples of this kind of advancement pop up here and there, time after time, from developed college ministries all over the country. Not 100 a year, obviously. But I figure we should see this kind of thing more.
Just a thought.
Written from Motel 6, Brentwood, TN
Road Trip #12 update (Day 8)
Yesterday’s T-shirt: Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
All the explorations of this trip (so far) can be seen here.
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All of college ministry benefits as we get to know each other better!
So after a great conference with 300 students and leaders from the NACCM college ministries, it’s high time I introduce you to this major, national, Evangelical group of college ministries. There’s actually a good chance there’s an associated ministry on your campus and a great chance there are a few in your state; with well over 100 campus-based ministries around the U.S., they’re roughly as widespread (or even moreso) than RUF.
(As I noted yesterday, the NACCM is actually changing its name. The new name appears to be “Association of Collegiate Ministries.” The national name really matters most only to members, since each local ministry has its own name.)
One of the reasons it took me a while to get familiar with NACCM ministries is that their local names vary quite widely. But I think I’m getting a handle on it! Here are the fruits of my labor in that regard! (Of course, if you’re “in the know,” please note any additions or corrections to this material in the comments!)
mostly campus-based ministries (but not parachurch)
Most of the NACCM college ministries are campus-based ministries, generally supported by Independent Christian Churches and/or their members. So these ministries aren’t fully “parachurch” but function much like various denominational campus-based ministries (Baptist Collegiate Ministries, RUF, Chi Alpha, etc.).
(As you may remember from my post last week, the Christian Churches do not consider themselves a denomination since their local churches are fully autonomous. “Fellowship of churches” is the kind of language I tend to use.)
The NACCM does include church-based and Christian-college ministries, as well, and those connections could increase in years to come.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Independent Christian Churches altogether, you can start here. They are part of the Restoration Movement which historically includes Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ. The most famous U.S. Christian Churches include Seacoast Church, Community Christian Church, and Southeast Christian Church.
on your campus? look for “Christian,” “Fellowship,” and/or “House” – maybe
As I noted above, the NACCM ministries have a wide assortment of names, so they face the same branding issues that I discussed in regards to the Baptist Collegiate Ministries. In the case of NACCM ministries, their most common names appear to be “Christian Student Fellowship,” “Campus Christian Fellowship,” “Christian Campus House,” or some similar names with the words simply switched around! “His House” shows up throughout Michigan, and there are plenty of other names. You can see a list of NACCM ministries – by state – here.
otherwise…
Some other things I’ve learned:
- Like many campus-based ministries, NACCM ministries often draw and relate to students from a wide range of denominations and other Evangelical fellowships.
- Their “flagship” ministries appear to include Purdue Christian Campus House, Georgia Tech’s Christian Campus Fellowship, and Eastern Illinois’s Christian Campus House. (Are there others?)
- Like most college ministries, these ministries vary widely in size, history, leadership, etc. There are places it’s “the big ministry,” places it’s small and/or struggling, and others where it’s somewhere in-between. Reportedly Purdue’s and Georgia Tech’s ministries are quite huge.
Two particularly attractive distinctives that I think I’ve picked up:
- The NACCM leaders seem fairly well connected to each other, which I believe is a definite positive for the ministries within any movement
- More than I’ve heard from many other ministries, the NACCM guys seem to have a penchant for planting campus ministries out of established ministries. While it doesn’t happen nearly everywhere, it’s exciting to find that some NACCM efforts have taken it upon themselves to help form ministries on other campuses.
And lastly, NACCMers can be really hospitable to outsiders. That’s a fact I can personally attest to.
For more on the NACCM ministries “from the horse’s mouth,” click here.
Road Trip #12 update (Day 6)
Yesterday’s T-shirt: the Warhawk tribe of University of Louisiana Monroe
New campus: University of Evansville (home of the Purple Aces! awesome!)
Mileage so far: 759
Headed today to the Nashville / Murfreesboro, TN area for at least a couple of days. Be sure to watch my Twitter feed, watch my Facebook status, or join Facebook group to stay on top of the itinerary!
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