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I’m using the term “chaplain” as my catch-all term for the people at Christian colleges involved in impacting students in specialized, relevant ways. It’s easier than writing “University Ministries director,” “spiritual life director,” “Vice President for Spiritual Development,” “Dean of the Chapel,” and so on. But that’s what I mean!
This week, I’m taking a look at Christian colleges and their connection to college ministry as a whole. This is a response to the criticism leveled at Christian schools on another blog, as I discussed yesterday.
I do believe that college ministers can learn much from each other. Today, I want to point out what Christian college chaplains bring to the table for the field of college ministry, elements we in other branches are wise to notice.
1. Academic development of their work. Of any group I’ve met in my research, Christian college chaplains seem most likely to take a seriously academic approach to spiritual development. Their world, clearly, is an academic one; they serve on the staff of a college or even as faculty. I would imagine the Master’s and Doctorate degrees per capita is highest in this branch, too. So it’s natural that this quality would show up strongly here.
So when I’ve met with these women and men, they regularly reference both Christian thinkers and secular thinkers. It’s common for chaplains to discuss generational research, psychological development theories, and a wide range of books (that they’ve actually read!). This kind of broad thought about the work of college ministry – which I would argue we need much more of in our field – seems to be the forte of many of these college ministers, the women and men “chaplain-ing” at Christian colleges.
2. Theological development of their methods and messages. Connected to this devotion to thinking about these things, many Christian college chaplains seem to have developed pretty rich understandings of what they do and the messages they present to students over time. While this attention obviously varies among these ministers, my guess would be that this kind of serious attention to methodology is more the “norm” here than in any other branch of college ministry.
That includes helping students process big questions, whether they be theological “hot topics” or longstanding issues like churchmanship and ecclesiology. In chapel series, missions endeavors, service opportunities, and more, I’ve rarely – if ever – seen more attention paid to analyzing long-term development of students’ lives than in these environments.
3. Longevity. Again, this isn’t evident everywhere. But oftentimes chaplains end up shepherding college students for many, many years. Certainly, there are plenty of “lifers” in the other branches of college ministry, too. But I’m guessing that among Christian colleges, there may be a higher ratio of college ministers who have worked in college ministry – and often even worked in the same location – for 10+ years.
4. Fit with the institution. Clearly, when the institution is your employer, there’s usually going to be better assimilation there! (Although there are certainly Christian colleges where there is tension between ministers and administration.) But beyond that natural affinity, in many cases chaplains seem to have been able to connect well with the purposes of the institution and with individual staff, faculty, and administration members.
Even though chaplains may have a “head start” in that area, we can still notice the benefits – and work to emulate their connectedness. In many cases, even at secular schools, there is a real opportunity for much of our ministry to fit the institution in a way that is both edifying and glorifying. It’s not impossible to become seen as a “colleague” of the faculty and staff at your school, nor is it impossible for your ministry to be seen as invaluable to the campus community.
Continue this mini-series here.
Written from Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH
Road Trip #11 update (Day 36)
yesterday’s T-shirt: the Spartan tribe of San Jose State University
new campus visits: Wilberforce University (#37), Central State University (#38)
(click here to see all the explorations from Road Trip #11)
See if you can find the theme:
Yesterday morning, I met with Ryan McReynolds, Northeast Regional Director for Operations for Campus Crusade. Among lots of other things, we discussed Cru’s shift to using missional team models in some areas. In those cases, staff members at one developed campus will help establish and develop Crusade “movements” at other nearby campuses.
I ate lunch with Tim Hawkins, officer and past president of National Association of Christian Campus Ministries and Boston-Metro Director of Sojourn Collegiate Ministry. In Sojourn’s unique model of college ministry, they focus exclusively on small groups; a large group gathering would, he feels, simply duplicate what students are getting in church or elsewhere.
Then I sat down with Dan Cho, Executive Director of Veritas Forum. Dan and I discussed their ministry, which is clearly a complementary model. Veritas hopes to catalyze widespread campus change – but they know that they only play one piece in the overall impact of students and campuses.
This morning, I plan to meet with Michael Keller, one of the leaders of Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s City Campus Ministry in New York City. CCM is fully launching this fall and is, according to the web page, “a church-based, college student focused program.” But though CCM church-based, it’s a nontraditional model: “We are affiliated with, and supported by, local churches in New York City, including Redeemer, Emmanuel, and the Village Church . We are also closely connected to Reformed University Fellowship.” I look forward to hearing about this hybrid, multi-church model today.
Do you see a theme?
Three great ministry discussions yesterday (and hopefully one more today), largely concerned with one thing we should all be willing to consider:
Non-traditional college ministry models.
I don’t mean that we need to consider only these models. I mean we need to consider that many new models are almost certainly needed in many places. Maybe your campus is one of those places; maybe it’s not.
But there are people innovating out there, from the tried-and-true Campus Crusade folks to influential churches like Redeemer Presbyterian to strong ministries that will become better and better known – like NACCM and Veritas.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s some innovating that needs to be done where we are, too.
One of the great parts of a road trip is finding good ways to use the car-time. Listening to important stuff is one of those best practices.
(If you want updates on the trip itself, you’ll be able to find that each day at the bottom of the post in blue. So even if the posts don’t interest you, the trip updates might!)
It’s not particularly often that college ministry receives focus on a national stage. But as it turns out, this month 9Marks and Mark Dever interviewed Aaron Messner, Chaplain at Covenant College, about how churches can impact college students. And they talk (briefly but favorably) about campus-based college ministries, too. So that’s all three branches – church-based, Christian college, and campus-based college ministry – discussed in one interview. Good times indeed. BIG thanks to my friend Matt Haste for pointing me to this interview.
You can find the interview here: http://media.9marks.org/2009/04/01/college-students. Messner and the 9Marks guys have some really great things to say about college ministry in general. Listening might really be worth your time, especially to give you good fodder for explaining how important college ministry is.
(They talked about several other things, as reflected in the number of categories I’ve put this post in.)
Even if you don’t get to listen, here are some things that struck me as particularly notable:
- First, this is a great thing to pass along to your pastor, other local pastors, or other people who need to value college ministry. It could be really influential, especially if they already respect Mark Dever and/or 9Marks.
- I was reminded of the awesome perspective Christian college chaplains bring to the table of college ministry. These ministers – more than campus-based or church-based people – are likely to make use of a wide range of materials – Christian, secular, academic, current literature, etc. I saw that time and time again on my big trip.
- A great note Messner made: reaching college students doesn’t necessarily require a “cool” pastor. His example, in fact, was the professors on his campus; he said those with the most impact are simply those who are most authentic and relational with the students.
- A strong belief in God’s sovereignty fights students’ narcissism. Good word.
- They discussed churches not choosing to impact students because they seem them as “migratory birds.” That’s true (about churches) and not a bad word picture, either.
- Around the 51-minute mark, they discuss college ministry as similar to missions. What a wonderful thing to hear.
- Right at the end, Messner makes a strong point: Even though research is valuable, no matter how much we research college students and this generation, knowing college students requires hanging out with them. He’s right.
Written from Memphis, Tennessee
Yesterday’s T-shirt: the Red Raider tribe of Texas Tech University
Yesterday’s campus visits: Henderson State Univ. and Ouachita Baptist Univ.
Yesterday I wrote some about Young Life College, after getting to chat with its new director, longtime college minister Mike Gaffney. You’ll probably wanna read that if you haven’t. Today, some additional points I picked up from our meeting.
Community focus
A major focus of Young Life College that does position it in a different niche from some other campus-based ministries is that it aims to be “community-owned.” This means involving Christians from throughout the community in impacting college students – just as Young Life has long used community members to impact youth.
Et tu?
This focus, then, helps answer one question Mike apparently gets a lot: How can he, a longtime champion for church-based college ministry, now direct a nationwide parachurch ministry? His answer is that his focus has always been helping the Body of Christ take ownership in impacting students – and he continues to do that now.
In Young Life College, a major emphasis is getting college students around Christian adults – and therefore connecting students, via relationships, to the churches of their communities. As Mike said yesterday (and I’ve heard him say before), his job has often been simply to remind churches that the campus is right there – in their community, down the street, or across town. Young Life College facilitates that bridging, creating connections directly between students and local “church people.”
Finishing the job
YLC explicitly aims to complement Young Life’s ministry to youth. “Young Life College is first and foremost about finishing the job we started,” Mike told me, explaining that some Young Life high schoolers have been reached but not always grown into long-lasting disciples of Jesus.
And if we think this is a point against Young Life’s ministry to youth, remember that this statement might equally apply to other youth ministries as well… But Young Life College allows Young Life to continue investing in students through the transition to college.
Of course, they also reach out to those who aren’t former Young Life students, too. This outreach includes both those who need an introduction to Christ and those who need to be RE-introduced to their Lord.
Context is king
Young Life College aims to be highly contextual. That means its form – and even its existence – will be determined by what’s already happening “on the ground” on a given campus. For example, Mike described getting old Young Life kids, now university students, together at their campus to ask the vital question: “Do we need a Young Life College group here?” If not, then YLC doesn’t have to start at all.
Likewise, the methods used at individual campuses will differ, based what’s needed – and what’s already happening.
A ready outlet
To me, a particularly interesting aspect of Young Life College is having automatic, concrete leadership roles available for students who are ready to lead. Instead of only ministering “within the system” to fellow college students, Young Life College has ready-made opportunities for students to minister to youth in the community, as well.
While this may seem a slight difference, it’s really not, because students have multiple options for their “next step” of disciplemaking. Obviously, some other college ministries – especially those based on campuses – don’t always have those kinds of outlets – for ministry outside of the peer group.
Able leadership
Finally, I can’t overemphasize the fact that Young Life College is headed by an extremely seasoned college minister in Mike Gaffney. He is well aware of the issues involved in ministering to students. And I heard instance after instance of the subtle wisdom that comes from spending more than a few years ministering to college students in our time yesterday.
I’m very interested to watch how this thing develops in the coming years. It’s certainly still in its infancy, and Mike seems to be very comfy taking things slowly. While there will always be those who ask, “Do we really need another national college ministry?,” Young Life College really does seem to have carved out a pretty intriguing little niche. Giddy up!
Written from The Purple Door, Seattle
I know personally of three nationally-known, large-operation, interdenominational parachurch college ministries in America: Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and the Navigators. You know, the big guys.
But, as you may or may not know, there may now be a fourth.
Young Life, long known for its ministry to youth, has in recent years officially begun Young Life College. I got to speak to national director Mike Gaffney on Monday, and I figured I’d give you the low-down.
It’s clear from talking to Mike that this collegiate arm of Young Life is definitely still evolving. It’s also clear that because it’s contextual collegiate ministry, it will look different at times from campus to campus… but more on that later.
After a little overview of Young Life College, I’ll offer some bullet points from what I’ve noticed so far.
(Again, this description of Young Life College is what I gleaned from our conversation and what’s online. If I get something wrong, which is certainly possible, please let me know! It always scares me a little bit when I get to specifics about individual organizations, ’cause I don’t want to offer errant facts.)
Young Life College
Obviously, the Young Life organization already places a heavy emphasis on outreach to high school students. Also apparent is their traditional connection to college students – using many of them as leaders in local clubs. (It’s certainly common for me to see local Young Life clubs recruiting college students to participate, especially at the beginning of the school year.)
From the students’ points of view, however, this traditional structure does sorta create a natural “gap” – between the YL high schooler and the college student who’s ready to lead. Between those two “ends of the spectrum,” there are plenty of high schoolers – including former Young Life kids – who struggle spiritually in the transition to college. And there are plenty of other college students who haven’t connected with God ever, or at least in a really long time.
Young Life College aims to minister there, in that “gap” between “youth” and “leader.”
Adding to the usual Young Life efforts to use and train college students in leadership, YL College adds the prongs of Outreach and Growth (helping college students mature in their faith). Ultimately, a major fruit of successful disciplemaking is always helping push disciplees toward ministry opportunities, and that’s where the leadership opportunities inherent in Young Life’s work with youth come in. (Yet college students will also have chances to minister to their own peers now, too.)
So Young Life College ultimately presents a “three-pronged approach” of Outreach, Growth, and Leadership.
One other thing: From what I gather, it’s probably not best to think of Young Life College as simply “Young Life for college students,” though that kind of shorthand will be tempting to use. But we all know that, for example, a church’s college ministry isn’t (hopefully) “just like the youth ministry, but with college students in it.” In the same way, Young Life College shares some aspects of vision and philosophy with Young Life, but it’s not always going to “feel” like the weekly “club” does for a high school senior.
This kind of focus on specifically collegiate ministry should be expected from Mike Gaffney, who has ministered to college students for a couple of decades – and is one of the most well-known college ministers in the country. And it’s going to be very interesting to watch as the new kid on the block – Young Life College – develops in the years to come.
Sorry to leave you hangin’, but I need to go to sleep. I’ll write those bullet points Tuesday. [Here is that continuation post.]
Written from The Purple Door, Seattle
Friday, I had the excellent opportunity to attend the Passion Regionals “Vision Meeting” for the upcoming Dallas/Fort Worth Passion Regionals event. Not only was it like a lil’ family reunion with my college ministry friends from this area, but I got to experience the “heart” of Passion in a way I hadn’t before – behind the scenes, hearing from them as a sort of co-laborer as they prepare to “land” here in DFW next month.
I’m still impressed.
My first encounter with Passion Conferences was in January ’99, at the third Passion Conference. It was still being held in Texas, they only had one CD out (from the conference the year before), and they hadn’t brought thousands upon thousands to a field in Memphis for the first One Day yet. That would happen a year-and-a-half later. So it was the early days of Passion, you might say.
I remember the worship seemed a little “charismatic” for me and my pals, what with people raising their hands and all. (We’ve come a long way.) I remember I had to be in a breakout group with people I didn’t know – annoying for a shy freshman. And I remember that by the end of the conference, my life had been changed, with powerful words rattling around in my head about God-glorification and a life that was meant to live for that stuff. “Yes, Lord … Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls.”
Last Friday’s gathering involved the Passion crew – including Louie Giglio, complete with stitches in his belly from a hernia operation – meeting with maybe a hundred local college ministers. Passion didn’t have to come over here from Atlanta – the organization is well-known enough in these parts. But they did come, to connect with us “on the ground” who have to catch the vision if Passion is going to matter now, this go ’round, in this place. He discussed the goals of the Regional events, gave plans for the Worldwide Tour starting later this year (very exciting), and reviewed the earlier Regional events in Boston and Chicago.
Some people struggle with Passion because Read the rest of this entry »
One of the newest college ministry models is the collegiate church. I had certainly heard of “collegiate churches” before this trip, but part of the fun of this year is getting to see my preconceived notions discarded, corrected, or at the very least nuanced. I certainly know a lot more about “collegiate churches” and collegiate church planting than I understood before August 16th.
[Sorry, by the way, for the lack of blogging this week. I'm not participating in the Writer's Strike, I promise. Usually, a lack here just means I've had good success staying busy with interviews and other parts of this exploration. That's true this week, for sure - just pray for balance for me!]
To this point on the trip, I’ve personally encountered 6 or 7 collegiate churches. (It was 6 before today, but I’m actually working on another one here in Baton Rouge!) This included sitting down with the pastor of each of the first 6 and attending 5 of their services. I also got to connect with Stacey Wideman, the Coordinator of the Collegiate Church Planting Community in Boston, as well as Tom Mauriello, Executive Director of Great Commission Ministries. GCM has planted collegiate churches on lots of campuses. While I will certainly encounter further ways of “doing the collegiate church thing” on this trip, I’ve definitely seen a variety of methods already.
Today, I’ll fill you in on the Boston situation. Look for details from Amherst, Mass., New Britain, Connecticut, Baton Rouge, LA, and Great Commission Ministries soon. I think each example of this model-in-action offers the chance to be stretched in our imaginations when it comes to campus ministry. Hoorah collaboration.
If you want to get a more lively run-down of the Collegiate Church Planting Community, check out their “Know Us” site here. Otherwise, you can keep reading! Read the rest of this entry »
Howdy, friends! I mentioned last week that I’d gotten to see several interesting College Ministry models the last few weeks. Today, I begin the run-down, with a short review of one of these models – and the things I find interesting. I’ll do similarly for each.
Please don’t forget the disclaimer: My interest doesn’t equal unqualified support, for any ministry, church, etc.
Campus Crusade & Park Street Church, Boston
1 church impacting two dozen campuses
I got the awesome chance to sit down with Tammy McLeod, Campus Crusade for Christ Boston Metro Director, in my last days in Boston. Even before I arrived in New England, I knew I’d try to explore Cru – not only because it’s a major collegiate ministry in a major metropolitan area, but because of its unique partnership with a major Boston church. Plus, it’s always an honor to hang with a long-term pro in our field…
If you know Boston, you know Park Street Church has “held the line” of evangelicalism for their 198 years, unlike so many of the old Boston churches that are now Universalist (or whatever). Interestingly enough, Park Street sent the first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii and held the first performance of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” The church is right in the midst of Downtown – just look for the looming building right by Boston Common, after you take the Green Line to the Park Street stop. You know, the next time you’re in town. (Read more about Park Street and their history.)
Hopefully you also know that Campus Crusade is one of the premier campus-based collegiate ministries in the world. (Read about them and their milestones.) In Boston, Campus Crusade is known as Real Life Boston.
Apparently about 13 years ago, some rather creative, open-minded leaders Read the rest of this entry »
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