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You might know that I’ve been exploring the campus ministry scene in the great town of Fort Worth; as I began preparing this post, I was still there. Then a birthday dinner with my sister and her buddies, and then I finally made it back across the Metroplex to home.
It was a good few days, though! I’ll probably blog sometime soon on how valuable a 3-day excursion could be for you, too – lots of learning, lots of observing, and lots of collaborating are easily available to you in this incredible way.
For now, however, there are other great ways to learn, observe, and collaborate – namely, plenty of cool online discussions that relate to college ministry! Eat up, and enjoy (and don’t miss all the great college ministry methods people have been describing – they’re at the bottom!).
vocational theology & transitions: Mike Hickerson of InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network interviews Derek Melleby of the CCO and Center for Parent / Youth Understanding – about Derek’s book (The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness) and his work on the Transition to College that’s such a struggle for so many Christian kids. A lengthy interview – in a good way. For more on one of those topics, Tim Ehrhardt posts some great thoughts on helping students consider their education and vocation theologically.
why college ministry matters: A great profile of one college minister’s work way up at Syracuse University could be really helpful for sharing the value of College Ministry – and presenting College Ministry as missions. All the more helpful for getting the attention of outsiders, it’s from the major Christian news service Baptist Press.
thinking theologically about the iPhone: The Washington Post looks engagingly at information-obsession, smartphones, and public connection with others. A lot has been written along these lines, but this is better than much of what I’ve seen – in large part because it asks questions more than it offers answers. It could be a really good, basic piece for waking up your students to this important discussion. (HT: Rhett Smith)
weeding out students?: Brian Barela continues his helpful posts on Starting a College Ministry, this time looking at creating purposeful ministry aspects that work to weed out students who aren’t really aligned with the ministry. A tricky topic, and one that I don’t have completely settled in my own mind – but a good read, and definitely worth pondering.
lifechange opens up ministry opportunity: Tim Ehrhardt provides a cool evaluation of our opportunity to minister to students because of – not just in spite of – all the transitions taking place in their lives.
you can help…: …Chad Logan develop a brochure for explaining the basics of Christianity to international students. …Tom Grosh develop a bibliography of resources for understanding the various Generations and how to minister to them!
learning from others: Justin Wallace posts a phenomenal apologia for exploring other college ministries – complete with results from a couple of recent visits he’s gotten to make. A great post, and very worth reading. (And if you could use even more basic motivations for collaboration, Russ Martin provides one.)
two famous new presidents: Christianity Today has posted a couple of interviews with the two new (famous) presidents of two major Evangelical schools: Wheaton College (Philip Ryken) and Baylor University (Ken Starr – yep, that one).
a new college ministry partner to consider: Guy Chmieleski had several helpful posts this week – including reflecting on his NYC mission trip from this week. Perhaps the post with the most heuristic value discussed ministry partnership with alumni – an endeavor that could certainly be worth putting some energy toward in the coming months. (But you should check out the others while you’re there.)
How-tos, Methods, and Under-the-Hoods
- …for starting in a new college ministry position: Lance Crowell has been writing a series on how college ministers (particularly church-based ones) should get going in a new college ministry. Solid stuff, with five brief parts so far. You can find the first post here, and then two, three, four, and five.
- …for engaging students in play: Wes Woodell gives detailed instructions for playing “Humans vs. Zombies” – an interesting way to draw people to your group and have a good time, campus-wide
- …for engaging students in discussion: Mike Hurt provides a really solid look at using discussion groups (instead of “lectures”)
- …for engaging students in spiritual conversation: Mike Mattson of a secular recruitment consulting organization describes his interaction with a Christian campus ministry’s great discussion-starting table at USC. Great chance to see an outsider’s take on a method that has become pretty popular within college ministry.
- …for raising up college ministers: Steve Lutz has been posting his content from a talk he recently did on discerning the call to college ministry – and preparing for the call. Definitely worth giving your students who are (or should be) considering a campus ministry vocation. Start here; 4 posts so far.
- …for getting support for college ministry: Jerry Beavers notes an effort within one denomination to re-emphasize collegiate ministry. While the example applies specifically to their group, it’s a really helpful example for others, who need to consider doing the same within their own denominations or networks! Work the system!
- …for evangelism: Tom Greentree takes a look at one simple evangelistic presentation that’s growing in popularity – and even links to a book that helps go further on this tool and its theology.
- …for celebrating Passover with your students in a few weeks: Derek Leman goes all-out on the instructions and other helps. (HT: Scot McKnight)
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If College Ministry as a field ever becomes as valued in greater Christianity as it should be, it’s conceivable that we’d have a standard Love the College Ministry Month. While many might vote for August or September as a helpful focus-month, I might offer March as a more arresting selection.
Arresting, because this is the month when the whole nation (including the Church) turns to collegiate thoughts – with wide attention to both Spring Break happenings AND the beautiful, truly collegiate extravaganza called the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. What better chances to emphasize the dangers and glories of our wonderful mission fields?
March can also be kind of a bummer-month for college ministers, right? Spring Break and Easter (either during or soon after March) can squash our momentum, sadly – and the following senior-itis and summer-itis don’t help, either.
So if you’re looking ahead in a less-than-excited way to March, just remember I’m celebrating Loving the College Ministry Month. :)
And as part of that celebration, here are some of this week’s more intriguing online discussions for our field:
reflection on a library visit: Nick Melazzo writes a post that starts with Harry Potter in 67 languages and then turns the corner to the profound. It’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed a college ministry conclusion this much. This is what it means to love your mission field.
two places your response could really help: Tom Grosh asks good questions about building community through Social Media, and he could really use our input for an upcoming talk on the matter. And collegiate church planter Aaron Proffitt is pondering starting a blog about his branch of our field. Encouragement and suggestions would be appreciated!
evangelism debate!: Brian Barela has facilitated an important discussion on his blog (as he often does), this time about “Ministry Mode Evangelism” (more commonly known as “random evangelism” or simply “campus evangelism”). While this campus ministry debate has elicited some helpful comments, watching the debate itself is also quite instructive. (I linked this last week, but there have been a bunch of comments since then.) Campus evangelism strategy is one thing that desperately needs to be discussed well, and this discussion definitely reveals some of the underlying tensions and theses.
atheist reactions to a college ministry conference: Jonathan Weyer posts some of his Atheist friends’ reactions to their involvement at the Jubilee conference.
is our campus ministry work actually working?: Guy Chmieleski offers a strong multi-post discussion on whether classic college ministry methods are actually producing transformative results. He springboards from an academic model called the “Cone of Learning” – and “springboarding” is something we need a lot more of in college ministry discussion. The posts take some interesting turns, too – my favorite is probably the third of the four posts. The posts start here and continue with numbers two, three, and four.
college ministers, learning, & web2.0: Matt McComas asks why more college ministers don’t use social media tools (and gets quite a few helpful comments). Then Matt follows that up with another VERY key question. Good times.
big week: This week at Exploring College Ministry was one of the more popular of the semester! My post on forty decisions you’ve already made about your Large Group Meeting received the most attention; I followed it with a key related observation urging us not to miss the trees for the forest (yes, in that order). I also posted about upcoming opportunities for college ministers, which include a very missional experience in Brazil and two church-based college ministers’ conferences in April.
spring break, by the numbers: Glen Davis provides an “infographic” on Spring Break – it’s certainly interesting, might be good for showing your students, and could also come in handy for sharing the importance of college ministry. I’m assuming the source is accurate, but I did check a couple of the references listed at the bottom. If you’re gonna use it in a broad way, you might want to check it out (as with anything stat-based!).
stay with family or go on a mission trip?: Guy Chmieleski wrestles with the family-balance issues that many married campus ministers have to deal with. Very worth checking out – as well as adding your own thoughts on this vital discussion. He raises the question here, and offers some first answers here.
books!: Steve Boutry posts a great review for college ministers of Sex and the Soul (and he highly encourages reading it). Meanwhile, Derek Melleby reviews Eugene Peterson’s new Practice Resurrection, which discusses both Christian maturity and church – two vital topics for college ministers, right? And the ever-faithful Byron Borger posts all the books he wishes had been released in time for the Jubilee college ministry conference (WITH a big discount – especially if you order some books on the list today!).
for more of this kind of thing: While scouring some saved web pages from the past, I posted a total of 14 college ministry-related items that might interest you – here and here! And you can always check out last weekend’s wrap-up of campus ministry discussions right here.
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As I noted last week, I’m trying to spend some major time tying up loose ends – all million (or so) of them! That includes combing back through long-ago-saved web pages.
And after posting some of my (re)discoveries last week, I figured I would share some more of the fruits with you. Though I may sound a bit mocking in my title, these are honestly some pretty interesting and useful things – including free media resources, a discussion of missional college ministry, a campus ministry evangelism tool, and more!
Stuff I You Can Use: “Stuff I Can Use” is the very cool site of free resources designed (for their use, and then provided for everybody else) by the college / young adult ministry at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.
Missional Campus Ministry, San Fran style: Apparently this article (a PDF) is the 5th version of “Missionality in Campus Ministry,” written by the San Francisco regional team of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Sex & the Soul… and Students: I posted a bit on Donna Freitas a while back; her talk at nearby SMU was honestly pretty fascinating. This Catholic prof has done some really interesting work looking with students at the interplay of sexuality and spirituality. Here’s her book on Amazon. [I just realized Heart of Campus Ministry reviewed this book this week, too: check that out here.]
Kevin Roose at Liberty: If you never got to read about the “irreligious” student from the quite irreligious Brown University going undercover (as a Christian) at Liberty University… it’s an interesting story, for sure. (I got to chat with them about it when I was at Liberty, too, which was fascinating.)
Four Circles Evangelism, covered by CT: Honestly, this new(ish) evangelistic tool, created by InterVarsity, is probably one of the most important “news items” in the world of college ministry in the last couple of years. If you’re unfamiliar with the tool – or the theological shifts behind it – it could be really good to catch up.
The Structure of Wesley Foundation at UGA: One of the largest college ministries in the U.S. puts its structure in a basic flowchart? Of course we’ll want to take a look, even if this particular update is a few years old!
Article for sharing the importance of college ministry: “College Ministries: I Am a Big, Fat Liar” in the Presbyterian Outlook from a couple of years ago is a rather impressive argument for what we do… especially for church leaders.
Want even more? There’s always the post from last week, with 6 additional resources rescued from the past!
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I speak today at 9am Eastern. Really excited about this.
But yesterday, Day 2 of CCO’s Jubilee Conference, was the only FULL day of this thing – and it was plenty good explorin’.
Some various notes on things you might find helpful or interesting:
- I won’t re-write much of what I tweeted, so if you want to see THOSE (rather sleepy) adventures (including songwriter Sarah Masen, a poetry seminar that was mostly way over my head, and a death threat from the main stage, you can see them here (in backwards chronological order, of course).
- One of the seminaries who has college ministry courses (and a great professor, Chris Kiesling) is Asbury Theological Seminary. They’ve got a booth here, so I wanted to give them a shout-out for supporting our field in that way!
- I enjoyed Steve Lutz’s seminar for college students about discerning whether they might be called to campus ministry. I don’t know if he’ll blog it or not, but in case he does (or has any other wrap-ups of Jubilee), I highly encourage you to watch his blog for the next few days. (And then for the next few years after that, of course, ’cause he writes great stuff.)
- Meanwhile, Steve also participated in a seminar yesterday afternoon that’s a little surprising for a Christian college ministry conference: A dialogue with atheists! If you’re unfamiliar with Jonathan Weyer, he has built quite an interaction with skeptics at Ohio State and, from that, even nationally. So he hosted a couple of famous ones here at CCO. Don’t know if he (or Steve) will blog it, but I bet somebody does – you can be watching Jonathan’s blog here.
- I think I’ve finally gotten in the habit of spelling Pittsburgh correctly. That “H” really throws me.
Byron Borger’s second and third rounds of suggested resources. Sorry my notes are a little rugged, but you can Google ‘em, right?
- Deep Church by Belcher
- The Gospel according to Lost by Seay
- The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness by Opitz & Melleby (yep, again)
- Engaging God’s World by Plantinga
- The Fabric of Faithfulness by Garber
- Culture Making by Crouch
- Make the Impossible Possible by Strickland
- The Poor Will Be Glad by Greer & Smith
- Angry Conversations with God by Isaacs
- Amena Brown spoken word CDs
- Justin McRoberts’s album of cover songs
- Through the Eye of a Needle (about Haiti)
- Here I Am by Schultze
- Don’t Waste Your Life by Piper – with a special shout-out to the “Serving God from 9 to 5″ chapter
- The Call by Guinness
- Reordered Loves, Reordered Lives by Naugle – about vocation and passion?
- The True Story of the Whole World – introduction to Bible study
- The Well summer Bible study (around Pittsburgh with the CCO)
- Ruth: The Story of God’s Unending Redemption by Wauzzinski (released 2 days ago)
- Jesus & Jigga (theological study of Jay Z)
- A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Don Miller
Written from the Jubilee Conference, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA
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Yesterday was one of the crazier days in my recent explorations, as I took a flight from Dallas to Pittsburgh (via Charlotte). There was a crazy bagel-thing and a haircut in there, too.
Some other high points, followed by some of the best discoveries and rediscoveries for college ministries at Day 1 of the Coalition for Christian Outreach’s Jubilee Conference.
4 Things:
1. It was weird to realize that I’ve taken 3 flights in about 3 months… after taking 3 flights in the 3 years before that. I tend to be more of a “ground guy,” as you know. But flying is nice for a change.
2. Upon landing in Pittsburgh, I helped Deahna Calgaro (of the CCO) and David Kinnaman (yes, that Dave Kinnaman) circle the airport in a minivan. Until we picked up Jim Belcher (yes, that Jim Belcher). Then Jim B. and I wandered the airport for awhile looking for David Naugle, but it turns out he had taken a taxi to the hotel. But we then picked up David Greusel, the lead architect of Minute Maid Park (yes, that Minute Maid Park) and PNC Park (yes, that PNC Park).
It was a bit surreal. Fun conversations on the way into downtown.
3. I’m tweeting the conference, of course. It’s not exactly “live-tweeting,” if that means sending 10 quotes for every talk. Instead, I’m writing some highlights and anything I think you might particularly enjoy. Read those at www.twitter.com/bensonhines. Or, you can see everybody’s thoughts using the #j2010 hashtag.
4. If you think about it, could you be praying for me between now and Sunday morning? I’ll be speaking at 9am Eastern Time, and I’d like to continue honing that talk throughout today. I’m speaking to college students (and maybe some leaders) about the wide, wide, wonderful world of campus ministry!
Of course, you can also pray that I’d spend this conference observing, exploring, learning, and connecting in ways that help our field!
Key (Re)discoveries:
- Gift Card Giver: Amazing charity that it would be so easy for your college ministry to connect to, and they work to make it even easier for campuses
- COMMENT Magazine: I had a great chat with what appeared to be most of their leadership team. The magazine seeks to present fresh Christian intellect for impactful consumption by other thinkers, opinion leaders, and culture shapers. I knew about ‘em before, but the conversation made me want to revisit what they’re doing.
- Don’t forget: RTS Charlotte now has an Institute for Reformed Campus Ministry.
- Two projects your students could consider for their after-graduation sojourn: Teach for America, Mission Year.
the books Byron Borger promoted
You might have seen me mention Byron Borger and Hearts & Minds Books on here before. He’s a real hero among certain college ministers, well-regarded as a bookseller who knows his craft and does it with excellence. His regular “book selections” at Jubilee are quite popular, too.
Here are his from tonight (sorry for those that are incomplete; I’ll try to update soon)
- Halos and Avatars
- some green book about Revolution
- The Fight
- Rouault
- Let Justice Roll Down
- Follow Me to Freedom
- Creation Regained
- Heaven is a Place on Earth
- After World View
- The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness
Between last week’s special Spring Ideas series and lots of college ministers getting their semesters underway, there was no weekly review last week. So this week is extra-full of some great collegiate ministry discussions from around the web. Enjoy!
Greek ministry and other collegiate niches: Justin Wallace prompted some great discussion by simply asking about ministry to fraternities, sororities, and other niches. Then Rick Harper (director of one of the largest campus ministries in America, CCF at Georgia Tech) follows up with his own experiences among Greek students.
five myths of service work: A really important discussion has taken place at Relevant this week, with wisdom for making sure our help really helps - in Haiti and otherwise. I highly encourage you to read the post, read the comments, consider sharing it with your students, and add any wisdom you have from your unique position as a college minister!
loving the students before us: UNC RUF Campus Pastor Daniel Mason posts some great words at the RUF Blog about remembering we’re ministering to individuals.
beware your own authority: Brian Virtue, national staff with the Epic Asian-American campus ministry, rightly warns us against abusing our authority – it happens more easily in college ministry than in most places!
on college professors: A few sites examine recent studies about the ratio of liberals to conservatives in higher academia (and surprising reasons this might be the case): Scot McKnight at JesusCreed, Micheal Hickerson at The Emerging Scholars Blog, and Chuck Bomar at his blog.
the spiritual devotion of the ladies in your ministry: Potentially helpful for your college small groups / small group leaders: Sarah Arthur describes the temptations that stand in the way of ladies’ community and devotion, written in the style of The Screwtape Letters.
on evangelism: Tim Keller offers an interesting new site for evangelistic purposes: www.questiongod.info (HT: Keith Davy, among others). Brian Barela, as always, offers a bold take on what modern campus evangelism should look like – and as often, raises a whole lot of interesting discussion.
hosting a college ministry Super Bowl party?: Kent Shaffer lists the rules. (Keeping it legal = holiness, remember!)
books for you or your students: Christianity Today posts their Best Books of 2009. Friend of college ministry Byron Borger posts his Book of the Decade (which directly connects to our field) and a few others he’s haunted by. Northwest Missouri State campus minister Brandon Smith is apparently buying lots of copies of one particular book for his student leaders. And the CPYU lists all its past interviews, with authors of books largely connected to our field (including an interview with me! – here’s part 1 & part 2 of that interview).
and if you’re hoping to write something yourself: Have you thought about publishing something for our field? Nick Melazzo offers some helpful thoughts on the present situation – and why new media may be a great option for us college ministers.
finally, various suggestions on evaluating your college ministry efforts
- decide if your expectations are audacious enough (via Michael Kelley)
- observe what people are saying about you on Twitter (via Matt McComas)
- ask this all-important question (via Michael Mears)
- see how your ministry work stacks up to Toastmasters or to the local florist (both via Russ Martin)
- examine your own time management (via Brian Barela)
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If you follow me on Twitter (and happened to catch the few tweets that mentioned my plight), you know I’ve been without my beloved Dell laptop for a week. The extended warranty expires on Tuesday, so I figured it was high time to count up the computer’s various issues and send it for some free service.
It arrived back today and looks like a stinkin’ new computer. Pretty fun. And it runs better than the laptop I had been able to borrow (though I’m very thankful for that opportunity). Between that computer and my iPhone, it really wasn’t that bad a week.
In any case, this was good timing for constructing another “week in review” of the online conversations that connect with our field! If you ever find a discussion that connects to our field, please don’t hesitate to let me know!
College ministers learning along the way: Matt McComas has now posted twice on the adjustments involved in changing from a “cowtown” resident to an “urban hipster” (in his words). The posts (first and second) are asking some great questions and drawing some great comments – definitely worth a look. Meanwhile, Mark Warrington points out what he’s learned in his first year as a church-based college minister, after serving for a few years before that in other contexts.
An evangelism tool from the IV world: Canadian Inter-Varsity staff member Tom Greentree provides a helpful look at a staple of IV ministry: the “Investigative Bible Study.” Check it out for a helpful primer on this aspect – AND a great evangelistic tool.
Books worth discovering: Two more “best reads of 2009″ lists came out from big people connected to our field: Tim Elmore and Derek Melleby. Elmore’s post also includes what he plans to read in 2010.
Books and more worth suggesting to students: Byron Borger reviews a bunch of daily devotionals – which may be worth pointing your students to, particularly here at the front of 2010! Meanwhile, Donald Opitz at the Academic Faithfulness blog points students to a John Updike short-story entitled The Christian Roommates. Sounds like a good read for urging / discussing making the most of the college years – including beyond the classroom.
Helping collegians think about grad school / seminary: Wheaton English prof Alan Jacobs posts (and links) thoughts for students about attending (or not attending) grad school. While he focuses on English / the Humanities, its principles are quite adaptable – especially when he starts talking about how to choose a school (which would be helpful for those headed to seminary, too). (HT: Scot McKnight) JesusCreed also takes up the discussion, specifically about counseling students about spending their seminary years well – and pointing to some good resources for helping our future seminarians.
Souls in Transition: All week, Scot McKnight has been discussing “emerging adults” (those 18-29), in response to Christian Smith’s Souls in Transition. As always, it’s worth reading both these posts at the JesusCreed blog and the comments they attract. Here’s the list:
- Part 1: Introduction
- Part 2: The cultural world of emerging adults
- Part 3: Trends affecting emerging adults’ religious leanings
- Part 4: The comparative reliosity of emerging adults
- Part 5: The religious expression of emerging adults
The Recession Generation: Scot McKnight also pens a brief post on how the present economic climate might impact our students for life. Interesting to ponder.
And around these parts…: Finally, here at Exploring College Ministry, my post on dealing with TOO MANY good ideas seemed to be encouraging to some college ministers! Hooray! I followed it with a couple of posts on how to decide which ideas to use (start here for that). I also had the chance to guest blog elsewhere about “The Art of Brainstorming” – start here for that timely discussion as 2010 is getting underway!
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http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2010/01/souls-in-transition-5.html
Yes, many college ministers have gotten to spend this week (and get to spend the next, and maybe even the next) recuperating, planning, and otherwise enjoying a brief hiatus in their primary duties. However, there are lots of college ministers who are functioning full-speed-ahead this week! So this Weekly Review is dedicated to those hard-working (and cold-enduring) brothers and sisters in our field!
Specifically, there are plenty of college ministers serving on Quarter System campuses (as opposed to Semester System) who have already gotten started on the Winter Quarter. (Most of these can be found on the West Coast and in Ohio, but there are others.) And across the nation, many church-based college ministers are pulling out all the stops to minister to home-grown students before they return to school.
So as we celebrate these guys and gals (and pray for them), here’s this week’s review of some of the best online college ministry discussions:
On brainstorming: Justin Wallace kicked off Heart of Campus Ministry’s new series on The Art of Brainstorming, discussing things he learned about leading team brainstorming sessions. (I’ll be blogging there this Monday, so be sure to check that out!)
Tools for sharing the faith: After his much-celebrated postgame comments this week, I figured I’d point you to Colt McCoy’s evangelistic “I Am Second” videos and page! And Keith Davy posts about a new Campus Crusade evangelism emphasis, using Short Films to spread the word. As is often true, one campus ministry’s resource developments can be gain for everybody!
Book collaboration & two helpful analyses: Brian Barela not only previews an ebook he’s working on (for those starting a college ministry!), he wants collaboration. And in another post, Brian offers a really helpful analysis of three directions campus ministries might “bend.”
One more cool post went up yesterday, where Barela drew out the reasons a “gray areas” message he heard was so impactful. I would love to see more blog posts like this from around the college ministry world – simply filtering down some activities, messages, and other campus ministry staples to their key principles or “best practices.” (If you read the post, you’ll see what I mean.)
Starting, and starting slow: Matt McComas describes his observations and asks for suggestions as he begins to transition from a big college ministry in Bozeman to a Metro team in Portland (or, as he describes it, “from cowtown to urban hipster”). Meanwhile, his fellow CCC staffer Bob Fuhs provides a solid exhortation to move slowly in such endeavors. Be sure to check the comments on both posts, too.
Book suggestions: Derek Melleby with the College Transition Initiative blogs his fave books from 2009 – many of which might make good teaching, small group, or disciplemaking material.
BIG week on this blog: Exploring College Ministry is well on its way to the most second most hits of any week ever… so thanks a bunch for reading! This week has included a post pushing college ministries to enthusiastically recruit students, a first-of-the-year encouragement for us to consider quitting our big projects (that seemed to scratch where some people were itching!), a Fridea with 9 ways you could consider taking the courageous “Combo Approach,” and a reflection on how Campus Crusade’s local Winter Conference mirrors its ministries on the ground.
College students, young adults, spirituality, and why our work matters: Several items came out for helping both us and other Christians (like pastors and parents) understand the audience we serve! You might want to pass some of these on!
First, Scot McKnight begins a multi-post series at Jesus Creed about Christian Smith’s Souls in Transition. The book is about the spiritual activities and pursuits of “emerging adults” (people 18-29). So it’s obviously directly connected with not only what we do, but also the world into which we’re sending our students. I look forward to hearing McKnight’s take.
Further, Sam Rainer highlights the Pew Forum’s new research project and gives some basics on Millennials. And in a related vein, Tim Elmore points to 12 key ways the world changed in the past decade (you know, the decade when our students “grew up”). Chuck Booher, Senior Pastor of Corona, California’s Crossroads Christian Church, pens a helpful article in The Christian Standard with some basics on understanding and connecting with college students and young adults. Bob Hetzler notes a good way to find out what collegians and young adults think about a church.
And finally, Rhett Smith gives a great look at the issues surrounding how parents can help their students plug into a ministry when they go to college. And he asks for thoughts on this very important issue (and has received several comments so far).
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Several of the blogs I read (and others linked on Twitter) have been posting on the topic of “New Year’s Resolutions,” or its cousin, “Goals for 2010.” This is not that kind of post, because at present, my adventurous sojourn makes forward-looking a little tricky.
Fortunately, I continue to know my calling: To help further the field of College Ministry. While the steps involved in that are a bit hazy, God continues to be clear on next steps – which is all I really need.
God has continued to develop my understanding of that calling and the activities I should and shouldn’t pursue, and I thought I’d share a bit of wisdom He has used to shape me in the last few years. It directly relates to ideas like “resolutions,” “goal-setting,” and even understanding God’s will. I figured now would be a good time to offer it – both for you and potentially for your students, who likely need this wisdom more than anyone else in the whole world.
That piece of (what I consider) enormous wisdom?
Don’t start something if you can’t push through the Dip.
If you’ve been reading for awhile, you know I’m a Seth Godin fan, but it might surprise you that one of his works is actually one of my very favorite books of all time. That short book – which I’ve read four times in the past two years – is The Dip.
The title theme, the infamous “dip,” refers to “the long slog between starting and mastery” (page 17). The claims of the 2-part book, then, include:
“Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny majority of people who are able to push through a tiny bit longer than most.”
BUT ALSO…
“Extraordinary benefits also accrue to the tiny majority with the guts to quit early and refocus their efforts on something new” (both quotes from p. 4).
In other words, the book urges,
Quit the wrong stuff.
Stick with the right stuff.
Have the guts to do one or the other (also p. 4).
And I believe this is wisdom: For those starting a college ministry. For those starting a new initiative within their campus ministry. For new bloggers. For those hoping to write a book (which I’ve heard lots of people talking about lately). For planting a church. For lots of other things that we college ministers are likely to begin sometime soon.
And it’s wisdom college students need, too – that they might understand that following a new passion or a new idea each week isn’t God’s desire for their lives, now or later.
If they (or we) can’t push through “the Dip” to completion or mastery, they (or we) probably shouldn’t begin. And our question, as Christians, is not only “Can we?” but “Should we?”
No, The Dip is not a Christian book. But it contextualizes a principle that seems to be the thrust of I Corinthians 9:26-27:
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (ESV)
“Beating the air,” the commentators note, probably doesn’t refer to “shadow boxing” (even if that is the popular exposition). It refers, instead, to missed punches in an actual fight – “air punches,” akin to the much-mocked “air ball” in basketball. The idea is parallel to the one that precedes it: Wandering from one’s own lane during a race.
We – and our students – are meant to run with aim and consistently “land our punches” (or, to use Jesus-analogies, to finish our buildings and win our wars). I don’t mean that there will never be something like “trial and error,” but biblically it’s not commended as standard operating procedure. If we are really going to “make the most of every opportunity,” we celebrate the fact that God has not called us to all things – and He has not called us even to all the things we desire to do, hope to do, or recognize would be valuable. He’s got for us “good works prepared beforehand,” and that portion is beautiful enough.
So if you need help deciding what those “works” might be, and if you believe wisdom can come in small, secular packages, you might find some counsel in the book fully titled, The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick). I can’t encourage you more to get – and read – this book, particularly if you’re considering any sort of new endeavor like the ones I mentioned above. It’s 80 pages, and the pages are small.
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This week’s review of online college ministry is chock-full but very skim-able (hopefully). Find what you need, and enjoy learning more about our field! (Be sure to notice that a new Missional Campus Ministry post came out this week at Jesus Creed – it’s linked toward the bottom of this post!)
SUPER SELECTIONS, TO START
The newest Ivy Jungle Campus Ministry Update came out this week. If you’re not getting it already, you can read it here. As always, it’s a really good collation of this month’s major collegiate stories of interest to us.
Anderson Analytics reveals a study that indicates Facebook might just be the only social networking site that matters to college students. Hat tip to Keith Davy for the link, and he provides some quick, helpful commentary, too.
Michael Mears shares a great method for thanking our volunteers, describing the gratitude banquet FSU CCF just held. And if you want to see the thank-you / “roast” videos they showed, there are six you can view here.
Brian Barela was especially on his game this week with some provocative thoughts, so as I’ve done before, I’m just linking his main blog.
For those of us who fundraise, the New York Times posts some great reasons to push for funds by December 31st (HT: Steve Lutz).
Guy Chmieleski urged us to spend time actually evaluating our ministries as the semester / quarter ends – and gives tips on doing it – in two posts (here and here).
Here at Exploring College Ministry, I wrote a three-part series addressing how we should shepherd our students’ work in service / social justice. That series starts here. And I encouraged us to “mind the spectrum” within national campus ministry groups and denominations.
CONFERENCES!
If you’re headed to Passion in a couple of weeks, the Prayer Journey began at the Passion blog Thursday!
And Tom Greentree on why it’s not too late to consider attending the Urbana Conference.
BOOKS WORTH YOUR LOOKS
Micheal Hickerson asked the Emerging Scholars Network for some “best books” recommendations for undergrads and got lots of great suggestions in the comments.
College ministers Tim Hudson and Brandon Smith both review Mark Batterson’s new book, Primal, quite favorably. (You might remember he gave copies away to 100 college ministers.)
And Byron Borger provides really helpful descriptions / recommendations of newer Study Bibles. Not only might one or more of these be worth our own consumption, a Study Bible can also make a great gift for graduating Seniors…
MISSIONAL CAMPUS MINISTRY, CONTINUED
Happily, Professor RJS added another entry to her discussion of “missional campus ministry” at the Jesus Creed blog. Missional Campus Ministry … Integration discusses integration of ministry with the campus and helping students integrate spirituality with their vocations. Interestingly enough, she follows up with a pretty negative (but helpful!) review of the book referenced in the Campus Ministry post. Meanwhile, here’s a list of the first 5 in the occasional “Missional Campus Ministry” series. If you haven’t read them (and the many great comments), there’s probably nothing I’d recommend more.
- Missional Campus Ministry 1 (discussing Steve Lutz’s work on the subject)
- Missional Campus Ministry 2 (discussing my book, Reaching the Campus Tribes)
- Missional Campus Ministry 3 (discussing Chuck Bomar’s book, College Ministry 101, and church-based ministry)
- Missional Campus Ministry 4 (discussing the role of Christian colleges)
- Missional Campus Ministry 5 (discussing John Stackhouse’s work on impacting intellectual students)
MEASURING COLLEGE MINISTRY SUCCESS, CONCLUDED?
Wrapping up the great multi-week discussion of models for measuring college ministry success, Tim Hawkins discusses multiple forms of accountability that can help measure whether we’re really achieving success – and whether we’re taking the right paths to get there.
Otherwise, here are the major posts that have aimed to discuss this important issue, roughly chronologically:
- Dean Thune on the danger of “success” without connectedness
- Me on why numbers aren’t a great solo measure of success
- Aaron Klinefelter on an “ecological” definition of success
- Jim Musser on measuring success by the future
- Chris Bean on why we need better measures for success
- Tim Hawkins on a “missional mapping” evaluation tool
- Joe Blanchard with his own attempt at “missional mapping”
- Alice Connor on what real-world success might actually look like
- Me on measuring success by achieving pre-determined aims
- Ian Clark with a solid 10-question assessment for college ministries
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