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My guess is you have some pretty good info on your students: Class Year, Major, Phone Number, maybe a Birthday or their Hometown.
Have you asked them their passions? (Surprisingly, these may not be the same as their majors…) Have you asked them the ways they really like to serve others, or what they’d do if they had unlimited time and opportunity? How do they hope to change the world? How do they hope to change their world, and soon?
Might God want to speak to you about the future of your ministry through the passions, strengths, talents, and other characteristics of the students He’s brought you? Or is the format and programming of your ministry far more about your passions, personality, etc., than it is about theirs?
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I realize you’re likely winding down for the semester, but hopefully you’ve got a few thoughts about summer already running around in your head.
Along those lines, I found a handful of summertime-specific Frideas you might want to take a look at! I bet at least one of them is something you can try this summer… and of course we should have some new Frideas all summer long.
Enjoy!
I’m not sure if today’s Fridea is useful for every student, but I know it would have impacted me (and still would!).
Oftentimes, we disciple students with a pretty rapid sequence – whether we’re teaching through a series, meeting with a small group, or discipling one-on-one. A study on the Attributes of God, for instance, might hit a new theme each week – “God is Love,” “God is Sovereign,” etc.. Maybe we talk about Relationships for a few weeks, but it’s probably still not a thorough discussion of any one topic under that broad theme.
But what if we occasionally did things differently? What if we pushed students toward fully digesting particular areas? I’m not sure if this idea would work for Large Group Meetings, but a small group, single disciplee, or even a group of student leaders might be impacted pretty well through this.
The Fridea? Have students thoroughly digest a spiritual theme, using classic works, research, writing, and any other method to ground them in that discussion.
For instance, what if a student spent an entire month studying the issue of Justice? They might read Gary Haugen’s Good News about Injustice and Keller’s Generous Justice, study some of the specific theological issues and controversies, prepare a summary of the biblical content, and write a short paper on the topic. They could also participate in a local justice-oriented activity.
But what’s more, that would student could now serve as “expert in the ministry” – someone who can plan (in this case) justice-oriented ministry events, disciple others on this theme, prepare a “value statement” on the topic, or even teach the large group meeting.
Think about the profit to your college ministry – and to your students – if you helped them grow in this way? Not only will they grow in this single area, but they’ll learn about the process of digesting a major spiritual theme.
Sure, there are lots of themes we want to impact students with during the short time we have them, and rapid-fire training isn’t a bad thing. But if we mixed in some deeper digestion with their regular diet, we might bear some exciting, different fruit.
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I last posted this over a year ago, but I was thinking again about the topic yesterday – and it’s something I think we need to consider a lot more often. And this may be perfect for some of you as you plan Spring Quarter, Summer, or Fall teaching series!
How often do we show our students how to apply the Bible and the Gospel in their actual everyday existence? That’s this week’s Fridea: Teaching our students to live beautifully within the natural, daily elements of their lives.
I Corinthians 10:31 is of course a key verse here:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (ESV)
Paul’s final summing-up of I Corinthians 10 is honestly a little unnatural. The whole chapter has been, to this point, a deep theological discussion that dives into complex places (discussions modern, freedom-loving Christians aren’t too comfortable with). The chapter reveals a hard, very specific way to love others (temporarily setting aside our Christ-given freedoms for the sake of our witness).
So it might have been expected for Paul to close out the chapter with a summing-up statement: “And that’s one big way to love others: laying down our own freedom for their sake.” That would have captured the essence of the passage.
Instead, Paul decides to take things a step further. Instead of summing up, he reveals that this (watching what we eat or drink when it affects others) is just ONE of the crazy ways that we get to glorify God:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
How often do we actually teach students how to live out this command? I can’t remember ever hearing an “eating-to-the-glory-of-God” message in church or any other ministry – even though that one thing takes up hours of my week. Even though there’s plenty of biblical wisdom on, or connected to, the topic of eating.
What about the other areas of our lives?
Personally, I’d rather have college students who have truly given Christ Lordship over their eating, their driving, or their stewardship of time, than ones who are trained in apologetics or can quote large sections of Scripture. (Though of course, it’s great if all these things are true!)
Have you taught your collegians to glorify God in their
- Eating
- Driving
- Sleeping
- Studying
- Time Management
- Co-existence with roommates
- Co-existence with classmates
- Casual (and other) Conversation
- Multi-tasking
- Clothing
- Social Event-attending
- and other “common” events in the life of an American college student?
A teaching series? Small group topic? One-on-one discipleship material? “Position papers” available to your students? A database of verses and wisdom on your college blog? A message series you advertise to the campus at large?
If, on the other hand, we (accidentally) teach students that biblical truth, prayer, and the counsel of wise Christians are only pertinent to BIG theological questions and BIG life choices, then we can’t complain much about segmentation or cafeteria-style Christianity. Right?
But provide a Theology of Party Attendance or a Theology of Sleep, and your students (or the whole campus tribe) might just realize what this Lordship thing is all about… and just how deeply abundant life can flow within their lives!
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I was thinking about all the college ministries out on Spring Break mission trips this week, and I realized that some of those groups probably won’t participate in the uber-important step of debriefing their students (and staff). That’s too bad!
As many of you already know, a purposeful Debrief is one of the best opportunities to help students “lock in” what they’ve learned over the course of a trip – as well as allowing the fruit to multiply, as students and leaders share what they noticed, realized, and gained from the trip.
We also know that a Debrief serves an evaluative purpose, too, as we ask, “What could we do better next time?” and related questions.
But let’s go a step further. That’s when this week’s Fridea hit me: Intentionally debrief following all kinds of events.
Many of us have a hard time not simply moving on to the next “thing,” instead of purposely contemplating the events recently completed. But I promise, your ministry is less effective than it could be without some serious reflection following events, no matter how well (or how terribly) they seemed to go. (Of course, this kind of Debriefing is far more effective when you have some pre-decided purposes to compare your outcomes with – and thus Backwards College Ministry shows up once again!)
Not only can debriefing anything provide a chance for helpful evaluation, but we should ask students the growth-related questions, too: “What did you get out of this week’s message?” “How did that ‘Night of Worship’ impact you?” “What did you realize while you were serving yesterday morning?” “What steps will you take to apply the series we just finished in small groups?”
Both forms of Debrief – evaluative and reflective – offer something amazing for our ministries. Why limit its use to mission trips?
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Since I didn’t get to post this last week, a BONUS Fridea to start off this one!
I write every so often about “campus integration,” but often that means dovetailing with certain goals of the administration or with more “official” campus programs (like New Student Orientation or Finals week).
But we should also be looking to the unofficial activities too, the various happenings in the life of our campus tribe. If we’re paying attention, if we “know the times,” we can recognize valuable teaching moments, opportunities for relational connection, or other chances to tie our ministries and message to campus life.
These activities could be regular traditions or recent undertakings; either way, they’re phenomenal opportunities to connect with students. Some examples:
- A recent justice cause has grabbed students’ attention throughout campus. You quickly assemble a panel discussion or change your speaking topics for a couple of weeks to discuss the issue and mobilize impact.
- St. Patrick’s Day has achieved “big event” status on your campus; you pass out green eyeglasses on campus or host a party.
- A significant number of your school’s athletes always gather to watch the NCAA Tourney games; you help set up a watching party at your church or in the student center.
- A recent campus tragedy has rightly evoked emotion on campus; you respond in wisdom and care by providing adults for students to talk to, sharing God’s viewpoint on the issues, or hosting a memorial service at your usual location.
- The new casual sport has broken out rather “virally” on campus; your ministry uses it to advertise, hosts a tournament, or fields an intramural team to compete and build relationships.
The possibilities here are endless. The question is, do you have your ear to the ground? Are you reading the school newspaper and hanging out on campus enough to know what’s happening? Certainly, we want to share “the life that is truly life” – but do we love our campuses enough to care about (and know about) their livelihood?
[How do we make sure we can respond to the "stream"? Read the follow-up post!]
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Yesterday and today, I’ve had the opportunity to lead a gathering of church college ministers from across the Evangelical Free Church denomination (along with a few other college ministers who have joined us). We’ve been using the phenomenal “whiteboard-collaborative” method, and it’s already generated some neat conversations among the guys and gals here.
So since I’m in the thick of all this college ministry discussion, this week’s Fridea is going to be a challenge that isn’t exactly new to this blog – but is awfully important for anybody who wants to be the best college minister they can be.
The challenge? Meet with other college ministers – including other kindsof college ministers – to “talk shop,” share methods, ask questions, seek wisdom, and even brainstorm together.
I’ll say it again: If you’re not actively learning from other college ministers, you’re NOT excelling at college ministry like you could be.
And I’ll take it a step further for some of you: If you’re only learning from other college ministers in your own circles, you’re NOT excelling at college ministry like you could be.
That means you’re not impacting students like you could. Your methods aren’t as great as they should be. Your ministry is presently behind where it would be… if you’d accept the wisdom of many counselors. (Not to be harsh, but it’s true.)
So how can we make this happen, practically? Well, it likely starts with eating lunch with some of the other local college ministers – with intentionality about sharing ideas, methods, and theories. But it goes further, too, along these lines:
- Setting up a conference call with other college ministers in your state who also work with international students
- Taking a trip once a month to visit another ministry’s large group and eat lunch with its staff
- Cru and InterVarsity chapters from a couple of different campuses trading a staff member for a week
- Attending a conference or gathering of college ministers, organized by a different organization or denomination
…or whatever other combinations you can think of.In any case, learning isn’t optional if we want to fulfill our ministry.
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Lest we forget, another Presidential Election year is upon us. (Which also means Leap Year and a Summer Olympics, of course.) And that means we have one of the best possible teachable moments available for our students, to shepherd them:
- in what it means to be a citizen
- to care about social and political issues
- to wisely discern their own involvement
- to prioritize God’s ways (and kingdom) over man’s
- to bridge politics into Gospel conversations
- to be wise and not simply zealous
- to be not conformed to peers and other components of the world around them
Many (if not all) of the students in your campus ministry will be shepherded by somebody this year – do you really want professors, FoxNews, Ron Paul devotees, parents, the student newspaper, NPR, or the student president of the Socialist Club to be the only lens they use? Or will you help them walk first and foremost as a Christian through a very political eight months, with all the decision-making, disagreements, stance-discernment, and dialogue it will naturally inspire?
So that’s this week’s Fridea: Consider your action plan for shepherding in this teachable moment. And get started shepherding before the summer hits.
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Yesterday I wrote about our need to consider cooperative partnerships (with other organizations, both Christian and secular, or even the school itself) as a valid option for new ministry activities. So for today’s Fridea, I wanted to offer one way you might see partnerships arise between your ministry and other ministries on campus.
The Fridea? Regularly share with other college ministers the NEW opportunities or possibilities that seem to pop up on the radar.
Here’s what I mean: Every once in a while, it’s likely that a potential outlet for future ministry presents itself:
- Key students talk to you about a new passion they have for a certain issue
- You notice several students from a certain niche start coming to your large group meeting
- You begin to notice a possible opportunity for outreach, and as you pray you continue to think about it
- An administrator contacts you about a certain need on campus
- You attend a conference and hear about a method for reaching fraternities that you’d love to try
- …and so on.
However new ideas show up on the radar, what if you made a point to express these possibilities to other ministers? Isn’t it just possible God might be showing them similar things? Plus, sometimes the encouragement they’ll offer – which might just include an invite to partner together – will be the encouragement you need to actually go for this.
If you sent a monthly email to all the other college ministers simply telling them the brainstorming you, your staff, and your student leaders have been doing, you might be shocked to see God use that to build partnerships to accomplish those very things!
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