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Yesterday, I highlighted the theme that has popped up over and over again during Road Trip #10 – a theme I like to call “Contexts Conglomeration.”
But my attention to contexts and the various effects they have on college ministry has been on my mind a lot recently. So maybe that’s why I’ve noticed those things so much on this trip.
Why have I been thinking about contexts?
One big reason is that contextualization is one of the key themes of the new book. Recognizing that campuses are like tribes – and that a tribe of Poets is different from a tribe called Chaparrals – is a predominant topic in the book. And why does it matter? Because these tribal differences should affect how we reach those students (even quite dramatically in many cases).
The second reason contextualization has been on my mind is that I was told recently that a particular college ministry methodology would “work on ANY campus and it works fast.” So it’s been interesting to ponder that statement as I’ve encountered such varying contexts – like the ABQ, Malibu (both discussed yesterday), and now West Texas.
ConTechtualization. As I returned to my home state, Lubbock brought more of the Contexts Conglomeration theme. I got to discover how Texas Tech‘s contextuals – things like a very high percentage of Greek involvement, being a geographically isolated school, being very much in the Bible Belt, and much more – affect ministry to the Red Raider tribe. Plus, a few specific encounters brought context front-and-center: chatting with IV Director Sara Scher, who described her process of learning this place just like a missionary would; seeing campus evangelist “Brother Jed” raising the ire of students on campus with a shirt that declared their hell-bound-ness; and chatting about the ministry differences between Lubbock and Huntsville, where BSM Director Jeff Kinnon last served.
The field I once worked. And my last day of exploring was spent in Abilene, fitting for the end of a Contexts-focused trip. Why? This was my own mission field for 5 1/2 years a while back. It was the land in which I began seeing foreign missions principles line up with college ministry in a way I hadn’t recognized before. It was a place of loving some great students and working to provide ministry in ways that connected with their campus tribes. It was (and therefore still is) a very personal context for me.
Certainly, there were some awesome explorations on my trip that didn’t weren’t part of the Contexts Conglomeration. But for whatever reason, this great trip gave me a lot to chew on in that particular area. Good times!
I was curious to see if this road trip would have a “theme,” some way I could distinguish it from the other college ministry explorations I’ve enjoyedt. My hope for distinction was heightened because this was the third of those trips that involved driving to Southern California and back. “California 2009” just didn’t sound that interesting.
But I think I’ve found a theme: Contexts Conglomeration!
That may sound a little complicated, but it fits! A clear theme running throughout my interviews, campus visits, and other explorations has been ministry contextualization, and I’ve gotten to see a cool mishmash of contexts during my two weeks. Here are some notes, and I’ll finish up (and post a reflection or two) tomorrow.
Albu-quirky. My 2 big interviews in Albuquerque focused highly on the unique context of the University of New Mexico. That school may share a line of latitude with the Bible Belt, but even a quick drive down Central Ave. proves you’re not even close. Scott Free of the Christian Student Center and Keith Linthicum of First Baptist Church take quite different approaches… but each centers his work in the Albu-quirky context of the Lobo tribe.
Malibunique. Next up, my time in L.A. was mostly focused on the Malibu area, where I got to examine some of the ministry context at and around Pepperdine University and Santa Monica College. The Los Angeles Metro area is SO big. So seeing one particular area – taking one “bite” this time around – was a cool way to examine L.A. college ministry. (On the way out of town, my interview with Buddy Molway of Mariners Church likewise keyed in on the unique context of UC Irvine, where the Anteaters tribe apparently has a funny way of mystifying its missionaries…)
Oh – and while it may not be particularly collegiate, my Palm Sunday church visits were contextual, too. I enjoyed the 10-year building anniversary celebration at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, CA. Even for an outsider, it was quite obvious this was an encouraging milestone for the church, which has survived some tough times. The founding pastor preached, the recently-installed pastor spoke a bit, too, and it was clearly a good day.
Later that morning, I also worshiped within the elementary school space presently used by Malibu Pres, whose old church building burned down not long before I came through last time around. So that, too, seems to be a story of a church bonded through recent tragedy, and I’m honored to get to watch that process.
Notes from the West Texas days… and why this context business is on my mind… tomorrow.
Written from Lubbock, Texas
It has been a phenomenal and BUSY trip. Here’s a quick update, as well as a look ahead at the plans for the rest of the road trip (and some ways you can pray if you’d like).
what’s to come
I’ll leave Los Angeles today, headed toward Lubbock, Texas. Hopefully I can keep a slightly slower pace than on the way here. That experience seems to have worn me out more than I thought it did; I don’t know if there’s been any day I’ve felt fully rested.
I look forward to hanging out at Texas Tech (in Lubbock) Wednesday and Thursday. Surprisingly, I’ve never been to that campus, even though I’m from Texas and even lived in West Texas for awhile. It’s good for me to remedy that situation!
what it’s been
The trip really has been awesome so far. I’ve had at least 8 great sit-down meetings with college ministry-related people, 2 church visits Sunday morning, at least 4 campus visits (am I forgetting any?), plus all those connections during the College Leader Regional last Tuesday. AND I’ve had some great time with the friends I’m staying with. All ingredients of a great college ministry exploration.
Part of the reason for the exhaustion is that in the “cracks,” the spaces between all that activity, I’ve been working furiously on the ebook. Things are looking good, but it wears me out sometimes.
ways to pray
I’m planning to find a motel early on the trip today and CATCH UP. Not only do I need to catch up on sleep, I also need to catch up on messages (sorry for anyone who’s tried to contact me in the past week) and on the ebook. Oh – and I need to catch up on the NCAA tournament!
So please pray:
- For an incredibly fruitful time between today and Saturday. Pray for great ministry visits and interviews in Lubbock.
- For catching up on sleep.
- For a great (and safe) drive. Road trips can be awesome times of prayer and thought and relaxation and fun. But they aren’t automatically that way.
- For finishing my book well. I’m excited about it.
Thanks, friends, for joining with me in exploring college ministry.
Yesterday I discussed Fuller Youth Institute a bit, but that brings up a question for us college ministry types:
Should college ministers care about something called a “Youth Institute”?
Absolutely.
Here are two great reasons college ministers should pay close attention to what FYI is doing and finding:
The College Transition Project
FYI’s 3-year study of high school graduates as they transition to college has already produced and attracted multiple resources. I encourage you to spend some time devouring some of the links at the College Transition Project page.
Crossover, crossover, crossover
As college ministers, it’s not uncommon to try to adapt Young Adult resources – from teaching materials to worship services to leaders – for use in collegiate settings. But it’s not too often that we think of Youth materials being helpful to our work in college ministry, too.
Honestly, most Youth Ministry resources wouldn’t cross over well to collegiate environments. But FYI is producing research and resources that truly connect with what we do – by helping us understand our students, our work, and our opportunities better. When Fuller Youth Institute studies students’ use of alcohol during and after high school… obviously that pertains to us, too. When people like Chap Clark discuss how hurt so many youth are… that applies to us as those youth grow up and enter our ministries. And so on. So while you may not think first about looking to Youth Ministry for valuable crossover materials, this looks like one BIG exception to that rule.
This is already shaping up as a really phenomenal college ministry exploration trip, and I’m still not halfway into it! I should have a little more time in the coming days to post about what I’m learning, but at least I can keep you updated on what I’ve been experiencing – with some links to learn more about those things.
Yesterday’s main event was a visit to Fuller Seminary to sit down with Dr. Kara Powell, Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute (and Fuller faculty member).
I encourage you to check out that page, and I’ll try to write more about FYI tomorrow.
But that’s not all! While I was at Fuller, I also got to attend All-Seminary Chapel (their first of the Quarter) and tracked down the syllabus for the one college ministry course they have in their catalog. (Click here to see one of those syllabi.) Sadly, it doesn’t look like that course has been taught in a few years. (The seminary does have a course or two for only InterVarsity staff, out at their Colorado campus.)
That was part of my never-ending quest to find seminaries that teach college ministry. Click here to see my post of the ones I’ve found so far.
And in the extra adventures category…
The other big event yesterday was getting to see the Tonight Show taping, out-of-the-blue. In fact, if I hadn’t been in Pasadena (visiting Fuller) already, I wouldn’t have been able to make it to Burbank in time. Those kinds of cool provisions remind me of the many blessings that happened during the big trip! It was very cool to see Jay Leno in the last couple of months of his Tonight Show reign – plus Michael Caine, Dennis Rodman, and the Spinal Tap guys.
Oh, and I babysat last night for a half-year-old.
Like I said, this is shaping up to be quite a trip…
Written from Pacific Palisades, California
The College Leader Regional yesterday morning was a really good time. For one thing, I got to reconnect with 5 ministers I had met during the big trip, and that’s always such a joy. Good, good people. I also got to meet several more guys and gals for the first time, and that, too, is one of my favorite things in the whole world.
(Hopefully I’ll see many of them when I speak at this October’s College Leader DRINK conference, too.)
Meanwhile, it turns out the content of yesterday’s sessions was a semi-preview of Chuck Bomar’s upcoming book, College Ministry 101. Zondervan is publishing the book later on this year.
Based on what I saw yesterday, I’m really excited about this book being published. Here’s some of what you can expect. (This is based on the content he shared with us; I do know there are several chapters in the book that weren’t touched on in the sessions.)
- Chuck’s material has a strong focus on understanding the development of college students – in identity, spiritually, socially, etc. Chuck talks a lot about how college-age people progress through various phases in forming who they will be, and he has wise words about helping them do that AND letting them do that.
- So Chuck has lots to say about possible teaching topics for college students, and he puts an emphasis on helping students go deep in basic things.
- The book definitely comes from a church-based perspective. But it sounds like a good amount of the content will be useful for anyone who works with college students.
- Along those lines, another major focus is connecting college-age people with adult mentors.
- When Chuck talks about college ministry, his focus is really the 18-25 “age stage” – basically, anyone who is transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, whether in college or not.
- One of the key themes, then, is assimilation to adulthood (including local church life). Chuck sees college ministry as primarily an “assimilation ministry,” and that’s a helpful key to understanding his approach.
As you can tell, some of Chuck’s focuses are pretty specific, and it’s clear that he takes stances on certain issues. That’s a very good thing. Our field won’t be developed simply by having lots of generic, introductory, overly broad materials.
We need books and arguments and theories about both the general and specific, and it seems like College Ministry 101 will have solid contents in both categories.
Arrived. Basically.
As I’m writing this before going to sleep Monday night (really, Tuesday morning), I’m not far from Saddleback Church, where tomorrow morning’s thing will be. That will be a good way to kick off the Los Angeles portion of this trip! It should be a neat chance to hang out with some church-based college ministers from around the Los Angeles area (or maybe further – I dunno).
Monday was quite a day. My time at UNM in the morning was phenomenal (I met with 3 ministers total!), and I’ll hopefully get to share some of that soon.
Then an incredibly long drive to California. I almost never drive that far in a day, and that includes during the yearlong trip. But it was good. It’s good to be stretched through craziness.
I’m exhausted, and normal sleep won’t happen until Tuesday night.
The opportunities to connect with some cool people this week and next are shaping up well. I’m excited to be here.
I need to go to sleep.
Written from Ontario, California
When people ask about my best experiences on the big road trip, my time in Southern California is definitely near the top of that list.
Why?
It was the beginning of my second semester of the trip, and I was finally getting in the “groove” of visiting ministries and interviewing ministers.
Also, California is such an innovative place… but it’s laid back at the same time. And those descriptions apply to Christian ministries like everything else.
Plus, I met some amazing college ministers there who really encouraged me as I continued on my big trip.
And finally, I got to stay with my awesome buddies Jake and Lesley (I’ve known Jake since Jr. High). And baby Sam, but he was in Lesley’s belly at the time.
So anyway, I like L.A.
On Sunday, I’ll leave for Road Trip #10. I’ll be spending about 6 days in the Los Angeles area, plus about a week total on the road. I’m still working out details, but here’s what I’m thinking at the moment:
- Albuquerque on the way. I’m excited to see UNM during the school year! (I’ve seen it multiple times during breaks, but never during school.) And I’ll hopefully get to hang out with a minister or two.
- Los Angeles Tuesday through Monday. Something like that, at least. I’ll be attending the College Leader Regional Training on Tuesday morning at Saddleback. Otherwise, I plan to meet with some college ministers, visit some campuses, and…? I’m sad I won’t have more time out there, but I’ll be headed back in October, so anybody I don’t get to catch up with this week, let’s plan on it then!
- Lubbock on the way back. Surprisingly, I’ve never gotten to see Texas Tech University. So I would like to remedy that and, again, see some friends and meet some college ministers.
Meanwhile, as usual, I’d love for you to join me in exploring college ministry here at the blog. I’ll blog about what I learn and experience along the way, and I’m hoping for some great encounters, some great campuses, some great rest, and some good Jesus time.
It should be a great chance to pray about what’s next for my life, too. With the ebook almost finished, it’s a good time to re-ask what God would have me do next.
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