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You may have noticed that it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to offer a “weekly wrap-up,” what with my crazy mouth-health issues in the first half of April and my fourteenth giant Road Trip in the second half. But I’ve grown to enjoy putting those wrap-up posts together – not only because they keep me reading everybody’s blogs, but also because I’m hopeful it’s a chance to connect YOU with some of the most helpful stuff out there.
I’ve spent the last couple of days working my way through all the blogs I’d been missing. So while it may get a little messy, I wanted to present some of the best finds from that time.
As always, this list is my subjective collection of what I think should help my readers most. And because I’ve had to catch up in a rather speedy fashion, my selection process was even more haphazard than usual! But still, I hope you can find some time today or this week and help yourself to some helpful thinkings. Categorized for your convenience!
methods
- Big study day: Want to see how a ministry gets a BIG method off the ground? Check out Blackhawk Church’s (intense!) site for its biannual Study Day.
- Evangelism methods: Matt McComas with a phenomenal idea for sharing methods between college ministries.
- Preparing for & dealing with sexual abuse (of students): Tim Ehrhardt with a phenomenal primer.
- Discipling skeptics: Steve Lutz with some of his preferred approaches / resources.
- Senior Send-off: Jason Yarnell with details on how they did it.
- Partnering with other college ministries: Gilbert Kingsley discusses forming those.
- Retro worship: Brian Virtue with an idea that would easily apply to college ministry large group meetings.
- Thinking about next year: Some ideas for the first few weeks of school, by Jerry Beavers.
- Greeks & college ministry: Laura Kellow with how she learned to reach the fraternity niche.
- Calendar for college ministers: Glen Davis with a cool online tool he made for creating a weekly calendar for any date range (i.e., a quarter or a semester).
- iPhone apps: Josh Hale lists them for clergy, but there’s potential overlap with us.
- And Threads interviews Guy Chmieleski on facilitating Bible study, training leaders, summer impact, and preparing for the fall.
wisdom for the field
- On student leaders: Brian Barela on choosing (not too many) student leaders.
- On campus ministry unity: A fascinating discussion – prompted by Guy Chmieleski – about unity among campus ministries (be sure to read the comments); a connected post followed.
- On missional college ministry: Justin Wallace asking gutsy Qs about college students living missionally… and wisely.
- On social media: Matt McComas with THE video (updated!) for expressing (and realizing) the domination of Social Media. If you haven’t seen it, you should. (And he had another post on helping others understand Social Media & its importance, too.)
- On starting a college ministry well: Tim Ehrardt asks a fascinating question.
- On recruiting upcoming students: Jon Nitta’s observations, from the perspective of both campus-based and church-based college ministry.
- On Millennials: Tim Elmore with the start of a series on their world – first here, then here. (See earlier in April for his series on “Leading the Next Generation Well.”) And Lee Floyd links to new stats on Gen Y & religion.
- On excellence: Matt McComas with a helpful call not to let “non-profit” be an excuse…
- On wise disciplemaking: Tom Greentree urges us to be wise and careful.
- On the teaching process: Betsy Prosise applies teaching theory to college ministry.
- On students & their flakiness: Tim Ehrhardt offers a more subtle approach to helping them.
assessment
- Russ Martin with a very profound and simple assessment tool.
- Brian Barela asks if your ministry is too big… or too small…
- Guy Chmieleski on whether our ministry would both be ready and be called upon if disaster struck our campus.
- Brian Barela on raising up aligned students (& student leaders).
books
- CPYU interviews the author of Enjoy Your Money!, which sounds like it could be great for teaching collegians, future collegians, and their parents about money matters.
- Heart of Campus Ministry asking about ministry books most applicable to campus ministry.
- Bob Hetzler suggests some for helping HS students make the transition to college.
- Ken Cochrum provides his Leadership Reading List for 2010 (and gets some other suggestions in the comments).
and more
- Chi Alpha at UVM had a little tolerance-hiccup when trying to get started, Glen Davis reports.
- Christians in Action has won Campus Org of the Year at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, reports Wes Woodell! (The actual announcement is in PDF form.)
- Betsy Prosise, presently a student and college minister-in-training, offers a great perspective on (and nice thank-you for) us who blog.
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What else could be said about this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament? It’s been phenomenal, and I hope it’s a cool chance for you to revel in the awesomeness of this portion to which God has called us.
Other than that note, I’m going to jump right in to this week’s review of some of the great content from the college ministry blogs around the internet! And because of Spring Break last week, this one’s bursting at the seams with two weeks’ worth of great stuff! (Be sure to check out the bottom, where I link to great college ministry methods as well as books worth checking out for you or your students.)
And away we go…
connected to the ncaa tournament: An awesome Wall Street Journal article explains how the game of basketball originated from college ministry! Then, the New York Times checks out how John Calipari uses social media. (Hat Tip for both of those links to Emerging Scholars.) Lance Crowell offers some college ministry events that could tie in to the remaining tournament games. I provide some links to other various stories – even a short essay – right here. On top of all that, Tim Ehrhardt examines how this year’s gorgeous Cinderella, the University of Northern Iowa, provides traits campus ministries can learn from.
scripture for campus ministry: We need more of this! Billy Crain examines planting, watering, and trusting God about growth – from I Corinthians 3:6 – on the RUF Blog. And Michael Mears riffs on Acts 19:26-27, wisely dreaming of great college ministry that leads to a decrease in idol-purchasing.
understanding millennials: A simple & very helpful quiz by the Pew Research Center: How Millennial are You? provides a lot of understanding (about several generations) along the way. (HT: Emerging Scholars) Tim Elmore, meanwhile, looks at the problems associated with “extended adolescence” – starting here and continuing here.
and more college student understanding: Tom Greentree very intriguingly asks, “Are college students homeless?” Meanwhile, Mark Parker suggests that college ministers have at one thing to offer college students that they desperately need: skill in Discernment.
no more boredom (why speaking well matters in college ministry): A well-developed article on the topic, by a smart college minister who happens to be well-known for his speaking ability: Curt Harlow.
backwards college ministry: I finally started posting about one of the principles most fundamental to my understanding of college ministry. That series is still underway, but you can read the first installment and the second!
various tensions when working with college students: Guy Chmieleski remembers an enormously important discussion he had as he began college ministry – about the under-discussed tension of sexual purity in college ministry. On a related topic, he also examines how to wisely let students in to our lives. Another tension is explored as Guy gives a very timely encouragement to avoid “auto-pilot” after Spring Break. And finally, he shares his own longtime view on how we’re supposed to have a healthy life balance in the midst of our work.
How-tos, Big Ideas, and other Methods posts
- Nick Melazzo ponders experiments in practical missionality in the middle of campus
- Steve Lutz examines integrating with the campus, which he cleverly calls “breaking down the glass wall“
- Brian Barela examines student leadership: wondering whether we’re handing out too many student leadership positions and offering an encouragement to “double down” on truly potential leaders.
- Brian Barela also looks at encouraging change: first, by discovering “statues” in your ministry that might need to go – and then tips for making those changes, despite predicted negatives!
- Exploring College Ministry (that’s me!) looks at using specific methods for the various niches within our ministries
- D. J. Chuang offers links for finding a ministry job (including college ministry)
- Scot McKnight‘s thoughts could come in handy for teaching students how to choose a church
Books (& potential curriculum!) discussed
- Tim Keller’s new book and curriculum: The Gospel in Life, reviewed by Byron Borger
- a satirical assault on the New Atheism: The Loser Letters, reviewed by Scot McKnight
- …and many other books covering belief topics, annotated quite fully (as always) by Byron Borger (with a 20% discount if you order something!)
- Seth Godin’s newest – Linchpin: Steve Lutz connects it to college ministry!
- mini-reviews of various recent reads: here and continued here, by Youth Ministry guru Mark Oestreicher
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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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Annually, I’m thrown off by the fact that February is so stinking short. Monthly payments, appointment scheduling, procrastination – all important activities, and all are perverted by having a month that’s a week shorter than the other months. Approximately.
Do you realize that even though today is the middle of Feburary, Monday = March? Ridiculous!
So if you happen to be reading this on Monday or Tuesday, here’s what I encourage you to remember: Even though this wrap-up of recent online discussions is dated February 27th, that’s only a few days ago! You are not as behind as you may think!
All kidding aside, this is a tiny month. But there have still be some great, college-ministry-related discussions within it. Here are some from the second half that might prove helpful!
specific methods (Hooray for ministers detailing their activities!)
- Transitioning a ministry to a greater emphasis on small groups, by Michael Mears
- Hosting a simple college ministry Q&A, by Michael Armstrong
- Blessing other organizations via en masse attendance (last week’s Fridea here)
- Delegating the ministry’s tasks to more students, by Michael Mears
- Pizza Discussions as outreach, by Bob Fuhs, complete with downloadable discussion guide and training guide!
- Direct (“ministry mode”) evangelism – a 2-minute video discussion, by Brian Barela and Dan Birch, followed by comments
- Teaching about Christ’s work in overcoming habitual sin & other spiritual transformation, by Guy Chmieleski
- Teaching college students about money, by Bob Fuhs
- Valentine’s Dinner for (gal) students from (guy) students, by Michael Mears, with video
religion within the university: First, John Stackhouse just yesterday posted his thoughts about public prayers in the context of a secular university, etc. But religion’s role within university settings has been popular topic of late, and Emerging Scholars Network has provided some great coverage: Here’s a post looking at the question of “Christian privilege” within colleges, and another one with several links on the role of religion within higher ed.
starting a college ministry, continued: Brian Barela continues his excellent posts on starting a campus ministry with a discussion on student-selection – and gets, as he often does, some really helpful comments.
missional campus ministry: Betsy Prosise does a great job of reflecting on college ministry while she’s being trained for ministry. The other day, she noted how campus ministers should be “cross-cultural” in their approach to the campus.
on the college students we serve: Collin Hansen offers a strong summing-up of Smith and Snell’s Souls in Transition, looking at five myths of young adult spirituality. Mark Warrington observes the Millennial desire for community and how that fleshes out in both “Glee” and “Community.” Guy Chmieleski discusses the impact of the “prolonged adolescence” college students experience (well into their 20s), introducing the topic and then offering his own insights. And I reflect on students’ “hunger for their souls”, starting from an interesting quote from a wall at Reed College.
overcoming obstacles to the change you want to lead: Brian Barela provides a helpful, hard-learned theory on how to get change to actually occur, despite overseers who might be… resistant. Good comments, too.
evaluating your college ministry: Guy Chmieleski offers an important reflection on whether our ministries are really impacting our students – and some thoughts on three things that should be taking place.
church history and campus ministry: It’s certainly some “inside baseball” stuff, but Heart of Campus Ministry has produced some neat posts (from Mike Armstrong and from Tim Hawkins) on how being a part of their fellowship of churches (the Independent Christian Church) impacts the ministry to collegians. It’s the kind of discussion that’s really valuable for our field!
reflections on Jubilee (A college ministry conference with lots to offer all of us)
- Mike Hickerson of InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network: particularly notable, this reflection comes from a fellow outsider to CCO and from a particularly academic standpoint
- Recap video, posted by Derek Melleby
- Steve Lutz of the CCO at Penn State: about his interactions with atheists at Jubilee, and then a cool post with ALL the questions (asked and unasked) from the popular Atheist / Christian Dialogue at Jubilee.
- Jonathan Weyer of the CCO at Ohio State: focuses on various aspects of the conference, including his own work with the Atheist / Christian Dialogue
- Chris Bean of the CCO at Cincinnati: noting the highlights for him and his ministry
- From me, my scatter-shot (but resource-rich) reflections on the first day and on the second day
- Pictures from Jubilee, via the Coalition for Christian Outreach Facebook fan page
For the last run-down of important discussions, click here – after all, that was still within this tiny month!
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I recognize that getting 12.5 inches in 24 hours isn’t RIDICULOUS for all of you. But for us here in the Dallas area, Thursday’s non-blizzard was still pretty shocking. And I made a snowman. A real fat one.
I now have a little cabin fever, especially after spending hours catching up on college ministry blogs… I haven’t been able to be as attentive the last two weeks as usual. But the fruit of my happy quest can be found below, in a round-up of some of the best college ministry discussions from the past two weeks! (And you can find a list of the best from this blog at the bottom!)
cool methods for you to steal contextualize: Eric Heistand, App State Cru staffer, shares one student’s (successful) vision to bring a whole campus to Haiti-help. (A great story pointed out by Ryan McReynolds.) Aaron Proffitt shares the web-enhanced, campus-wide spiritual Q&A their collegiate church in Tampa has started. Jason Yarnell from the NWMSU BSU has a phenomenal idea for getting everybody involved in the Super Bowl party (and it’s applicable to other sporting events your ministry enjoys, from your school’s own games to the upcoming Final Four…)
on evangelism: Campus Crusade Head of New Stuff (or something like that) Keith Davy announces a new spiritual-conversation-booklet called “Back Story,” explains the unique way it works, and even links to a PDF version. Looks neato. And Russ Martin shares a student’s simple request for apologetics materials – and not only receives some suggestions of sites, but also does a great job dissecting what the request reveals about Millennials.
two great series, continued: Matt McComas continues sharing his thoughts and asking great questions as he transitions from serving one big campus in Montana to the Metro Portland area. And Dave Milam continues the Art of Brainstorming series at Heart of Campus Ministry!
why the wandering?: Brandon Smith asks a question that’s always on all of our minds: Why do students flit between college ministries? And he gets some great answers in the comments!
brian’s bountiful blog: Among other great, thought-prompting posts, Brian Barela suggests a way we might promote an entrepreneurial culture among our students and leaders, and he encourages college ministers to SHARE.
the sharing: Veteran college minister Glen Davis (from Stanford Chi Alpha) must have listened to Brian’s encouragement to share, because he provides a treasure trove of collected essays, tools, and Bible studies.
urbana report: Andy Kim shares some (exciting!) results from Urbana and points to the full Urbana report.
when it doesn’t happen quickly: Happily, Guy Chmieleski has resumed blogging and shares a great perspective on the patience required when our ministries don’t grow and/or develop FAST.
fundraising, 2010: Steve Lutz writes (another!) provocative post on college ministry fundraising.
crossing cultures & collegiate ministry: College minister-in-training Betsy Prosise looks through College Ministry Lenses at a Cross-Cultural ministry course, and comes away with some great missiological observations about what we do.
transitioning delayed?: Rhett Smith examines whether social media keeps people from transitioning successfully (including from high school to college, and others). And gets a bunch of comments in reply.
on books: Tom Greentree of InterVarsity highlights I Once Was Lost, a book from two longtime college ministers that discusses five “thresholds” postmoderns cross on their journey toward Jesus. InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network asks about the best books for Grad students – check out the comments so far, and add any suggestions of your own. (They did something similar for Undergrads awhile back – and came away with a great list.) Hearts & Minds provides a lengthy, well-annotated list of (more) Top Books from 2009.
or if you prefer talks: College minister Russ Martin provides the Top 5 Talks he heard in 2009.
as for Exploring College Ministry: ‘Round here, I’ve been discussing the missional and missiological aspects of college ministry quite a bit: learning from foreign missions, recognizing our missional prowess, and serious questions for those want to advance in being “missional.” I also began posting about listening to our constituents (and critics) – just like Domino’s! And the product placement continues, as we learn a little college ministry from Coca Cola.
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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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Happy 2010! I’m presently writing this during the break time at Campus Crusade’s annual Dallas / Fort Worth Winter Conference, my second major college ministry conference this week! For all those attending, returning, or returned from any of the Cru Winter Conferences, Urbana, Passion, OneThing, or Life Impact, I hope it was/is absolutely phenomenal for you and your students!
Below you’ll find a sample of the best college ministry discussions or other resources from around the interwebs during the last couple of weeks! Enjoy!
Great books for undergrads, from people who should know: Emerging Scholars Network received suggestions (abundantly) from their readers of “best books for undergrads.” And since (presumably) their readership skews heavily toward professors, grad students, and other academic-types, they should have a particular wisdom on this. See the full list (in helpful catagories) here.
Vocational integration for college students: Professor RJS (who blogs at Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog) has embarked on another college ministry-related series! In this series, she’s been looking at IVP’s new book series “designed to help college students in a variety of disciplines integrate a Christian worldview into their approach to their discipline.” I’m highly intrigued by this series… especially because the second volume is purportedly about Psychology, my own undergrad major. To see RJS’s thoughts so far – not only about the book but about vocational integration in general, check out the first and second posts.
Leveraging technology for campus ministry: Brian Barela (who may be unmatched in using technology within college ministry) answers a simple Q about how exactly they do that at Campus Crusade Chico State.
Generation Y and mentorship from Tim Elmore: Tim Elmore posts a great couple of posts: a cool post on 8 things that have especially shaped this generation, and another on the scary potential downside of the incredibly large Millennial generation. He also has a unique mentorship opportunity in the New Year, perfect for the likes of us! Check it out here.
Resources for small group / missional group excellence: Kent Shaffer discusses learning about small group leadership from a 1874 book for Methodist small group leaders, The Class Leader: His Work and How to Do It. (You gotta appreciate a straightforward title like that!) Kent offers a couple of strong quotes but also links to online and PDF versions of the book! That’s a helpful reminder of something we (or at least, I) often forget: There are resources to be found on leading small groups, even if they’re not specifically written with college student leaders in mind. Meanwhile, college minister Heather Lodovico gives a big list of resources for particularly “missional” ministry (which her church practices heavily with University of Texas college students). And finally, Chad Logan offers some basic small group leadership tips here and here – helpful for new college ministers or any student leaders!
The Hybrid Student: Mark Warrington discusses a unique aspect of church-based college ministry: home-grown students who attend college locally (and thus are part of the ministry year-round) – as Mark calls them, “Hybrid Students.” As a former church college minister, I know how interesting this dynamic can be!
Good fodder for sharing the importance of college ministry: Russ Martin recaps Claude Hickman’s conference talk from Campus for Christ’s Eastern (Canada) Winter Conference – about collegians’ involvement in starting major missions movements! (LOTS of great links for further study here.) Meanwhile, Jon Nitta also highlights the connection between college students, young adults, and college ministry to many great Christian movements. Finally, Michael Armstrong offers a post in praise of Oak Manor Christian Church in Fayetteville, which has chosen to invest in ministering to college students. Good to point pastors, etc., to – whether they oversee your work, support your work, or should get involved!
Best of the blog & out-of-the-blue: Here at Exploring College Ministry, I’ve mostly been posting some “best” posts from 2009; you can see those here. But I did get to make a surprise visit to the Urbana conference in St. Louis, which gave me the opportunity to introduce readers to Urbana and InterVarsity: see those three posts here, here, and here.
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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
Happy Twelve-Twelve, 2009! Less than two weeks ’til Christmas, so I hope the semester or quarter wound up (or is winding up) nicely.
I don’t know what your Christmas Break looks like, but those weeks might be a great time to familiarize yourself with opportunities to LEARN in college ministry. Of course, if you’re already reading this blog, you’re clearly already participating in some professional development (I hope this blog provides that, at least!).
Along those lines, let me point you to some of the discussions around the ‘net that I found most interesting this week:
a new college ministry legal case: The U.S. Supreme Court is actually taking up a college ministry case involving offering membership to students who don’t hold a ministry’s theology or values. So this is a HUGE something we should all be watching (and praying about). See Christianity Today‘s synopsis here, or a larger article from Inside Higher Ed.
more on evaluating college ministry success: As you’ve hopefully seen, multiple blogs have been discussing how to measure success in college ministry. I had the honor of guest-posting at Heart of Campus Ministry, and the approach I suggest is actually one of the most important things I’ve ever learned about ministry to collegians. In related veins, Alice Connor posts a great article reflecting on what “on-the-ground” success really often looks like for us college ministers, Ian Clark provides a solid 10-question assessment tool NewChapter has used to help college ministries evaluate their own work, and Jason Hayes is asking what successful disciplemaking looks like.
If you’re interested in all the recent posts on this topic, check out the top entry on last week’s review.
evangelism on the college campus: Interestingly enough, there are sometimes providential pepperings across various blogs – unconnected posts that address the same college ministry issue! Pretty cool!
One such “theme” has been evangelism. First, Eric Pederson gives us the chance to test-run a creative new Evangelism / Pre-Evangelism approach, through “Spiritual Conversation Cards.” The first 150 to respond get a free copy and get to help test the effectiveness of this approach! (HT: Ryan McReynolds) Second, Keith Davy wonders aloud if evangelism to Postmoderns works the same now as it did ten years ago – a really important question for many of us.
using volunteers in campus ministry: Another of those multi-blog themes has shown up in two posts about using / training college ministry volunteers. Chuck Bomar has gotten a few good comments on his request for helpful methods / resources for this area. And though I’m not sure it’s applicable to our work on every page, Walt Mueller highlights a book written for Youth Ministry Volunteers that could be useful just the same. (I also think it’s really cool that somebody published a book like that!)
articles for promoting college ministry (for our overseers & otherwise): Several places have also provided entries that might be perfect for passing on to those who need to understand our work better. Whether it’s supporters, overseers, pastors, parents, youth pastors, or somebody else, these might be illuminating to them:
- Jason Locke (a college minister-turned-preacher) with a great primer on differences in college ministry today vs. the past
- Bob Hetzler on involving younger people in a church’s vision-forming and planning process.
- Baptist Press with some attention-grabbing reasons parents should care about ministry to collegians
highlights here at ECM: On this blog, the highlights include an urgent encouragement for you to consider lending your talents to help the whole field of college ministry, a suggestion to recount your college ministry’s history, and some college ministry theology dealing with our field’s relative lack of suffering. (Interestingly enough, Brian Beckstrom just thoughtfully posted on a college student’s funeral he attended this week.)
and more good reading: Bill Westfall applies Good to Great to his college ministry, Mint.com provides a really cool visual stat-sheet regarding charity-giving that might be useful with students (HT: Todd Engstrom), my good friend Mark Warrington finally starts blogging with a cool post about implementing some Millennial technology in our college ministries, and another cool Dallasite – Mike Reading – continues the history of his unique college ministry.
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