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Yesterday, I posted a less-familiar reason we celebrate God’s calling to college ministry. Today, another encouragement as the new year approaches:
By serving as a college minister, you are accepting a very weighty baton – passed from parents and youth pastors of your many already-Christian students.
We may often concentrate on the glory of reaching non-Christians and the “dechurched.” But we are also reaching plenty of collegians well-discipled in churches and families for the past dozen years.
We are the successors of others who could make a much greater claim on these souls and their maturity… and yet we get to shepherd these souls as they claim “independence” and begin new lives.
It’s a weighty baton we receive.
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In a severely disjointed field, it’s rare for the “cream” in collegiate ministry to rise to the top. Even though a resource, a practice, or an idea might be extremely valuable, organizational and regional lines often keep exposure limited.
While that is quite a bummer, a silver lining is that it produces a pretty handy way to recognize the best of the best: by noticing the very few items that do get praised broadly. When something is known and loved broadly in our diverse and disconnected ministry field, it really must be remarkable. (In fact, I just told somebody recently that I can usually only endorse something if I’ve personally seen its value OR it has received acclaim from a broad array of college ministers.)
So today, I want to present two books that seem to have received that acclaim (although I’d love to hear your opinion, too). And then, a bonus: a brand-new book released by an author who has received that sort of broad acclaim before!
Funding Your Ministry
Scott Morton, a longtime staff member of The Navigators (since 1970!), published Funding Your Ministry in 1999 and revised it in 2007. (It’s been translated into Spanish, too!) It’s the product of his personal development of support-raising theology AND practice, and it’s been honed through sharing his thoughts over and over again.
If you have any involvement in raising money (for budget, for ministry, for trips, whatever), this seems to be a widely respected book on the topic!
Daws: A Man Who Trusted God
I’m not intentionally doubling up on The Navigators today, but Daws is probably the most well known biography of a college minister! This bio of Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, was published by Betty Lee Skinner back in 1974… so the book itself has been impacting for Christ even longer than its subject did. Awesome.
And on a personal note, I started reading this one last night. Finally.
Make College Count: A Faithful Guide to Life and Learning
Derek Melleby received this kind of broad acclaim after co-authoring The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness with Donald Opitz. Now, he’s just released Make College Count, a book that I’m certainly interested in checking out myself. (The book has a whole web page under CPYU here.)
For all of us who are college ministers, this sounds like a potential “win” for our freshmen, for those about to enter college (which we should be striving to help happen well), and even for ourselves – to get ideas for what we teach our students.
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A while back, I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion by leaders in the field of Youth Ministry at a seminary. The panel was very well attended and really informative… plus, it even showcased an impromptu debate between two really well known communicators about the value of home schooling.
There was space for Q&A, and I got to head to the front and ask a pretty simple question, along the lines of, “In what ways have you been able to get wisdom from college ministers about how high school students should be trained?”
Crickets would have chirped, had there been crickets in the room. Tumbleweeds would have tumbled, too (it was Texas, after all). They clearly had nothing to offer; my question was met with an agreeable response: “That’s a great question, but we really haven’t had opportunity to look at that,” basically.
I think most (or all) of those reading this would agree: Youth Ministers absolutely must seek the thoughts of College Ministers as they strategize the shepherding of their students. If those on the receiving end aren’t consulted about what students will need, what they generally seem to be missing when they get out of youth group, and the general climate into which they’re being thrown, then aren’t Youth Ministers missing an enormous opportunity for wisdom?
Of course they are.
But that’s not what this blog post is about.
Because if you agree with me… and I kinda bet you do… then there’s one more question that needs to be asked: When’s the last time you (as a College Minister) talked with a Young Adult Minister, a Singles Minister, a Young Marrieds Minister, a Premarital Counselor, or any other adult-area minster-type about
what young adults will need,
what they generally seem to be missing when they get out of college,
and the general climate into which they’re being thrown?
You can at least start with the locals, right? Couldn’t you grab coffee this week with somebody on a local church staff?
Tomorrow, I’ll post some thoughts after spending a whole weekend with the (fellow) young adults at my church. [Here's that post!] But don’t wait for me – there’s better wisdom from the people who actually serve full-time in ministering to the future versions of your present college students!
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As this week’s Fridea, I want to turn the corner toward… the Start of School! I figured if I could begin offering ideas this early, they might seamlessly fit into your new-semester plans, or even just help springboard you to even better thoughts!
(And as this yearly ritual begins, yes, those of you on the Quarter System can laugh at the rest of us and enjoy your extra month. But hopefully this can help you in September!)
I thought I’d round up some ideas from past posts here on the blog, link them here, and not post again ’til Monday. That way, if you want to dive in, you’ll have some time to do just that – pick and choose to your liking. (And I’ll be able to focus on moving into my new place; you can read briefly about that here.)
If you want even more, you can always look through the Categories list for categories that are most pertinent to your ministry. That’s the very best way to scratch where you itch!
But without further ado, some interesting ideas for the Start of School:
- The Map-Bringers: a unique way to serve and recruit wandering freshmen & transfers simultaneously
- Sowing for a Start-of-School Harvest: preparing students already in your college ministry for the upcoming season
- Catalyzing College Ministry Creativity via New Purposes: how a spin on your whys can lead to creativity
- Campus Ministries & Narrow Recruiting: a weird suggestion about targeting your efforts and/or targeting your offers
- Have You Read It Yet?: a reminder that one great way to kick off the new semester is by reading a free ebook about seeing college ministry in a new light…
- Thoughts on Recruitment: this is one big list of ideas on what I’d seen in Chicago during the yearlong trip!
- Barn-Building: an important strategic consideration
- College Ministry Priorities for the First Week: just what it says, in response to a timely question from a college minister
- SHOW Recruitment and TELL Recruitment: we need ‘em both, right?
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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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Yesterday, I tweeted,
I am embarking on a process from which I may or may not come back alive: A full catch-up on all aspects of my life. Approximately.
The first day of that adventure included combing through the many online resources I have, as yet, not dealt with in a nice-and-neat way. So today I figured I’d fill you in on some of the things I’ve (re)found interesting – and that might be helpful, too!
The Annex’s Effect on My Ministry: how his College Ministry experience (as a student at First Pres Boulder) taught one church planter what “missional” means – before “missional” was cool
To an Unknown God: A Journal of Christian Thought at Berkeley: There are a handful of really awesome-looking faith journals (often by students) at prominent schools like Berkeley out there, and I figure I’ll try to catalog those sometime. Here’s one… and I’d love any thoughts on how the rest of us can use items like this? Maybe just show our students?
fulleryouthinstitute.org: Don’t forget the important work Fuller Seminary is doing – often quietly – to look at transitions to college through its College Transition Project. Their work is likely to have greater value than much of the popular work on the subject.
Russ Martin’s list of the Top 5 talks he heard in 2009: This leader of Campus Crusade’s Canadian arm is a very helpful blogger, and it’s good to hear about what impacts very helpful bloggers.
whyismarko.com: the blog of Mark Oestreicher, recently displaced head of Youth Specialities. (Cleverly enough, he switched to this site after blogging previously at ysmarko.com.)
hackcollege.com: might be a site your students appreciate.
This American Life looks at Party School Penn State: not sure if I ever linked this, but it’s one of college minister Steve Lutz’s favorite go-to resources for describing the interesting nature of his campus tribe (and for good reason).
That’s it for now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if more dregs-draining is posted later this week!
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For us college ministers, whether we serve in Christian colleges, on campuses, or in churches.
How many high school seniors will interact with your ministry this spring? How many of those guys and gals will you disciple towards their transition by inviting them to experience a college ministry in action? How many future freshmen will you send notes of welcome and exhortation to? How many youth groups will you, your staff, or your students chat with about making a great transition to our world, the scary-awesome-incredibly-high-stakes world of college? How many youth ministers and parents in your area (region, state, nation) will be impacted by the viewpoint we have on making this transition?
If we don’t do it, it will get done almost nowhere.
How many high school seniors will interact with your ministry this spring, whether they will potentially join your ministry in the fall or not?
If we don’t do it, it will get done almost nowhere.
[This is actually the first of several spring-specific posts, which I'm putting under the "Frideas" category. You can see all of 'em here.]
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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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Here’s this past week’s lineup of helpful links and particularly important blog conversations about our amazing field!
Jeff Widman offers something superb: his expertise in social networking, applied to college ministry! Apparently Jeff had a great college ministry experience himself; now, he’s a major social networking guru. (His clients include Microsoft, Seth Godin, and others – really, this is legit.) Receive the fruits of his generous combination of those two loves by joining his Useful Facebook Tips for Campus Pastors group.
Here at Exploring College Ministry, I asked for wisdom about how we classify various college ministries – and people responded with some great thoughts. If you get a chance, take a look – and add your own thoughts on this important issue.
The Association of Collegiate Ministries posted the first of two posts about college ministry fundraising, reprinting (with permission) Steve Shadrach‘s 5 Keys for this important area. Shadrach is a well-known consultant in this area, and it’s great that ACM has been able to share his wisdom.
Need some cool ideas for simple service – for individual students, small groups, or your ministry as a whole? The Simple Love Project provides all sorts of ideas, at the touch of a button! (HT: HeartOfCampusMinistry.com.)
Also at Heart of Campus Ministry, Brandon Smith wrote a great, quick post on college ministry as “reverse missionary work.”
What an amazing idea for your college ministry: offering free peer-tutoring to your campus! Florida State’s Michael Mears shares Christian Campus Fellowship’s idea and their (very cool) advertisement right here.
Christianity Today posts a lengthy interview with sociologist Christian Smith, discussing his new book, Lost in Transition. Smith is a well-known expert on young adults’ connection (and disconnection) from spiritual life and church life.
written from Riverside, California
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Road Trip 13: Days 13 & 14 recap
finished up at the CollegeLeader Conference
T-shirts: the Screaming Eagles of U. of Southern Indiana and the Wave tribe of Pepperdine
today: churches and catching up (see all explorations so far!)
There are a couple of interesting college-oriented shows headed our way – one on the big screen, and one on the small screen! I thought I’d fill you in if you hadn’t seen the incessant commercials (especially for the TV one).
What’s particularly interesting is that both of these features are really timely. Though they deal with different topics (one with common disillusionments on the front end of the college experience, and one with common disillusionments on the back end of the college experience), both reflect growing trends – trends that have only accelerated in the recent economic difficulties.
Post Grad (movie opening next Friday)
Remember, one of our key jobs as college ministers is successfully preparing our students for the years immediately following. Post Grad could be an interesting take on the now-standard (and yet still-unexpected) post-graduation meanderings, even something that might be useful for students. We’ll see on Friday, I suppose.
Here’s the synopsis from the official Fox Searchlight synopsis (via Rotten Tomatoes):
Ryden Malby (Bledel) had a plan. Do well in high school, thereby receiving a great college scholarship. Now that she’s finally graduated, it’s time for her to find a gorgeous loft apartment and land her dream job at the city’s best publishing house. But when Jessica Bard (Reitman), Ryden’s college nemesis steals her perfect job, Ryden is forced to move back to her childhood home. Stuck with her eccentric family – a stubborn do-it-yourself dad (Keaton), an overly thrifty mom (Lynch), a politically incorrect grandma (Burnett), a very odd little brother (Coleman) – and a growing stack of rejected job applications, Ryden starts to feel like she’s going nowhere. The only upside is spending time with her best friend, Adam (Zach Gilford) – and running into her hot next-door neighbor, David (Santoro). But if Ryden’s going to survive life as a post grad, it may be time to come up with a new plan… – © Fox Searchlight
The official site for this movie seems pretty cool, honestly – starting with the clever Craigslisty loading page and even including tips for college students and a blog by one of their interns, a UC Santa Cruz student (go Banana Slugs!). While I can’t vouch for anything on there or in the movie, you might still want to check out the site.
Community (TV show premeires September 17th; pilot available until August 21st)
With plenty of students (and their parents) looking at the Community College option these days, why wouldn’t somebody make a TV show about this world?
“Community” is the newest addition to the famous NBC Thursday night lineup. It’s a comedy, so we shouldn’t look for all kinds of “teachable moments” – although the pilot is surprisingly happy and makes a pretty strong argument for non-relative truth. But again, I’m not expecting lessons a’plenty.
At the same time, those of us who work with college students might appreciate the chance to laugh about (and occasionally think about) students and their situations which, though caricatured in the show, we observe every day. The community college world itself receives some fairly harsh ridicule, but it certainly reflects both common stereotypes AND the actual inscrutability of many Two-Year-College tribes.
(I’m sure it’s wishful thinking, but it would be interesting to see religious campus organizations introduced in a “Community” episode. Sadly, that’s probably unlikely – not because Hollywood’s uninterested in spiritual things, but because Christian work at community colleges may not be prevalent enough to warrant attention. Ouch.)
Wanna check it out? The pilot is available to watch until Friday night. [After the deadline, they now appear to have a preview up in its place.] You have to go through some Facebook rigormaroll to get there, sadly, but it’s easy enough. (BONUS LEARNING: Even if you don’t watch the pilot, Fast Company has a helpful article on NBC’s poor choices on that matter.)
The show’s official site is here, but a pretty clever site for the fake Greendale Community College is here. The Straight As of Greendale, according to that site? “Accessibility, Affordability, Air Conditioning, Awesome New Friends, A Lot of Classes.”
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