In two separate conversations with two professors recently, I Peter 3:15 was brought up in the context of how college ministry does (or doesn’t) offer students collegiate-level answers to their faith-questions.

First, the verse:

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (I Pet. 3:15 ESV)

You may, like me, be more familiar with the translation that commands us to be ready to “give an answer,” but the exact wording here isn’t really the issue. (Though if the ESV reading is best, then it argues my point all the more, as you’ll see.)

In my discussions with those profs, both were concerned that college ministry by and large doesn’t know how to deal with students (or others in the college community) who ask the hard, academic, complex questions about Christianity. In other words, we don’t always offer our students a way to get answers that accord with the questions raised within the very setting in which we serve.

These professors’ concern is a concern worth hearing, especially because it comes from Christians who operate in that same world – and yet are uniquely suited to understanding the kind of answers needed within the university setting.

The author of the recent “Missional Campus Ministry” series at the Jesus Creed blog recently noted the same concern:

The university or college campus is a mission field in many ways – and the pressures on eager undergraduates on their own for the first time are immense. … The broad middle of the student population is a group in need of attention – and I appreciate the hard work that goes into evangelism, relationship, and discipleship in a wide range of active campus ministries.

But we need more than this as well…

We need to be able to ‘meet the university on its own terms: discussion of issues that matter in a way that meets the university’s own ideal standards of engagement, standards of both courteous respect and intellectual rigour.‘” [that last bit quoted from a post by John Stackhouse]

I happen to be somebody who has always been academically strong, and I know the loneliness of not knowing who – if anyone – might be able to help me navigate through the more complex issues that arise in our faith. Had my major or circumstances been even slightly different, it would have been quite easy for despair to set in – or worse. Because for all the greatness of the college ministry experience I had at Texas A&M, spiritual support for “smarties” wasn’t obvious at all.

Those two posts – on Jesus Creed and on John Stackhouse’s blog – go further into this and better into this. So I urge you to take a look.

The answers to this vital concern don’t require all college ministers to be bookworms or to be brilliant. But obeying – and helping our students obey – I Peter 3:15 will probably require a different preparation than if we were serving elsewhere.

All missionaries have to study answers to the questions of their unique tribe, right?

written from some Motel 6 in Eastern Ohio…

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Road Trip 13: Days 38 & 39 recap
recap: finished out my time at the college ministers’ conference, then flew back to Ohio to pick up my car and head eastward! (see all explorations so far)
T-shirts: the Eagle tribe of Emory, and the Hardrockers (!) of South Dakota School of Mines
thursday: on to Pittsburgh (and beyond), including connecting with Coalition for Christian Outreach national office people

My friend Wes recently described the effort he and his wife have given to try to enroll in classes at San Francisco State University. The Woodells are helping replant a church and hoping to connect to the nearby SFSU campus, and they feel this could be a powerful way to begin connecting. But sadly, the California budget crisis has erected barriers to enrollment – so after attempting this for a couple of semesters, they still can’t get in.

Wes’s post sums it up:

We must spend time with students, and nothing would validate our presence on campus better than being in classes with them. I’m confident we’ll get around this somehow, but this budget thing is definitely a bump in the road.

Meanwhile, on roughly that same side of the Northern Hemisphere, Nick Melazzo has been experiencing his own adventure. Last week Nick described his “cannonball run” to the border of Alberta, Canada, to file papers simply so he can stay in the country where he has resided for the past 5 years – and keep serving the students of the University of Calgary.

(See his quick post about that trip here, or see how things turned out here.)

Striving hard to overcome persistent obstacles to attending classes on campus?

Striving hard to stay in the country and continue to serve students?

Most of us don’t have to work hard to do either of those things.

But sometimes it’s inspiring (or convicting) to read of those who face obstacles, challenges, and requirements we don’t – and who choose to strive hard and fight the fight. So today, a double challenge for us to go to whatever lengths we’re called in order to reach (and impact) the campus tribes.

written from Holiday Inn, Cedar Falls, IA

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Road Trip 13: Day 37 recap
recap: first day at my second college ministry conference of this trip! (see all explorations so far)
new state: Iowa (#17)
T-shirt: the Quaker tribe of Penn
tuesday: day two with a conference of college ministers!

Welcome! If you’re new to the site…

• To find out more, check out the row of links under the header.
• To dive in, try the Topics list on the side.
• Or start reading the newest posts below!

I’m in the middle of Road Trip #13, seven weeks of exploring ministries around the U.S.!

If you aren’t already aware of the public conflict (and resolution) between Christians over Foster & Wilhite’s Deadly Viper book (and marketing), it would be very worth catching up on.

One of the really helpful things about Twitter is staying current on topics of interest to us as college ministers. And while I haven’t been able to follow the Twitter-stream nearly as much as I would hope to (participating in a 7-week road trip and all), I did happen to catch wind of this very helpful teachable moment for all of us.

The very brief summary of the conflict is that Deadly Viper, published by Zondervan in 2007,  seems to have insensitively pictured Asian stereotypes, and their recent marketing push went (in the eyes of many) even further “over the top” in this regard. As a result, many expressed deep public concern – especially after the authors did not respond well to the original confrontations. Since then, the authors have expressed deep regret and a desire to learn. And others are pointing to this as an opportunity for us all to learn.

And indeed it is. I certainly learned much by taking a look at some of what has been said.

Of course, this is important for us as Christians. But it’s also extra-important because of the climates in which we get to serve – climates which are often some of the most (integrated) multicultural environments in America. We need to understand how students and others in our campus communities view the world. And we should also be helping our students, teaching them wisely on navigating the sometimes-tricky waters of community.

So how can you explore this important topic? Here are three good places:

• Eugene Cho offers an excellent summary of both the situation and the concerns
• D. J. Chuang offers links aplenty on this situation, as well as some wisdom on the value of a very public conflict
• The major catalyst in airing the concerns has been Professor Soong-Chan Rah, a (well-loved) prof of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Seminary. I’d encourage you to scan his progression of posts through the last several days, beginning with the initial major posts from November 3rd.
• And of course, don’t miss the chance to read the comments on those posts. As always, they present the opportunity to view a wider spectrum of reactions to this issue.

written from Toledo, OH

please pray for me as I speak to a conference of college ministers tonight!

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Road Trip 13: Day 36 recap
recap: finished my time in Ann Arbor, down to Toledo (see all explorations so far)
mileage: 6,773 miles so far
new state: Ohio (#16)
T-shirt: the Jumbos of Tufts University
monday: flying to Cedar Falls, IA, to speak at the Collegiate Ministries Conference for the Lakes & Prairies Synod of the PC(USA). I’ll be there ’til Wednesday.

It’s been great to be back in Ann Arbor – this time during the school year. If you’re interested in my live reflections on all the Gameday festivities, check out my Twitter feed from Saturday morning.

But here’s some of the week’s most interesting college ministry reading, including connecting to atheists, a book review, a service project idea, and much more:

playing to a ministry’s strengths: Jason Yarnell ends a series on college ministers playing to their own strengths with a great post on playing to your ministry’s strengths. “Being more of what they are” is one way many college ministries could improve, in my humble opinion. (Yarnell does a great job of giving specific examples of strengths he hopes to lean toward – including areas that we might not immediately see as strengths.)

atheist Bible study: Ohio State CCO minister Jonathan Weyer posts a fascinating report of his time leading (by request) an Atheist Bible study. JW serves among the Buckeye tribe at Ohio State – but more specifically, he has been quite well-received by the campus community while connecting with skeptic, atheist, and agnostic students!

ideas for atheist event follow-up: Along the same lines, Nick Melazzo is looking for suggestions for strong follow-up activities after a planned debate next semester. Any ideas? Be sure to let him know.

dealing with cults on campus: Here on Exploring College Ministry, I presented a question I’m asked on occasion: As college ministers, how do we deal with campus cults and unhealthy college ministries? There have been some great comments on that post so far, but your wisdom would be helpful!

outdoor activity niche ministry: The University of Vemont student newspaper highlights the “Lifelines” chapter of Campus Crusade. Lifelines is a unique niche-based ministry focusing on outdoor activity (I got to meet with the NAU director during the yearlong trip), and this is a good summary of what they do. (HT: Chuck Bomar, where he makes some related points)

service project: Brandon Smith offers details (and pictures) for a cool clean-drinking-water effort their college ministry is participating in.

book review: Heather Lodovico covers Kevin Roose’s Unlikely Disciple. As a native of the Northeast herself, HL shares her unique perspective on Roose’s book, which describes his transfer from Brown University to Liberty University, where he spent a semester pretending to be a Christian.

student leader qualifications: Brian Barela offers a really interesting critique of Justin Wallace’s post about choosing student leaders. It’s an interesting discussion that basically asks, “How specific should we be in the qualifications we require?”

a different form of disciplemaking: Cru staffer Matt McComas follows up on his provocatively-titled “I’m Anti ‘1-on-1′ Discipleship!” post with a new explanation of what his model looks like. I always appreciate people presenting, explaining, and defending college ministry models, new or old… I wish it happened more often!

written from Motel 6, between Detroit and Ann Arbor

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Road Trip 13: Day 35 recap
recap: experiencing the amazing festivities surrounding a Michigan home game (see all explorations so far)
T-shirt: the Kangaroos of University of Missouri, Kansas City
sunday: church (at a collegiate church plant) and then down to Toledo

I’m not quite in the home stretch of this enormous road trip, but with only 2 1/2 weeks left, I’m something like 2/3 of the way through. [Lots of fractions for a Saturday post. Forgive me.]

So here’s what I have planned (and some ways you can pray!). And, as always, I’d love any input you have on what / who I should see along the way!

this weekend: UMichigan

I’ll be here in Ann Arbor, exploring some college ministry but also exploring some college in general. As one of THE prominent football-lovin’ schools, I’m excited to see that whole scene today at University of Michigan – and it’s Parents’ Weekend, too!

monday ~ wednesday: conference in Iowa

In a bit of a quirky move, I’ll actually be flying from Toledo back west to the middle of Iowa. But there’s a good reason for this aerial counter-clockwise jaunt – I get to speak at a PC(USA) synod-wide college ministry conference! Held in Cedar Falls, the home of UNI, I’ll be speaking to and learning with a bunch of college ministers (one of my favorite things in the whole world).

Once we’re done, I fly back to Toledo and continue my trip from there. Kinda crazy, but it should be a nice respite from the driving thing.

and beyond: PANJNY

After that, it looks like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York will be my stompin’ grounds until Thanksgiving week, when I’ll be angling toward home in Texas. Through a surprisingly parallel itinerary, I should be in State College, PA, next weekend – just in time to enjoy a home game weekend at a school (Penn State) also known for being a great home-game-weekend kind of place! Should be fun to compare and contrast with Michigan.

The stops I’m planning now: Pittsburgh, State College, Rowan (NJ), and Ithaca (NY). But we’ll see what God wants to add (or subtract)!

i’d love for you to pray for…

• For God to speak through me at this conference, both in large-group and other connections throughout
• Continued good connections, including hearing back from people as God sees fit
• Continued health in a trip that can wear me out over time
• Direction on scheduling during the coming two weeks

written at the Glass House Cafe in the Palmer Commons, University of Michigan

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Road Trip 13: Day 34 recap
recap: some very cool encounters at U. Michigan – including two faculty members! (see all explorations so far)
T-shirt: the Duck tribe of Oregon
saturday: experiencing the festivities of a home game Saturday (and Parents’ Weekend) at University of Michigan

Two Frideas this week: One for those in well-developed college ministries, with a flip-side Fridea for those in newer ministries!

It’s very clear to me that one of the “weak links” in the field of college ministry is successfully starting college ministries. That area seems to need some improvement. And today’s ideas might just be two ingredients for that improvement.

First Fridea: Help plant a college ministry elsewhere (or even on your campus)!

One of the ideas for multiplying collegiate impact I’m most intrigued by involves well-developed college ministries helping “birth” new college ministry work. This, I believe, could be a great (and perhaps sometimes better) alternative to the classic “cold start” model or the “metro” model. (The former refers to simply starting a college ministry in a new location from scratch; the latter model involves using an off-site staff team to foster ministries in a regional or citywide setting.)

This sort of “ministry multiplication” is already happening around the country; while I can’t say it’s prevalent, it’s certainly not unheard of. Just last week I got to discuss the work the Fargo / Moorhead Chi Alpha group is doing to help restart a ministry up the road at UND. Florida State’s Campus Christian Fellowship is working to plant a ministry on a local community college. And it was exciting to hear this summer from Ryan McReynolds about Cru’s national “Missional Team” strategy, which encourages strong ministries to plant additional Cru “movements.”

In fact, those newly-planted ministries might be on other campuses, but they can also be works on the same campus – an ethnic ministry or international student ministry, for instance.

If you’re a developed ministry, November is a great time to pray through the question: “God, would you have us ’share the wealth’ by planting other ministries sometime in the future?”

The flip-side Fridea for newer ministries: Look for a ministry “mentor.”

On the other hand, couldn’t a newer college ministry take the opposite tack? Any kind of college ministry (whether it’s in a church or on a campus) could locate a strong “mentor ministry” to help it walk through its first year or two. During the odd and fragile period of a ministry’s beginnings, wouldn’t it be great to have friendly and knowledgeable help, including:

• Exegeting your campus context
• Ideas for activities
• Long-range thinking
• “Loaner” students / student leaders
• Recruiting help
• Design help (for advertising, T-shirts, materials, etc.)
• Training (for leaders or student leaders)
• Funding or fund-raising
• Wisdom for “special situations” that arise

If you’re a newer ministry, November may be the time you’re wondering if things are going as well as possible. I’d encourage you to pray through the question, “God, is there another group who could help us get started really well?”

posted from Motel 6 in Kalamazoo, Michigan

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Road Trip 13: Day 33 recap
recap: a great day in Chicagoland, with some big surprise meetings (see all explorations so far)
mileage: 6,489 miles so far
new campuses: Wheaton College (#25), North Park University / Theological Seminary (#26), University of Chicago (#27)
new states: Indiana (#14) and Michigan (#15)
T-shirt: the Bruin tribe of UCLA
friday: on to University of Michigan, where I’ll spend the weekend

The last 48 hours have been pretty exciting, in large part because I’ve gotten to spend some great time with some great people. And I noticed that I happen to have encountered three groups that can truly be considered major, important, even historic elements within the field of College Ministry.

These groups are not “hidden gems” within the field of college ministry. They’re well-known, well-established groups that have had a major influence on the field of college ministry. But as I’ve found time and time again, we are often not familiar enough with even these major aspects of our vocation. So if you’re less familiar with these groups than you’d like to be, I encourage you to take a look – and even dig in deeper on your own.

Urbana

In the future, when we have glorious things like college ministry history books, the triennial Urbana conference will be a major fixture – maybe even its own chapter. It was exciting to get a great tour of the national offices on Tuesday from national staffmember Eric Holmer – but all the more exciting because Urbana approaches! (Several employees are focused solely on Urbana during this time.)

A blurb from their web page (urbana.org) points to a glorious past and a vision that continues today:

Since 1946 InterVarsity has been providing a place for college students to see, hear, and respond to God’s global mission at Urbana conferences. If you want to see the world in a whole new light, come to Urbana 09. You’ll learn about critical global issues from dynamic teachers, worship with thousands in one of the most diverse gatherings in North America, and hear missional students and recent graduates testify to God’s faithfulness to the ends of the earth.

As someone noted recently, Urbana is so clearly connected to the heart of InterVarsity that understanding this conference really does help one understand its parent organization. But for us in the wider world of college ministry, it’s also important for us to realize that this conference is a rich part of our history. It clearly is, even today, the King of Collegiate Conferences. And not nearly all who attend Urbana are IV students and leaders; it’s wide open to any interested in learning of God’s global call.

You can read more about Urbana – even plenty about its great history – at urbana.org. Yes, it was historically held in Urbana/Champaign – but Urbana09 will be the second one held in St. Louis. Yes, you can still go. And I’m thinking about it myself…

Ivy Jungle Network

Many of you are well-familiar with IJ but, alas, I run into plenty of college ministers who aren’t. And their intro on the site (ivyjungle.org) really says all there is to say:

Welcome to the Ivy Jungle Network, a loose association of men and women who minister to collegians. We exist to serve church-based college ministers, para-church campus workers and college and university chaplains. If you work in campus ministry, then you should be part of the Ivy Jungle Network.

And you know what? It’s true.

Yes, it’s a loose association – the major “thing” to Ivy Jungle has simply been annual or biannual conferences over the last several years. But many college ministers also know the value of being on the monthly email list, and other items – like the large-scale Campus Ministry Survey – continue to inform.

But there is no better connection these days to the world of Evangelical college ministry than Ivy Jungle. It was a blast to sit down with Director Evan Hunter yesterday to hear more as IJ looks to the future – and continues to hope to advance the field of college ministry.

Great Commission Ministries

As far as I know, Great Commission Ministries is the one U.S. ministry with widespread work in collegiate church planting, and they’re on a whole bunch of campuses. Here’s one way they describe themselves on their site:

GCM mobilizes missionaries to serve in U.S. churches that are missional in nature: churches that do extensive outreach to the unsaved and unchurched, in a culturally relevant way. Our missionaries serve in churches that otherwise could not financially support their own staff.

While GCM certainly has some non-collegiate-oriented churches, collegiate church planting is a major pillar of what they do. The group has an interesting history; like some other things born in the zealous times of the Jesus Movement, it has had bouts with unhealth – which the group publicly acknowledges. But under what appears to be largely a second generation of leadership, GCM continues to plant churches and work to impact students all over the country – and some of their collegiate church plants have gotten really, really big. (I got to chat with Mike Filicicchia yesterday, who’s fundraising right now to join the staff of one at UMichigan.)

While I couldn’t find a full list of GCM campus churches, there’s a fairly good chance that any collegiate church plant on your campus is GCM – so you can always ask. The ones I’ve probably heard the most buzz about are New Life Christian Fellowship at VA Tech and New Life Church at University of Michigan (which I’ll be visiting this weekend). (They’re not all called New Life.)

written from the McCords’ in Palatine, IL (one of my great homes-away-from-home)

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Road Trip 13: Days 31 & 32 recap
recap: Chicagoland, including fun with friends and great chats with college ministry people
T-shirts: the Bulldog tribe of Louisiana Tech and the Cobbers of Concordia College, Moorhead
thursday: finishing up in Chicago, then on to Ann Arbor! (see all explorations so far)

This post was suggested by a Facebook message I received recently. I’m always on the lookout for helpful topics, so feel free to suggest one!

How should college ministers respond to harmful ministries on campus?

This is an issue that has come up multiple times during this trip, and it’s one I freely admit I struggle to get my head around. I haven’t personally been involved in standing up to an unhealthy ministry. So I would love any wisdom you’ve got, or suggestions for who might have good wisdom for this area.

The history of campus cults and other ministries that harm students runs pretty deep. College campuses naturally draw and nurture errant people and groups. Sadly, the first entity to stand up against harmful ministries might be a campus’s (secular) administration, once they see the emotional harm it brings.

Shouldn’t college ministries to some extent, as shepherds, help protect students from harmful groups – even when those groups seem to come from within our ranks? But what does that look like?

This is a tricky issue from a lot of angles.

First, there’s the question of how we define / discern unhealthy ministry. That’s not the point of today’s question, but it certainly matters. Before a college minister “does something about” a ministry they believe is harmful, they had better be clear on their concerns (On the difficulty of determining what’s truly unhealthy – and Christians’ ever-present ability to misjudge this characteristic, be sure to read Adam Ratliff’s solid comments on my post here.)

Second, some ministries with past errors have repented or simply become healthier. We need to make sure our understanding of a local or national ministry is current. (It would also be helpful for us to be aware of the histories of campus cult-like activity. I fear we are doomed to repeat our difficult history because we aren’t aware of the problems of the past.)

Third, national ministries always vary chapter-to-chapter. College ministries are generally quite autonomous, even when they’re tied by organization, denomination, or other affiliation. So we need to be extremely hesitant to make generalizations just because we’ve seen problems locally. (That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t deal with the local problems, but in fact a national organization may be an ally in helping with local ministries gone awry.)

All that being said, I still think we need basic ideas on what to do if this situation arises. But I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a college minister discuss how they have handled campus cults or other clearly unhealthy ministries. I think we could all really use some wisdom on this, because our need to employ it could be just around the corner.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have, ways you’ve handled this, or examples of how others have handled these issues. (As always, just be wise about how you refer to groups, please.)

written from Motel 6, Madison, WI

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Road Trip 13: Day 30 recap
recap: a whole lot of catching up… though it never really ends…
T-shirt: the Rebel tribe of UNLV
tuesday: a little exploration around Madison, then on to Chicagoland! (see all explorations so far)

Something worth considering:

For all the emphasis we give (and should give) to developing our ministries to the point of stability and momentum, there are some positives to new, grassroots-style campus ministry.

In discussing The Edge, a new-ish collegiate church plant adjacent to Winona State University, the pastor’s wife (and Chi Alpha Campus Pastor) Steph Peterson brought up an interesting point. Some students, she said, have found it easier to join their ministry because it’s clear there are ways they can immediately plug in, serve in key ways, or even lead.

So this reveals one of those difficulties brought on by greater development. There may be less potential for new members to identify how they can take ownership in the ministry – and thus, by extension, we might lose some ability to recruit high-potential students.

In a developed ministry, everybody’s “roles” might already be set. And the pipeline for freshmen to work their way (naturally and over time) into leadership roles might be pretty well-defined, too. Whether this structure is explicit or assumed, it might not be easy for newcomers – especially ones who aren’t freshmen – to see clearly their avenues for plugging in well.

This kind of barrier doesn’t only happen structurally; it can happen relationally, too. In a ministry with well-developed community, college ministry’s tricky Community Paradox sets in: Newcomers might feel a “strong community” is less open to them, not more open.

So on the one hand, if your ministry is new, be encouraged on this point – you might just find some key, entrepreneurial, high-potential students you wouldn’t have found otherwise!

But for those with better developed ministries, this difficulty might be worth pondering. What do our “entry-level positions” look like for new students? Consider how open your ministry might seem to

• upperclassmen
• transfer students
• zealous freshmen
• students who are particularly mature
• and any others who might not fit your normal pipeline.

We might need to think of ways to help these students feel at home – even if we need to exhort, encourage, train, and otherwise prepare them to find their best place.

Any thoughts?

written from Madison, WI

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Road Trip 13: Day 29 recap
recap: the long drive all the way to Madison, with a couple of great stops along the way
T-shirt: the Wildcat tribe of Villanova
monday: primarily more catch-up work, it’s lookin’ like (see all explorations so far)