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You might have noticed that my preference is to call the amazing thing we get to do on a day-to-day basis “college ministry” instead of the various other options out there.
Here’s why I’ve gone this way, and why you might wanna at least consider using this nomenclature yourself when you talk about our profession. (Of course, I’d also love your comments and arguments for other options!)
This only refers to how we talk about our field as a whole. I don’t think it matters as much when individual ministries use various terms.
Here are what seem to be the main options for referring to our field as a whole:
University Ministry
This one’s easy: “University Ministry” simply doesn’t apply to all work with college students, ’cause many students aren’t at a school that considers itself a “university.”
While this may work for a local ministry, as an entire field it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Student Ministry
“Student ministry” is used as a synonym for “youth ministry” in a huge number of cases; other times it’s used to denote ministry to both youth and college students (as a division in a church, for example).
Using this to describe our profession will never cause anything but confusion… and we don’t get first dibs, anyway. Youth Ministry is well ahead of us in field-development, so they probably own this one, whether we like it or not. (But either way, both groups are students, so it seems like neither Youth Ministry nor we are best served by using this name.)
Collegiate Ministry
I honestly really like this one as a way to distinguish our entire profession, but I’m not sure it will ever catch on. It’s too close to “college ministry,” and people will probably shorten it, anyway. It can also sound a little snooty, a little self-important as we speak to those outside of our field.
You will certainly see me sprinkle this one into my writing, however. It’s great when I need a synonym, especially when I’m talking about the field as a whole.
Campus Ministry
Ah, this is extremely common. But here’s why I don’t personally lean toward this one:
- It often connotes, rightly or wrongly, campus-based ministry (parachurch or denominational ministries). I have heard many people use “campus ministry” as the opposite of church-based college ministry. But that use of “campus ministry” isn’t standard enough for it to be a true synonym for campus-based ministry.
- Some use “campus ministry” specifically to describe the spiritual life department of Christian colleges (particularly, I’ve noticed, in Catholic colleges). Do a Twitter search yourself, and you’ll see that use come up regularly. That is certainly one branch of college ministry, but it makes it confusing for describing the whole profession.
- “Campus ministry” is also occasionally used to describe – get this – youth ministry. Yes, high schools are “campuses,” too, and I know at least one fellow minister who bought a book on “campus ministry” just to find out that… well, you can guess.
Still, I use the term “campus ministry” plenty – especially because I know people will search the web or Twitter for that term. I have no problem being helpful or fitting in, but it isn’t my favorite terminology for the reasons mentioned above.
College Ministry
After all that, I think we’re only left with good ol’ “college ministry.” This does seem to be the term most recognizable to the largest number of people as just what it is: ministry to college students. And yet it doesn’t distinguish between the various forms of ministry (or the types of schools).
So that’s my argument. Take it as the analyzations of a college ministry nerd (or a campus ministry nerd, if that’s what you prefer!). What do you think?
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For a couple of years now, I’ve had one presupposition that has driven my journeys, actions, and thoughts. It continues to be at the front of my mind as I work to help Collegiate Ministry – as a field – progress from where it is to a stronger place.
Here’s the presupposition:
The biggest help anyone can provide for College Ministry (right now) is raising its value in the mind of Christians.
There are many problems and much lack within college ministry. Naming a whole bunch of things that we certainly need is easy enough, because our field is underdeveloped. We can (and should) point out the need for everything from books… to funds… to better methodologies… to organizations that advance our cause.
But those very things have a “Z Factor,” an issue that affects EACH of those things. The root of the problem, why things seem so out-of-sorts here, why we feel like we’re walking uphill when making these changes – is because American Christians don’t generally acknowledge how much college ministry matters.
When college ministry matters, we all acknowledge the many people who are serving campuses and students in awesome ways.
When college ministry matters, people give money.
When college ministry matters, people demand books on college ministry… and buy books on college ministry… Therefore, when college ministry matters, books are commissioned and published.
When college ministry matters, more college ministers arise (and there are lots of college ministry jobs).
When college ministry matters, the desire increases for efficiency and wisdom and creativity and skill and training in college ministry.
When college ministry matters, college ministers see the need to improve our work. (Yes, I think we too could better value the work we do.) Therefore collaboration increases – through sit-downs, blogs, podcasts, informal training, formal training, reading, ministry visits, conferences… Discussions – both academic and practical – are rampant (when college ministry matters). And the cream rises to the top, so those discussions just get better and better over time.
When college ministry matters, more high school Christians plan to join a college ministry when they get to school.
When college ministry matters, students are reached better, and more of ‘em are reached.
God is glorified in the campuses like never before.
When college ministry matters.
So if you can only pray for one thing to help the field called College Ministry, I’d encourage praying for this. If you can only work on one thing to help College Ministry, think about working on this (first).
We should keep doing the other things – writing books, training others, starting seminary courses, blogging, collaborating, donating, and so on – more and more, as much as we can. But everything will involve more people and be easier, better, and more effective once the value of college ministry is raised in the hearts and minds of Christians.
So if you have to pick a priority for your college ministry improvement schedule, please consider this for your Number First. You can start by telling people where you are how much college ministry matters. Or run an ad in the Super Bowl! Use the free book if it helps, or get some testimonies together, or write something of your own. Or use any influence God’s given you to “plug” this area that receives such disproportionate attention. But if you have the opportunity, do something.
It’ll be a really good day… when college ministry matters.
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Yesterday’s post, “The Surprisingly Unmissional Approach to College Ministry,” garnered with some really great comments. So in case more people want to chime in (or people want to chime in again), I didn’t want to post on an entirely new topic – just extend the conversation.
First, I encourage you to read yesterday’s post and comments if you haven’t.
Further, Todd Engstrom of The Austin Stone Community Church very helpfully posted their collegiate methodology on his blog in response to my post. It’s an excellent example of a church that runs in “Emerging-Missional” circles but has seen the need to impact students as students (while also assimilating them into the church).
For my addition to the conversation today, I felt like it might be good for us to help each other remember some of the reasons the college campus is a unique “neighborhood” of its own, deserving of being reached on its own terms.
Clearly, for many Americans the collegiate experience certainly “feels” singular, not particularly similar to any other time of life. But I would go further and say that this “feeling” reflects something very real. Several aspects of this experience are drastically different enough that – at some level – students need to be reached like the collegians they are.
(That’s not to say we don’t also integrate / assimilate – read yesterday’s comments for some really great thoughts on that balance.)
I think any well-performed study would find significant differences between college students (as a group) and other groups in at least the following areas. As with any sociological grouping, there are variations along each of these lines. Each student is different. But as a group, college students experience a special world.
To get us started, some of the differences many college students experience:
- Financial situation
- Employment situation
- Schedule flexibility / “Margin”
- Weekly schedule
- Annual schedule
- Opportunities for stretching / growing experiences (study abroad, special summer activities, travel, etc.)
- Center of community (that’s a huge one)
- Felt needs (to some extent – but college ministers recognize students don’t always have a great grasp on what they need most. See next.)
- Actual discipleship needs
- Lack of intergenerational encounters
- Nearly all single (and those that are married have often left the “collegiate world,” even if they are still attending classes)
- Less sociological diversity in other ways, too (because schools are both selective and selected, and they function as fairly closed systems, resulting in true “tribes” of varying homogeneity)
What would you add?
The point is, these factors directly affect students’ present discipleship needs, opportunities to involve them and disciple them, or the impact discipling them now instead of later has. So if all we ever do is pull them out of that world, their experience of Jesus won’t have much correlation with the very unique world they actually inhabit.
Post #2 in a series on Jimmy Fallon’s connection to / reflection of Millennials!
The night of his version of Late Night debuted, I noticed that Jimmy Fallon looked really earnest as he ran his way through the streets of New York City to host his very own, brand new talk show in the big city. After that fitting intro airs nightly, a quite dapper-though-goofy Fallon strides out to a stage he seems just a little uncomfortable with.
And he might just seem a little uncomfortable with his entire production, as numerous blogs and articles have noticed. The very first episode seemed almost rigged to produce both nervousness and awkwardness; no young buck picks DeNiro as a first guest in order to sail smoothly. Fallon regularly laughs at his own jokes, shrugs off the (many) jokes that flop (or gives the cue card to someone in the audience), and he certainly doesn’t hide the fact that he wants people to like him.
But the funny thing is that people actually may. And I think this “goofiness” is part of Fallon’s attractiveness to Millennials, which I began posting about earlier this week.
Here’s my theory: I think (subconsciously?) Millennials can see goofiness a signpost for authenticity. And authenticity is really key for connecting with those gals and guys. Where Gen Xers may cynically doubt that anyone can truly be authentic, Millennials are more optimistic – but they demand it!
And in some real ways, discomfort, awkward moments, goofy earnestness, and the like could help viewers believe they’re getting “the real Jimmy Fallon.” Can those things be manufactured? Of course they can. But in Fallon’s case, any postured goofiness would have to pre-date his Saturday Night Live days, where his earnestness and uncontrollable laughter abounded. And he’s clearly attempting to be funny – and, in the opinion of many, often failing. So I don’t think his awkwardness is a put-on.
What’s interesting, though, and important for us ministers to note, is that likability might just trump laughter (or any other “skillfulness” or “slickness” we’re aiming for in our own contexts).
Meanwhile, every joke that bombs, every guest interview with awkward moments, even the self-deprecating turn as his own staff’s whipping boy in fake-reality-show “Seventh Floor West” may have down sides, but they also earn Fallon authenticity points. So do the occasional personal revelations, like Jimmy’s excitement over receiving his long-awaited college degree from the school he dropped out of, or the highly normal personal photos on the show’s website.
Millennials want to believe that there are REAL people and REAL organizations out there. And they themselves have been pretty willing to expose their lives – to a fault – on blogs and social networks and more. Ministry to them will work best when they can see that we’re being authentic.
Not all of us are naturally goofy – so don’t go creating that persona – but authenticity can have plenty of other signposts. For many of us, simply relaxing our guard will lead to “revelations of realness” soon enough; others may need to try hard to (wisely) sprinkle some “me-ness” amidst the “Him-ness” and “you-ness” of our ministries. However we reveal our authentic selves, our college students (and other Gen Y-ers) will be glad to see it.
I’m using the term “chaplain” as my catch-all term for the people at Christian colleges involved in impacting students in specialized, relevant ways. It’s easier than writing “University Ministries director,” “spiritual life director,” “Vice President for Spiritual Development,” “Dean of the Chapel,” and so on. But that’s what I mean!
This week, I’m taking a look at Christian colleges and their connection to college ministry as a whole. This is a response to the criticism leveled at Christian schools on another blog, as I discussed yesterday.
I do believe that college ministers can learn much from each other. Today, I want to point out what Christian college chaplains bring to the table for the field of college ministry, elements we in other branches are wise to notice.
1. Academic development of their work. Of any group I’ve met in my research, Christian college chaplains seem most likely to take a seriously academic approach to spiritual development. Their world, clearly, is an academic one; they serve on the staff of a college or even as faculty. I would imagine the Master’s and Doctorate degrees per capita is highest in this branch, too. So it’s natural that this quality would show up strongly here.
So when I’ve met with these women and men, they regularly reference both Christian thinkers and secular thinkers. It’s common for chaplains to discuss generational research, psychological development theories, and a wide range of books (that they’ve actually read!). This kind of broad thought about the work of college ministry – which I would argue we need much more of in our field – seems to be the forte of many of these college ministers, the women and men “chaplain-ing” at Christian colleges.
2. Theological development of their methods and messages. Connected to this devotion to thinking about these things, many Christian college chaplains seem to have developed pretty rich understandings of what they do and the messages they present to students over time. While this attention obviously varies among these ministers, my guess would be that this kind of serious attention to methodology is more the “norm” here than in any other branch of college ministry.
That includes helping students process big questions, whether they be theological “hot topics” or longstanding issues like churchmanship and ecclesiology. In chapel series, missions endeavors, service opportunities, and more, I’ve rarely – if ever – seen more attention paid to analyzing long-term development of students’ lives than in these environments.
3. Longevity. Again, this isn’t evident everywhere. But oftentimes chaplains end up shepherding college students for many, many years. Certainly, there are plenty of “lifers” in the other branches of college ministry, too. But I’m guessing that among Christian colleges, there may be a higher ratio of college ministers who have worked in college ministry – and often even worked in the same location – for 10+ years.
4. Fit with the institution. Clearly, when the institution is your employer, there’s usually going to be better assimilation there! (Although there are certainly Christian colleges where there is tension between ministers and administration.) But beyond that natural affinity, in many cases chaplains seem to have been able to connect well with the purposes of the institution and with individual staff, faculty, and administration members.
Even though chaplains may have a “head start” in that area, we can still notice the benefits – and work to emulate their connectedness. In many cases, even at secular schools, there is a real opportunity for much of our ministry to fit the institution in a way that is both edifying and glorifying. It’s not impossible to become seen as a “colleague” of the faculty and staff at your school, nor is it impossible for your ministry to be seen as invaluable to the campus community.
Continue this mini-series here.
Written from Cedarville University, Cedarville, OH
Road Trip #11 update (Day 36)
yesterday’s T-shirt: the Spartan tribe of San Jose State University
new campus visits: Wilberforce University (#37), Central State University (#38)
(click here to see all the explorations from Road Trip #11)
I want to point out a few new-or-improved ways to connect with the world of Exploring College Ministry. This post may be short, but hopefully this info will give you some cool things to explore! (Meanwhile, as you read this, there’s a good chance I’ll be driving some 12 to 14 hours toward Texas.)
categories are the bomb
You might not have noticed, but I’ve been improving the Categories here on the blog. You can find the long list of Blog Categories on the sidebar, with all the topics covered in the 439 posts so far.
I’ve been working through each post to make sure they’re all in the most helpful categories possible. It’s a work-in-progress, but I should be done in the next week or so.
The Categories are the BEST way to find the helpful or interesting posts you want to read! My hope is to keep them updated well so even first-time visitors can go straight to the most helpful tips, thoughts, and theories for their needs!
a new facebook group
You can also check the sidebar for the brand new Facebook group, “Exploring College Ministry with Benson.” As I note on the group, joining that will keep you updated:
- as the project progresses
- whenever I take another road trip adventure (including to a location near you!)
- when I write books (like the upcoming ebook)
- if there are ever ways you can help college ministry in a big way
You won’t get all that many messages – this is honestly just a way to stay updated and let me know you want to stay connected!
(In case you’ve been around for awhile, this group replaces the old one, “so Ben’s taking a road trip around the country…“)
the upcoming ebook’s site
Finally, don’t forget that www.reachingthecampustribes.com will be the official site for the upcoming college ministry ebook! That book will be released publicly on April 20th, but look for excerpts to be posted here occasionally between now and then.
Written from Barstow, California
Continuing from yesterday…
Building our best campus mission requires that we be serious about making aggressive progress.
By “progress,” I don’t simply mean numerical growth – although that can certainly result from becoming an even better college ministry (while some ministries will lose attendance as they grow better!).
There are many other ways a college ministry might make progress:
- impacting students more deeply
- becoming a healthier ministry
- more creatively impacting the campus
- better reaching the entire mission field (including under-reached student groups, faculty, administration members, and even the surrounding community)
- better preparing students for life after college
- better complementing and cooperating with other campus ministries
- and so on
Because we do face a rapidly changing audience (with nearly complete turnover every four to five years), college ministries may need regular major adjustments – not only to progress as a ministry, but even simply to keep from declining in our impact.
That’s why I believe that from the beginning of a college ministry, its leaders and supporters should plan on a lifetime of strategic modifications in response to changing students, a changing campus, a growing understanding of the tribe, and God’s work within the ministry and its leaders.
A lifetime. Of strategic. Modifications.
That’s part of how we build our best campus mission. We keep at the building.
As a college minister, I forget how some aspects of campus life that are quite “normal” to me might not be normal to many people. Part of this normalcy is the absolute spiritual darkness that pervades many campuses. While we can go overboard in focusing on campuses being “dark places” (just like I’ve recently noted we often do with the Northeast), it helps to remember that spiritual error (and the resulting pain) is one reason why collegiate ministry matters so much.
[I cut down this whole post from a longer one I had up here - I'll repost those thoughts later.]
If you can, I encourage you to read this student newspaper account of the annual “Sex Power God” event held on campus at Brown University. (I stumbled upon this info when I was on campus Saturday; it took place later that night.) It’s a newspaper account, but the very nature of the event (and nature of the college) makes the article somewhat explicit – so don’t read it if you’d rather not see that. But I want us to understand this side of campuses, too. It’s so, so tough to know this is real.
Here’s the link. (For a little more, you can search for the event at the Brown Daily Herald – there are interesting follow-up articles printed this week.)
The event appears to be as crazy as its title suggests. Still, we’ve got to understand the stark reality of these things, because this is the field to which we are called. True, Sex Power God is an extreme example – most campuses probably don’t have an on-campus event that goes this far or indulges this freely. But there are even more ridiculous events out there, too – anyone who’s read Blue Like Jazz is familiar with Renn Fayre at Reed College, for example.
That’s all I’ve got. We’re either going to invade these campuses with a real-and-loving Jesus or we won’t.
I’ve got to hit the road – next stop, Winter Park, Florida.
A few days ago, I wrote a post highlighting an issue I’m feeling more and more is crucial in for us to address. The issue’s old-school name is churchmanship – in this case, describing the involvement of college students in local churches during their collegiate career.
Especially if you are a college minister, youth minister, parent, or pastor, I urge you to begin letting this topic “marinade” within you. We’ve got to do better in this area, especially when well over half of our Christian, “youth group” kids are leaving the church during or soon after their “youth group years.” Yikes! Double yikes!
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to catch up on the topic by looking at:
This post, summarizing and linking to the recent Lifeway Church Dropout Study and discussion of that information. (More has been added to the discussion since this summer, too.)
This post from last week, detailing the church-involvement discussion at Wheaton College so far this semester.
In this follow-up, I just wanted to offer “first thoughts” of my own on this issue. At the end of the post, I link to more from Wheaton – some important chapel messages from the Spring Semester. So, if you’re interested, click “Keep Reading” to read the rest of this post. Read the rest of this entry »
Is a Christian college actually a church? What about a dorm Bible study? What about a major campus-based ministry, like Campus Crusade or InterVarsity? Do Christian communities like these equate to “church involvement”? Do they need to?
In EACH of the first four issues of Wheaton College’s school newspaper, The Wheaton Record, students and professors discussed this question – through an editorial, a response, another editorial, and two more printed responses. I’ve got each of those as a PDF below.
Remember, at the end of the summer we learned once again that most “church kids” don’t stay in the church through their college years. So this is an important topic anyway. But when this rather “spontaneous” discussion arises at the school some call the “Harvard of Evangelicalism” and continues for a month, it deserves special notice.
These are real and smart arguments, even when you or I disagree with them. In fact, they state generally well-reasoned versions of very common church views among this generation. These articles provide an incredibly important, first-hand look at this issue as it exists at a pinnacle of Christian education.
Second, it’s clear from talking to the Wheaton Chaplain that the college cares about the issue and works to disciple students in this area. I’ll write more on that – with links to some pertinent Wheaton chapel messages – in the follow-up post in a day or two. (Click here to see the follow-up post.)
Finally, as you read these articles, I encourage you to ask yourself:
If you heard regular preaching from amazing individuals (like Erwin Lutzer, on spiritual warfare, on Halloween); if you had regular “Bible studies” taught by the likes of Doug Moo, Karen Jobes, and Gary Burge; if you had very regular community with members of God’s family, both your age and much older; if you had access to organized discipleship groups with your peers; if you had oversight from a Chaplain and community discipline; if you worshiped with other Christians at least three times a week – and took the Lord’s Supper together once a month; if you had lots of opportunities to serve and lead… might you possibly ask these same questions about your involvement in a local church?
This may be trickier than we think. I figure it’s something worth figuring out. Look for the follow-up shortly.
Week 1: “We like shopping.” The Record staff argues for 4 years of NON-involvement in church.
Week 2: “Wheaton is not a church.” In a letter, a Wheaton prof rebuts the first article.
Week 3: “Wheaton fits definition of Church.” In an editorial, a Wheaton Junior argues that the school may very well be a church.
Week 4: “So what is a church?” and “Wheaton not a church.” In two letters, a Wheaton Senior theorizes why we face this confusion, and a well-known professor/author rebuts Week 3′s editorial.
After you take a look at those articles, click here to see the follow-up post on this topic!
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