on campus and into the classroom

I've been thinking about the classroom today...

It might have something to do with the fact that, for the next 8 weeks, my Monday's will include an 8 a.m. Old Testament class, as well as a 4-hour evening OT class.

Although I'm now into my 13th year of ministry on a university campus, this is only my 4th teaching in the classroom. Even though I work at a Christian university, I am not on the faculty, and my official job description does not consist of teaching any classes.

This is above and beyond.

So why do I do it? For a few reasons:

1. I have found the classroom to be a great place to interact with students that I might not normally run into on campus. On average, I would say that of the 24 students that typically fill each class, only 2 or 3 per class would likely have come into the Office of University Ministries. So the classroom has become an incredible opportunity for relationships!
2. I have found the classroom to be a great place to engage in important conversation. At Belmont, as a part of the core curriculum, students are required to take 2 religious studies courses - usually their 1st and 3rd years. Because of their required nature, these classes are typically filled with a spiritually diverse crowd... which, with a spirit of hospitality and charity, can be a great place for rich conversations!
3. Being in the classroom seems to fuel the "learner" in me... which is something that needs to be fueled with great consistency, I believe! Our students are being challenged to think critically about new ideas, methods, and practices... how much sharper will we be as ministers if this becomes a practice of ours as well?
   
4. Most adjunct appointments typically pay $1500-$2500 per class... which, when coupled with the first three reasons, is just a cherry on top!
   

As people who minister to college students we need to be on campus... all over campus! Getting into the classroom is a great "next step." Whether within the religious studies department, basic communications, or some other area that allows you to bring some of your knowledge and skill into an instructional environment, this is an opportunity full of potential! Having a chance to connect with students 1, 2, 3 or ever 4 times a week in a structured manner creates opportunities for relationships and conversations that might not otherwise have presented themselves.

Now is the time to begin exploring this opportunity on a campus near you for the winter or spring term. You never know how God might choose to use an opportunity like this...

Building bridges between the Church and the Campus

This past Sunday, as a part of Welcome Week on our campus, the University Ministries office hosted a Church Fair. We told students that this was there one-stop-church-shopping experience... the Walmart of church shopping.

We invited 40+ local churches who have a heart of college-age students and are interested in finding ways for them to be both nurtured to grow and challenged to serve, to come to this 2 hour event. They were encouraged to bring staff members, students involved in their ministry and information. New students had the chance to "work the room" and hear from pastors and students about their church and how they could be involved.

I spent some time walking around the fair and talking with the different church leaders that were present. Time and time again I was thanked for the opportunity to be on campus to talk with students. As we talked a bit longer, I was surprised to learn that most church leaders did not feel welcomed on most campuses.

What a tragedy!

While every campus will operate differently, and even have certain policies about who can be on campus and for what reasons, I cannot understand why (especially Christian universities) would not want to help students to get connected with the local church.

I am increasingly aware of the need for the Church and the Campus to see their work in a new light... One that speaks to partnerships and collaborative efforts! One that sets aside pride and puts the spiritual development, character development and vocational preparation of young people at the forefront... regardless of who's doing it!

If our mission is NOT about having the the most students, but instead, about the ongoing spiritual growth and formation of young people, then does it really matter who "gets the credit?"

I think this falls under the category of working smarter... and not harder.

What do you think?

starting with the end in mind

I had the chance to speak to more than 300 student leaders on campus a couple of days ago.  At lunch, immediately following the presentation, a student at a nearby table commented that he was putting something I said up on his facebook... 

I took a deep breath and said, "OK, what?"

The statement that he took away from the 40 minute presentation, "You're a leader now, so you'd better have some idea of where you're goin'... because as a leader you are telling others, 'hey, let's go, follow me, i know the way.'"

I tried to tell him that this statement was likely something I had heard before, so he probably shouldn't give me credit for it, and then commented that I was glad he had found a takeaway from our time together!

A direct message from a new campus minister today got me thinking about a similar question for those of us leading leaders and ministries to consider at the start of a new year...

How do I start this new year off right/well?!

While answers will vary from campus to campus, and minister to minister, I do think there are some secondary questions that we need to ask ourselves (as well as the teams we work with) to assist us in answering this question, and so that we don't come to the end of the year and wonder... "What happened?"

Here are the questions:

1. Where am I?  Or, where am I at?  We need an accurate assessment of "where we are at," as leaders, as well as where our students and campus cultures are at so we know where we need to go. We need to know what the most significant needs of our students are if we want to serve them best.  If you're new to your ministry context, one of the best things I can offer you is this... take your time to get to know your students and their needs (and compare them to what you currently offer).  Even though it might seem like a "waste of time," the last thing you want to do is get to the end of the semester or year and find out that you really have wasted your time because the things you chose to be about were unnecessary.  This question establishes our starting point.
2. Where do I want to end?  Or, where do I want to see my students at the end of our year together?  This is what gives us our direction at the beginning of the year, as well as a vantage point to evaluate from at different points along our year of ministry.  This question establishes our goal(s) that we will strive towards throughout the year.
3. What is realistic?  Given the current state of your ministry, leadership team, student base, campus environment, local church support, etc., what is an accurate estimation of what you (with God) can accomplish this year - you don't want to bite of too much and find yourself spread too thin, or going in too many directions, throughout the year, and yet, you don't want to do too little and find yourself wishing you had done more!  Praying for God's leading in your leadership is essential!  This question establishes how attainable our goals are - a good thing to consider at the beginning of the year.
4. What challenges can I foresee?  Sometimes, if we can anticipate certain challenges, we can plan accordingly and/or work more effectively when they arise.  Are there student leaders that don't seem "all in?"  Are there budget cut-backs that are going to have a negative impact?  Big things happening on campus?  Are there big changes happening within student or professional leadership?  This question establishes potential roadblocks between your starting point and desired end point.  Any one of them has the potential to sideline you and your ministry.
5. What's it going to take?  Realistically, what's it going to take to get from where you are to where you feel led to be in the end?  Do you have the right leadership in place to help you get there?  Do you have the right self/soul-care habits and space established for your ongoing pursuit of Jesus?  Are your students ready for what you've got planned?  This question is your gut check.  If you can answer YES to being up for whatever it's going to take... then proceed with everything you've got!

Ministry with college students is such an adventure!  Different from year to year, semester to semester, month to month, week to week, day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute... and student to student!

We must continually and prayerfully take the intentional steps that will move us (our ministry and students) towards the goal(s) that God has set before us.  We must be ever-aware of how the Spirit is leading and flexible to changes that might be asked or needed along the way.

"Our ministry" is really God's ministry... as faithful servants we are called to come under His leadership and into alignment with what He's already at work doing in that place.

God's grace and peace to you at the start of a new school year! 

Getting student leaders to commit

Is it just me, or does it seem like it's getting harder and harder to get student leaders to commit to, and follow through with, an extended leadership role?

In our consumer-driven society (and campuses), it should come as no surprise to us that more and more students are finding it easier and easier to jump from one thing to the next... one leadership role to the next... without much thought given to how their choices will impact the contexts and relationships that are left behind for the next best thing.

Today is our second day of campus-wide leadership training on campus. More than 300 leaders representing: Welcome Week staff, Residence Life, University Ministries, Student Activities, SGA and have come back early to experience common and area-specific training. Our theme for the past few years for this leadership initiative known as Week1 has been: One Spirit, One Purpose.

Thus far it appears that a common thread of the messages given, and conversations had, have been "commitment" related. I think this is a MUCH needed theme to be covered with our student leaders. In fact, I'll be co-presenting a workshop today with a colleague from our Student Affairs office, that will focus on what we can learn about leadership from one of the most significant commitments we can make: marriage.

The connections we want students to takeaway?

Marriage (and leadership):

• needs to be viewed as a calling
  
• is an unfolding process
• requires preparation and ongoing attention to growth and development
• requires commitment, accountability and responsibility
  
• needs to be grounded in faith and fueled by the life-giving love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ
  
• is an opportunity to give yourself away... to something bigger than yourself
  
• is not for everyone

The harsh reality that 50% of marriages end in divorce can also tell us something about what we might expect from our student leaders in the year ahead. For too many reasons to count, some legitimate - many others not so much, close to half of our students will likely not have the kind of positive leadership experience that they had anticipated. They will find themselves overextended, frustrated, overwhelmed, under-supported, under-appreciated and unfulfilled...

Or they might just find themselves bored, tired, or simply more interested in something new.

When they leave, for good or bad reasons, the void that they leave will be felt... and that void has the potential to leave a debilitating wake of ruin in the aftermath.

The reality is that life will happen, even to the best of our leaders, and they will need to step away from their role to deal with it... and we need to support them when that happens!

But for the increasing number of student leaders that seem to find it all to easy to just flake out on their responsibility as a leader within your ministry, we must begin to have more intentional conversations with them, from the very beginning, about what it means to commit to a leadership position.

It might not be as important as the wedding vows that many will one day make, but learning how to be young people who are more responsible, accountable and willing to follow through with commitments that they make can only serve them well in life... both now and later.

At the end of our workshop(s) today we will give students the opportunity to write their leadership vows - the things that they want to be about and commit to this year... and then we will charge them to see their vows through to completion.

Student leaders - the heartbeat of our ministry efforts and the future leaders of our world - what a high calling to be involved in their lives and their development as the next generation of faithful leaders in the world!

How do you get student leaders to commit? I'd love to hear about it!

Grace and peace to you as your work with student leaders this day!

Day 4 of 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry

the temptations of old wineskins

How was your summer?

Have you thought about that question? It's an important one for all of us who work in the field of campus ministry to sit with...

Why?

Because we are about to start a new year with students... whether we're ready or not!

My summer was not what I had anticipated... The long and short of it is that we sold our home almost nine weeks ago, and were supposed to close on the purchase of a new one on that same day... but for mold-related reasons, we did not... and have have been "on the road" ever since.

We are slated to close on the purchase of our "new" new home at the end of this month... all in all it will be 71 days on the road.

Nope, not a part of MY plan.

What was supposed to be the "summer of Guy" has been an exhausting two plus months of staying in the homes of friends who were on vacation, or traveling to stay with family...

Definitely NOT the summer I had dreamed of back in May. Oh how we cherish, and NEED, our summers as campus ministers.

Can you relate?

Do you find yourself at the onset of a new academic year feeling tired... already?!?

I was reminded on my commute to campus this morning that, regardless of whether or not I'm ready, student leadership training starts today - all other students will be moving back to campus on Saturday - and classes will begin one week from today.

No how matter how hard I might pray, I don't think there's anything I can do to put off the start of this new year.

My fear is that I might be tempted, in my tired-state, to put this year's wine into last year's old wineskins... to put a new twist on an old message... to rely on the things that have worked in the past, with past students, and reuse them with the new...

This is a danger that we must fight against! This is a new year, many of our students will be new students, and they NEED and DESERVE a fresh breath!

I'm thankful that in times of weakness (even as ministers) we have a God who says, Come to me and find rest. Come to me with your burdens. Remember, MY power is made perfect in [your] weakness.

Today, let us remember to pray for one another and the work we are collectively doing in the power of the Holy Spirit! Let us lean into Jesus for strength and perseverance in these transitional weeks of our year. May God be glorified both in us, and through us, as this new year begins!

Grace and peace

Day 3 of 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry

The Church and the Campus

We need to recognize that we are on the same team!

It's high time that all of us involved in ministry stop working against one another and start working with each other... towards the same end - the spiritual formation and redemption of those that God brings our way!

While some of us may be already approach ministry in this way... I think there are far too many of us that do not.

Instead of seeing each other as brothers and sisters - co-laborers in the field - we see each other as competition... or even worse, the enemy!

Of these failing relationships, one falls more heavy on me...

It's the rifts between the Church and para-church and/or campus-based ministries that reach out to the millions of college-aged students around the world.

We must begin see our collective work as the stewardship of souls that God brings into our company... and what starts in the Church, at some point - in many instances, needs to get passed on to the campus.

Students who move off to campus can really struggle to connect with a local church in the midst of this great transition.

Campus ministries are in the strategic position to step in at this point and help students to find their feet - physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Now please, do not hear me advocating for campus ministry involvement at the expense of finding a new church home... because that's not what I'm doing!

However, what we offer on campus is something that is designed to meet the unique and specific needs of college students, while also pointing them towards the local church!

We want them involved in both!!

We see ourselves as missionaries - to a unique and specific field - and hope to connect with students as they enter a new environment filled with new people and new ideas.

The critical college years are often when students make decisions about faith - whether or not they believe what their parents and/or pastors taught them, as well as how central it's going to be to how they live their life.

These really are CRITICAL years!!

Ultimately, as campus ministers, we hope that after our students leave our campus... they take their campus ministry and "new" local church experience and translate them into new levels of commitment and involvement in the local church... wherever God might take them.

Friends and colleagues in the Church... we need you to see us as your eyes and ears on campus... we need your support, encouragement and prayer.

We need your friendship and respect.

Know that you have ours!

Grace and peace

Day 2 of 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry

preparing the next generation of leaders

With just a couple of days before our student leaders return to campus, I find myself thinking about the importance of the task at hand:

preparing the next generation of leaders to be the men and women that God desires them to be.

What an important task!

No, not a task to be completed and checked off a 'to-do' list, but an ongoing task to be invested in over the course of all of the years that we have with these students!

Yes, a significant part of our ministry is to the masses, but I would dare say that the most critical part of the work that we do comes in the training and equipping of student leaders.

How large a role to student leaders play in your ministry on campus?!

In today's student culture, I believe that student leaders are one of the greatest assets to successful ministry on campus!

• They have a trusted voice among their peers
• They have unlimited access to people and place we don't
  
• They have the ability to speak most clearly to their generation
• They often have a contagious passion
• They have a greater understanding of one another

We need to utilize these key students that really want to make a difference!

So how do we equip them?

I think there are a number of areas that we need to address with student leaders - not only during times of training, but throughout the year as a way of reminding them of the importance of the ministry they have. Some key areas I believe we need to focus on are:

• The mission of your ministry - the need to learn why you/they do what you do.
  
• How the work you/they do fits into the greater work of God, the Church and the University - they need to see the connections beyond your ministry.
  
• Soul care and self-care of the leader - they need to learn the importance of how to be healthy as a leader and why.
  
• What it means to be both accountable and responsible - these are two areas that most of today's student culture seem to shy away from... we need to help them learn the significance of both of these areas... not just for their work with us, but for life in general!
  
• Time management - another oft neglected area that will benefit them now, and later in life, as well as your ministry efforts together.
  
• Specific skills necessary for the specific area of ministry they are leading in - passion and Christian commitment don't necessarily translate into good leadership... we need to help them learn in areas that they might not yet have experience.

While student leaders are essential to the work and mission of campus/college ministry, their role as a student leader is one of the greatest contexts I know of for their ongoing spiritual formation and leadership development as a college students!

What do you think?

How significant is student leadership?

How do you train and equip students to be leaders within your campus ministry?

Let's keep the conversation going!

Who is your pastor?

One of the essentials of anyone doing campus/college ministry - serving as a pastor to so many on campus - is finding a nurturing, life-giving pastor that we can bring ourselves under.

It's called leading up.

And if you're anything like me... this can be something that is too often overlooked because of how busy we get serving and investing in the lives of others.

This practice of "leading up" is one that involves us as pastors bringing ourselves under the care, support, encouragement, accountability and blessing of one that is older, wiser, more experienced and solely interested in our success a fellow minister of the gospel!

Hopefully this includes a mentor in our field of campus ministry... it really needs to!

But it most definitely should also include the pastor at your local/home church!

Now, if you're ministry is a church-based ministry, this will be both easy and complex.  For you, the challenge has less to do with brining yourself under your pastor's leadership, and more to do with how safe you feel brining up absolutely everything to this person that also serves as your supervisor/employer.

For those of us that minister from outside of the local church - in campus or para-church settings - our need to be worshiping in the local church, under the care and leadership of a pastor that we respect and are willing to hear from, is paramount!

We cannot justify skipping out on the local church because of "all that we do throughout the week on campus..."

We cannot justify skipping out on worshiping in the local church because of the campus worship events that we lead or participate in...

We cannot justify not being a part of a local church congregation because we cannot find one that "fits" with everything we believe or desire...

We cannot justify it because we need it, our students need to see us in it, the local church needs it... and God requires it!

• Who's your pastor?
  
• How do you lead up?

• How significant do you believe this to be?  Does the amount of time you give to it congruent with how important you believe it to be?
  
• What changes do you need to make?
  

Leading up is an essential for the work that we do because it so significantly shapes the people we are becoming.

re-creation

Saturday's posts will be about recreation...

Re-creating ourself - away from the office...

Workaholism is a terrible disease that plagues our country, our families, our health, and yes, even our ministers.

In my first year of ministry i received two of the best pieces of advice regarding my work, and longevity, as a minister...

1. You should NEVER work more than 2 0f the 3 time periods of the day.  If you know you're going to be out in the evening, than arrange to come in late... or be out in the afternoon.  Plan your calendar accordingly!
   
2. There is ALWAYS more ministry to be done... if you plan to stay "at the office" until it's all done then you'll never end up going home.

As ministers we NEED to have a life outside of the work that we do on campus!  

• We need to spend time with family and/or friends.
• We need to engage in the delight of a hobby.
• We need to take care of non-work related tasks that often get pushed to the side when we're in the midst of "doing ministry."
• We need to be with people who fill us up... as most of our work on campus involves us pouring ourselves out into the lives of others.

At the end of a week packed full of ministry, we NEED to be willing to spend some time caring for ourselves... so that when "Monday" rolls around (I recognize that "Mondays" and "weekends" happen at different times of the week depending on where and how we do ministry) we'll be ready for a new week of investing in the lives of students!

So how do you re-create?

What are the life-giving, non-ministry related, activities that you spend time doing on the weekends?

Do you struggle to disconnect yourself from campus?  If so, why?

I love what I do on campus, just like you... but over the course of time I have come to realize that without the proper attention to certain areas of my life as a minister... like intentionally stepping away from campus on Saturdays to care for myself in some significant ways, the recipe for burnout and/or moral failure is much less likely to present itself.

We have to remember that God won't leave campus just because we do... 

In fact, He's a lot more likely to use us if we are refreshed and ready after we've joined Him in re-creating ourselves!

a 21st C. way of looking at the 4 spiritual laws

i realize that evangelism - sharing our faith with others - serving as a witness to what God has done in our lives - or whatever you might call it, can be an intimidating thing...

and while there's no substitute for sitting down with someone you have a growing relationship with and sharing the evidence of God at work in your life, sometimes it can help to have some other things to draw on...

check out this great illustration put out by James Choung in conjunction with InterVarsity.

as posted on YouTube, Material adapted from "True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In" and "Based on a True Story," both published through InterVarsity Press.

part 1



part 2



what do you think?

how would the college students you know respond to something like this?

have you come across any other creative ways of sharing the good news of the Gospel with college students?

i'd love to read your thoughts...

let's keep the conversation going!

extending a hand across campus

with just a week left before students begin to return to campus, it's time to start crossing off some of those "to-do's" from our list...

for all of us involved in campus ministry, whether we serve on the campus or from off-site, one of the most important things we can do to further the reach of our ministry is to establish important partnerships with key individuals on the campus/es we serve.

university life is interesting...

during the summer months, when campus is quiet and minds are a bit more clear, we have grand thoughts of new endeavors and partnerships... but too often too little effort or energy as we are recovering from the year of ministry that was...

and as the new academic year looms ever-closer... what once was just a dream of what "could be" has the chance to be easily pushed off the table because of what seems more urgent in our final days of preparations...

but i ask:

is there anything more important, more valuable, then new and growing relationships with people on and around campus?

as people who minister to college students we need to be in their world... and known by those in that world that will long outlast our students - namely, the faculty and staff.

to have a well-respected faculty and/or staff speak highly of you/your ministry, to advocate for you in the presence of other fac/staff/students, to point students your direction, etc., is one of things that can strengthen and grow your ministry the most from one year to the next!

conversely, it doesn't take too many faculty, staff or students for that matter, talking badly about you or your ministry to bring it crumbling to the ground!

finding ways to partner with different campus figures for different ministry initiatives can serve to add legitimacy (in the eyes of some on campus) to what you're doing, as well as new levels of breadth and depth to what you are offering.

recognizing the season of life (the university years) that the people we serve (college students) are in needs to shape how we do ministry... how we approach them!

we need to be advocates of education, higher education, the learning process, the role of faculty and staff in the educational and formational process of students...

and we hope, and pray, that they become that for us!

i believe that God desires for us to see one another (campus ministers and the institution) as partners - and not adversaries - in the formation of students during the critical college years...

what do you think?

what challenges do you face in this area?

let's keep the dialogue going...

how do you retreat?

maybe a better question to start with is: do you retreat?

i'm in charge of our staff retreat happening tomorrow and am reminded of just how important this time can be... always... but especially as a new academic year is about to begin!

if you're not in the practice of setting aside time to retreat - really retreat... not a planning session/s under the guise of retreat, but time for you to sit (still) and be with God, let me strongly encourage you to start now!

as minsters on campus, with young people who are experiencing some of the most formational years of their lives, what we model will leave a much deeper impression that we realize!

not to mention that our students are much more inclined to 'do' what they see us do as opposed to what we say.

but i digress...

creating space

although i've only been blogging since mid-march of this year... i've really taken to it.

it's almost become a spiritual discipline of sorts.

i find it a great space for me to reflect on what's happening in my life and what i think i see God doing in my midst...

although i have a personal blog i was challenged yesterday to consider a new venue...

one that would explore (hopefully with others) campus ministry and the lives of those who are called into this unique field.

the catalyst?

a great coffee conversation with Benson Hines - a HUGE advocate for campus ministry - and i was convinced that i needed to join with him in seeing the field that we are both so committed to, and passionate about, continue to further in its development.

neither one of us are quite sure what we have to offer... but we're both willing to do whatever we can...

in 12 years i've served on 4 different campuses, representing 3 different denominations, and have had the pleasure of working with a host of great people while seeing ministry done in a number of different ways.

i hope this blog will be more than just a space for me to reflect on what i've learned and am learning...

i hope it will become a space that campus ministers around the globe will choose to visit, find encouragement from, share their wisdom through, and grow in our interconnectedness to one another as we serve the mission of Christ in the unique environment that is the university campus.

may this space be a place where God speaks to and through all who might choose to visit!

thanks in advance to all who will add to this space and the work of God all around the world.