Faith ON Campus

We've Moved

2010-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hello?

Hellooooo....

Is anybody here?

Where is everybody...

Hey!

What are you doing here???

Well... uh, I... Where is everybody???

There not here!

Not here?

No, there not here.

Where'd they go?

Moved!

Moved?

Yeah! Moved out.

Where?

I don't know... heard something about faithoncampus.com...

faithoncampus.com?

Yeah! What is yah... hard a hearing or something??? Geesh!

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The conversation has moved... come check out the new site at http://faithoncampus.com/

Hope to see you there!

How Do You Decide?

2010-07-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

How do you make decisions that shape your ministry with students?

More specifically, how do you decide what to speak on from week to week? Semester to semester? Year to year?

Is there some method to the madness?

Have you developed a 'rotation' of sorts that maps out a 4-year cycle of topics/themes that you hope to expose students to during the course of their years on campus. Or do you take a more flexible, let's see how the Spirit is leading - or the campus is trending - kind of approach?

Although I've been engaged in campus ministry for 13 years now, I'm pretty much a rookie when it comes to speaking in front of large groups of students...

To be honest with you, I've actually been on the run from this aspect of 'the job' for a number of years now. Not feeling 'equipped' or 'gifted' in the ways I thought I needed to be. But a couple of years ago I sensed God asking me to 'step up to the plate' and into this important role on our campus. That's actually how I got into blogging and tweeting... a way of beginning to find my voice and put my thoughts out there for others...

So last year I took my first stab at it and it seemed to go OK.

As I begin to look at the years ahead, and how God might want to work over the course of a student's stay with us, I find myself wondering which direction to go. How do I decide what to speak - not just this semester, but for the next several semesters to come?

What do you think?

How do you make decisions about what to speak on?
Do you have a 4-year plan or cycle? Or do you prefer to 'check the pulse' of the campus from semester to semester and plan your speaking schedule accordingly? Or is it some combination of these two?
What are some of the themes that you want your students to be exposed to during their time with your ministry?

Thanks, as always, for joining the conversation!

Practicing What You Preach

2010-07-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Do you ever struggle to practice what you preach? I do.

As people who work with college students we often find ourselves asking them tough questions, thinking with them about the ways they think and/or approach their life and even challenge them to consider important changes that might dramatically impact the way they live.

One of the biggest challenges today's student struggles with is waiting... They've grown up in an instant society and are not used to hearing the words 'not yet.' In many ways 'no' is more of a relief than 'not yet' simply because the issue at hand can be quickly put to rest. But 'not yet' involves waiting... the issue remains open, without resolution, pending...

And it's one thing for students to wait on the decision of a parent, professor, classmate, roommate, co-worker or friend... but it's a whole other thing to have to wait on God. They know they can follow-up with, pester or event stalk members of the aforementioned classifications... but when it comes to God, they're not quite sure where that 'line in the sand' is... so they're often forced to wait.

And the same is true of us.

One of our ministries has had some major changes in the works for close to 8 months now... and SO much of it has required waiting on God for the details. As the start of the new school year has begun to creep closer and closer, it's grown harder and harder to wait patiently. Much like the students I serve, I've desired to go out and 'make things happen' this summer. But I haven't.

~~I've learned~~ I'm still learning to wait. But because I have experienced God's provision, in His timing, I know that waiting is totally worth it!

This has been such a BIG thing to NOT do something with... while waiting and praying, praying and waiting... SO, when God revealed a couple of MAJOR pieces to this puzzle yesterday you can imagine how elated I was! And it served as such a powerful reminder to me of how much God loves us, knows what we're going through and desires to provide for us as we wait on Him.

How about you?

Are there areas where you are challenged to practice what you preach?
What message do you find most challenging to live out yourself?
What stories of 'great provision' do you have to share?

Please share some of your story in the comments section below.

Grace and peace!

[Attempting to Become] All Things to All People

2010-07-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

Do you ever read the Bible and find yourself being totally challenged by something you find? If you read the same Bible I do than I would imagine your answer would have to be yes... at least every once in a while!

In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians he talks of 'becoming all things to all people for the sake of the gospel.' His desire was to do whatever it took to win people for Christ... and I find myself wondering how well do I reflect this desire and attitude? If I'm honest, I'd probably have to say - not very well and not very often.

My reality is that I often want God to use me just as I am... so that I don't have to move from my place of comfort and do something that stretches me beyond what feels natural and safe.

A good example of this is a current restructuring project of one of our weekly worship services. For the past few years we've taken an approach that has felt natural and been very comfortable - for me... but it hasn't been as well received as we would have hoped. This has caused our team to do some intentional assessment of this program (among others), and to re-exegete our campus, to assure that what we are offering our students is actually inline with where they are at (more so than where we might want them to be - right now).

Paul never said anything about reaching 'them' to leave them in that place... in fact, his intentions were quite clear. He desired to win them to Christ! To bring them to the place where he was... again, I hear his call to, "follow me as I follow Christ!"

Paul went where he had to go, and did what he had to do, in order to win people for Christ. Am I willing to do the same? Even if it means living in an uncomfortable place? Doing uncomfortable things?

Are you?

I'd love to hear what you think.

In what ways does your position challenge you to be 'someone you're not'?
How regularly are you willing to go outside of what's comfortable?
What are you willing to do in order to win students for Christ?

Thanks, in advance, for sharing.

Cats, Kittens, Helicopters & College Students

2010-07-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

I have to confess to you... I'm not a pet person. I learned at a fairly young age that I am VERY allergic to most cats and dogs - which was fine in the pet-free home I grew up in, but it did make for challenging sleep-overs as a kid.

Of course, I ended up marrying a pet-person... isn't that always the way it happens? My wife has been very understanding for most of our first 10 years of marriage. This past winter, however, her parents asked if they could drop off their "outdoor" cat for the winter. Having just moved "out to the country" I felt obliged to create some space for this "outdoor" animal.

While we found ways to make it work during the winter months, you can imagine the shock and horror I experienced as I learned this cat had become pregnant during the active spring months. Sure, the new kittens she produced were cute and all, but there was no way I was going to become a cat person.

Why am I sharing all of this? Great question. And I promise there's a connection to campus ministry coming...

I experienced my first redeeming quality in cats just the other day. I learned that somewhere around the 6-8 week stage of life the mother cat will attempt to lead her kittens away. Yes, abandon them. Instinctively she knows that they are now, more or less, able to fend for themselves and she is more than ready to allow them to make their own way in the world.

This got me to thinking about today's Parent... and the struggle or tension that seems to lie within regarding the separation that happens when they drop their student off on our campuses. It would seem that everyone involved in the equation: parents, students and college administrators all believe that a transition is about to happen, should happen - now 18 years in the making - but for many it doesn't...

In most cases parents will indeed leave campus (although I have heard stories of parents getting hotel rooms close to campus and hanging around for the first several weeks of a new year... just in case they are needed). But with all of the technological advances we benefit from today, parents are now able to be more connected and more involved in their students lives, on campus, than ever before. ~~And I think~~ it's hurting our students. I know it is.

On the heels of our new student orientation, as my eyes now look towards the horizon of the end of the summer and the start of new academic year, I find myself wondering if there's some way we can begin to change this cultural tide. Is there a way we can communicate with parents and students about the need to first, recognize those internal indicators that are pointing towards change - a new way of living - and second, encourage them to fight the urge to resist this new, natural transition and live into that change?

What do you think?

Do you see this issue on your campus? In your ministry? What are the signs you see?
Do you currently address this issue on your campus? With parents? With students?
If you had the chance to address families as they were entering your campus community, what would you want to communicate to them in regards to this specific issues?

Thanks, as always, for sharing your insight!

Grace and peace.

Competing Missions

2010-07-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last Monday my post centered on the question: Are we the local church OR an arm reaching on to the campus?

One of the big reasons I tend to believe that we are an 'arm', and not the local church, is because of the context - and more specifically - who controls it.

Campus ministry is, to a certain extent, subject to the academic institution. Unlike the local church, campus ministries will have to - again, to a certain extent, play by a certain set of rules... that they have no say in creating. Whether it is an institutionally-based ministry on a Christian campus, or a para-church or church-based ministry that reaches out to any given campus; all will have to shape their mission and ministry to fit within the larger mission and communal guidelines of the campus community (or run the risk of being banned from campus).

The mission of the university - Christian or non - will first and foremost be the mind of the student and adequately preparing and equipping the student for work in the world. The faith background of the institution likely describes what approach they will take... or from what background their faculty and staff will come, and may even be central to shaping the ethos and decision-making within the institution. But at the end of the day, students are paying lots of money to earn a degree so they can get a job (of course we hope they see it as being trained and equipped to live out the call that God places on their lives... but for most students it will be a long process in getting them to that point).

The local church does not have to deal with this. The mission of the local church, is not subject to an institution that does not have loving God and loving others as its central mission. Whether your local church operates independent of any governing body, or not, the ultimate goal will likely be very similar - a house of worship filled with believers who are intentionally becoming the men and women that God desires for them to be and reaching outside themselves in loving service to others (or something like that). Right?!

What do you think?

How big of an impact does the institution you serve, or reach out to, have on your mission and how you go about accomplishing your mission?
Is our mind-set and/or approach on campus any different from what is held and/or expressed in the local church? Should it be?

I'd love to know what you think!

Back To School 'Blog-A-Thon'

2010-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

With the new school year just around the corner I thought it might be a good time to come together for some collective thinking and sharing about the work we do in the form of a 'blog-a-thon' (sorry, I'm no good with coming up with creative names...).

Over the course of 3 days [Aug. 3-5] we'll have the chance to hear from a number of professionals in the college and campus ministry world - and others who have particular interest and/or insight into our work with college students - in the form blog posts and the dialog that ensues.

More information about specific 'back to school' themes and contributors to come... but wanted to get this in front of you so you could begin to make plans to 'attend' and engage in what will hopefully be the first, of many, 'blog-a-thons' to come (and if you have any ideas for a more creative name... please feel free to pass that along!).

Please help to spread the word about this event... I'm a firm believer in the fact that we've all got something to learn AND contribute... which is what I really like about a 'blog-a-thon' format.

I'm also working on a new website that should be set in time to host this event... so stay tuned for more details regarding that as well!

Grace and peace to you as you head into the holiday weekend!

Ideas for July

2010-07-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's July.

For most of us this marks the halfway point of our summer... and if you've not been too serious about utilizing your summer 'downtime' to prepare for the upcoming year thus far... all is not lost.

But, it does probably mean that upon your return from the 4th of July holiday weekend it will be time to get down to some serious business.

Here are a few thoughts on how to make good use of the month of July:: please share your additional ideas, thoughts and comments in the comments section below!

Assessment - if you haven't done any intentional assessment of your ministry efforts from the past year, now is the time. If we want our ministry efforts in the upcoming year to be fruitful, and tracking in the right direction, assessment is a necessity. I wrote a couple of posts on this topic here, here and here based on a day-long conversation I was a part of at the Summer Institute from Campus Ministry a couple of weeks ago.
Take a vacation - I know I just said "GET TO WORK!" But if you've not yet taken some time to get off campus, and away with family or friends, than now is the time to do it. You don't want to start the new year tired and depleted.
Attend a retreat or conference - There are still a number of good opportunities out there to connect with peers and professionals while you further prepare and equip yourself for the work God has called you to in the upcoming year.
Spend some extra time at home - I will always be a fan of this... especially when students are away. There's no time like the present to invest in the most important of relationships we have with the people we love.
Soul Care - we cannot take people places we are not ourselves. Finding someone/s who can invest in us, as ministers, is critical to our success and sanity as we prepare for another year of pouring ourselves out into the lives of students.

Connect with your team - if you're not already, it's probably time to start meeting with your team with some more intention and purpose. Making plans for student leader training, connecting with new students during orientation and the first weeks of school, as well as mapping out your fall semester will be important in setting the stage for a good start to the new academic year. Consider a staff retreat as a way of reconnecting and beginning the new year of ministry on a united front.
Connect with other key ministry partners - Sure up your plans and partnerships for the year. Taking the initiative to do this now, as opposed next month - when we'll be running around madly trying to get things ready for the return of students - is one way to make August a little more peaceful.
Map out the rest of your summer - Most of us have about 6 weeks left to our summer. In order to make the most of our time it will be important to map out what we need to do, and when we need to do it. I'm not a big "lists" guy, but for the sake of "starting well," I will be for the next several weeks!

As I said at the beginning of June, the summer months provide us some much needed space for rest and 'uninterrupted' work. I believe that God calls us all to be good stewards of this 'off season' on campus. And I hold to it!

How will you utilize the month ahead?

The Problem With Being Present With My Family

2010-06-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

| Guest Post | Nathan Foster |

I love my family.

I can’t begin to describe the intimate connection I feel when I think of my kids. I never knew I could love this much.

Yet I’m not really a very good father. Can I admit that I’m easily distracted and often get bored when I hang out with my kids? In spite of my persistent desire to wake them up at night because I miss them, in spite of the butterflies I get when I stare at them, sometimes I can’t handle more the 15 minutes of running around the park or playing hide and seek.

I often wonder what is wrong with me that after a couple of hours of watching my kids I’m anxious to run away.

I’m sure it doesn’t help that it seems like I always have work to do and my schedule is so flexible that I can almost always take time off. Or, that I’ve become horribly addicted to technology. I hold in my pocket the wonders of the Internet, emails, and texts. At any given moment I’m only seconds away from a hit of global communication. So I trade the absurdity of reading a twitter feed for gazing at the wonder of childhood and the insatiable laugh of my children.

I’m not writing today to judge myself, but rather explore some solutions. I don’t have much but a couple of simple ideas.

Rather than trying to be Super Dad for half a day, if I take small bits of time it’s easier. Can I be really present for the next ten or thirty minutes?
Do activities that we both enjoy (reading, trampoline, biking) instead of always trying to engage in intimidating imaginative play.
Leave the phone and computer alone.

I wonder what others do to stay engaged with their families?

You got any ideas for me?

===============
Nathan Foster is assistant professor of social work at Spring Arbor University (Spring Arbor, Michigan). He has been a counselor and founded/directed Door of Hope Counseling (Arvada, Colorado). He is married and has two children. Nathan is also the author of Wisdom Chaser (Intervarsity Press - April 2010). You can keep up with what Nathan is working on at www.nathanfosterprojects.com. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also reach him at wisdom[dot]chaser[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Online Spiritual Formation [?]

2010-06-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

While the origins of the internet reach back to the 1960s, I was in college when it came of age (mid 90s). Life was different back then. Computers on campus were in labs, not dorm rooms (or laps), and there was typically a time limit posted on bulky, green-screen computer monitors that stated how long you could "surf online" if someone was waiting to use a computer for classwork. It's amazing how different campus feels only 15 years later...

Today, our students live online. And if we're not finding ways to effectively reach them -- in that place -- than we may be missing out!

All of the social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) are important tools for us to integrate into our work with college students -- no doubt! -- but what if we could do more?

What if we could actually help students to grow spiritually in their virtual world -- connecting that virtual world, of course, to the real world in some concrete, specific and intentional ways? What if it could also give you, as the shepherd of the flock, important information about your flock and:

the ways they learn,
experience God,
are wired (personality profiles),
are "progressing" or "maturing" (through regular assessment)

would you be interested?

I had the chance to be a part of a great time of dreaming and brainstorming with the co-founders of Monvee - a fairly new online tool designed to assist and direct the spiritual formation efforts of its' users. We're talking with them about the possibilities of using it on our campus... and how that might look... and how God might choose to use something like this to radically re/shape the collegiate experience here ( you can read about a disturbing 'Well-Curve' Trend I've noticed on our campus over the past few years) and on campuses around the world.

I'm still getting familiar with all that Monvee might be able to offer our students, but in a nutshell, it appears to offer them (and us):

a personal assessment including, among other things, a snapshot of where they currently find themselves spiritually,
a personal "plan" for their ongoing spiritual formation, which takes into consideration their personality type, preferred learning styles, available resources on and around campus, upcoming activities and opportunities on campus (a cool feature allowing churches and ministries to personalize the tool),
follow up assessment as months or years go by, or individuals sense a need for a change in the plan, and
access to statistical information that would take us days and days to compile pertaining to the spiritual 'temperature' of our campus community and specific updates on individuals.

I confess, that even as a right this, some of it sounds a little "big brother-ish," but it also seems to hold incredible potential for reaching students, and helping them grow spiritually, during some of the most formative years of their life.

What do you think?

Would you make use of a tool like this? Would your students?
What do you think the biggest benefit might be to using something like this for your students? For you?
Are there any concerns to consider in utilizing a tool like this?

Thanks for joining the conversation and sharing your insight and wisdom!

Are We the Local Church OR an Arm Reaching On to the Campus?

2010-06-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

I love campus ministry! There's no doubt in my mind that this is what God has created me for... It's such a unique context for ministry; walking alongside young people during some of the most formative years of their lives.

But I've recently been challenged in the way I think about the work I (we) do on campus.

For quite some time I've believed that our work with college students - in the form of campus ministry - is not meant to replace a students' involvement in a local church, only supplement it.

I've thought that what we provide students is something that's specifically designed to meet them where they're at in life - a contextualized ministry. Amidst some incredible life transition, as students are being prepared and equipped to go out into the world and make a difference, we get to come alongside them and:

encourage them to love God and others,
challenge them to make their faith their own,
create space for them to grow and nurture a biblical world view, and
model for them ways to live into Kingdom priorities and responsibilities.

All of this gets to happen on campus... right where students do the majority of their living, relating and recreating.

But is it enough?

Or maybe the better question is, should it be enough?

Should we be content with students to be involved with our ministries alone, to the exclusion of connecting with a local church off-campus?
Do our ministries provide everything the local church does? Should it?
Are we short-circuiting students relationship with the Church if we require all of their love and allegiance to our ministries during their formative years on campus?

More to come on this later in the week, but for now... What do you think?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and contributing to the conversation!

An Honest Assessment

2010-06-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

In two previous posts on assessment, Satisfying Work [?] and 3 Steps to More Satisfying Work, I shared a few points of conversation from my time at the Summer Institute for Campus Ministry (SICM). This particular day our focus was on assessment, and while there was so much we covered, there is one more point I want to raise here before changing gears next week.

Do we need to teach our students how to 'examine' or 'assess' their lives?

In my two previous posts the focus was on assessing our work - our programs and approaches - and even our ability to recognize/discern/assess spiritual growth and formation in the lives of our students - based on what we are able to observe. But in our conversation we were quickly reminded of our limitations here in the fact that we cannot know the hearts of others.

Students can learn the 'language' of spiritual formation and growth, but this may simply serve to mask what is lacking on the inside.

Can our students really give an 'honest' assessment of themselves? Or will they only deceive themselves in order to portray the 'me' they want others to see? As we learn to better assess ourselves, our programs and our overall ministry efforts, we must be willing to take the process one step further to teach our students about how to 'assess' or 'examine' their lives.

How do we do this? Well, I'm not sure exactly... but here are a few ideas I have:

We talk about it. In our large group times, our small group meetings and even our one-on-one conversations. We help students to understand our need for self-examination -- not in some hyper-critical, perfectionist sort of way, but in a way that allows God - and others - to speak in love and honesty - to what they see. And we collectively ask the Spirit to help them (and us) to hear truth and being to be able to recognize and discern the realities of our lives.
We model it. As pastors, ministers, student leaders, volunteers and parents -- we must live lives that are held up to the light of Christ. If we're not modeling it (an open and honest life of self-assessment and seeking hard after God) than we should not expect our students to practice this kind of life either.
We create space for students to do it. Self-assessment and examination is not natural for our culture. The lives we lead are so fast, and forward thinking, that we leave little to no space to consider where we've been, what we've done and what God might be wanting to teach us from it all. Whether in intentional conversations, times of instruction, or retreat, we must help students into this process by creating space for it to happen.

I recognize that some of this may feel a bit to empirical or sterile, but I believe it comes back to the issues of stewardship and accountability. Jesus invites us to be 'co-laborers' with Him in the growing of our faith. If we never pause for intentional times of assessment and examination then how will we ever really know where we are or where we need to go?

What do you think?

What wisdom to you have to share with the rest of us that might help us all to better prepare and equip students to give an 'honest assessment' of themselves?

Thanks, as always for furthering the conversation!

3 Steps to More Satisfying Work

2010-06-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

What does the word 'assessment' do for you?

My guess would be that it evokes one of two responses: 1) you become giddy at the thought of a deep and thorough examination of pertinent data, calculating results and determining important 'next steps' (less common - it has to be!), OR 2) your pulse begins to race, your stomach begins to turn, and you suddenly feel like your at the bottom of a 14,000 foot mountain with neither the equipment nor the expertise to attempt the climb (more common - especially for the relational-types that make up a large percentage of the ministerial population).

While I don't think I'll ever LOVE the idea of assessment, I do think it's important. Very important. And although "success" is a hard thing to measure when it comes to the spiritual formation of students - and/or a campus culture - I think there are some ways we can (and should) attempt assessment in our work with college students.

In my post this past Tuesday, I introduced you to Ken & JoAnn Badley who I met at the Summer Institute for Campus Ministry (SICM) last week. They were keenly aware of 1) the kind of struggle it is for many of us in campus ministry to get excited about assessment; and 2) the challenges that are involved in trying to assess something like spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, spiritual formation and development. But, knowing that more and more organizations and institutions are requiring it, they spent the day helping us to think intentionally about how best we can work assessment into our 'regular' practices.

Here is a simple 3 step process that we were presented with:

Describe what you are doing - this can include things like relationships, service projects, worship services, student leadership development, leading a staff, etc.
Identify the criteria you will use to assess your actions - in other words, what will define "success" for you? (ie. - mature decision making in students, safe place for a diverse student population, attendance numbers, etc.). It would probably be good to identify criteria based on your organizational or institutional mission statement (or rework your mission statement to include the criteria you believe to be important).
Define the outcomes you will see that will help you to know whether you successfully met your criteria - How will you know that your event, experience, year-long exposure to your ministry met the criteria listed in #2? When you think about "looking back" on the event, or year, what are the outcomes (or fruit) you will need to see in order to believe you had accomplished your goal/s?

Assessment doesn't have to be scary. And it is necessary! The kinds of things that we can learn: about ourselves, our students and our ministry efforts are invaluable! I believe ongoing assessment ties into our responsibility as 'stewards' of the campus God has entrusted to us - not to mention those that employ us - so that we are doing the very best work we can... and ultimately finding some deep satisfaction as a result.

What do you think?

Does the idea of assessing your work excite OR paralyze you?
Do you believe assessment is necessary?
Do you have any assessment measures that you currently utilize? If so, what are they? If not, would you consider trying something like the 3 step process listed above?

Thanks, as always, for joining in on the conversation!

Starting at Home

2010-06-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

| Guest Post | Nathan Foster |

How do we know when we are loved? Is it that look of acceptance, a smile and warm embrace? Or is it when someone buys us crap we don’t need or lets us have our own way? The ultimate expression of love has to be taking a bullet for someone, losing your life so someone else can live. You know, the Jesus way. A heroic stranger sacrifices her own life to save that of a child about to be struck down by a wayward semi. Our heroine just gave the child what potential time on earth she had left so that the kid could have more. Minus the potential pain, dying for someone is giving them lots of potential time. When we share our time, is this not the pinnacle of human sacrifice?

Time lets us know that we are loved. In periods of isolation or sadness when someone shares their time, it doesn’t just mean a lot-- it means everything. The only thing I have any control over is what I do in this fleeting moment. Time, my most valuable possession is quite possibly my only real possession. (Excerpt from Wisdom Chaser).

I used to think that God wanted me to convince people to say a prayer that I didn’t really understand. I now think God wants me to love others, starting with those living in my home. My son and daughter only get one biological father and my wife only gets one first husband. I know all this, yet I still struggle to showing up and just rest in the presence of my family. I have the hardest time putting everything away and just being with them. Sometimes I think having a flexible work schedule only makes being present more difficult.

I wonder if we could share with each other about how you create space to be available to our families?

The question I’d really like help with is how do you determine when you’ve given enough?

Satisfying Work [?]

2010-06-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

If you've caught my last few posts you know that I've recently been on retreat with a bunch of campus ministers at the Summer Institute for Campus Ministry on Whidbey Island. It was good for so many reasons, and in so many ways.

Our second full day on the island was spent with Ken and Jo-Ann Badley talking about campus ministry assessment. It was a daunting task, no doubt, but they did a fantastic job covering a subject that I think we'll all agree is both significant and challenging.

Ultimately, we all want to be involved with work and ministry that is satisfying... right?! Effectiveness, and knowing that what we're actually being effective in what we're doing is important to finding true and deep satisfaction.

SO, here are a few quotes that were presented during the opening session that might serve as a springboard for some upcoming posts on assessment:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. ~ attributed to Albert Einstein

Assessment is meant to keep us from insanity - and repeating the same thing over and over again.

If something exists, it exists in some amount. If it exists in some amount it can be measured. ~ E.L. Thorndike

How does this apply to a students spiritual growth and formation?

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. ~ Albert Einstein

While I believe this to be true, I believe that those of us in [campus] ministry have used this line of thinking to avoid any kind of assessment for far too long.

What do you think?

Do you believe that satisfaction in our work is directly tied to "effectiveness"?
Is regular assessment of our work with college students important? Possible?
Do you currently have method or process for assessment built-in to your ministry? If so, what's it look like?
If you don't currently assess your work and ministry, what will it take to convince you to start doing so?

Thanks for joining the conversation!

Extreme Measures

2010-06-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

The picture to the right is of a man (yes, fully clothed) running through Death Valley.

Extreme athletes will often go to extreme measures in their training in order to be most fully prepared for their upcoming event/s. It's a part of what makes them great! Their willingness to push themselves beyond their limits - and far beyond what most of us would be willing to do - is what distinguishes them from the rest of us. We both admire them and believe them to be completely crazy.

We would love to be like them -- just without having to go through all of the hard work that it takes to become like them...

Picking back up on the theme of training students 'up in the faith' that I talked about in my post last Friday, and reflecting on some more of the teaching and conversation that occurred at the SICM (Summer Institute for Campus Ministry), I want to explore the idea of including 'extreme measures' in what we do with students.

In one of our sessions last week, Jerry Sittser painted for our group a picture of early church disciples who were put to the test. Their discipleship included 'extreme measures' in the form of widespread persecution. Following Jesus Christ was not easy, nor was it something to be taken lightly. Conversion and baptism didn't happen as we know it to today. There was a high level of intense questioning, educating and training the served to "prepare" new believers for what they were getting into. The exemplary lifestyle of the early Christians was very attractive to outsiders, but mature believers felt it necessary to make sure that would-be 'converts' knew the possibilities and realities of persecution and possibility even martyrdom before they 'committed' themselves..

Jerry compared, and contrasted, the realities of early Christians with those of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Similarly, the Desert Fathers and Mothers took their pursuit of, and obedience to, Jesus very seriously. Unlike early Christians, though, the Desert Fathers and Mothers were not met with threats of persecution and martyrdom... so they sought out their own form of it in the desert. These Christians, feeling 'untested' and 'too comfortable' in normal society; chose to seek out the challenges of fighting the devil in the desert. They would withdraw, alone, to do battle with the Devil, put their faith to the test - and to be trained up in the faith - as a way of showing their devotion to Jesus and allowing the Spirit to shape and form them in the process.

Two different, but equally incredible, examples of hardcore discipleship. And when I hold them up to what we do today with students it makes me wonder how things might need to change... I realize that, on most of our campuses, intense persecution and martyrdom are not realities - but in some parts of the world they are. For most of us, I would think, our student culture is much more like what the Desert Fathers and Mothers experienced in terms of 'cultural Christianity' and human comforts -- and they chose to withdraw from it.

So I'm left with some questions, that I now pose to you:

What lessons do you find here for those of us serving college students?
Are there 'extreme measures' that you already include in your discipleship with students? Are there some that need to be added?
Are students attracted to the 'right' kinds of things in your ministry?

Thanks for joining the conversation!

An Important Question

2010-06-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first full day at the Summer Institute for Campus Ministry.

Our focus for the day was to explore what it means to "train" people in the faith.

Our facilitator was Dr. Jerry Sittser, Professor of Theology at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.

We spent over 3 and a half hours in rich, engaged dialogue before breaking for a 2 hour lunch and some casual conversation. We came back together with Jerry for another hour and a half in the afternoon before breaking for the day (from any more "formal" engagement)... which was a welcomed departure from the inundation of information we had been on the receiving end of.

As a church historian, Jerry shared story after story from the early church Christians, as well as the desert fathers and mothers, regarding how they engaged in spiritual formation - training to be 'spiritual athletes.' It was such a rich time... and as I continue to process his message, and translate it into the context of campus ministry, I intend to post further thoughts here.

But if there was one major thought - or question - that seemed to stick out for me yesterday it was this:

There's a BIG difference between teaching and training - so how effective is our ministry at training up students in the faith?

The differences between teaching and training may, at first, appear minimal. But consider the difference between:

exposure to something vs. being able to use it
information vs. formation or transformation
mental vs. holistic
shaping cognition vs. shaping behavior

Yes, teaching is ultimately a part of training, but it's only a part of it. So, the implications of this simple question are rather profound - it may require us making simple OR even significant changes to the way/s we do ministry. But if 'changed lives' are the end result, wouldn't it be worth all of the 'extra' work that might be involved?

That's all for now, but I'll definitely spend some more time exploring the teaching vs. training approach to what we do in the days and weeks to come.

In the meantime, what do you think?

Are the difference/s between teaching and training worth being concerned about?
Are your ministries more informative or transformative?
Are you seeing students leave your ministries with changed lives, or simply changed ways of thinking?

Thanks for joining the conversation!

Towards Thin Places

2010-06-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

"God is calling you into His presence!"

This was a statement made by the worship leader last night during our opening time of worship at the Summer Institute for Campus Ministry (SICM).

He went on to confess that on more than a couple of occasions this past year he was approached by different students who would say, "I'm not sure why, but I feel like I'm supposed to tell you that God wants you to come into His presence."

Can you imagine being on the receiving end of a comment like this? How do you think you'd have received it? With excitement!? Or maybe some levels of embarrassment? Did this student know something? Did I NOT know something?

Our reality is that we do life in the thick of it. And while God exists in the thick places, just as much as He does in the thin places, we typically have a much easier time experiencing Him in those thin places.

Our ministry contexts are filled with demands, responsibilities, tasks, deadlines, opportunities, relationships, roles, etc. Our home lives are filled with much of the same. And these aren't bad things. In fact, most (if not all) of them are things that we feel called by God to give our time, energy and attention to. But they are also things that can make it harder for us to focus on God.

My time here on Whidbey Island has already served to remind me of my need to regularly get away. I need to:

daily withdraw to be in His presence
weekly practice Sabbath
monthly take a day-long retreat
get away for a few days, a few times a year, to places that refresh, rejuvenate and create space for me to intentionally and simply be in the presence of the God who made me, called me and leads me.

Most of us don't get to live in the thin places. But I am convinced that our time spent in these thin places will have a profound impact on each of us, as well as our ministries, relationships and efforts (both at work and at home).

Thin places. Do you have enough of them in your life?

Searching for Significance

2010-06-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

| Guest post | Nathan Foster |

I once heard an ultra-conservative guy who had built his ministry empire on the proselytizing of “family values” give his pseudo-retirement address. Apparently, after spending years of working at the ministry 60 to 80 hours per week, he had decided that it was time to slow down. Even at retirement, however, he seemed completely unaware of the notion that he may have spent more time focusing on his work than his own family. He was championing the value of being a workaholic.

My father and I once spent a couple of hours analyzing the lives of influential Christian men, both current and historic. With limited data, we tried to assess just how well famous people bore the name “Father.” It became clear to us that the history of evangelical men was largely a story of men who ditched their families (excerpt from Wisdom Chaser).

I’m left with a couple of questions that have been spinning in my head for years. I wonder if you be willing to help me work through them?

Is it possible to do significant work and be a family man or woman as well?
Does God ever call people to discard their familial responsibilities and not be involved in raising their kids?

===============
Nathan Foster is assistant professor of social work at Spring Arbor University (Spring Arbor, Michigan). He has been a counselor and founded/directed Door of Hope Counseling (Arvada, Colorado). He is married and has two children. Nathan is also the author of Wisdom Chaser (Intervarsity Press - April 2010). You can keep up with what Nathan is working on at www.nathanfosterprojects.com. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also reach him at wisdom[dot]chaser[at]yahoo[dot]com.

SICM and Nathan Foster

2010-06-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving later today for one of my favorite places (at least in the US) - Whidbey Island.

For the last several years the CCCU (Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities) has hosted a Summer Institute for Campus Ministry (SICM) on this quaint little island off the coast of Seattle.

Dr. Keith Anderson (President of Mars Hill Graduate School) and Rev. Bill Fischer (Dean of Christian Faith & Life at Huntington University) are the co-creators of this retreat-style spiritual formation experience and have served as co-hosts since the retreats' inception.

I have attended this event 4 or 5 times now and it always seems to be the perfect mix of instruction, conversation, activity and relaxation. The size (typically between 25 and 40 attendees) has always drawn me in as well!

This is a great place for me to be with colleagues and friends, to be renewed and encouraged in the midst of my summer, and to be challenged and shaped in some intentional ways.

This year's theme is 'Learning Spiritual Formation' and the plan is to focus on:

How we learn spiritual formation?
What is an effective way of spiritual formation that is always learning?
What elements of formation are necessary for us to learn so that we may teach?

We'll be led by the likes of:

Dr. Jerry Sittser, Professor of Theology at Whitworth University,
Dr. Jo-Ann Badley, Professor of Biblical Studies at Mars Hill Graduate School, and
Dr. Ken Badley, Director of the Doctor of Education program at George Fox University

I'm excited for the next few days and how God will be present among us. I'm praying that He will really bless my time and I hope to blog about some of my learnings on Thursday and Friday.

===============

I also wanted to take this chance to introduce Nathan Foster, to those of you who may not know him, as he will be guest-posting here the next 3 Wednesdays.

Nathan is assistant professor of social work at Spring Arbor University (Spring Arbor, Michigan). He has been a counselor and founded/directed Door of Hope Counseling (Arvada, Colorado). He is married and has two children. He is an avid cyclist and still dreams of mountain adventures.

Speaking of mountains, Nathan is also the author of Wisdom Chaser. It is his memoir of finding his way as a 20-something, as well as finding his dad (author Richard Foster) - who he had really struggled to understand and relate to - as they climbed a number of "fourteeners" in Colorado.

I asked Nathan a few weeks ago if he'd be willing to share some of his story, and facilitate any conversation that might ensue, because I believe that those of us involved in the work of ministry with college students are continually trying to find the balance between ministry and family, work life and home life - and we might have something to learn from his story - and ours as we share them.

I'm thankful for Nathan's willingness to contribute to the conversation we have here, and hopeful that God will use him to challenge and instruct us all. I look forward to our upcoming conversations.

Grace and peace.

Setting the Table

2010-06-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

If you had the chance to communicate one message to incoming students - 2 months before their arrival - what would it be?

We are in the midst of our summer orientation here at BU. It's probably not too different from what happens on most other campuses around the country that practice this same methodology of "introducing" new students to campus.

Over the course of a day (transfers), or day and a half (traditional freshmen), we bombard these incoming students (and their parents) with a lot of information, introduce them to some "key" people on campus, get them navigating their way through campus, and send them on their way with a lot of material to peruse over the 2 months they have before they return.

Additionally, as a Christian university, we are increasingly intentional about how we communicate our Christian heritage and mission to these new community members during this time - and how these students, in particular, will have the chance to shape - and be shaped by - this place.

The big things we want our students to walk away from this time thinking about (in preparation for their return) are:

These are some of the most formative years of your life
God has a plan for these years - and your life
While you are here, God wants to work with you to develop the gifts, passions and talents He has uniquely designed you with
God wants you to grow in your love for Him during these years, and work with Him, to become the person He is creating you to be
Prayerfully begin to prepare NOW for how you will take advantage of these critical years on campus

Likewise, the big things we want parents to here are:

We are "setting the table" for your students to grow spiritually here
This is the time they need to make their faith their own - if they haven't done so already
Give them some space - to ask questions, to have doubts, to struggle, to fail - to grow
Pray for them, encourage them, ask them questions, continue to love and support them - in some new and different ways - as they question, doubt, struggle, fail and grow during these next few years

It's such an exciting time! I pray that God will bless the next couple of months these students have as they prepare to join us in the fall.

What do you think?

What would you include in a summer message to your incoming students?
What would you want them to know about you, your ministry, the institution you serve?
What message what you want to communicate to parents?

Thanks for adding to the conversation!

Confessions of an "I"

2010-06-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Guy and I'm an introvert.

No, I'm not a recovering introvert, just one that needs to remind myself - and others - from time-to-time that God has made me this way.

I enjoy my cave time. A LOT.

The summers on campus often feel like a blissful hibernation of sorts. Sure, there are the occasional meetings, interactions with other members of my staff, etc., but for the most part there's a lot of quiet space. I like quiet space.

Sometimes I wonder, however, if being an "I" makes me less effective as a minister on campus. Are there any other introverts out there that sometimes wonder this same thing?

I'm not only an introvert, but I'm a little on the shy side as well. I know this is how God has created me, and I continue to believe that walking alongside college students is what He has called me to do, but I sometimes find myself wondering why He didn't give me one of those outgoing personality-types that loves to be up in front of crowds and constantly out there mixing it up with new people. It seems like it would make my job a whole lot easier.

Today marks the start of our new student orientation on campus. For the next two and half weeks the campus will be flooded with new students (and many of their parents) for day and a half long information-saturating sessions. I'm not sure I'm quite ready.

The bear is wakened from his hibernation and asked to push beyond his "I".

I know summer orientation, and my involvement in it, is a good thing, a necessary thing.
I believe that challenging these students, before they are even really on campus, to put Jesus first is SO critical.
I know helping new students better understand how BU, as a Christian community, can greatly benefit and bless them over the course of their time here is a message they need to here.
I believe that the face-to-face time that happens during these day and a half long visits can pay-off in some good and important ways in the fall.
I know that creating some opportunities for parents and students to begin conversing about how the student will have to take ownership of their faith, faith development and intentional pursuit of Christ is vital.

Still, this bear longs for more rest and quiet space.

Can you relate?

What are some of the things you feel you have to "overcome" in order to do what God has called you to?
Do you ever wonder why God created you the way He did given your unique calling?
If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would it be?

Feel free to share some of your story below.

Grace and peace.

What Gives?

2010-06-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago I had the chance to grab lunch with a very accomplished thinker, educator, author, minister-type. He has done so much over the course of his life, so I just had to ask, "how do you do it all?"

I was a little surprised by his response, "Sleep is overrated!" He went on to say how the first thing he plans to ask God upon arriving in heaven is, "what's up with sleep? It seems to me we could have been a lot more productive if we wouldn't have needed that." I personally like sleep, but increasingly I've come to understand what he was saying.

There's a lot of good stuff out there. A lot we can give ourselves to. But,

When life gets too full, what gives? Because something's got to!

We've all been there... or maybe we live there. We find ourselves pursuing so many good things that life simply seems too full... and we know we cannot continue on at our current pace for much longer.

Whether we consciously choose what we eliminate (or temporarily sideline) from our schedules or not, we know that without a change to our current pace of life, our quality of life will continue to decline... as likely will our quality of output in all of the good things we're trying to be a part of.

So what goes first for you?

Or maybe the better question is, how are you deciding 'what gives'?

Are you consciously choosing what you eliminate from your schedule... what gets bumped from the list of "to-dos" for today... to tomorrow... or sometime later. Or is that decision being made much less intentionally, and more by they tyranny of the urgent?

Are there non-negotiables for you - for every day? If so, what are they? Have you ever thought about it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

How's Your [Servant's] Attitude?

2010-06-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

In my reading this morning I sat with Paul's encouraging letter to the believers in Philippi. The first half of chapter 2, on imitating Christ's humility, has always been a challenging word to hear...

This morning was no different.

I find myself humbled and challenged by these words from Paul to its' original recipients... because I know it is just as relevant for me today.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What a tall order. It kind of makes me wonder if Paul really knew what he was saying at the time... YOUR attitude should be the SAME as that of CHRIST JESUS.

Maybe it was more 'possible' for them back then???
Maybe those Christ-followers didn't have to deal with the kinds of life, family, ministry circumstances that we do today...
OR maybe they found Paul's command just as outrageous and unattainable as most of us...
OR maybe we are simply called to be so close to Jesus, in such constant communion with Him, that we [including our attitudes] or continually being molded and shaped into the likeness of Christ.

What are the challenges you face with this text?
What encouragement do you take away?
How does your ministry and leadership reflect Paul's call?
What [of this] do students see in you? Your ministry?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Ideas for June

2010-06-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we've made it to June.

For many of us this means that students have been gone close to a month... so, how's your summer going? If the answer is 'too quickly' than I can relate.

As much as I might like to spend each day of the summer months immersed in the scene to the right, making good use of our summer can be the difference between fumbling our way into the new school year or a GREAT start, between a strong, well-planned year or a chaotic, hap-hazard one.

Here are a few thoughts on how to make good use of the month of June :: please share your additional ideas, thoughts and comments in the comments section below!

Take a vacation - there's nothing quite like getting away from campus, and work, for a while to renew our focus, passion and perspective.
Attend a retreat or conference - I'm personally more of a 'retreat kind a guy,' but taking some time to intentionally grow - how ever that looks for you - can also go a long way in renewing focus, passion and perspective.
Spend some extra time at home - consider working shorter hours (if you can) or 'summer hours' that allow you to come in earlier/later so that you can spend some extra time off campus and with family (if that's you).
Assessment - if you haven't done any intentional assessment of your ministry efforts from the past year, since your school year concluded, now is the time. Soon our attention will be fully on prep for the upcoming year... and if we want that time to be fruitful, and tracking in the right direction, assessment is a necessity.

Soul Care - as a part of our assessment, it would probably serve us well to take our 'spiritual temperature' to see how we are doing in our own relationship with Jesus. It can be easy, in the midst of walking alongside college students in need, to pay more attention to their spiritual lives than our own. The summer months can provide some much needed space for renewing our pursuit of the One we believe called us to this important work.

Connect with your team - if you've got other professional staff that you work with, find some intentional ways to connect now that students are away. Consider a staff retreat, some extended casual (but intentional) one-on-ones for processing the previous year, staff lunches, a BBQ at someone's house where you can invite families, etc. Continuing to build bonds with you team during 'slower months' can really serve you well during the fast-paced school year.
Connect with other key ministry partners - June can be a great time to connect with other ministers who serve the students on your campus, whether they be faculty and/or staff on campus, pastors in local churches or fellow college ministers on campus. Now is a great time to initiate or further invest in relationships with these important 'co-laborers' in Christ.
Map out the rest of your summer - I usually like to operate pretty spontaneously, but in order to make sure we aren't scrambling at the end of the summer to get everything ready before students' return, it might be worth spending some time intentionally mapping out the rest of our summer months. When do I start that new initiative? When do I take that much needed vacation? When do I start writing that series of talks or studies? Can I take care of some of the details for the mission trip that might be close to a year away?

The summer months provide us some much needed space for rest and 'uninterrupted' work. I believe that God calls us all to be good stewards of this 'off season' on campus. What are your plans?

Grace and peace to you!

When You Pray...

2010-06-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest pitfalls that those of us in ministry leadership face is getting too caught up in the 'doing' of ministry that we cease to simply 'be' with Jesus.

Prayer is meant to be the life-line between Jesus and His followers. It's meant to be the means by which we bring our will into conformity with His. It's meant to be a means through which He shapes us, prepares us, equips us and speaks to us - in every way - for everything.

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me ~ Jesus (John 15.4).

Do we really believe this is true?
Do we really believe that apart from Jesus we can bear no fruit?
Does our prayer life reflect this?
Does our ministry reflect this?
Do our students reflect this?
How might our priorities need to change?
Are we really willing to make the necessary changes?

What do you think?

I'm challenged this morning, especially with all of the space that the summer months provide, to prayerfully [re]assess my priorities, and make whatever adjustments God seems to point to, so that what happens in my life and ministry are - without a doubt - what God desires to see happen.

Aside from any comments you might post below, I wonder if you'd be willing to share [anonymously, of course] how many hours a week you typically spend in prayer [in the poll on the sidebar]. I know it can be hard to take too closely a look at ourselves, and somewhat vulnerable to share with others [even anonymously], but I believe we all have something to learn from each other as we do.

Grace and peace to you today... and thanks for stopping by Faith ON Campus.

To Connect or Disconnect...

2010-05-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Campus has grown quiet here. The students have left for the summer (well, most of them anyway) and it's time for a change of pace... right?!

Obviously the ministry landscape of the summer months will look different in comparison to those of the academic year; with space for assessing, planning, preparing... and of course, some much needed vacation! But I wonder how many of us are simply turning of the 'ministry spigot' because it feels like the natural thing to do... I know, for the most part, that's typically what I do. "See you in the fall!" I say as they we connect before they leave campus.

But is this the right approach?

Most of us are probably familiar with the ongoing debate about year-round education - especially for those in the K-12 systems. Proponents of the year-round educational experience often site how much students typically 'lose' during their time off. Teachers end up spending a lot of time at the beginning of each new school year 're-educating' students on things they 'learned' the year before.

Now, I know that college is different - and students are developmentally in a different place, but I wonder if there is something here for us to learn from as it relates to ministry with college students...

I know that the work we do with students has much more to it than just 'learning', but is there a way that we 'do ministry' that is either helpful, or harmful, to students as they journey 'off campus' for the summer months? As they go from having regular, intentional contact with our ministries to little or no contact for a few months...

What do you think?

How connected are you with students over the summer months? Do you think it matters?
Have you noticed any 'losses' in students that may have been avoided with some more intentional connecting over the summer months?
Have you found any ways to have meaningful ministry with students over the summer, while also getting the necessary space to rest, assess and prep before the new school year begins?
Are there important reasons to disconnect over the summer - for both staff and students?

I'd love to know what you think. Share your thoughts, wisdom, experience, etc., in the comments section below!

Grace and peace.

Free-Falling [Like Wile E.]

2010-05-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

As a kid I loved watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. I especially liked watching Wile E. Coyote attempt to catch the Roadrunner - forever without success - he always made me laugh!

As I've observed our students for the past 5 years attempt to transition into this place [spiritually speaking] the best [and most unfortunate] image that comes to mind is the one to the left.

80% of our students self-identify as Christians.

What that means [for them] exactly, I don't know. They may check the 'Christian' box on their admissions application simply because they think it might help them to get in. Maybe it does really mean something to them. The reality is, however, that once our students get on campus far too many of them get drawn of course [spiritually] by their own roadrunners.

What they are failing to see is that the 'spiritual momentum' they come to campus with will only keep them 'on course' for so long before 'gravity' take over and these students - who honestly desired to make their faith central to their college experience [and life] - are in a spiritual free-fall.

For some, the free fall is short lived, as students recognize the spiritual void in their lives and make the necessary adjustments in their priorities. For others, however, the free fall may last well beyond their college years.

Our campuses are filled with SO many great opportunities for students. There is SO much that vies for their attention and beckons them to commit.

So, how do we:

awaken them to their spiritual need?
challenge them in how they make priorities?
provide the kind of environment that draws students in?
create opportunities for new students to spiritually transition well?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Inspired by BIG Losers

2010-05-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Did you happen to catch the season finale of The Biggest Loser last night?

I love that show! The transformation that takes place, on both the inside and the outside of the contestants, is always so inspiring to me.

Their stories are also very compelling. It’s heart-wrenching to hear about some of the decisions they’ve made that got them to their tragic weight, as well as some of the triggers of loss or pain that served as a turning point in their lives… and then to hear about the emotional and psychological ‘weight’ they have carried with them, that only serves to compound the hurt and damage… I would imagine that the decision to apply to be a contestant on this show has got to be one of their low points in life.

Then they arrive at the ranch, their context for change. They’re met by people who genuinely care about them, and will grow to love them, but who are ultimately there to see them change their lives. Some contestants will not last long. Those who make it to the end, however, will have been trained for seven months.

Little, if any of it, will be easy. But the reward, the end result, is SO worth it.

And that’s what the trainers know… and the contestants want to believe. What stands in the way is a lot of hard work, and/or belief, and/or willingness… Again, the trainers know that – physically speaking - anything is possible. This season they had a number of contestants who lost more than 40% of their body weight – one nearly 50% - and another over 55%! It was amazing!

And all of this inspirational transformation got me thinking about our work with students.

How well do we know their stories? Do we know how they’ve arrived at the place we now encounter them? Were there some bad decisions they made or some tragic events that transpired in their lives that set them off course?

When they arrive on campus, or at the front door of our ministry, are they met by people who genuinely care for them – who will grow to love them – and who are ultimately there to see them become them women and men that God desires them to be? Do they see that (in us)?

Do our students recognize the need for change in their lives? Do they believe that change is possible? Do they understand that they will have to work [hard] alongside the Holy Spirit to experience life transformation? Do they believe that a life fully lived for Christ is worth living?

I’m challenged in this ‘off season’ of the summer to prayerfully consider how I do what I do with students, and to prepare for the upcoming season of life with them; believing that transformation IS possible – in me and in them – ALWAYS – because of Jesus.

Hocking Jesus

2010-05-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest Post by Michael McCord] ::

NOTE: As you read this I will be walking the streets of Nassau while introducing other campus ministers to the mission possibilities there. I wrote this blog post several months ago after returning from a mission trip with eleven students. It is mostly in response to a deep conversation we had about what will happen when the students leave college. See, they get it – they’re tired of churches that are more concerned with creating their own world rather than changing THE world for the sake of The Kingdom.

So as our students walk across their stages and receive their long expected degrees, will there be a church they can be part of? Will there be a movement of Jesus followers who actually pray as Jesus taught us… and believe it?

9 "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.

I was recently walking through the straw market in Nassau, Bahamas. I’ve been there close to a dozen times on mission trips through our Wesley Foundation. It’s a familiar experience to me. What struck me during my most recent visit was the likeness that I found between the current church models and this collection of traders.

When you are new to the scene, you instantly become overwhelmed by the shear size of the venue and the number of traders packed into the space. At times, you may be pressed against the musky cigar trader who’s covered in sweat and whispering, “green, mon, want some green” (note: green is marijuana, for those who don’t know) while a little old lady from one of the cruise ships elbows her way through the crowd. That’s just another typical day in the straw market. What one realizes once they have been to the market several times is that most of the merchants are all selling the same thing. In fact, they actually work for the same boss.

The trick to the market is working it as though each table is a separate vendor who is situating themselves as the best priced. To do this, they come up with catchy little phrases that draw the average tourist into their little niche. One of my favorite lines, that always seems to work, is “hey mon, come here, today’s my birthday, let me give you a special price.” The idea seems to be based upon personalizing themselves to the tourists and making their booth look special or better than all the others. It works. The rich fun-filled tourists look down with pity on “this poor woman” who must work on her birthday – and they buy.

Now let’s think about the church as we find it today.* How similar is our church setting to this straw market experience? It seems that our market is saturated with churches and each is pushing itself as the most personable, the most creative, the largest, the church with the most “programs,” the church that is the most “real,” and the list goes on. Churches, it seems, are desperate to get people in their doors. And, like any good corporation, they identify their market and then create an image that sells themselves to their particular culture. If you don’t believe this, just take a second and visit some church websites, yellow page ads, or, my personal favorite, newspaper advertisements. It is rather poignant.

There is a church on one of the main highways out of Macon that is named “The Real Church” as if all the others are not. What does this mean? What were its founders thinking when they named the church? There ads are fitting of the image that they are striving to create. They each include an image of this super-cool looking pastor and his wife. They are snazzy dressers who communicate this coolness of being “real” – whatever that is.

I have spent some time thinking about this scenario and my own drive to create a ministry that reaches the multitudes. After all, I am a capitalist. I have a Protestant work ethic that is only matched by my drive to be prosperous, successful, and important. Seriously, in all honestly, is that not what most of us are pursuing in this life? It’s so deeply engrained in the fabric of our lives. In this, our greatest fear is not failure but insignificance. And so, it is appropriate that our churches model this sort of identity.

The end result is a Christian movement that is marked by groups shuffling to look the coolest and best-valued church experience. We have become a straw market of churches, complete with catchy little phrases and games to catch the attention of those tourists that cross our paths.

One of the most concerning attributes of this movement is the propensity to use eternal life or salvation as the catchy phrase to get people in our doors. In many ways, this sort of theological manipulation is not all that new, but it seems to have become far more pervasive over the past few years. It is as if we have turned God’s salvivic covenant into a commodity that is openly traded on the floors of society. It is as if the church has fully grasped the “filling station” persona from cheesy Christian slogans of ole. Each church is selling the same thing – relationship with God – and yet they are each positioning themselves as the better source (i.e. the warrantied faith, the faith with Techron, or maybe a faith that comes with a savings card). You get my point.

What this has created, beyond a cheesy superficial gaze upon society, is a theology that has missed the boat. Instead of seeing faith a relational covenant with a creative, loving God, the church has created a theology based upon avoiding hell, getting into heaven, or as one church put it on their sign “Jesus is FIRE insurance.” Is this what faith has become? Are we simply savvy life investors who sacrifice a little now so that we can enjoy our final retirement in the Atlantis of heaven? Do we believe that building a powerful mega-church will somehow improve the end game?

I am worried about us… about myself. I bite on some of this. My life is shaped by this. I almost feel as though this sort of hermeneutic is inescapable.

Let’s return to the passage above. This is a fairly common and often recited passage commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer.” I have prayed it since I was a kid. It holds deeply powerful imagery and meaning for me. At the same time, much of that meaning is less related to the words that trickle off my tongue as it does to the church and familial experiences associated with it. This is probably true for many people. This is one of the dangers of allowing Scripture or ritual to become common. We often miss the point.

Let’s think about this passage. It is actually stacked with pretty significant thoughts about how God relates to us and how God would like for us to relate to Him. For the sake of space and for its relation to my current argument, let us examine this verse: “10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I am convinced this single verse challenges our current model of church development. Maybe our main thrust should be less about getting “in” and waiting for the “end” as much as it is about ushering in a new way of thinking and living... right now. More specifically, perhaps our task as the church is to represent the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven rather than hocking eternal life to the highest or coolest bidder. If so, I am not sure that the straw market is a sufficient model. In fact, I am almost certain that it is not.

I am not an anti-denominational person. I don’t believe that we should all be part of one Church even though we are all part of the same movement. This is even evidenced in the early church formation as certain regions followed the teachings of a particular Apostle. I am absolutely convinced denominational traditions provide for a breadth of faith experience that enriches the fabric of the Christian faith. We do not all think or act alike. I almost think that this is actually planned. However, we should be mindful of how we shape our message and the motives behind them.

In short, eternal life begins now, with you and me. How are we shaping that experience for others? How are we communicating its message to the parts of the world that has yet to experience it without devaluing the One who has “made real” the message in us?

* I come to this conversation from the perspective of the “Bible Belt” and from a city with more churches per-capita than anywhere else in the States. I suppose this sort of climate may create its own sense of the church experience. However, I am fairly convinced that no matter your location in the States, this observation is fairly common.

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Rev. Michael D. McCord is the Director of Campus Ministry Resources and Training for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry for The United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN.

Got Milk?

2010-05-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Bob Henry] ::

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving to pick up my kids from school, I came across an unusual scene.

Well, not that unusual - most of us have done it at one time or another. Somewhat lost in my thoughts, enjoying the tunes playing on the radio, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. There, about four lanes of traffic away, and waiting on the adjacent light to turn green, was a man in a car. That may not seem that interesting, but what caught my attention was the gallon of milk on his roof. My instinct was to laugh and say, “What an idiot.” Then I noticed something happening.

People in cars on all four sides of the intersection were trying to get this guy’s attention. Motioning with their hands, rolling down windows and yelling – you name it, they were doing it. I still just chuckled to myself. Then I realized I was in the man’s view and may be able to get his attention. I began motioning by pointing at my roof. He saw me and began looking. I pointed up and he looked up. He wasn’t getting it. Finally, at the last minute, the man in the car behind him, jumped out of his car, grabbed the gallon of milk and handed it through the window to the unaware man.

Oh, we all felt good. People drove through that light with smiles on their faces, as if we had solved a major crisis. The rest of the drive to pick up my kids had me thinking about what I just experienced.

How many of us have “milk cartons” on the roofs of our lives?

As the school year closes out for those of us who work in Campus Ministries, often there is a void that is left when the students pack up and finally vacate the premises. At last, we have a chance to look back over the year and ask ourselves some questions. Usually, those questions deal with how successful we were, our programming, our impact in our community and the changed lives that have developed because of our ministry.

Yet, a question we need to be asking is, “What has happened to ME over this past year?”

Lent is always a season of personal reflection for me. I like to focus on spiritual disciplines, finding time to sit with my struggles, and reflecting on the things I need to change. This past Lent, I found myself stuck as I was using Lectio Divina with the words of Christ from the cross. It was Jesus’ words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” that caught my attention. As I read it over and over, I kept asking myself, “What in my life was I doing that I did not know?” Anthony De Mello translated this passage simply, “They are not aware of what they do.” So back in Lent, I began asking myself, “Am I aware?” This awareness was illustrated so beautifully for me the other day at that intersection.

Do I have a “milk carton” issue on the roof of my life?

To help us examine our year, I developed some questions that I would encourage you to seek answers to over the coming days and months. I believe these questions help us become more aware of the “milk cartons” in our lives.

What have I assumed this year?
What have I kept to myself that I should have let others know?
What did I nurture and coddle this year a bit too much, that I should have instead, let die?
How often did I let laziness or procrastination win the day?
How often this year was I selfish - more concerned about my looks, my successes, my abilities/skills to the neglect of others?
When did I have to be right, but found myself all alone?
When should I have sought out counsel or a mentor, but instead tried to figure it out for myself?
What was something this year I thought was great, but it ended up hurting me?
Is there anything I am noticing as I reflect on these questions that I need to deal with immediately?
What may I need to change, do, or begin working on this summer so I don't have the same "milk carton" issues next year?

After you spend some time examining your own awareness, then it is time to take that “milk carton off your roof.” In seeking help for my own “milk carton” issues, I have found some solace in the words of Romans 12:1-8 from Eugene Peterson’s The Message:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

So, the question I have for you is, “got milk?” or does “milk got you? “ I pray the summer months will bring awareness to the “milk cartons” of our lives and you will find a smile on your face.

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Bob Henry is an artist, husband, father, reader, and avid coffee drinker. He lives out these callings as the Assistant Director of Campus Ministries at Huntington University, Huntington, Indiana. Here are few places you may find Bob: College Blog: http://www.spiritualinform.blogspot.com Personal Blog: http://www.vewfromthepew.blogspot.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/rshenry Facebook: Bob Henry

It's All A Gift

2010-05-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Ian Clark] ::

According to the American Heart Association website, "approximately 95% of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital."

Sometime between 12:10pm and 12:20 pm on April 14th my world was turned upside down. During a run over my lunch hour, I went into full cardiac arrest and collapsed. At 32 years of age I had a heart attack...at 32! This was completely unexpected and the circumstances surrounding my survival are nothing short of miraculous.

For starters, I've been a runner all of my adult life and I had completed a 4.2 mile run just two days earlier. I have never ran over the lunch hour before, but on this day, I thought I would run home during lunch. I happened to collapse in front of someone's house who just happened to be coming home for lunch, which I'm told this person, Carlos, didn't do on a regular basis. When he found me, I was not breathing, I had no pulse, and my flesh was blue. Carlos called for help. A woman named Gayla was just one block away at a park eating lunch with her husband. When she heard Carlos yell, the two came as quickly as they could. Gayla was an administrator and former director of nursing at the local hospital and immediately sprang into action. Gayla began performing CPR, and ultimately saved my life. She later told me that I had been without air for at least six to eight minutes. Experts say brain death starts to occur four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest. There were several others involved in my rescue including the local ambulance and hospital staff. Everyday I learn more about these events that make my survival seem more like a miracle.

This challenges me theologically. You see, I've never liked hearing people say, "Everything happens for a reason," and I don't think the families of the 95% of cardiac arrest victims that don't survive like it either. Was I really the recipient of a miracle, or were the hundreds of little things that needed to occur at just the right time and in just the right order for me to survive, just a matter of chance?

The answer is, I don't know. However, I think there is a more productive way of looking at it. The apostle James wrote this:

"Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1 v16 & 17 TNIV

This event has made a life changing impression on me. It's all a gift. My survival is a gift. My wife, my children, a gift. My friends, my family, it's all a gift. Working at Newchapter and working with those of you in the field of college ministry is a gift.

In the same way, for a student, the opportunity to get a college education and to fully experience "college life" is a gift. Unfortunately, many students are deceived and, as James says, are dragged away by their own evil desire. College life becomes a period of self-absorption and self-gratification, which in a secular world is perfectly acceptable. But college ministry offers students something different - the chance to experience the gift of genuine community, where selfish motivation is challenged and personal relationships, accountability, and service to others is put into practice. It's our job to create environments where this type of community can flourish. In fact, that is Newchapter's mission; to create living environments designed to foster intentional college community.

We've seen first-hand how important the gift of community is to these students. According to a 2008 survey conducted by the Ivy Jungle Network, the State of Campus Ministry, the number one reason college students connect with a college ministry is for the opportunity of experiencing authentic community. In fact, community ranked twice as important as teaching or worship in attracting students to a ministry.

How is your ministry responding to students' desire for authentic community? Are you offering a life-changing gift to students, or just another option to hang out and meet people?

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Ian Clark is married to Crystal Clark (for nearly ten years) and they have 2 children. He is the Director of Business Development for Newchapter and also serves as an elder at Crossroads Church in Monticello, IL. You can find him on twitter and facebook or email him at ian@ournewchapter.com

I Weep At The Wonder Of It

2010-05-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Tracy Balzer] ::

My family thinks I have a heart of steel.

And it’s true. I rarely cry in sad movies. I’m a rock at funerals. I’m an off-the-chart “T” in the Myers-Briggs world, with no visible “F”. It’s sort of embarrassing, really, especially as someone who claims to be following a ministerial call. Shouldn’t those of a pastoral ilk show more than a little bit of emotion now and then?

But today I’ve got my supply of Kleenex at the ready. This is the day when the Iron Maiden turns into a blob of jello. It’s the day our graduating seniors are awarded all kinds of honors, and we follow with a Baccalaureate service of praise. Tomorrow they’ll walk across the stage as their names are called, having completed their four years with us. And I will blubber like a baby.

This is an annual occurrence for me, the time of year when my calling as a campus minister is absolutely confirmed and affirmed. Because I’m reminded that I’ve had the honor of really getting inside some of these hearts and minds that will be graduating. They’ve shared their stories with me, we’ve prayed together. I’ve read their reflective journals in class, and watched them wrestle with God. There is nothing that touches my heart more deeply than growth – watching a college student take a few more steps toward God, and seeing His hope in their eyes as they grab hold of that diploma.

The tears will come again sometime in the future when I hear about all the amazing things they are doing. Working in a human trafficking ministry in India. Serving as an attaché to a government leader in Central America. Raising an adopted child. Our graduates absolutely amaze me with their courage, compassion, obedience.

Turns out that the small role we play as campus ministers turns out to not be so small after all. We do our best to collaborate with the Spirit as he beckons these students and shapes them into someone a bit more Christ-like. The results we see on graduation day are not perfect…but to witness the process is exhilarating. It’s enough to annually undo someone as emotionally unmovable as myself. What God can do in a young life is absolutely astonishing, and I weep at the wonder of it.

So today I will praise God with tears…and then stow away the Kleenex til this time next year.

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Tracy Balzer is the Director of Christian Formation at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR.

Organic AND Pragmatic

2010-05-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Nic Allen] ::

Greetings Campus Ministers…my students are heading your way!

Last Saturday I had the privilege of watching a half dozen students I had only met that morning at 8am dive in and get dirty doing flood relief work here in Franklin, TN (the greater Nashville area). You see they were invited by a friend who only months before had begun attending our youth ministry at the invitation of another friend who no longer attends. Sounds complicated, eh? That’s because it is. Student ministry in the world today [at least in my neck of it] is two things: organic and pragmatic.

Organic…living…breathing. That’s a good thing, right? Sure. We’re talking about people and their lives. There is an ebb and flow to student ministry. Homegrown kids are fewer and farther between. Many of the students we funnel toward college ministries today lack the typical Sunday School, Bible Drill, VBS experiences that typical youth ministries build on. Students don’t participate in student ministry [generally speaking of course] because their parents encourage [read: push] them to do so or because it’s the only hang out atmosphere in town. Students have enough options and for the most part, student ministry can’t [or honestly shouldn’t try] to compete with those environments. Students become part of youth ministries because of relationships. While they may check it out once for a myriad of reasons, they’ll only dive in and stick it out if they have friends. You can create an environment where relationships are forged and strengthened but you can’t make it happen. It’s natural. Relationships…that’s the organic part.

Pragmatic…practical…realistic…utilitarian. These aren’t words typically assumed characteristic of today’s post-modern teen. We spend so much of our generation-gap thinking trying to understand the post-modern relativist that we have to a degree neglected the post-modern realist. The social theorists forgot to text teens today to tell them that they are “post-modern.” None of them use that phrase or quite grasp any of its concepts. They are unapologetically empirical. Seeing is believing. They are unwaveringly hopeful. If something is broke, let’s fix it. They want desperately to be part of something, anything that validates the reason they were put on the planet in the first place and regardless of what level of Judeo-Christian rearing they’ve endured, they’ll look for it anywhere! They want life and everything about it to mean something…that’s the pragmatic part.

Amidst the many homes we had the chance to work in last Saturday, we also worked in a small Catholic Chapel. We stumbled upon it when the homeowner we were looking to help next door wasn’t home. One of the girls made the following comment. “How sad! I can’t believe this happened to their church. What if this had been the WareHouse [our church building]? Then we’d be so busy working there, none of us would be able to help out in the community!” She was the friend who has been coming for several months and on Saturday she invited four more of her friends to help. To her, something was broken and needed attention. A flood happened and people are in need. So let’s help. It doesn’t get more practical than that. It’s like she woke up that morning and decided to do something important…and to invite her friends to come along. Someone should author a book in student ministry about just that.

While I sometimes imagine collegiate ministry as the greener grass over the proverbial fence, ultimately I’m inclined to view it as not much different than my work with high school students. Organic and pragmatic. “I’m gonna do something important today and I think I’ll invite my friends to come along!”

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Nic Allen is the Student Pastor at Rolling Hills Community Church. You can find out more about what's going on with Nic by following him at www.twitter.com/nic_allen

The Future of College Ministry is “Down and Out”

2010-05-18T05:09:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Stephen Lutz] ::

I have a pastor friend who reads Acts 17, Paul’s “Mars Hill” encounter, a bit differently than many of us. He sees it as Paul’s least effective ministry endeavor, even as a failure and a negative example. I see Mars Hill as a success. One purpose of Acts is to tell the story of how the Gospel went to everyone and everywhere in the known world, and so in that sense it's part of the successful story. But I think it's a success in more ways than that.

As someone who spends a good time up on the 'Mars Hill' of Penn State University with students who like to debate all the latest ideas, I'm keenly aware of the challenges Paul faced. One aspect of my ministry has been to militant atheists, agnostics, and pagan students. It’s a challenge to redemptively engage with them, particularly during the last couple years when the New Atheist movement has been throwing its weight around.

At the root, my friend’s discomfort with Acts 17 is this: not many people come to faith (Paul’s day at Mars Hill would still be a really good day for most of us, right?) Isn’t this, when compared with the rest of Acts, a failure? I think stories like Mars Hill cause us to reevaluate our grid for what constitutes success. Not every day will be Pentecost, and Paul never gets the instant results like Peter does, but that doesn't mean he's a failure, right?

I've been helped in my thinking on this by the Peter Wagner scale for illustrating "cultural distance" from the Gospel, as mediated by Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways and elsewhere. Wagner’s scale places everyone on a scale, ranging from "m0" which would be little to no cultural distance, all the way to "m4," which would be huge cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, and sociological obstacles, such as a devoted Muslim in Saudia Arabia. Mars Hill probably falls in the "m3" range.

What constitutes success for Paul at Mars Hill, and throughout Acts, is that he is able to penetrate any and every people group that he comes across, no matter how far they are from the Gospel, and "by all possible means, save some." If Paul ever crunches the numbers, he's not counting heads so much as counting churches he's established and tribes that he's penetrated. He's looking forward to the day when "people from every tribe, tongue and nation" are at the throne.

The challenge of moving beyond the m0-m1 crowd is that, because of the cultural distance, seeing the Gospel take root is a longer, harder process. If we have m0 expectations for an m3 group, we'll be disappointed. If you expect to hit .325 in the major leagues because you hit .350 in single-A ball, you'll likely be disappointed too. Given those obstacles, Paul seeing anyone at Mars Hill convert is a wild success! And I believe he was hopeful about the future of the churches that were eventually established there.

What I'm saying is that we have to take into account 1) the degree of difficulty, 2) the long-range process, and 3) the scope and variety of people-groups on our campuses. It takes time to become established in cultural contexts different from ours, so that we can speak incarnationally and with integrity from within them. As ministers embedded in a rapidly shifting cultural campus context here in North America, we need to see that most people are NOT right on the doorstep of belief, and we need to do something about that.

At Penn State, we estimate that there are approximately 1500 students actively engaged in evangelical ministries, out of 44,000. They are almost all drawn from the m0, maybe m1 crowd. So we have a large number of ministries competing for a very small piece of the pie, despite our best (and stated) intentions. But what about m2-m4? It’s not exaggerating to say that probably less than 10% of overall ministry effort and resources is expended on over 90% of the student population. If the overall college student population wasn’t at an all-time high, we’d all be seeing big declines and be up in arms. As it is, we’re strangely passive.

The need and the cultural distance led me two years ago to start “The Sojourn Forum” for “questioning faith and doubt.” We just wrapped our fourth semester, with 20 godless heathen students coming to my house for an all-Vegan cookout. In the group, we’ve hit all the big apologetic, philosophical, and theological issues common in new atheist and interfaith discussions. Each semester, we’ve had multiple officers from the atheist-agnostic student association attend. In fact, they’re my most “faithful” students (pun intended). This past semester, we started the “Skeptics’ Bible Study” spin-off group, for looking at specific verses and passages dealing with common objections to Christianity.

I have great relationships with these unbelieving students. I’m genuinely friends with many of them. I have their ears in ways that very few other Christians--if any--do. And they’ve confided things to me, like the militant atheist who admitted that he still prays “God, if you’re real, reveal yourself to me.” Still, in two years, I haven’t seen one of these Sojourn students come to faith as a direct result of my ministry. Is this a failure?

Two weeks ago, the morning after that godless-heathen-vegan cookout, I got a Facebook message from a student I had met with LAST academic year. I had lost track of him this year. Back then, he was a very heady & intellectual skeptic. He told me that he had become a Christian in the last couple months, and that my "Jesus Group"--a more informal variation of Sojourn--had played a part in that! This wasn't a kid I had been investing in for a year, but God saw fit to take the seeds that had been planted, and bring them to fruition. While I would like to see more instant fruit from my Sojourn Forum and Skeptics' Bible Study this year, in many ways I can look back at the "wins" from this year, and trust God for the future fruit.

It was an encouragement I needed, because while it’s tempting to chase the easier results of culturally close students, the future of college ministry is in what Hirsch calls the “missional-incarnational impulse,” going both out in mission and down in incarnational depth-or we could say “down and out.” It’s in taking a long-range, process view, and “becoming all things to all people, so that by all possible means, I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22)

What are the implications for you and your ministry? What people-groups do you need to go down and out to?

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Rev. Stephen Lutz is a campus minister with CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) at Penn State in University Park, PA. Steve works with a movement of student groups reaching out along their relational networks. He works with student athletes, atheists & agnostics, and many others. Before returning to Penn State for ministry, he helped plant Liberti Church (PCA) in Philadelphia, PA. He is also the director of Commontary.com, a ministry which provides free biblical resources to Christians around the world. Steve's interests include reaching college students, starting churches, innovation and entrepreneurship, and Penn State and Philly sports. He lives with his wife Jessica and their three children (Samuel, Micah, and Abigail) in Boalsburg, PA. He blogs at http://stevelutz.wordpress.com and tweets @stephenlutz.

Getting It Right

2010-05-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

:: [Guest post by Sarah Baldwin] ::

I live a few miles west of the city of coffee aka Portland, Oregon. Portlanders take their coffee seriously. It must be one of the only cities in the world where you hear people pursuing “going into coffee” as their career plan instead of the gap year job after college. Experienced baristas opt for the more hipster coffee shops and although there is Starbucks, there is a general disdain for anything that brews cookie-cutter capitalism and coffee together. For the true Portlander nothing beats Stumptown coffee. Stumptown is locally owned, committed to fair-trade, and is known for pursuing the best-quality coffee, roasting method and pouring it out all over Portland.

A couple of nights ago we happened to have one of the Stumptown baristas over to share a meal. I confessed that sometimes I feel a little intimidated coming into Stumptown. You have to know what you want, know it quickly, and select from their very sophisticated coffee blackboard-menu with the options: coffee, cappuccino, Americano, espresso, latte. No white chocolate mochas, no cinnamon- shot vanilla lattes, no Pumpkin Pie Chai. This place is not catering to the sugared/flavored coffee crowd, this is just good coffee. That’s what they do. The barista tells me, “We are the coffee experts. We know good coffee. We don’t try and appeal to all the options and flavors. If people want that, they can go somewhere else.”

Stumptown does great coffee and they know they are good so they don’t offer all the other variety of stuff to go in or beside your coffee. Stumptown knows who they are, who their target crowd is, and without apology pour cup after cup of Americanos and dry cappuccinos without a Peppermint Blended Mocha in sight. What if my campus ministry was Stumptowned? What if we were who we are, without apology and were the best at that without trying to add in everyone’s preferences? Now, we aren’t a coffee shop, so it’s not the same as a student heading to the coffee shop across the street, not liking what they brew and going somewhere else. Even though it’s not an exact analogy, there is a beautiful something in that cup that seems significant to me.

My mantra has been, “It’s not about getting it right.” There is a lot of pressure to get it right in campus ministry: to have the right worship services, the right messages, the right student leaders, the right outreach, the right evangelism plan, the right “branding” of programming, the right pattern of ministry sustainability. All year I have been saying, “It’s not about getting it right.” It’s about being faithful and steadfast, gardeners who tend the plot of ground we have been given with care and constancy (or to keep the analogy, baristas who show up every morning to brew cup after cup of good coffee). Knowing who we are and what we are called to do in our ministry is critical in being faithful and steadfast soul-baristas of college students. And like Stumptown, we can be very good at what we do, and resist the consumeristic tendency to try and be all things to all students. We must be content to be who we are and stop trying to be what we are not called and created to be. We believe that God is faithful to meet students’ needs.

As you assess your ministry and leadership this summer, give thought to what your particular ministry is called in essence to be. Are there programs that need to be released because they are taking time away from the real work of your ministry? Are there things that you are investing time and energy into that are not in the brew of your best work? How do you stay away from the temptation to “get ministry right”?

Sit for a long while over coffee and take stock of what your ministry does best and what is simply taking energy and focus away from the area that you are strongest.

--------------------------

Sarah Baldwin has served as the dean of spiritual life and university pastor at George Fox University for five years. She is completing a D.Min in Leadership and the Emerging Culture at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Sarah also serves as the chair of the board of Word Made Flesh International.

Check our Sarah’s blog at www.soulmidwife.blogspot.com , or connect via Facebook or Twitter (sbaldwin), or email at sbaldwin@georgefox.edu.

Layers of Leadership

2010-05-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

For those of us in college ministry, the idea of equipping and developing young people for a life of following Christ is central to what we do.

Some of us have recognized the need for additional leadership in our attempts to reach our campuses - and found an answer in some of our students who really 'get it' - a willing army of moldable young leaders. We've seen how this kind of experience for them can serve to shape them in some profound ways, while at the same time, multiply our efforts and reach across the campus.

I wonder, however, how many of us have looked into the additional layer of leadership that can be provided by recent grads and/or graduate students.

My entry into the 'professional' side of college ministry came through a graduate assistant type of opportunity. It was a great opportunity for me, right out of college, to explore my sense of calling into ministry - and specifically in a college campus context.

If this is not a layer of leadership you've ever considered, let me give you a few reasons why I think you should consider finding space in your ministry leadership for a graduate assistant or intern:

They can provide an additional layer of leadership within your ministry that will benefit and bless your students, you & them.
They can connect with the students and student culture in unique ways that you might not be able to (any more!).
It will challenge you to think of new ways to incorporate willing and capable ministers into your ministry efforts, providing potential opportunities to expand what you offer students in terms of experiences.
We can always use more interested, and invested, harvesters in the campus 'field'!
It's an opportunity to give these young ministers-in-training space to 'test out' their sense of calling to college ministry and further discern God's leading.
GA's or interns often come at a 'reduced price' - it's not good or bad, just a reality. (Now, I firmly believe that a servant is worthy of their hire, and if there's anyway to help provide some kind of funding for them it should DEFINITELY happen. But I am also aware of some of the unfortunate challenges that come with ministry-sized budgets - so finding unique ways to pay interns, or provide academic credit for experiences and hours for GA's in need of field education, can prove to be a mutually beneficial experience).

So, if you don't currently have a program for interns, or graduate assistants, all it might take is a conversation with your supervisor about some possible creative ways for funding and/or seeking out a someone at a nearby seminary, div. school or graduate school, and you could be well on your way to adding another significant layer of leadership to your ministry.

What do you think?

Do you currently utilize interns or graduate assistants in your ministry efforts?
Would you describe your ministry context as a 'teaching ministry' in the sense that you are providing a training ground for future college ministers?
How might something like this change what you currently do?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[Don't forget to take this week's poll over in the sidebar.]

Is Graduation Really the End?

2010-05-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

They're done, but not gone.

They're college graduates - prepared and equipped to go out and make a difference in the world - but they don't seem quite ready to step across that threshold from collegiate life to post-grad participation in the 'real' world.

So what are we to do? Especially if they look to us for answers... or for space to 'hide-out' while they try to figure some things out.

Do we give them a firm, but gentle, nudge out of the proverbial 'nest;' OR do we allow them to hang around for a while?

On one hand, we're dealing with a group of graduates who have a degree - yes, but likely are still under-developed in a number of areas given the 'Emerging Adulthood' phase of life that many of them are smack in the middle of. We're learning more about this new phase of life everyday, but at its core is the fact that most 18-32 year olds are taking longer to step into the 'adult' responsibilities that are a part of life after high school and college.

Couple this with a 'Well-Curve' trend of involvement in our ministries during their 4 years on campus and we may find ourselves feeling like 'real ministry' with many students is only just beginning by the time they are preparing to walk across the stage to receive their diploma.

This, of course, is not even taking into consideration the very real relationships that have also been formed with these students that make ongoing discipleship efforts - as well as a genuine desire to see them succeed - an important part of this equation.

On the other hand, however, we have hopefully performed the significant task of helping our students learn how to care for themselves spiritually, as well as the significance of plugging into the local church. While I am a firm believer that what we provide college students is significant, it should NOT replace their involvement in a local church. What we offer college students is a very unique, and contextualized, experience (or set of experiences). I think this is a part of what makes our work so important.

But if at the same time we have caused our students to be overly dependent upon us (our ministries), and we have not challenged them to be engaged in a more diverse (multi-generational, etc.) worshiping community [off of campus], than I believe we have ultimately done them a great disservice.

So, what are we to do?

Does your ministry connect students to the local church?
Are your students able to grow spiritually a part from you?
Do you draw any lines in your ministry regarding alumni participation?

I'd love to know what you think! The more who share, the more we collectively will learn!

[If you haven't take this week's poll, please take a second to answer the question in the sidebar. Thanks!]

More Than the Grade On Your Paper

2010-05-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about working on a college campus is the cyclical nature of the year. Twice a year we journey through a 16-week semester (or 3 quarters - shouldn't we call these trimesters?) before taking a few months to recover from one year, while also preparing for the next.

Regardless of how the previous year has been, the upcoming year will be filled with its own set of challenges and opportunities, failures and successes.

I'm in the middle of grading final exams for my Old Testament class. Before we took the test last Friday I said to them the same thing I've said to them before every exam that they took:

You are more than a grade on a piece of paper.

I think they think I'm being patronizing... but I'm not. I really believe it and want them to believe it too... especially as some of them are totally stressing out.

As I assess my students work and what they did, or did not learn, over the course of our semester together; I begin to think of my (our) work on campus and my (our) ongoing need to have an accurate understanding of:

where we're at,
how we are doing, and
where we need to go from here.

I posted some thoughts on assessment at the end of the fall semester entitled A Campus Ministry Final Exam - I encourage you to check it out and share your insights!

My greater desire today, however, is to remind each of us doing the hard work of serving college students that:

we are 'more than the grade at the top of the paper'... our value and worth is so much more than the current state of our ministry.

Do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you ever struggle to recognize that who you are as a person is not defined by how much fruit you are seeing in your ministry? That God loves you for who you are and not what you do...

As you wrap up your academic/ministry year, and [hopefully] engage in some essential assessment of your work and ministry, be reminded [finger pointing at myself in the mirror] that you are more than what you do - more than what you can accomplish - and God has called you to this important work.

Whether our end-of-the-year assessment yields the kind of 'grade' that we ultimately desire, or not, we must remember that God is not finished - with us or our ministry context - and we've got a few months now to rest up, study up, pray up and prepare before students return and a new season of life, relationships and ministry begins.

It's one of so many reasons I love serving in college ministry!

I'd love to know what you think! Share your thoughts, comments and experiences in the comment section below.

Grace and peace.

[Take this week's poll in the sidebar :: What's your biggest challenge with the summer break?]

Have We Done All We Could?

2010-05-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

It's graduation week for many of us! The time of the year when we send our graduates off into the world to live out their dreams, live into their passions, and to make the world a better place... right!?

A couple of weeks a go I asked this question in my weekly poll:

What's the biggest issue facing graduating seniors?

Here are the results of the voting:

A tough job market - 26%
Unrealistic expectations about the future - 13%
School debt - 13%
The need for more education and/or experience - 13%
A lack of direction for the future - 33%

The responses left by respondents, from all over the country, have left me wondering if we have done all that we could for our soon-to-be graduates...

Sure, there are a few of these issues that we do not have any control over - like the current job market, the amount of school debt that our students are taking on, or the need for more education and/or experience.

I do believe, however, that as ministers to college students a significant part of our service to them should include addressing those other issues - the issues of unrealistic expectations about the future, as well as helping them to discern vocational direction - during their university years.

I think the issue of unrealistic expectations could be addressed when we think with them about some of these cultural challenges:

the consumeristic nature of our culture
the instant gratification nature of our society
worldly priorities and definitions of success
the life of one who follows Jesus

Unrealistic expectations often make transitioning from college to 'the real world' extremely challenging - and can leave our students depressed and deflated when thinking about their road ahead.

Lacking direction for the future - the issue 1/3 of respondents identified as the biggest issue facing soon-to-be graduates - seems like one that we as college ministers should be dealing with on a regular basis. In fact, if we're not addressing the issue of vocation and vocational discernment in ongoing ways then I wonder if we're really doing college ministry.

The college years are such a unique season of life - one where students should be trying to understand what God has made them for - so if we're not asking questions surrounding vocation, passion, the future, following God after college, taking Jesus into the workplace, living the life of a disciple, etc., then I believe we are doing our students a serious disservice.

Now, I think it's important to mention that these issues of unrealistic expectations and lack of direction are made more challenging by the 'Emerging Adulthood' phase of life that has cropped up between youth and adulthood (an issue I talk about in Waiting to Grow Up and Waiting to Grow Up :: Part II). I believe this new season of life has made conversations related to these two issues - among others - more challenging for us to have with students... many just aren't ready to have them. But we need to encourage all of our students in that direction anyway.

So, what do you think?

Have you done all that you could to prepare your soon-to-be graduates for life after college?

Does your ministry with college students address the issue of unrealistic expectations?

Do you weave a steady stream of vocation-related questions into your conversations with your students?

I'd love to hear how this looks in your ministry. Thanks in advance for sharing - for there is SO much we can learn from each other!

Grace and peace.

[Take this week's poll - in the sidebar :: What's your biggest challenge with the summer break?]

An Army Behind You

2010-05-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

Prayer is our lifeline with God. It has been of particular significance this past week for me...

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer.

Last weekend it started to rain and flood here in Nashville and we've been praying in so many ways ever since.

Last Friday I posted some thoughts on our need as pastors and ministers to college students to be engaged in the consistent practice of spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting, before attending the Pray40 prayer event hosted by the great folks of College Union, in preparation for the 40 Days of Prayer that will kick-off the 2010-2011 academic year in mid-August.

There was so much good stuff that came out of our day of prayer together last week, you can check out some of the teaching times here, but there was a specific idea that has stuck with me and I'm feeling compelled to act on.

How might it change our ministry, outreach, leadership, efforts, students, campus, faculty and staff, etc. if it were all constantly being lifted up in prayer?

I'm not just talking about prayer by the ministers on campus, or the students involved in our ministries (both incredibly important), but by an army of prayer warriors from all over! Local and global churches, full of people who LOVE to pray, must become our new comrades in ministry on campus.

Can you imagine having 40 different churches praying with us and our ministry efforts? Can you conceive of the unbridled power of God that might be unleashed on our campuses, or through our ministries, if we had prayer teams within churches praying around the clock for God's movement on campus and students' response? I get chills just thinking about the possibilities!

We must continue to find ways to better connect ministry on campus with the Church (something I've written a little about here) and I think this could be a great opportunity for all involved!

What do you think?

Have you ever attempted anything like this?
What are the benefits you see from a prayer initiative involving the local church for our campuses? Are there any downsides?
What other ideas do you have for seeing revival on our campuses?

I'd love to hear what you think!

[Don't forget to take this week's poll on the sidebar :: Is your ministry prepared to provide disaster relief?]

Ideas for May

2010-05-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's May!

That typically means the end of the academic year... unless that came in April for you. Either way, it's time to start thinking about saying good-bye to students and preparing for a different season of ministry life - the summer.

I've started posting some ideas at the beginning of each month as a way of mapping out my upcoming month - and I thought some of you might need (or have) some ideas for May as well (I would normally post this information on the first day of the month - but we've been experiencing some flooding here in Nashville... so here you go - a few days late).

A few posts from the month of April that might be worth checking out - if you missed them - or if you are transitioning into a season with some more space for rest and recuperation are:

In Search of Rest and Slow Down - a couple of posts talking about our need to intentionally seek out rest and what we might find when we do. With the obvious change in pace that a quiet[er] campus brings, the summer can be a great time to get some much needed rest, regain some of the lost margins in our life, and also gain some new perspective on the campus/students we serve.
Leaders Are [Lifetime] Learners - a post with some ideas about how to make our ongoing professional development a priority - especially over the summer as we might find ourselves with some more space for reading, studying, attending conferences, pursuing additional degrees, etc.
The [Un]Scheduled Pastor - a post exploring how we might best utilize our schedules - a good thing to assess as our schedules are beginning to morph into their summer form.

Here are a few other ideas for the month of May:

Host an end of the year event for your ministry leaders - celebrate them with a big family meal or fun night out. Celebration is so important!
Consider a larger campus-wide event - last night we hosted an end-of-the-semester event called Late Night Pancakes. Every semester we host this pre-finals event and last night we served 802 students nearly 5000 pancakes over the course of 2 hours with the assistance of 15 volunteers (and the partnership of Sedexo and our Young Alumni Office). This is a great way to tell students that you love them and are behind them as they head into finals. It's also a great way to get other staff and faculty involved with students in a context that is totally different from their norm.
Say good-bye to seniors. Grab lunch or coffee with some of those students we spent some special time with. It's important for them (and for us).
Plan to attend graduation. Again, it's good for closure on both sides of the line.
Plan to attend the baccalaureate service. If your campus does not hold such an event, consider hosting a service that recognizes the accomplishments of the students and commissions them to go out into the world to use the gifts/passions/skills that they have refined at their university to make a difference in the world.
Create some space for some good assessment of our semester and year. Learning from the year that has just finished - while it is still fresh on our mind - will help to set some direction for the upcoming year. A staff retreat might be a great place to do this.
Plan out our summer - vacation, professional development, retreats, etc.
Begin to plan for the fall - student leadership recruitment and development, reaching out to first year students and transfers, reaching out to returning students, making good use of the first month, fall break, etc.

These are some of the things I'm thinking about for the month of May...

What would you add to this list?

What does your May look like?

Equipped For Disaster [?]

2010-05-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, the greater Nashville area is experiencing its worst flooding ever (at least according to all records on file).

While damage estimates are projected to be in the billions of dollars, much of the BU family is reporting minimal damage - we're very thankful. Not having to be overly concerned with the campus, we're beginning to look outward. We've spent the last couple of days in campus-wide meetings trying to figure out how best to respond as a Christian academic community.

The Office of University Ministries and Spiritual Development have been asked to provide significant leadership to our campus-wide efforts, given the fact that we've led teams of students on numerous relief efforts over the course of our time on campus - just never quite so close to home.

Our current situation has me wondering about other campuses out there... If asked,

would you be ready to lead out on your campus?
would you be invited 'to the table' to help coordinate a campus-wide effort?
would you be seen as a team player?
would you be seen as a credible resource?
would your ministry be equipped to mobilize teams - if not large portions of the campus - to assist in relief efforts?

We never know when the opportunity to serve is going to present itself. When it happens in your home town you don't want to be scrambling to come up with a first-time game plan.

There are obvious factors that need to be considered when looking to provide helpful - meaningful - assistance to those in need... first and foremost is following the lead of local and national officials who's job it is to lead out in major disaster relief efforts.

If you don't have a team - or a plan - in place, here are a few reasons I think you should consider it:

college students always have a desire to help those in obvious need
college students have flexible schedules - and the ability to re-prioritize on short notice
college students have some of the most 'able-bodies' out there
college students can be some of the hardest workers
serving in significant relief efforts can be incredibly formative for college students - cultivating a lifestyle of service
if your ministry has a strong reputation for providing significant relief and outreach efforts you may become a viable resource for larger campus and/or community efforts

So what do you think?

Does your ministry have a game-plan for disaster relief?

Are you considered a viable resource to the campus you serve?

How has disaster relief efforts played a role in your ministry with students?

I'd love to hear about what this looks like in your ministry.

Please keep BU, and the greater Nashville area, in your prayers as we look to recover from this devastating flood! Grace and peace to you.

[Take this week's poll - in the sidebar: Is your ministry prepared to provide disaster relief?]

The Greatest Resource [Wasted?]

2010-04-30T04:57:00.000-07:00

Do you pray? Are you engaged in the practice of other spiritual disciplines? Are they central to your ministry and efforts? Or are they something you turn to when no other option remains?

These questions are not meant to be condemning or an attempt to sound like a spiritual elitist. I know I'm guilty of not praying, fasting, etc., as much as I could (or should). I think it has something to do with the kind of schedules we keep - often quite busy, yet consistently inconsistent.

College ministers, like most other kinds of ministers, can easily fall into the trap of living lives filled with the 'doing' of ministry, while neglecting to 'be' an intentional Christ-follower.

Again, strong words - I know, but what I mean is that we can get so wrapped up in doing all of the things that we are called to do as pastors and servants of college students - really good stuff like:

leading worship services
leading Bible studies
counseling students
sharing Christ
facilitating service and mission opportunities
investing in student leaders
investing in professional staff
watching the budget
caring for facilities
preparation - for ALL of the above
and the list could go on and on and on...

that we then allow ourselves to schedule over the time that we should be focused on tending to OUR own relationship with Jesus (the 'being' a Christ-follower).

Without the INTENTIONAL time we spend investing in our own personal relationship with Jesus, the list above can move from a list of opportunities to express our love for God and others - out of the abundance He is doing in our own lives - to a list of ministry tasks that feel a lot more like a job for a company - and Jesus is the CEO.

The ongoing self-leadership, and soul-care, of those of us who lead college students is SO important. I believe we have nothing to really offer students if it doesn't come from Jesus. If this is true, than we had better be intentional to carve out space in our lives to pursue Him in earnest with consistency and sincerity.

We cannot expect students to become passionate followers of Jesus Christ if we - as their leaders - are not ourselves.

I have the chance today to be a part of a unique prayer event for college students, and the of us who serve them, put on by the great folks from College Union and The Upper Room. Today's event is a precursor to a 40 day prayer event that will happen in conjunction with the beginning of the new school year in the fall. You can read more about that here. If you're interested in checking out today's event you can catch up with us here - as the event is being streamed live on the web. If you've got some time I really encourage you to check it out!

I'm excited about today. Excited to be with colleagues of similar heart and mind, to spend the day learning about prayer and praying with others about college students, college ministry and for all of us who serve in this great field.

I am challenged this morning to be all the more intentional in my pursuit of Jesus. To make sure that He - and not me - is central to the ministry I'm a part of on campus. Students can see through fake.

What do you think?

Do you struggle with a schedule so full of 'doing' ministry that it leaves little time for you to simply 'be' with Jesus in any intentional way?

Is YOUR ongoing spiritual formation a priority for you?

Is a lack of attention to your personal relationship with Jesus stunting your ministry with students?

I'd love to hear what you think!

[Be sure to take this week's poll over in the sidebar - it will only by open a couple more days]

Not Just Adding to the Noise

2010-04-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

In my post yesterday I talked about some of the hurdles I've seen in forging partnerships in college ministry. It's no easy task... but with such a clear common end-goal in mind it sure seems that we should make every attempt to work [better] with one another.

With that in mind, I've got a few ideas (or upcoming events) that I want to make you aware of (if you're not already), with the hopes that it might encourage you to participate in these great conversations/events and/or spark some creative thinking in you that will result in some new, creative initiatives that will help to:

further equip campus and college ministers,
challenge us all to think outside of our contextual or denominational box/es, and ultimately
help to reach our students for Christ

So here are some things coming up that I think are worth mentioning:

Today our office is hosting a Community of Campus Ministers lunch. We have invited:

faculty and/or staff advisers for our religiously oriented student orgs on campus,
professionals that are invested in these same faith development orgs,
local pastors and college pastors that we know love college students and reach out to our campus in unique ways.

We have settled into a twice a semester schedule with this group and it is serving to:

bring awareness to WHO is doing WHAT with our students,
build relationships between campus ministers and other school officials who all have a shared love for Jesus and college students,
foster growing levels of unity in our purpose and desire,
identify upcoming events that others might be interested in partnering in,
provide a space for all of us to talk about what we're seeing on campus, in college students, etc., and
provide a space for ministers to NOT have to lead or serve, but to enjoy some fellowship with co-laborers.

If you don't have something like this in your ministry context I would strongly encourage you to be the catalyst for this important kind of ongoing meeting.

Crossing the 'tribal' lines: I've been invited by some United Methodist friends to be a part of an all-day prayer event happening tomorrow. The event is put on by some of the folks heavily involved with College Union and the 40 Days of Prayer event that happens in the fall and is geared towards the ministry and efforts of college ministers and ministries. It looks like it will be a great time of fellowship, teaching, praying and conversation... and if you're in (or near) Nashville, TN there might still be some space available at the event - otherwise it looks like you can stream the it live by clicking here.

Thinking towards the fall: I'd encourage you to consider taking part in the 40 Days of Prayer experience that co-insides with the start of the academic year, I found it to be an incredibly encouraging and powerful way to kick-off the school year. I'd also like to point you towards an initiative that Benson Hines [author of the Exploring College Ministry blog] has started that would bring together all of us in college ministry (in some informal ways) at the Catalyst conference that takes place in Atlanta in October. If you're anything like me, the big conference environment might not be your thing, so this college ministry cohort idea might be just the right thing to bring a more intimate feel to a gathering of more than 30,000 Christian leaders. You can read more about his big idea here.

Finally, I'd like to invite you into a practice that I just started (yesterday), in an attempt to be more intentional in how I go about contributing to our collaborative work in the field of college ministry. As I continue to blog out my own experiences in, and thinking about, ministry with college students - hoping that they may serve as a catalyst for some online conversation and co-education - I am committing to regularly reading [and POSTING] on others' blogs and engaging in the conversations that they [YOU] are wanting to have. I honestly believe that we have so much to learn from one another - and that EVERYONE has SOMETHING to contribute to the conversation - but when we don't 'comment' we are shorting out the [co-] part of the educational experience. SO, will you join me in 'chiming in' to conversations happening around the web?

I'd love to know what you think.

What efforts are you making to be a part of the LARGER conversation about the field of college ministry?

Grace and peace.

[Take a second to answer this week's questions in the sidebar: What's the biggest issue facing graduating seniors?]

'Friendly Fire' on Campus

2010-04-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Friendly fire?

It's a term most often used in the military or other combat scenarios and involves the inadvertent firing towards a member of one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces.

It's called "friendly" because the assumption is that it is an accident... unintentional...

But is it still considered 'friendly fire' when the "fire" is coming from other members of the larger team your a part of? I'm talking about Christians hurting Christians - ministries working against each other - leaders, student leaders and even casual participants engaging in mean and destructive behavior towards one another.

It happens.

Benson Hines, a great college ministry thinker and advocate, has been doing some writing about our need to be partners - collaborators - co-laborers w/Christ and one another in winning over our campuses. You can read some of his stuff on: learning from other "tribes," unity and collaborative efforts here, here and here. I encourage you to check it out!

While Benson and I may differ slightly on some of the specifics on how best to go about this, his overall notion that we can, and should, be working better with one another is definitely something I agree with! I think one of the biggest reasons more of this doesn't happen (and we therefore don't see more of our campuses thriving for Christ) is because:

We have experienced 'friendly fire' first-hand and have been hurt,
We have seen 'friendly fire' happening on our campus - and we think if we can somehow manage to stay out of anyone's line of fire that we'll be OK - so we hide,
We believe that 'friendly fire' is a real thing and would rather not have to deal with it - so we avoid other groups all together - so we don't even engage - this is usually tied to us not taking the time to get to know the others who serve in our same context, OR
We simply believe that we are better than all of the other ministries out there (and I really hope this doesn't describe most of us).

How many of the reasons do you find compelling? Legitimate?

The truth is there is simply too much work to be done for us to have to be concerned with fighting from within. It hurts leaders, hinders ministries and confuses both Christians and non who watch this kind of in-fighting take place right in front of their eyes.

Imagine what a united campus of college ministers and ministries might look like... what God might be able to accomplish through our willing and obedient hearts!

Will you be a part of the problem or the solution on your campus?

I'd love to hear about your experiences surrounding this topic. Whether you've been on the side of unity and collaboration OR the side of dealing with 'friendly fire.'

Grace and peace to you as you finish up the year and consider ways you can bring unity to the Christian efforts on your campus!

[Don't forget to take this week's poll over in the sidebar :: What's the biggest issue facing graduating seniors?]

The [Un]Scheduled Pastor

2010-04-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been asked, "What's a 'typical' day in your job like?" If so, I'm guessing your answer was something like, "There is no typical day... they're all quite different."

Last week I asked the question [in my weekly poll], "How many weekly (repeating) meetings do you hold?"

Respondent's answers ranged from the (0-2) category to the (10-12) category. Based on these results, a 'typical' day in the life of a college minister may include NO regular/weekly/repeating meetings - OR no more than 2 or 3 - which leaves a lot of unscheduled time to be well utilized.

This seems right to me. I've had days, even weeks, where special events were happening, or student leader interviews were being conducted - something BIG that seemed to take up the majority of my time on campus - and it left me feeling a bit too tied down. Do you know what I mean?

When I look at the life and ministry of Jesus I see Someone who was purposeful and intentional, but also open and available.

Jesus seemed to always be on His way somewhere - to be a part of some festival, service, gathering or personal encounter with someone/s - so He moved throughout the land with intention and purpose. But He also seemed to ALWAYS have time for what appeared to be 'random,' unscheduled encounters that were not on His ministry itinerary.

I believe there's something in here for each of us - and the way we keep our schedules.

Here are a few questions to consider as you review your own calendar:

How many weekly/repeating meetings do I keep? Why?
Who am I meeting regularly with? Why?
What are these regularly schedule meetings producing? Should they continue?
Do I have regular meetings with the students I serve? Student leaders? Peers and/or accountability partners? Advisors that are helping to guide and shape me as a minister?
How am I using my unscheduled time? Am I making good use of it?
Is my unscheduled time balanced between being out on campus and taking care of things in the office? Does one of these areas need more attention than it's currently getting?
Do I need more scheduled time?
Do I need more unscheduled time?

I know that with the summer 'break' right around the corner, I'll be taking some time to review my schedule and assess how I'm making use of my daily/weekly/monthly time. I'm curious to see what it might reveal to me about my life and/or ministry that I have not noticed before... and I hope that it might lead to more effective and fruitful daily work! Who doesn't want that?

Are there comments, suggestions, or questions you have? Please share them below! And if you haven't yet, please take the poll in the sidebar - this week's question: What's the biggest issue facing graduating seniors?

Grace and peace fellow servant!

[Lack of] Commitment to Jesus in a Culture of Non-Commitment

2010-04-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

Commitment. It doesn't seem to be a real popular action among college students... especially when it comes to Jesus.

And can we really blame them?

As a culture (both Christian and non) we've not done a very good job of modeling commitment to this younger generation.

In the media, we have promoted programming that displays all of the "fun" that can be had without committing to just one partner, but by keeping your "options open" and enjoying the disconnected physical pleasures with individuals (and/or groups) who are simply interested in meeting an immediate "need" without consideration for the long-term ramifications.

In the home, we shown them that the marriage union is one that can be easily broken if it gets too hard, no longer meets our needs, or simply looses its interest (I recognize this does not categorize all accounts of divorce). Many of today's college students have experienced the harsh realities of divorce first-hand as they have witnessed the disintegration of their parent's marriage. Right or wrong, students have lived through the pain of these break-ups and have been profoundly impacted by them.

In the Church, many students have experienced a "lackluster God" based on the lackluster faith commitments of those of us who show up for worship, week after week, without much of a commitment to true discipleship. This is the commitment that is supposed to be above all others, that serves to shape all others, and yet too many seem to approach it with as much intention as we might a fourth or fifth date.

This is not good.

How can we communicate a life-long commitment to Jesus, to a student culture that doesn't have many good models for such a thing?

Even more important than communicating this commitment, how do we actually move our students towards a serious commitment to Jesus? How do we convince them of their need to engage FULLY in the discipleship process?

Ultimately, I think the answer lies somewhere within those students who have already committed their lives to Christ and who are FULLY engaged in the journey of discipleship. Truthfully, there's nothing more powerful than the testimony of a transformed life!

A genuine faith, fully lived out, is magnetic.

What do you think?

How have you seen students struggle to commit to Jesus?
Have you had to reframe students' understanding of what it means to commit to something?
What has been key for your students who have been able to commit to Jesus in a culture of non-commitment?

I'd love to learn from your insights!

Grace and peace.

[Take a second - in the sidebar on the right - to take this week's poll: What's the biggest issue facing graduating seniors?]

Top 10 Issues College Students Face

2010-04-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

There's so much that makes up the college experience... so many opportunities, so many potential pitfalls.

How well do we assist students in navigating the waters of the college years?

Maybe before we can accurately answer this question we must first ask, "what are the big issues that our students are dealing with?" If we've not taken the time to answer this question than we must ask ourselves, "how relevant is our ministry?"

I've been working with college students for the last 13 years of my life. I know there are plenty of you out there who have been working with college students longer than I have (so I hope you'll chime in down in the comments section), or have experienced ministry with college students in different contexts than I have (so your insight will be crucial as well), but here are the top 10 issues I see college students facing today - issues that MUST influence how we 'do ministry.'

Top 10 Issues:

Jesus - What have you done with Him? Everything hinges on this. Helping students to understand what it means to 'commit' their lives to Christ in a 'noncommittal' culture is paramount to our work. Setting a framework of worship, discipleship and service for their life on campus will help.
Worldview - What lens do you view life through? Helping a biblically illiterate generation to learn and understand the Bible such that it shapes how they live their lives and view the world is so important.
Entitled OR Responsible - Most college students come to campus with an heir of entitlement. Helping them to understand this, and the significance of making the shift from entitlement to responsibility - and than assisting them with that transition - is key.
College - Why are you here? Increasingly, students are coming to campus without much of a clue as to why they are there - all they know is that it's what is expected of them after they graduate from high school. The sooner we can get them thinking about the 'why' of their decision, the sooner we can them help them with the 'how' in terms of how they will go about their collegiate experience. This ties directly into the next issue...
From Career to Call - Recasting the collegiate experience such that students begin to understand how God might want to use these formative years to prepare and equip them to meet major needs in the world - instead of simply earning a degree, in order to get a job, so that they can make enough money to live the kind of lifestyle they desire.
Identifying and Addressing Barriers - Whether it's addictive and/or destructive behaviors, baggage from their past, a lack of support and encouragement from home or something else; identifying and addressing the barriers students face will make a huge difference in how students are formed during these critical years.
Community - who are you doing life with? Community is so important! But many students seem to be willing to 'compromise' the quality of their community in order to find acceptance quickly. Students need mentors, students need strong, intentional, Christ-centered community. Students need to recognize that the company they keep will shape them in powerful ways.
Love and Intimacy - students are so excited to find it, but they may not have any idea of what 'healthy' love and intimacy are meant to look like.
Stewardship - Whether it's money, relationships, or other resources... recognizing how God wants us to hold the things that He has placed in our lives is very important - and not something they'll likely learn in the classroom.
Acceptance - Students must learn how to be open to, interested in, able to relate to and even accepting of people who are not like them. NO, they don't all have to believe the same things, but they do need to learn to create space for people not like them to believe what they believe, while holding strong to what they know to be true.

These are some of the BIGgest issues that I see our students facing today.

What about you? What do you think?

Is there something missing from this list?

What are the biggest issues you have seen in your work with college students?

What are you doing to address these issues with your students?

I'd love hear your thoughts!

[And if you haven't had a chance to take this week's poll - take a second and answer the question in the sidebar under my twitter feed - thanks!]

Grace and peace.

College Students, Discipleship & Creation Care

2010-04-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day!

Today is the 40 year anniversary of Earth Day. Are you taking advantage of this global focus? Students LOVE things that take a 'global focus' stage!

While there are a number of reasons to challenge college students to be an active part of Earth Day, I wonder if we're helping them to make the important connections between creation care and their discipleship.

Consumerism is dominant in so much of our culture. It's how we've been trained to view the world we live in... as those who have been made to consume it. But as Christians I believe we've been given a different charge!

God created us to love Him, to love others and to be stewards of all that He has created.

As long as I have been a Christ-follower, I have been challenged to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength AND to love my neighbor as myself. Personal discipleship, corporate worship and even the service of others have been the focus of modern-day spiritual formation practices - and they should be. Stewardship, however, has not been given its deserved attention in this process - unless, of course, it was to talk about money in relation to tithing (another important focus, but not the only one when thinking about the call to stewardship).

Biblical stewardship is meant to extend far beyond the realm of money.

We see stewardship first described for us back in Genesis. God called Adam to tend to the land and ALL that was in it. Adam was charged to be a steward of ALL of the resources that God had provided. That task of Adam has been passed on to us - as followers of Jesus - and is something we must pass on to this next generation.

We all know that the collegiate years are some of the most formative of life. The things that they learn, and begin to make central to their life, set for them a trajectory of life and lifestyle that takes them well beyond their graduation. By intentionally including the stewardship of God's creation into the discipleship efforts of college students, we are not only influencing the lifestyles of a large population of today's consumers, but we're also helping to equip them to train up the generations that follow them to be even better stewards of ALL that God has provided.

A few ideas for how you might begin to incorporate creation care into the discipleship of your college students are:

begin to explore the Bible with a special attention to God's reference to His creation - helping to inform our biblical worldview.
provide general education related to creation care - Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a great Christian resource for this.
identify some simple ways within your ministry space that you can honor God as stewards of His creation (start to recycle, reduce waste, reduce energy use, etc.).
identify some ways that your ministry might be a leading force for mobilizing your campus to be better stewards of God's creation (check out Chill Out from the National Wildlife Federation to hear about some great campus-wide initiatives).

Stewardship of God's creation needs to be a significant part of our discipleship with college students... and if it's not yet a part of our ministry, there's no better day than today [Earth Day] to make that shift!

What do you think?

What are your thoughts about including creation care in the discipleship of college students?

How often do you talk about stewardship with your students?

If you're ministry already includes some elements of creation care, what are they and what kind of impact have you noticed in the lives and practices of your students?

I'd love to know what you think.

Grace and peace.