There was lots of passing around of my Blog article, "6 Recent Trends in College Ministry" and some good comments in regard to what others are seeing in different areas. I would love to hear more of what trends....good and bad....you see out there in college ministry. Here are a few observations from around the country.
Chris Julian, IMB College Minister: Per your last point: "Fewer Young Adults Called to Ministry are Open to College Ministry" I know of 3 churches in the Memphis area who are having a difficult time finding someone for their student ministries. Thus, young adult/collegiate ministries bears a brunt.
Gary Stidham, Texas BSM and Southwestern Seminary College Ministry Professor: Many of these changes have both downside and upsides. Oh the times they are a changin!. There is still great collegiate ministry happening all around the country. It's just taking different forms - and those forms are currently in major flux. I'm optimistic not because I think every shift is positive but because I believe in the mission of college ministry and the power of God's Spirit working through God's people!
Adam Venters is the BCM Campus Minister at South Carolina. (1) I think the terminology changes have been a pretty significant trend. People want to know what it is they are going to. I haven't found that us calling our Tuesday Night "Worship" gathering a hinderance for people that get invited by friends. (2) Personal invites are more important than ever. I think you need promotional strategies, fliers, etc. But, less and less students are just randomly showing up. But I find a great openness to people coming and trying out the services, if they are invited by someone that they have some familiarity. (3) I think BCM has always had an advantage over other ministries because of the massive amount of church collaboration and support that they have. I think in SBC life the focus for the college campus needs to be recaptured in many areas. (4) I am thankful for my churches. All 167 of them. Not all of them serve, partner or give in the same way. But Carolina BCM is better because of them and not just one of them. (5) There are very few churches that can sustain a college only focused ministry. Usually the jobs get torn with Young Adults, Missions, Rec, something else. Very few churches that I know have a college only minister.
Daniel Johnson, BCM Campus Minister at the University of Kentucky. We are seeing great success on the smaller campus, where anything offered is a significant draw. We are seeing our students want to be able to address hard topics, but also want the main gathering to be a place where they could feel comfortable inviting their first-time friends
Eric Reiber, Campus Minister, Penn State. Ministries on smaller campuses seem to be thriving up here too. They are the only game in town and a lot of students connect just because they are looking for social things to do. It's an easy first invite. The battle is there are not a lot of healthy churches in some of these smaller towns that host these campuses. This is not across the board by an any means, but sometimes we are looking to get a missionary there and they have to connect to a church further away. Church planting would be cool, but it's not the town that church planting networks are super hyped about.
James Touchton, former Protestant Chaplain, Ithaca College - I would push back a bit on #4. Seen as a model by whom? By students - maybe. Students naturally want to feel supported and numbers at their Christian fellowships on campus make them feel less alone and encouraged. But by those actually in ministry? I seeing more emphasis on decentralized models where there is a focus on contextualizing the ministry such that there are smaller, "affinity groups" like ethnic-specific or field of study oriented or interest-based small groups where students encounter God through Scripture and community. I also wonder how much area of the country makes a difference. Most Christian students around here expect to be in the minority so they tend to prefer smaller, more connected community groups than they do larger gatherings that tend to be more performance-oriented and often rather shallow in content.
Jerome Stockert, BCM Campus Minister, Central Missouri State University. We don't exhibit or see all of these in my area. Our greatest spiritual fruit is occurring in small group contexts. Where scripture and community is paramount. We only do one large group a week and centered around a meal. We focus on hospitality and out of that we share the gospel. We work hard in initiating connections and establishing relationships, gospel appointments, discipleship and mentoring, and leadership development.
Check out Almost Everything About College Ministry Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX, A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV and Tips for College Freshmen Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9
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