In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d share from George G. Hunter III’s book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism.  Believe it or not, a book on the history of the spread of Christianity throughout ancient Ireland gave me some pointers to ministering to college students today!  Celtic Christians took time to understand the non-believers they ministered to as they spent time with them and fellowshipped with them.  We can apply some of their insight to our own ministry and outreach practices today.  The time and place of evangelism may have changed, but humanity’s needs for God’s goodness and grace certainly has not!

I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the one-way presentation of the gospel message when a Christian is trying to convert on-the-spot.  But Celtic Christians practiced the ministry of a two-way conversation, rather than a presentation.  The feeling of being “sold” an idea or belief creates suspicion in a nonbeliever’s mind, especially emerging adults, who are questioning a lot about truth and what they believe for the first time in their lives.  We should be applying this principle in our ministries today—instead of trying to present our faith to students through a presentation, we need to befriend them, spend time with them, listen to them, create relational and emotional equity with them, and then share with them the faith that we have in Jesus.  (It’s a process that actually takes time!  Gasp!)  I believe it is in this relational context that students will be able to see genuine faith and not feel that they are being pressured to make a quick decision; instead the possibility of conversion is opened up through a conversation and founded on mutual friendship and respect.  Like Patrick, who spent a long time seeking to understand the Irish Celtic people, we should not believe we can pitch Christianity to students without taking the time to know, understand, and love them first.  That’s one of the reasons we’ve slowly gotten more and more involved on our local community college’s campus—we wanted to befriend the students there and build relational equity with them before anything else.  College students can tell in point-two seconds if they are your “project.”  And they won’t like it.

On a larger scale, this principle of “conversation instead of presentation” can be seen through the Celtic Christians’ model of community.  In their process of conversion, they first established community and fellowship with nonbelievers—are nonbelievers feeling known and embraced in your weekly student gatherings?  Do they feel noticed, wanted, welcomed, and included in your church community?  It was in that context, and through time, that the Celtic Christians were able to engage in conversation about faith, prayer, and worship.  Through this model, we have seen non-believers in our community come to experience the love of Christ and in time, find themselves believing.  This “belonging before believing” principle is exactly how I became a believer at Saddleback, so trust me—this is relevant stuff!  College students have a huge need for acceptance and community, and no matter where they are in their faith, they can—they must!—find those things at church.  I strive to keep this in mind as I meet new students who are unsure of their beliefs; I pray that I am able to help them feel included in our community, as it is a key context in which they can understand the love of Christ.

Another principle the Celtic Christians practiced to reach others for Christ was physically going and being where nonbelievers were.  Celtic Christians created monastic communities for ministry and witness.  The monastic community penetrated the natural community of the target population.  While this looks different today (the parallel would be local church plants), the principle of going where the people are is vital.  As our college ministry has been strategizing campus ministry, we have made it a goal to physically be on college campuses throughout Orange County to meet students on their own turf instead of inviting them to church, which is foreign soil to many.  Like the Celts, we want to go to, live among, learn from, and love college students.  The emphasis upon the role of the community cannot be emphasized enough when sharing the gospel.

We can learn a lot about how to reach students today by analyzing the ways in which St. Patrick so effectively reached people.  What are some principles that your church community implements when doing evangelistic work or campus outreach?  You’re probably practicing some Celtic Christian strategies without realizing it!  So grab a green sprinkle donut this St. Patrick’s Day in honor of a man who’d be great at college campus outreach!

by Brad Baker

We are 1 week out from the start of our annual series on sex, dating, and marriage.  Assuming you might be getting ready to do the same, I thought I’d share the series description from the past 2 years (see below).  In addition, here are some things we’ve done to maximize our series over the years.

—Make use of a panel at some point.  This enables the students to hear from a wider variety of ages, perspectives, and experiences.  As long as you prep your panel members well, this will only enhance your content.

—Ask your students to fill out an anonymous sex/dating survey online.  The one we did last spring was only 8 questions long and helped us know how to best serve our students through the month long emphasis (see the questions we used in the attachment below).

—If possible, utilize student testimonies.  It doesn’t need to be more than 2-3 minutes but can be powerful and will grab the attention of every student in the building.   Hearing how one of their peers brought God into the middle of the dating process is something they might not hear any other place.

—Don’t shy away from the controversial or potentially awkward.  Same-sex attraction, sexual addictions and your own relational/sexual journey are just a few of the topics you might be tempted to not address.  Granted one series or study can’t address it all but realize that your students are likely to face the gamut and your content should reflect that reality.

—Think about ending the series with a Q & A.  Have students submit questions at the end of the online survey or on hard copy in the weeks leading up to the closing night of the series.  Only choose 10-12 questions that the vast majority of them can relate to.  Some years our students tell us that the Q & A was their favorite night of the entire year.

—If you’re married, get your spouse involved.  Most years I’ve asked my bride to tag-team the Q & A with me.  Our students always LOVE hearing from her.  It’s a great way to show them how much you value your spouse and at the same time let them hear from the opposite gender.

—Ask a group of 5-7 students to read a book on relationships and send you quotes that stood out to them.  It’s a great way to get your core thinking about the topic and at the same time get some great content for your messages.

—Read/listen to what other pastors teach their students on the topic.  I’ve attached my notes from my opening talk last year.  It might get your wheels turning, if nothing else.

Facebook Official—Trusting God When You Change Your Status

Let’s face it: no one has to teach us how to mess up a relationship.  When things turn romantic, we so easily lose our direction.  Before we know it we can find ourselves in a painful train wreck we should have seen coming.  I wish we could blame this all on dating.   But dating isn’t the problem.  It’s us!  Our selfishness, lack of self-awareness, and inability to communicate are just a few of the many things that can sabotage a relationship, even one started with the very best of intentions.   I wonder how things would be different if we learned to trust God with this area of our lives instead of ourselves.  Join us every Thursday night in the month of March as we explore this question together.

Spring Fever–Honoring God When Relationships Heat Up

Sex is powerful!  There’s nothing quite like it.  What some think is just the mingling of bodies is actually the mingling of souls.  You’d never know it from observing pop culture but sex is also sacred; something so sacred and power that if abused years of recovery could be needed.  How we choose to handle the gift of our sexuality starts with how we think about it.  With so many strong messages about sex floating around in every form of media the odds of getting confused about it couldn’t be much higher.  If you’re open to rethinking your views on sex and willing to consider living out a new sexual ethic this Thursday Night is for you.  Join us tomorrow night at 7:15pm in the Refinery Theater for week 3 of ‘Spring Fever’; our series on dating, marriage, sex and all things romantic.

It might be a little dramatic to ask it that way, but we’ve all seen college freshman get their worldview turned upside down when they encounter new belief systems and philosophies on their campus.  As a result, they slowly drift from their roots in Christianity.  They stop reading the Bible and praying and never make any concerted effort to find a church home in their new environment.  The classroom, dorm, and campus become the black hole in which their faith disappears.  A college ministry that fails to fortify their students from this scary reality is like a person who stands idly by while the wolves raid the grazing lambs.

Christianity is intellectually viable.  It has and always will stand under the intellectual scrutiny of the masses.  But none of that matters if our students aren’t prepared for the onslaught.  None of it matters if our students fail to see the strength of our position.  If we don’t teach and show them, no one will.  So where should we start?  Here are a few good ideas that are informing the way we do this in our context.

#1 Decide to do something and worry about the details later.  Put a date on the calendar or mark off an entire month and commit to doing something around apologetics at that time.  Ideally, you’d work an apologetics emphasis into your yearly rhythm.

#2  Compile a list of books, websites, and podcasts to refer your students to. Lucky for you, the list I’ve begun to compile is attached to this post (see below).

#3  Don’t feel like you have to be an expert on apologetics in order to teach your students something.  Letting them know that you are learning right alongside them might be even more powerful than them thinking you have all the answers.  I argue this because they might feel like they have to become some apologetics master before they can have robust dialogue with their peers and professors.

#4  Ask yourself who you can partner with.  There are many great church leaders and para-church ministries who’d jump at the chance to work with your students in this area.  One example is http://ratiochristi.org .  Ratio Christi is a para-church ministry that focuses on placing a resident apologist on university campuses to start student-led apologetics clubs.  Their entire purpose is to train and fortify believers in the area of apologetics. After only 2 years they are active on some 100 different campuses.

You’ve likely heard your senior pastor talk about “closing the backdoor of the church.”  This is the great ‘backdoor’ of college ministry.  Every day, Christian college students on campuses all over our country get duped into thinking that their faith can’t hold up under intellectual inquiry.  Even feeble atheistic arguments up end them and make them vulnerable to worldviews that will take them far from God, the church, and their spiritual family. It’s up to us to reinforce them and provide the context to address any and every argument that sets itself up against the certain reality of Christ and his redemptive work on the cross.

Campus outreach can be a tricky thing. How do you stand out among the other organizations and clubs on campus as one that’s different? How do you get students to care about what you care about? How do you get them to care at all? How do you strike up a conversation with someone who will do anything to avoid being given another rave card or flier or being asked to sign yet another petition about lunch meat or parking lots?

Today, our team hung out at a local community college campus. But we didn’t act like a club. We didn’t have fliers or surveys or petitions. We weren’t wearing matching shirts or hanging banners. We just showed up the first morning of finals week and asked students if they needed anything for their exams. No e-mail list or survey questions about where they might fall on the faith spectrum. No catch. In fact, all we had was a table full of the necessitites of these students’ weeks—scantrons, freshly sharpened #2 pencils, and blue books (which are, in fact, now green—because colleges are much more environmentally conscious than when I went to school).

We simply asked students walking by what they needed and they were able to grab sheets and books and pencils for their tests. And their responses were everything from joyful to suspicious. “No catch?” “What do I have to sign?” “Wait…it’s free?” “Seriously?!” “Why are you guys doing this?”

And all we would say is, “Who wants to buy scantrons? We just want to help you out and make your day a little easier!” They were flabbergasted and even a little suspect. (Some students purchased their scantrons rather than trust our shady-looking table.) So many times, clubs and booths and banners and rave cards instantly deter students from their organization or club. Students will fake talking on their phones, quickly put in their earbuds, or grab a friend to chat with so they won’t have to listen. Free scantrons met a practical need for them this morning, without asking for anything in return.

We didn’t say anything about Jesus. We didn’t say we were a church. We didn’t say anything about God. We just wanted to show these students that we care about them and wanted to show it in a practical way. The strategy here was to leave a positive impression…“Hey, remember those people giving out free scantrons? That was awesome.” We want to show these students that regardless of who they are and what they believe, they matter to us and we appreciate them. They’ll see us next semester when we do the same thing (I’m thinking we even add some donuts to the mix…they’re just as much a necessity as a pencil during final exams, after all…), and they’ll ask us again why we’re there. And when we tell them, they might take out their earbuds and put down their phones with ease and be a little more willing to listen…

What started with a few small groups of passionate university students has grown into a national anti-slavery movement. We’re challenging you to join us in spreading the word this spring: slavery is real, but together we can end it!

Starting in March, college students around the country will stand for 27 hours to raise awareness and resources for the 27 million slaves in the world. So far over 600 schools, churches and communities have committed to hold a Stand For Freedom event. There’s still time to sign up your school or church. At www.ijm.org/stand you can see if your school has registered to stand. You will also find tons of resources to help lead and support an event.

Feel free to pass along the video and information to your schools and churches. We truly believe that this generation can end slavery in our lifetime. Thanks for your support!

A newer responsibility that I’ve taken on this past year has been that of “intern supervisor.”  (Sounds important, right?!)  Basically, I am responsible for the students who have devoted themselves to serving as interns for the semester.  These interns are not fetching my coffee (although, if I’m honest, I’ve been tempted to ask, because I know they would…), picking up my dry cleaning, and stapling packets for five hours straight.  So…what do you do with interns?  I’ve had to learn as I go on this one, but I do have some tips:

1. Don’t treat interns like interns, and lead them through an influencing relationship instead of managing them through an authority relationship.  Our interns have their own desks and supplies and phone lines and e-mail addresses.  They are in all of our leadership meetings.  They are just as much part of our team as anyone else—paid staff or not.  Value their opinions and voice, don’t exclude them from any of the goings-on in your ministry, and encourage them.  Also, I know menial office work is part of everyone’s job once in a while, but don’t relegate your interns solely to that kind of mind-numbing work.  That’s not what they signed up for.
2. Hopefully in the interview/pre-screening process, you learned a little bit about your future interns’ strengths, goals for interning, and what their expectations are.  This should help you work with your interns to define their roles and serve from and develop their strengths.  For example, one of our interns loved casually greeting at our midweek service.  So we asked her to lead the greeting team.  Another intern had a huge heart for prayer, so we made sure he was part of the prayer team and followed up with individuals who submitted weekly prayer requests.  We also realized he was stronger relationally than with office work, so we encouraged him to “intern” more outside of the office and made sure we gave him more relationally-heavy responsibilities.
3. Invite interns to meetings—even if they’re not “needed.”  Part of my goal as an intern supervisor is for interns to have a greater understanding of how the church functions as a whole—I want them to learn how different teams work together, to learn about all the other ministries in our church, and to learn how decisions are being made.  For example, I oversee an intern right now who doesn’t have much responsibility with women’s ministry, but asked her to e-mail our director of women’s ministries to set up a meeting together and see how we can partner with them for summer studies.  She got to meet with her and have a greater understanding of women’s ministry.  Win!
4. Set weekly goals with your interns.  This helps them to stay focused on important tasks and ensures that they have an idea of what they’re doing when they come in each day.  These goals should have specific deadlines—even if they are “made up” or flexible deadlines, interns need dates to work with.  These goals should also be written down to create accountability and commitment.
5. Keep them busy, but not too busy.  Each week, I evaluate with our intern how her workload is…not just in ministry, but in life.  If you have interns that are also students and working part-time (like ours often do), chances are, it’s easy to forget what a sacrifice they are making by interning and think they have all the time in the world.  Ask them how their week looks and set goals and provide workloads accordingly.  If you give them too much work, they’ll get bogged down and be less effective.  If they don’t have enough work to do, or if you are only giving them super lame work (photo copying…every day?!), you’re really wasting their time as an intern.
6. Be a gracious leader—the proper leadership attitude is always one of humility.  These are students who might have never worked in an office before or never had a formal ministry responsibility before.  They’re going to make all the same mistakes you did when you got started— they’re going to forget stuff, they’re going to miss deadlines, they’re going to do things differently than you would, they might even cause you some frustration or disappointment.  As an intern supervisor, you are developing leaders—and you must believe that they are competent and can do ministry effectively in order to trust and train them.  Show them the grace that Jesus shows all of us, knowing that they are capable and trying, but they are also learning and being challenged in their role.  Be a leader who they are not afraid to admit mistakes or failures to, and see those mistakes as learning opportunities to talk about how to handle the situation differently or learn to do better the next time.  Oh, and just a head’s up…YOU will make mistakes as an intern supervisor!  (I know I have…)
7. Challenge their personal spiritual growth.  For me, interning is not about getting stuff done.  It’s an opportunity for spiritual growth, for a student to learn more about how they are shaped to serve God, what their special purpose is in God’s kingdom, and develop their strengths and passions.  If you know some of the struggles your interns are going through, offer them books, seminars, or resources.  Make part of their weekly goals a personal goal or do a weekly Bible study with them.  Include them in practicing devotional and prayer time.  Use testing procedures to help them discover their personality, gifts, leadership style, decision-making, relational style, etc.  My desire as an intern supervisor is that as interns mature in their faith and as people, they’ll be more clear on God’s plans and purposes for their life than when they started.

ENGAGE IN THE PROFOUND EFFECTS OF CULTURAL CHANGE Pop Culture, the digital age and a more globally minded generation are changing our churches and organizations. This generation is facing new challenges that shift the way they experience faith. Immerse yourself in powerful Barna research and see why these generational trends matter.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS Hear from local spiritual trendsetters, entrepreneurs and Christian community leaders. Bring your ideas, solutions, questions and stories to share with other attendees who are reaching the next generation for Christ.

LEARN WHAT MAKES MILLENNIALS TICK Discover why millions of young Christians—moreso than Boomers or Gen Xers—are disconnecting from the faith community as they transition into adulthood. Hear their stories and find out what this generation is searching for in relationships, religion and vocation. These are not statistics, but real people and understanding their perspective is critical in reaching them.

RENEW YOUR HOPE IN GOD God is at work in the next generation. While they are often a challenge to the established church, they can also be a source of hope as they transcend the stereotypical and seek a lasting authenticity. Join You Lost Me Live to be encouraged and inspired by the next generation of Christians.

LEAVE WITH NEW INSIGHT FOR SHAPING THE NEXT GENERATION You Lost Me Live will offer ideas for pastors, youth leaders, parents, educators and employers. Better understanding can help encourage young adults with a vibrant, lasting faith as they seek to wholeheartedly pursue Christ.

Details Time: 10 am to 3 pm Cost: FREE, due to the generous support of sponsors  RSVP today! Space is limited and events have sold out in the past!

http://www.barna.org/training/barna-group-presents

Pay, you say?  But they’re volunteers!  Let me ask you something—has a volunteer ever left your ministry because they felt underappreciated, overworked, and burnt out?  What could have been done to prevent that?  Volunteers are too precious for that to ever happen!

One of my favorite things to do is care for our awesome volunteers, because, let’s be honest—our ministry and my sanity would be gone without them!  Most of our volunteers are college students, which means they are busy and broke!  I never want to take for granted the sacrifice that it takes for them to serve our ministry.  Caring for your volunteer team is so important, and thinking about how to “pay” your volunteers can help in how you care for them, whether they are students or adults.

Did you know that every single volunteer EXPECTS to be paid?  They may not even realize it, but it’s true!  I believe that a HUGE way to care for your volunteers is to PAY THEM….but with what?

1. Money—And I don’t mean handing over a twenty when the retreat is over!  I can’t tell you how meaningful it is to a student when they get a $5 Starbucks card in the mail.  Or what about buying a tank of gas for a volunteer who did a ton of driving for an event?  You obviously don’t need to shower your volunteers in cash, but a gift card here or there shows them that you care.
2. Experience—Volunteers often give up their time for the experience of it!  Make sure their volunteering experience is a great one.  Take a break during a big project to treat them to lunch or coffee.  You know what they say about all work and no play!
3. Skills—Are your volunteers learning new skills—computer skills, relational skills, event planning skills?  Are you providing them with the resources and responsibilities that they need to succeed?  Have you properly trained them for their role?
4. Perks/privileges—Can they stay in the green room when the special guest band comes?  Can they pick their own cabin at the retreat?  Do they have their own key to a building?  Can they wear a “leader” shirt or lanyard?  What are the perks of volunteering in your ministry?
5. Relationships—students/volunteers enjoy being closer to your staff and key leaders when they volunteer.  Take time to invest in your volunteers.  They are looking for close relationships in your ministry.  Do you take the time to get to know them?  Do you listen to them?  Do you pray for them regularly and communicate respect to them?
6. Affirmation/praise/applause—Support your volunteers and be accessible and visible to them—you can’t encourage them if you never see them!  Volunteers are more likely to stick around long-term, perform better, and love what they are doing if they feel appreciated and praised.

So remember to PAY UP!  Your ministry is your entire TEAM (including volunteers!), not just your students!

Senior pastors are pulled in hundreds of direction on any given day.  Even if they do have a heart for college ministry it can easily get lost in the countless decisions and responsibilities they shoulder.  This is where you and I come in.  You might be the only person your senior leaders hears from regarding ministry to this vital demographic.  This mean what you say and how you say it is extremely important.  Below are some thoughts on how to help your senior pastor see the need for a college ministry of some kind at your church.

#1.  Share Your Heart and Vision

Look for a chance to tell your senior leadership all about the millennial generation and why you have a passion to minister to them.  Share statistics, stories and your personal journey to help them see why you want the church to engage this generation.  Don’t pressure them or criticize the church.  Simply share your heart and explain the need.

#2.  Point Him to Good Informative Resources

The Barna Group is a good place to start.  They’ve done some good research that exposes the critical need for every local church to care about the Millennial Generation. David Kinnaman, of the Barna Group, who’s done a lot of research on the Millennials had this to say back in 2006, “There is considerable debate about whether the disengagement of twentysomethings is a life-stage issue – that is, a predictable element in the progression of people’s development as they go through various family, occupational and chronological stages – or whether it is unique to this generation. While there is some truth to both explanations, this debate misses the point, which is that the current state of ministry to twentysomethings is woefully inadequate to address the spiritual needs of millions of young adults. These individuals are making significant life choices and determining the patterns and preferences of their spiritual reality while churches wait, generally in vain, for them to return after college or when the kids come. When and if young adults do return to churches, it is difficult to convince them that a passionate pursuit of Christ is anything more than a nice add-on to their cluttered lifestyle.  Above all, remember to keep a balanced perspective.  Some have overstated the problem, while others minimize it. The fact is millions of American teenagers and twentysomethings are alive to God and devoted to His Kingdom. But the research is also clear that there are significant issues related to the way young people experience and express their faith.  Without objectively and strategically addressing those challenges, Christian leaders will miss the opportunity to awaken many more young souls to a life-long zeal for God.”  More recently Kinnaman authored “You Lost Me: Why Young Chrisitnas Are Leaving and Rethinking Faith”.

#3.  Serve Faithfully…Regardless

Don’t give your Senior Pastor ultimatums.  Serve/lead regardless of what kind of support he gives or doesn’t give.  Make the decision before you talk with him that you are going to serve him and your church regardless of his response.  Granted if he says he doesn’t think you are ready for a leadership role or that he has no interest in ministering to the Millennials you might be forced to re-evaluate.  Barring that, your ministry should not be based on a salary, position, number of staff or budget dollars.  Your humble commitment will likely soften the hearts of those in leadership and help them be more open to your vision.

#4.  Invite Him to a College-age Gathering

Some senior leaders have never been invited, welcomed and honored by the younger generation. Don’t let this be true in your church.

#5.  Tie College Ministry into the Larger Vision

Help your senior pastor see how college ministry fits into the larger mission and vision of the church.  Remind him that college students are amazing volunteers when given a little guidance and direction.  Most growing churches are fueled by an army of young volunteers who are full of passion and the energy to match.

An integrated college ministry is a rare breed these days.  We’ve seen countless young adult ministries take shape with little, if any, meaningful connection with the church as a whole.  They function largely as an island and then wonder why students aren’t making the transition to ‘big church’ when they finish college.  I’ll be the first to admit that it’s much easier in most cases to build a college ministry without worrying about the coming transition every student will inevitably face.  However, we do them a huge disservice if we don’t paint our ministry into the context of the overall church.  If we don’t, the students in our ministry won’t get the importance of assimilating.  I know far too many friends in their late twenties who stopped going to church once they felt too old for college ministry.  They got attached (in an unhealthy way) to how the ministry felt and catered to their needs. In an effort to curb this trend, I have been implementing the following strategies with some modest success.

#1.  Identify Key Church-wide Initiatives

HIV/AIDS and the country of Rwanda have and continue to be large areas of emphasis for our church.  As a result, we do whatever we can to tie the hearts of our students to what God is doing in those areas. When students start serving in those areas, two things happen.  First, their hearts connect with the vision God has given the senior pastor.  Second, they naturally connect with the older demographic and sense that they are part of something larger.

#2.  Think Gender Connection

If at all possible, we plan our calendar around some of the larger gatherings for men and women.  We love to take our young men on the Men’s Ministry retreats.  We love to encourage our young ladies to join a mid-week Bible study full of young moms and older ladies.

#3.  Promote Serving Opportunities Outside the College Ministry

College pastors should pursue other ministries in the church.  They should all be given time to recruit college students to serve in their areas at specific times throughout the year.  Our students serving in the larger congregation is huge when it comes to assimilation.

#4.  Invite the other Pastors

The senior pastor should be invited to attend and speak (if doable) a few times a year.  Look for a way to honor them and express appreciation in front of your students.

#5.  Re-examine the Goal

At the end of the day, college ministry has a lot to do with sending people out.  We all know the college-age are a highly transient group of people.  In a perfect world, we’d love for them to be a part of our church from now until they’re ninety.  However, the vast majority will move away.  Some will teach English in Japan.  Others will get married and move to live near parents.  The point is not that they assimilate into ‘our’ church but rather ‘a’ church.

As long as age-based ministries exist, there will be a need for an affective assimilation and transition plans.