How are you?

It’s probably a question you ask far more often than you are asked.

While some of us may be better about our ongoing self-care and soul care than others, it’s likely that by this point in the academic year you are feeling the effects of consistently pouring yourself out into the lives of students.

But how are you?  Really?

Faith ON Campus is a growing community of college ministry professionals and advocates who are committed to having important conversations surrounding our shared work with college students, in an ever-changing campus culture, with consideration for all that is expected of, and asked from, the college pastor.

As we move towards the end of another academic year I want to offer us a chance to engage in a different kind of blogathon — one focused on our ongoing spiritual health and soul care.

On June 7-9, Faith ON Campus will be hosting an online conference centered on the ‘Soul Care of the College Pastor’.

The intent of this online conference will be to spend some time intentionally thinking about how we, as pastors to college students, are filled — and re-filled — for the work we have been called to.

This online conference will be geared towards campus and church based leaders who work specifically with college students. It will take on the form of a blog-a-thon — a 3-day, online conference that will consist of 3 or 4 original posts going up each day (note that we will be posting 2-3 posts fewer each day in comparison to previous blogathons — with the intent of not overwhelming us with too much information, but instead, giving us more space to sit peacefully with the thoughts and insights of those who contribute).

For this blogathon I’d like us to consider a different kind of contributor as well.

I’d like us to consider asking those who have consistently poured into us — those who serve us as our pastors, mentors, spiritual guides, spiritual directors, etc. to be the contributors for this blogathon.

I recognize that this will necessitate some new levels of planning by ALL OF US as WE will need to reach out to one of them, explain a few things (like what a blogathon is, what would be required of them, how it all works, etc.), and then invite them to submit a post that would be geared towards the ‘Soul Care of the College Pastor’.

I’m not quite sure how this is going to pan out — but I’m excited about the potential it holds — and I hope you are too!

If you have someone in mind, and plan on making the “ask” of them, would you send me an email at guy[dot]chmieleski@gmail[dot]com! This way I can begin to map out the blogathon and begin to correspond with these potential contributors.

As it develops, the list of contributors will be updated on the ‘Soul Care for the College Pastor’ Facebook event page – click here to go there.

While you’re there, please click the “attending” button to 1) show your support, 2) help publicize this event, and 3) to be kept up-to-date all all future developments for this event.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me, or leave them in the comment section below.

Faith ON Campus has previously hosted four other blogathons. If you’d like to see what these have looked like you can visit: http://faithoncampus.com/archives/blog-a-thons/.

Thanks for being a partner in ministry… I hope your academic year finishes well!  And I look forward to this upcoming time of shared soul care with you.