Streams of College Ministry: What Do You Do Well?

By guy.chmieleski@gmail.comBig Ideas & 'Best Of'

 

One of the things I’m trying to be better about this year is the ongoing assessment of our ministry…

I think we — as ministers to students — can tend to overlook this important aspect of ministry development because we’re focused on the ministry at hand (and appropriately so).

But if we don’t ever stop to consider how we’re doing, or what’s working — and what’s not, or even how we could do what we do — better… then we could easily find ourselves in a situation where our ministry efforts are missing their target.

So today I want us to consider what it is that we do well…

Specifically, what does your stream (or field, or branch) of college ministry do well?

Your ministry should fit within one of these four streams:

Campus-based ministries — these are the ministries that are likely found on Christian college and university campuses. They’re funded by the institution that they are a part of and fit within the structure and mission of the university system.

Para-church ministries — these ministries are often found on, or at the edge, of college and university campuses. They are not funded by the institution and often see their work as “missional” because it does not fit within the structure or mission of the university to which they are reaching out.

Church-based ministries — these ministries are found within the church. They are funded by the church that they are a part of, and while they might spend some time on campus… the majority of their ministry activities happen within the walls of the church.

Campus-Church — this stream of ministry if by far the smallest — but has been growing in recent years. Often led by students, these ministries function as a local church within the college or university setting. They are not usually tied to a parent-church or denominational entity, but function independently.

So based on these four streams:

  1. Which stream does your ministry fit within? and
  2. What would you say your “stream” does well?

I realize that this is a rather subjective question to answer — but that’s OK.

This is your chance to brag on your “stream” — or to share your appreciation for how it functions — or even to acknowledge how it is unique in comparison to the other streams.

Taking the time to understand our own “stream” — and how our context informs our ministry efforts — can help us to be more intentional in our future work… and hopefully, more fruitful.

For me:

  1. I work in a campus-based ministry, and
  2. I think we do a good job of imbedding ministry efforts, and have an overall understanding of our Christian mission and purpose, across the institution. I think we do well at helping to understand how faith and the academy can work together — as opposed to against each other. Yes, this will be different from campus to campus within this stream… but overall, I think this is something we do well.

How about you?

 

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4 thoughts on “Streams of College Ministry: What Do You Do Well?”

  1. 1.  I work at a campus-based ministry called the Wesley Foundation at Florida State University
    2.  I think this model does two things well.  First, we are able to offer distinctively Christian community.  Many traditional, campus-based, denominationally supported campus ministries have the benefit a location adjacent to campus – sometimes with housing.  By virtue of the luxury of time, students are able to engage deeply in Christ-centered community – spending structured and unstructured time together – praying, worshiping, studying, eating, serving, playing, lounging, etc.  Second, these communities are rooted in a particular faith tradition that can serve as an bridge between the transitions of High School to college and then on to the real world.  Campus-based ministries can be deeply nurturing environments that shape students on a particular tradition of following Jesus, in the context of deeply personal Christ-centered relationships.

  2. Pingback: How Does Your Denomination Do College Ministry? | Faith ON Campus

  3. Baptist Collegiate Ministry is campus-based, but supported by area churches.  In many instances, there is a Baptist Center located on the campus.  It is a representative ministry of all the Southern Baptist Churches and points students toward churches.  It is not para-church.  One of the strengths of the BCM ministry is developing student leaders to serve in churches both as volunteers and those called to vocational ministry.  Approximately half of Southern Baptist missionaries are graduates of non-Baptist institutions which points to the strategic value of these ministries.

    A second strength of these ministries is helping students see how faith works in an everyday world….living among those who have far different beliefs or no beliefs at all.
    Arliss Dickerson

  4. OK, Arliss and Vance, help me out… Based on how I’ve described the streams above, I would have categorized both Wesley Foundations and BCMs as para-church. Is there stigma that comes that word that I should know about? You both chose campus-based for your respective ministries… but by my definition above you wouldn’t fit — because neither model is supported (financially) by the institution it serves. 

    Maybe I’m misusing these labels… so help me out.

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