So there we were, (I love starting a story out that way…makes it seem pretty dramatic) in the booming metropolis of Phil Campbell, Alabama helping a church begin its rebuilding process after the April 2011 tornado outbreak wreaked havoc on this town of 1,000. The small town, named after a railroad tycoon, had seen a significant exodus of people after the damaging storms moved through last year. This was the second trip in less than a year that our students had taken to Alabama to help those affected…this time we were beginning on the ground level of the construction process for Mountain View Baptist Church. My students spent two days working w/ 7 volunteer electrical contractors from Columbus, OH (thanks Buckeyes!) laying over 10,000 feet of PVC electrical conduit.

I’m no Tim the Tool Man Taylor, or Ty Pennington, so when I asked about what we were supposed to be doing, we were told that the work was super important. Much like the footers that had been poured, our work was going to be part of the pre-slab infrastructure, a key component of the foundation. Our students dug out 10,000+ feet of ditches 6” deep, laid & glued the pipe together, & then refilled the ditch & leveled it out.

“So what?” Thanks for asking that…I had hoped you would. I liken that work in Phil Campbell to the shared responsibility that we have in reaching, teaching, discipling, & equipping college students during their 4- to 8.5-year trek through the university environment. No one needs to rehash the statistics about students walking out on church, but if we continue to approach college ministry from the same mindset used 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago, we will no doubt continue to reach & retain a remnant of this generation.

When we returned to Tallahassee I was sharing a little about our trip during our morning worship service along w/ some pictures of the work site…some before & after shots. One lady had commented, “So what did they do?” at one of the first pictures shown. Granted, it was a picture of the worksite…red clay, gravel, dirt piles, etc. It was like the way students show up on our campuses in the fall. They’re making their way around the campus ministry & church circuit trying to find where they fit, or following friends & deciding to stay where their friends fit. They come to us pretty plain, most of the time a worksite that has been cleared & leveled by others…their family, their home church, their youth group, etc.

The hope is that the ultimate foundation for that student has been built on Jesus. That their family & home church have done the hard work, the work that many times goes unseen when students transition from high school to college. When I worked in Gainesville, Florida I was both the College Minister & Youth Minister. I had a vested interest in helping shape students in middle school & high school because one day I hoped that they would be pillars helping to serve in our college ministry. It doesn’t matter if you serve college students in a church setting or a campus setting, you need to make intentional efforts to get to know & love the middle schoolers in your church now. Be an initiator in this transition process & partner w/ parents & those that are serving middle & high school students so that throughout their pre-college years, your work in digging those little 6” ditches will take effect.

We have a group from our church that will return to Phil Campbell at the end of June…when they come back I’m expecting to see pictures of something more than a level work site. For those of us who have leadership roles in serving college students we need to not only think about transitions on the front end of students’ college experience, but also about what will happen after they graduate & move on. Many times it is easy to fall into the trap of building our personal silos for college ministry away from the church. I mean that for both church-based ministries & campus-based ministries. You can throw out whatever excuse, rationalization or justification that you want, but the fact is…we only have college students while they are in college.

Part of our blueprint for college ministry should include involving them in the life of the church as a whole. Helping them to connect inter-generationally gives them a huge advantage as they leave what has been their second home & begin the process of confronting “real life”. Teaching them what to look for in a church as they leave the campus for the cubicle can help prevent them from floundering as they enter the workforce. Give them opportunities to lead, challenge them to use their gifts, model for them a spirit of generosity & encourage them to be giving even when they supposedly have nothing.

In 2009, there were several practitioners of college ministry that were kicking these idealistic ideas around at a meeting in Portland, Oregon. In Baptist church life there are less than 60 full-time, college-only ministers in the U.S. So we began to dream, think & hash out somewhat of a blueprint for the thousands of adults that weekly make an impact in the life of collegians. Almost three years later, led by the steadfast work of Dr. Allen Jackson (Youth & Collegiate Ministry Professor, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), the book UNFRAMED will be released. It’s right around 100 pages of practical propositions & information on getting to know students, evaluating how you teach & develop 18-25 year olds, & figuring out how to partner w/ campus ministries to reach the academy.

Ephesians 2:10 says that college students are God’s workmanship…His masterpiece, they are created in Jesus to do good works that God outlined in His syllabus that they’d be involved in (yes, this is a paraphrase). Many students get to the university a work of art in progress. We can help provide them a frame in which to mount their life to the glory of God. We can help them display that not only in the Fine Arts building on campus, but we can also give them a sturdy frame to use in the exhibit of life.