This episode of the Collegiate Collective Podcast marks the first edition of #AskCollective. We solicited questions from you, the Collective listeners, and invited three of the best college ministry thinkers and practitioners to answer them.
Rob Warren // Pastor, h2o Church, Bowling Green State University // @RJ_Warren
Steve Lutz // Author & Pastor, Calvary Church, State College, PA // @stephenlutz
Brian Frye // National Collegiate Strategist, North American Mission Board // @brifrye
Notable Points:
- Question #1: With the rising costs of college, and particularly on-campus student housing, how can leaders in good conscience ask students to stay in dorms?
- “Living in is not the same as living with.” Train your off-campus student leaders to still do life and ministry effectively and in community with those in dorms.
- Part of the job of college ministry leaders is to teach good stewardship and wisdom in financial decisions throughout college, not just to graduating seniors.
- Question #2: Are there categories for different types of colleges, and different outreach methods that are effective for reaching them?
- Yes! Every campus is different! Large State University or small private college? Urban or Rural? How many other Christian groups are here? .. While there are some evergreen principles, you must identify what is unique about your campus, and find ways to contextualize your ministry to it.
- Question #3: What things can help students transition from pursuing God in college to being part of a multi-generational church post graduation?
- Effective discipleship is not built around your peers, it’s built around Jesus. If we don’t equip students to flourish as disciples of Jesus after graduation, it begs the question, “What are we discipling them into?” We must give them a trajectory.
- Question #4: Is anyone leading campus ministries across multiple campuses?
- A few. Gus Hernandez (@GusHernandezJr) in Miami, and David Worcester (@davidworcester) in San Diego are two examples. .. When attempting to do this, launch from a place of strength on one campus, and make things as transferrable as possible.
- Question #5: Strategy for local church to reach students in a setting of all commuter students?
- Look to turn intersection points into connection points. Put more emphasis on discipling and equipping students to reach their classmates. Don’t be afraid to strategically innovate when it comes to venue, outreach, etc.
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