Bob's Blog

A college pastor drove up to the house where their college group meets. Stepping out of his car, he noticed that a few of his college-age students were walking to their cars, so he yelled out,"Hey, where are you guys going?" The reply was,"Uh...we got to go." Go? They just got here. He watched them take off and wondered what had happened. As he entered the house, he noticed that the group looks a little thin. In fact, he's been noticing this for a while. The group seemed to be different. Some of those that once were college-age when he first started the group were still around but the younger students are dwindling. Some have altogether left the group. As he mingled with those who were there, he observed that most in the group are in their late twenties or early thirties. He hadn't noticed this before but the mid-week gathering had transitioned into a post-college group. As he began the evening, he felt the "distance" in the room. They struggled through singing and barely made it through the Bible study. Very few participated and when they did, usually the older ones controlled the discussion. The evening ended with some prayer and immediately the younger students left. He stayed and chatted with the remaining few, and then grabbed his stuff and headed out the door thinking to himself,"What happened?"

Have you seen this in your group? When does a college ministry start to look like a singles group? It can happen very easily, especially if your church doesn't have a direction for young adult ministries. Since child development experts would put the ages of 13-24 in adolescent stages of growth, most college pastors would agree that college-age ministries deal with those who are transitioning from adolescence into a young adult developmental stage. A ministry that covers ages 13-31 can almost be impossible to navigate and frustrating for those involved. So, what should be done? Here are some tips.

• Start by evaluating your ministry. Take a step back and see what the needs of your group are before you make any decisions.
• Evaluate with your leadership. What do those you minister with think about your group? Talk about your ministry with your pastoral staff. Get away on a retreat and see if the Lord is leading the group in a new direction.
• Make a decision. You'll need to take action. Doing nothing will kill your group.
• Have a plan. A plan is a good thing. You may not have all the details worked out but understanding what your ministry is about (college-age or singles) will help give focus to your group.

Here are a few pictures from DRINK. We were at a great facility and enjoyed paint ball, zip line, swimming and other activities. Chuck and Dave did most of the speaking with Brayline leading worship. We made some great friends and look forward to next year.

It was the first year for DRINK and it couldn't have gone any better than it did. An awe inspiring location with over 100 participating at a conference that is geared towards helping the local church minister to college-age. The conference was located in Crestline, California, at Thousand Pines Christian Camp. There were pastors and volunteer staff as well as student leaders from as many as twenty-four different states. The conference is an outreach of CollegeLeader, led by Chuck Bomar, and is committed to coming along side local churches in helping them to reach this generation of young people.

Dave Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, was one of our featured speakers, as well as Abbie Smith, Dave Flaig, and Steve Garcia who runs the camp. The worship band, Brayline led throughout the weekend. Along with the beautiful setting, there was plenty to do as the conference goers were able to take part in paint ball, rock climbing, swimming, zip line, and other activities that the camp offered. All of this for a very low cost. We wanted those that came to be able to have the chance to sit and connect with those who also have a love for college-age ministries. There was plenty of teaching and great discussions during meal times but the best place to hang out was at the malt shop. I can still taste the Cookies and Cream malts.

The focus for the weekend was to encourage those who worked with college-age. We wanted to give them tools, like curriculum, reading materials, and a biblical philosophy for college ministry. Finally, to gather in one place in an environment where networking could be established and new friendships could develop. It was a great weekend in seeing God encouraging us in His work with this generation. We're looking at doing at least two smaller regional conferences as well as returning to California in October for our main conference. If you want more information, please check us out at http://www.collegeleader.org/. You can find great curriculum for college-age, some of it for free.

Getting ready for a conference that you'll speak at can bring on severe "brain blockage." Some times, you just tend to let your mind wander for a bit. So, here's where it led me.

Help For On-campus Small Groups
A friend is using a curriculum for his secular campus small groups and he's really excited about the possibilities in how it will help to reach the un-churched on campus. The curriculum is called Alpha Course and is geared for those who are unfamiliar with Scripture but want to talk about spiritual topics. There's a lot of training involved since students lead the groups and it seems flexible to shape it around your churches beliefs and group needs. If you're interested, you can check it out for yourself at http://www.alphana.org/.

Equip 09 - How Far Have We Come?
I read that next year's theme for National Conference (for the Grace Brethren Fellowship) is called Deposit Required. I'm interested in the theme because it has a question that is directed to the Fellowship; who are you pouring your life into? I think it's a great question, especially since there will be an emphasis at the conference in recognizing the need to pour our lives into the next generation. I remember Tim Boal calling us to that same theme three years ago out in the desert in California. So, I'm curious to see how far we've come in answering this question and where we'll go from here as a Fellowship.

Problem With James Choung Article
Pastor Roy Halberg, from Alta Loma, always sends me great articles he has read on Gen X or Millennials. There's one he sent that was written by James Choung, the director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in San Diego, about how to preach to a younger generation. I'm always amazed at how insightful young people are concerning their age group and the times they live in, but also how they lack the maturity, which comes with living longer, to see beyond their own scope. There's an assumption that how young people see the world around them is a correct perspective, not only in what is true but what is beneficial for them. He gives some good insights into how this generation communicates and connects, especially with their peers but comes up short in realizing that this may not be what they need. I'm all for understanding how to preach the Gospel to a younger generation but not at the expense in teaching and living doctrine without depth. It's one of the many struggles the Church is going through in transitioning from one generation to another. How do we transfer the Good News from generation to generation?