I came across a fantastic website this week, and connected with some guys who are doing great stuff with youth. I think they are really on to something here!As a college minister, I'm excited about the prospect of getting youth like this coming to our universities. How incredible would it be to have strong Christian students, trained and equipped, intentionally coming to plant their lives as missional students on our campuses?
We hear from our college students all the time that they want more depth. They want comprehensive teaching and tools to help them dig into God's Word. They desire hands-on, practical, applicable discipleship. And they want to be mentored.
Most say they did not get that in their youth groups.
Many of them have told us they are tired of having church "marketed" to them. They see through the entertainment, the facades, and the glitzy little packages. This generation is willing to go anywhere and do anything for the things they believe in. They are passionate, courageous and strong. But we've been giving them milk when they want meat.
How cool would it be if we started getting youth coming to college, ready to plug into our campus ministries, who were already strong in discipleship and equipped with the knowledge of how to plant a church? Can you imagine the impact we could have on university campuses across the world?
I would encourage you to check out Mission M Possible
Let's get serious in our churches about equipping our youth. I believe Geoff Baggett is right--if we engage them at this level, I seriously doubt we will continue to see students dropping away from church at the rate they have been in the past decade.
3 comments:
I love college ministry also--I agree with what you say about college students--they want to dig into the Word deep--they are not buying a lot of their parent's traditions (some of that may be good). Mission M Possible sounds like a great plan!
Do you work with a particular university in Pittsburg?
Yes--we work with the CrossSeekers campus ministry at Carnegie Mellon University.
Thanks for your comments. I'd appreciate you passing the word on about Mission M Possible. It would be wonderful if we could have churches all over the nation raising up youth like this.
Carnegie Mellon is a GREAT univeristy--my son would have loved to have gone there--but he didn't get in--and he's at Texas A&M.
When I retire (in about 3 years) I would love to be able to do something in college ministry as volunteer. I just think working with young adults is very rewarding!
Blessings to you on your ministry!
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