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My experience in college ministry has taken me on a journey, for sure. How I started our ministry and my mindset when I first started is very different from today. These changes in my mindset and priorities are based on my experience of making some not-so-good decisions. And if I’m totally honest, based on a realization of wrong motivations on my part.
When I got hired at Cornerstone to start a college ministry I was very excited. I loved the church and loved the leadership. And, I was excited to start a ministry from scratch. But with limited experience (of making crucial mistakes) I would have to say I went about it wrongly. The truth is I created little more than a para church organization under the umbrella of a local church.
People visited our ministry and talked about how excited they were to see “so many college age people connected to our church.” This was exciting for me to hear….the problem was it wasn’t really accurate. You see, the majority of people weren’t connected to the life of our church. Sure, some were, but most were really just connected to our ministry. This is a direct result of the para church mentality I started with. I lost site of what it meant to be a ministry OF a local church, a larger body of people seeking to fulfill a common mission. Thus I was para confused.
I think this is a crucial mistake we tend to make in student ministry and possibly even more so in college ministry. We are often Para-Confused. We lose site of the larger whole we are supposed to be a part of and develop para-like organizations that operate, for the most part at least, separately from the church. We also lose site of the overall health of the people we minister to and focus more on the “growth” of our ministries (at least that is my confession to you). We are often on our own island, creating our own little world. We are, of course, connected in some ways…but if we’re honest about it we’re really running more of a para church organization than a ministry of a local church. And when this happens there is a heap of unhealth created.
Now, much of this mentality doesn’t start with us. It can be in the culture of our church in general. Our church might be compartmentalized to such a degree that hiring is done with the understanding that someone will come in, focus on only one specific area, “grow” that area or ministry, and do their own thing. Thus, we come in as a hired “professional” or “specialist” in an area. And when this happens the bottom line is we are hired to run/launch a para-like organization.
If you know anything about me, you know I don’t think this is best. But even if this is the culture of your church, it doesn’t have to be the culture of your college ministry. And I’d suggest it shouldn’t be. Local church ministry is one organization, a local body of people, involved in life-long discipleship. Cradle to grave. And as a leader of a college ministry your role must be one of assimilation. We bring people into our ministries from high school and make sure they’re assimilated into the life of our (or a) local church context.
Here are two questions you can ask yourself to see whether or not you’ve become para confused:
- Do I view the church as a means for me to grow my ministry, or do I view my ministry as a means for growth in my church?
- Am I just as concerned about making sure people are connected in our church once they leave my ministry as I am getting high school graduates connected to our ministry as freshman? Another way of asking this question might be: Do I view my ministry as an end, or a means to an end?
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Agreed. It’s not the end, but the means to it, Jesus Christ Crucified.
nicely said scott.
Good post. As I’ve transitioned from youth ministry to college/young adult ministry this summer, I have realized that my goal is to not start a new “youth group” for these young adults. Rather, it is to plug them into the life and body of the overall church. Your post just reaffirmed the need for that mindset to have with this age group. Ultimately too, these young adults don’t want another “youth group”. I think they want to be apart of something bigger too. Thanks so much.