Charles Wesley was a 20-year-old college student when the Methodist revival began. Pioneering missionary Hudson Taylor was 21 when he climbed aboard a boat for China. Conversely, the father of all anti-supernatural philosophers, David Hume, embraced his convictions at age 18 and Joseph Stalin left seminary and dedicated his life to the communist cause at age 21.
This historic trend of college students changing the world is even more relevant today. Researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss believe that today’s collegians will “emerge as the next great generation” in American history. It is not hard to see their influence in our world already. Yahoo, Google and Facebook were all founded by students under the age of 22 and many demographic experts site their giving and voting in record numbers as the most important development our last election cycle. Clearly they are a powerful group.
While this generation changes our world, the church struggles to keep their attention. According to Barna a majority of twenty-somethings who grew up in church – 61% of today’s young adults- are spiritually disengaged by age 29. Research by the Southern Baptist convention, UCLA’s institute of Higher Education and others find similar results (http://www.gallup.com/poll/6124/Religiosity-Cycle.aspx, http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/college-transition/, http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0,1703,A=165949&M=200906,00.html).
Why are we failing to reach these future leaders? One reason is that when they literally scatter after high school to new jobs and news schools the church is literally not going after them.
The best example of this is community colleges. The vast majority of these two year schools receive little or no specific ministry attention from either para-church organizations or denominations. California for instance, has 3.5 million college students, two-thirds of these (2.5 million) attend these highly unreached campuses and yet they are the last place you will find ministry investment.
The two years school environment is where almost all of our students are forming their world view and yet we are no where to be found. The saddest part is that most of these schools are literally just down the street from a church.
If we want to grow churches in the next decade ministries like Chi Alpha must do a better job of working with local churches to mobilize believers on every campus, especially the two years schools.
How? Six years ago I started to take a closer look at what student friendly churches and effective Chi Alpha groups were doing to plant new ministry on commuter campuses. Here are some of the ideas I’ve gathered.
1. Pray on campus. Strong outreaches almost always start with a small group committed to prayer on campus. Each campus and each church near that campus is different. By spending time listening to God customized plans emerge. Also, busy students need a supernatural touch to become engaged and prayer is the key to making that happen. Is there anyone in your church willing to spend an hour a week on campus asking, “Lord what do you want to do here?” If so, you can start a campus ministry.
2. Meet and Greet. To start a strong outreach to the campus a church must facilitate
relational connections. Because of their highly volatile jobs and frantic study schedule, college students are more scattered and unconnected than any other demographic. By sponsoring events that are highly relational on or near the places where students live (apartment buildings near campus for instance) churches can facilitate greater connectivity. Is there anyone in your church effective at helping college students build relationships with each other? If so you can start a campus ministry.
3. Adopt a Leader. Chi Alpha has had great success ministering to international students by recruiting church families to host students in their homes. This approach also works for commuter students. By hosting students for a meal or free use of the washer and dryer, church members gain a greater burden for this generation. When students are well hosted they in turn become committed to the vision and values of the local church. In this way the church effectively recruits new twenty-something leaders. Do you have four or five couples willing to cook for a college student or two? If so you can start a campus ministry.
This is just a sample of the practical ideas available. Our booklet Connecting can help any church start a Chi Alpha ministry. Start here: http://www.chialpha.com/leaders/start-new-group/.
If we are serious about reaching our world we must reach these strategic souls. If we do, more leaders like Wesley and Taylor will send shock waves of revival through the church. If we do not, more leaders like Hume and Stalin will use their political and intellectual skills to convince a generation that God is dead?
