My wife often tells me that I take for granted that others know things that I know. When teaching a Bible study to college students, I have to pause in my teaching and make sure that I am not assuming college students know more than they actually do. Recently, I was having lunch with a pastor who pastors a church near a college campus. During our conversation, I shared with him that his church could be a “college church.” As we talked, I came to realize that I know what a college church looks, feels, and acts like. But did he? So for those of you pastoring a church near a college campus or those of you who are lay leaders in the area of college ministry, permit me a humble attempt to share a few simple ways for your church to be more college friendly and maybe even help your church become a “college church.”
1> Make a place for college students. If you don’t already have one, create a Sunday School or Bible study class that is specifically geared toward college students. Be careful that you don’t assume just because you have a class for college students they will flock to your church. You need some college ministry lay leaders that will be committed to leading the Bible study time on Sundays and doing outreach (calling those who visit for the first time) and inreach (calling, sending cards, or visiting those students who have missed). As your church’s college ministry develops, you may be able to find college students to help with outreach and inreach. In order to bring about a place of security, familiarity, and closeness; it would be smart to have lay leaders that are consistent and can build relationships with college students.
2> Get the whole church involved. A great outreach for the whole church to participate in is a Sunday luncheon. These luncheons can be assigned to adult Sunday School classes to host on a rotating basis. It is probably not necessary to have one each week. Some churches may elect to hold them once a month or bi-weekly, it depends upon the church. Avoid using pizza dinners or lasagnas. They are easy and quick, but college students tire of them quickly because they have access to them throughout the week, and they would prefer a home cooked meal. Home cooked meals will help them to see your church as their church home. This home cooked meal is made even better when it is held at the home of the pastor or a member of the church.
3> Get the pastor on board. It is almost impossible to be a successful “college church” if the pastor does not see the college campus as the mission field or college students as a ministry opportunity. Being a “college church” doesn’t mean you have to change your Sunday morning worship service to look like a rock concert at Williams-Brice Stadium. Students today are looking for authenticity. They are looking for churches that are authentic in their worship and relationships. College students appreciate people who are honest about who they are in Christ. It is important that college students in your church hear the pastor’s sermons, understand them, and apply God’s Word to their lives. Encourage the pastor to use illustrations in his sermon that help college students see the importance of God’s Word in their lives.
4> Get the word out about your church. How will college students ever come if they don’t know you exist? Each year new students (freshmen) arrive on the college campus. Everything about college is new to them. Look for ways to help new students know about your church and college ministry. One way is to make contact with the local Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) group and the Collegiate Minister on the campus. The Collegiate Minister can assist you in finding ways to connect your church to college students. You may be able to obtain a list of Baptist students on campus from the Collegiate Minister to make contacts with them via telephone, email, or mail. Also, consider running an advertisement in the college newspaper or on the college radio.
5> Help students get to know you before they arrive. The best way to introduce your church to today’s college students is through a website. Some churches already have great websites with details about their church; make sure that it includes information for college students such as van ride pick-up times and locations and when those college luncheons are scheduled. Others may not have a website. If the internet and creating websites is something new for your church, then contact the SC Baptist Convention’s Computer Technologies Group for help in creating a website for your church. You may find it is much easier than you think. Once you establish a website, be sure to keep it up-to-date. College students can not learn about your church today if the information is one or two years old. Also, contact your local Baptist Collegiate Minister for linking your website to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry website. Be sure to include times and places you meet for college ministry activities.
6> Use the window of opportunity. The first three weeks of the college year, which are usually during August, are extremely important. Freshmen and upperclassmen are making decisions about organizations, friends, churches, and the like. Working closely with the Baptist Collegiate Minister on campus, and working closely with other churches will be key during this time. You may be able to coordinate a progressive church dinner that involves your church and others in the area. You may be able to host a “Welcome to College” Sunday at your church with a pig picking, grill out, or picnic. It is important to coordinate these events with the Baptist Collegiate Minister on campus so that your event does not compete with required activities on campus, such as orientations, convocations, buying books, getting student ID’s, and so forth. This should be your best event, because it is your first impression!
7> Moving beyond college students. Churches that are located close to colleges, within walking distance, may have more ministry opportunities within the greater college community. One way to minister to the college community may be for the church to host a faculty luncheon in which all the faculty is invited to the church fellowship hall for lunch. This can be a time in which the pastor and the church express support for the college, the faculty is prayed for individually and as a group, and college students give testimonies concerning faculty members on the college campus. In addition, the church can develop a relationship with the college community by way of offering their facilities for baccalaureate services, off campus meetings, and overflow classes if enrollment increases. Also, the church may be a great place to host parents of students involved with their church or the Baptist Collegiate Ministry for a luncheon during parent’s weekend. Possibilities are endless, think creatively.
8> Start it all with prayer. As you and your church move closer to becoming a “college church” make sure that you spend time praying for this ministry opportunity. Your church can use the Wednesday evening before classes to pray specifically for college students and the college community. You may even want to recruit a group of prayer warriors from your church to prayer walk the college campus. Information about the college and the buildings can usually be found on the college website. Pray that God would grow Christian men and women on the campus, and those students who are lost would come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
