Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2005 Summer Issue -- A Gold Mine in Our Back Yards: Networking with Youth Ministers

A Rich Partnership

“I’ll do whatever I can to help my kids stay strong in the faith."

These are the words of a youth minister (YM) responding to a survey exploring the potential for more “win-win" relationships between campus ministers and YMs. (Descriptions of the general responses to the survey are listed at the end of the article below)

Christian colleges work long and hard to recruit students, especially from churches. Recruiters make trips, attend youth rallies, go to camps, plan “college days,” offer perks, and use e-mail, snail mail, and telephones to build their programs. Indeed, one good student can benefit a college for up to four years and beyond. So, it’s worth it to them to pursue high school students personally and persistently.

Accordingly, an industrious campus minister (CM) can also focus on attracting Christian prospects (still in high school) to become part of their future work. What better way to find good high school prospects than for CMs to network regularly with YMs?

There are some apples and oranges in the comparative cases above but Christian college recruiters do treat YMs like princes and they don't often get that kind of attention. Perhaps we too can reach out.

A rich partnership between YMs and CMs offers a win-win scenario for the future. YMs are on our side in a battle to keep young people strong and faithful. They want badly to plug their kids into a faith-building college atmosphere. Since most YMs are not aware of many CMs (unless their church has one), they simply resort to recommending Christian colleges to their kids.

Here are a few statements from the survey:

“I generally always encourage kids to go to a Christian college over a state college--especially if they could use some encouragement in their faith (which nearly every teen needs).”
“The strength of the influences at Christian colleges make for stronger and more positive connections between students.”
“Just about every teen I come across, I recommend Christian colleges.”

We praise God for anything that strengthens the faith of young people. However, the survey found that, despite recommendations, a substantial number of Christian teens are nevertheless attending state schools (for various reasons). Thus, regardless of how YMs and college recruiters do their jobs, CMs still have a noble task to pursue.

The Survey:

My aim in the YM survey was less academic than inspirational and bridge-building. Here are some generalizations I drew from the survey (further details are listed below):

: 1. The vast majority of churched teens end up going to college.; 2. The vast majority of YMs serving Churches of Christ attended Christian colleges themselves.; 3. YMs are well aware of students who lost their faith or church connections after attending college (both state or Christian), but state school students are seen to be slightly more vulnerable than Christian college attendees.; 4. I noted a trend against recommending state schools to teens, even among some YMs who were aware of local campus ministries. One respondent who often recommended state schools (with a CM) to his kids had to admit that many had lost their faith. While this respondent knew of none who lost faith at a Christian college, the vast majority of respondents did see cases of faith-loss in both circumstances.; 5. YMs recommend Christian colleges to their kids more than state schools. Yet, just as many Christian students end up going to state schools as go to Christian colleges. This means that the YM’s preference for Christian colleges is not necessarily a barrier to progress in recruiting students for campus ministries. YM’s are willing and ready to help kids who do decide on state schools to get plugged in to campus ministries.; 6. The door is wide open (from the YM side) for sharing information and building better relationships between YMs and CMs. A personal approach works better than relying on the Campus CrossWalk website to make connections.

A Practical Example:

Youth rallies are a great place for CMs to meet and network with Christian teens and YMs. The Mountain Avenue Church of Christ hosts an annual youth rally for youth groups in Arizona (Jessica Knapp kindly informed me of this case). At this rally, the college students from the U of A and the CM volunteer to lead discussion groups, work as coordinators, and participate in the classes with the young people. This helps the teens build a relationship with the students so that if or when they get to the U of A (as students) they already know the CM and some students in the group.

This college group (U of A) is supported by several local churches and individuals. Thus, periodical fundraisers are necessary. This becomes a win-win scenario in that it raises funds while also building better relations with rural churches, some of which only have one or two high school kids. As college students travel to rural churches in southern Arizona, they model Christian enthusiasm, lead Saturday night devotionals, preach and lead in worship, and teach Sunday school classes.

Jessica writes, “We hope that by knowing us, they will not be so intimidated about entering the university.”

Many of the rural Arizona churches do not have YMs. Therefore, Jessica writes, “we work hard to meet the students and get to know them...” Jessica’s humble and hard working spirit is where our hope lies. Listen to her; “We still lose many of the kids that come to the U of A, but we try hard.”

That’s the spirit!

Conclusions:

Don’t wait for YMs to find you to help them plug their kids into a good college campus ministry experience. Build a better bridge to YMs. We want youth workers to know that campus ministries exist around the country where their students can thrive spiritually and help others to thrive if they decide to attend a state college or university.

We are not likely to make inroads with our YMs or Christian teens until they know us (CMs) personally and see good things happening in our work. A joint seminar for YMs and CMs could help but YMs are not normally able to attend a high number of seminars and are already making tough choices. Personal approaches take priority but a joint seminar is definitely worth further consideration. Another idea is for some CMs to attend YM seminars, youth rallies, camps and so on.

Also, sending hundreds of letters out and hearing from only a few may be frustrating but it is not a waste. Like Jessica, “Try hard!“ Let's keep our hopes up and our mission firm. Better connections between YMs and CMs constitute a WIN-WIN scenario.

Survey Summary:

Below are the survey questions with summaries of the responses. The sample of respondents to this survey was too small for the results to be definitive but they can inspire constructive reflection and discussion. Take heart and take hope in the responses to questions 13 and 14.

1. What proportion of your graduates go to Christian colleges (your best guess)?: Respondents: There were some wide gaps but 42 percent was the norm.

2. What proportion of your graduates go to state or secular universities?: Respondents: On average, about 41 percent.

3. What proportion of your graduates choose not to go to college?: Respondents: About 17 percent.

4. What is the name of the college(s) or university(s) you attended?: Respondents: 85 percent of youth ministers attended Christian colleges.

5. Do you specifically know of any campus ministries working with students at a state university or college near you (mention the state in which you serve)?: Respondents: Most knew of one or two.

6. To how many high school students have you recommended a state college or university because you knew about an effective campus ministry at that school?: Respondents: 75 percent offered no such recommendations. The exceptions who did make such recommendations were rather generous in doing so.

7. How many young people are you aware of who lost their church or faith connections after going to a state college or university?: Respondents: Nearly all respondents did know of such cases. Answers ranged from zero to ten (one respondent wrote: “Lost count.”

8. How many young people are you aware of who lost their church or faith connections after going to a Christian university or college?: Respondents: Most did know of such cases but in lower numbers than in question # 7 above. Most youth ministers knew of cases wherein faith was lost in college (including both state and Christian colleges) and the numbers ran a bit lower for Christian college students.

9. Are you familiar with the "Campus CrossWalk" website?: Respondents: About 52 percent said yes.

10. Have you ever gone to "campuscrosswalk.org" to consult the directory of campus ministries on behalf of a graduate considering a state university?: Respondents: 100 percent said no.

11. Under what circumstances would you recommend a state college over a Christian college to a young person considering college?: Respondents: The terms or circumstances for such recommendations included (in order of frequency); special degree or program offerings, maturity in faith, academic need, financial circumstances, convenient location, parental preference.

12. Under what circumstances would you recommend a Christian college over a state college to a young person considering college?: Respondents: Most were clear about their preference for recommending Christian colleges (exclusively so in some cases). Many did not perceive their kids to be ready for confronting their future with spiritual strength and confidence. Above all other concerns, they sought an ongoing Christian influence for their kids. In one case, the student’s desire to prepare for ministry elicited a Christian college recommendation.

13. Would you be willing to share contact information (names, addresses, etc) of your prospective graduates with campus ministers?: Respondents: 100 percent said YES!

14. Would you be willing to develop better relations with campus ministers to help your graduates stay connected in ministry while attending state universities?: Respondents: 100 percent said YES!

15. Would you consider attending a National Campus Ministry Seminar (or a joint seminar with youth ministers) to enrich this partnership?: Respondents: 45 percent said “yes.“ 35 percent said “maybe.” 20 percent were “not likely” (but were not against the idea).

Joel Mark Solliday , M.Div., is the editor of Campus CrossWalk and the pulpit minister of the Brooklyn Center Church of Christ in Minnesota. A Pepperdine graduate, he later worked in their Campus Life Office and at ACU as a Missionary in Residence. He earned his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary.