OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF CHURCH-BASED CAMPUS
MINISTRY
by Tom Stark, Pastor, 1966-2002,
University Reformed Church,
East Lansing, Michigan,
revised, March 2007
I. Key Convictions About Church-Based Campus Ministry
First, I am convinced that there are wonderful advantages and opportunities in Church-Based Campus
Ministry, where a permanent congregation has a commitment to campus ministry, which the church pays
for as much as possible, and the church welcomes students into the life of the congregation. This is true
whether at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, a large congregation (around 3,000 on Sundays)
next to the University of Washington campus, with a large campus ministry (1,000 students in the
church on Tuesdays nights for “THE INN”), or a new church meeting in a university building, renting
space, uncertain about how all the stages of growth will be handled. At the end of the paper I have given
my own personal background in campus ministry, and have listed other kinds of non-church-based
campus ministries in the appendices.
Second, I am convinced there are special challenges almost certain to be faced by any such church-based
campus ministry. Leaders in the congregation and the campus ministry need to be aware of these
challenges
1. Special issues arise out of denominational connections. Usually these involve who will be
baptized, and by whom, who may receive communion, and how membership is handled.
2. The historic “town and gown” gap was described in past generations for the large Protestant
establishment congregations near campuses. Does the church really welcome people who are not
university-oriented in their work or educational level? Is the ministry of the church too self-consciously
identified with a supposed university style of doing things?
3. Does the church have a staff-run or student-run approach to student ministry? When universities
recognize student groups they expect them not to be directed by non-university staff members. I am
convinced the most healthy student ministry seeks to strengthen and develop student leadership, whether
by undergraduates, graduate students, or internationals. Sometimes para-church organizations have full
time staff members who develop a student ministry that in most ways revolves around the staff, and they
are not convinced that undergrads, grads, or internationals have the time or skills or background to take
significant leadership. They may feel free to recruit students to switch to their ministries from a church’s
student-led, though staff-supported ministry.
4. Leaders in a church encounter questions about whether there is too much focus on the campus,
whether we have too many students, or whether some other areas of ministry are being neglected. I read
a report of a denominational congregation a mile from a Big Ten campus. A study in their congregation
concluded that, with the priorities they had for children’s ministry and families, they would no longer
have any focus or publicity for ministry to students. It was an embarrassing report, indicating that they
were going to drop their ministry to single, married or international students at the campus nearby.
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5. Campus ministry, with all its joys, brings some special pain for a congregation. To invest in
students and become attached to them, and then have them graduate and move on, never gets easier.
Church families whose young people don’t go to college can feel excluded by a flourishing campus
ministry. Families whose college age young people don’t connect successfully with the campus ministry
or staff can feel let down Families with out of town collegians can be discouraged if their young people
don’t seem to connect with the campus ministry in the summers.
Third, without genuine support of campus ministry by the senior staff of the church, campus ministry
can become marginalized, not experiencing the blessing of being fully part of a congregation’s life. A
key person at First Presbyterian Church in Seattle said, “We’ve always got a strong base for campus
ministry here because Earl Palmer (the senior pastor) loves students.”
Fourth, campus ministry is not generic. It reflects a Christian response to a real campus, with real needs
and issues. Some campus ministries at various campuses are exactly alike. That usually means the staff
are not taking the college or university seriously, or are lazy in adopting approaches from elsewhere
without sufficient thought and prayer. When campus ministries do not engage the university seriously,
they can stunt the effectiveness of the Christian students they are influencing.
Fifth, campus ministry at its healthiest is a reflective ministry, not caught up with being trendy, though
always eager to learn from others, open to change and growth. Our ministry in East Lansing owed a
great deal to the “Ivy Jungle” campus ministry conferences, where we first heard about many
possibilities and saw new ways to step out in faith, and were blessed by resources from parachurch and
other ministries. But it is foolish to adopt ministry approaches without a careful review of the church’s
ministry setting.
Sixth, campus ministry must be comprehensive. It cannot limit its vision to single 18-22 year old
American undergrads, but must be aware of the transitions students will experience, and support students
as they go through ongoing stages of life.
Seventh, campus ministry staff, or at least the heads of a campus ministry, must be “generalists”, who
can look ahead to the changes coming in students’ lives, have a vision of how to equip them for the
future, and not be threatened but excited about drawing on the resources of a congregation to widen and
deepen the ministry beyond what staff members can provide. There is a place for “specialists”, who may
be focused only on evangelism, discipling, etc., but they should be challenged to respect and support a
ministry with a broader vision, and to resist a protective tendency to have control over “my students”.
II. Twenty-Nine Ways (and Counting) that a Church Can Offer Ministry To Students
Churches vary in size and financial and people resources, but it is healthy for them to realize the
potential ministry they have in many areas. Many of these will occur in any church, but all are worth
noting as possibilities, as a church's ministry vision grows.
1. Worship. Campus ministries are not churches and usually are wise enough to avoid giving that
impression to students. They know students need to connect with a worshipping community.
2. Regular Biblical Preaching. Campus ministries have a hard time sustaining this, but churches
ought to be able to provide this means for building up individuals in Christ, and explaining the gospel to
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unbelievers.
3. Fellowship for All Ages. It is desperately important that students not become more isolated than
they already are, in terms of their age group, health, educational background, etc. A congregation
provides exposure to a wider range of the real life experiences of God’s people. Some students are most
comfortable with their own group, but for others it is an exciting option to meet people outside of the
groups they are with every day.
4. Families, Single Working People, Single Parents, Divorced People. Since most undergraduates
are single, as are a high percentage of graduate students, exposure to families and others is an important
part of broadening their perspective on life.
5. Prayer. Year in and year out a congregation should have church boards, prayer chains, prayer
teams, etc., which uphold the life of the congregation in prayer, and that includes students, who also
need exposure to a church’s prayer ministry in which they can participate.
6. Staff. In my early years with InterVarsity, as a student and staff member, we spoke about
“indigenous student ministry”, which was supposedly like mission efforts overseas: self-governing, selfpropagating, self-supporting. But it really was an illusion. Those are sound principles for missionaries,
but for eighteen to twenty-two year olds, who leave again in four or five years, the reality is that campus
ministry relies heavily on the local church to supply its student leadership. It is important also to supply
part-time or full-time staff members to work with students, to train them, and help their vision grow for
the short time they are on campus.
7. Financial Support. Student ministries have limited means for raising funds and campus staff
workers are uncomfortable with the thought of students raising support for them. It is right that others
who have full time employment support financially the staff members for a campus. Churches can do
this through their own budgets and, like every mission outreach, they will be surprised and blessed by
giving funds for a ministry outside themselves.
8. Sacraments. Because campus ministries are not churches, they usually avoid serving the Lord’s
Supper or performing baptisms, out of respect for the range of backgrounds from which they draw their
members. But students do need to observe the Lord’s Supper and they do need to be given the option of
being baptized when they make a confession of faith. A local church can provide that for them.
9. Church Membership. A church may be low key about membership, never limiting participation
only to members, but students need to have the opportunity to be affiliated with a church as members.
10. Children’s Ministries. College students can make a contribution to children’s ministries, and
they are often encouraged and strengthened by this exposure. When a veteran missionary became a
member of our congregation while earning her Ph.D. I asked her how she got connected with people in a
new church. She had been in Chile and Kenya and had decided that the first thing to do in a new place
was to volunteer in children’s ministries. It was encouraging for her to work with young kids and to
meet their parents and get to know some families well.
11. Men’s Ministries. The overall percentage of U.S. college students who are female is now
about 54%. The percentage of women in campus Christian groups is often higher than that, sometimes
much higher. There is a strong need for men to be mentored, counseled and encouraged in their
ministries. The need is not to neglect women, but to “catch up” for the men. A congregation has the
potential of providing men to mentor younger men, sharing with them about their jobs, going on a
retreat, etc.
12. Women’s Ministries. Women students appreciate opportunities to know and interact with
women in the church.
13. Marriage. Students need pre-marital counseling. They need examples of healthy Christian
marriages. They need help when they are young parents. They need help in raising children. They can’t
get much insight in these areas from their peers, but a local church can make an important contribution.
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14. A Year-Round Ministry. Our Michigan State University enrollment of around 44,000 drops to
a little over half of that for the summer sessions of twelve weeks. Campus ministries which run summer
projects, or where the staff have to raise their support during the summer, often close down during a
fourth of the year, but the campus does not. A church should have a ministry all year. Some things
change in the summer, but students in summer school, or working in the area, or back in the
congregation from other campuses, all benefit if a ministry takes place in the summer and over school
vacations.
15. A Summer Training Program. I discovered in seminary that many of my fellow students had
come to Christ through high school and college age youth ministries, especially those run in the
summers by several large churches. College students were the primary staff, hired and trained to run the
summer middle school, high school, and college programs. They had reading lists, evangelism
activities, close staff fellowship, and a strong outreach emphasis. Summer programs can be
tremendously effective in reaching youth and training collegians. In our church in East Lansing this has
taken a number of forms: a student leadership team for the summer, rented living facilities, part-time and
full-time summer staff, sometimes with staff housing provided by church families.
16. Sunday Classes. A congregation can offer separate classes for students, but it can also offer
adult classes in which students can participate. It can draw on a wide range of people to lead classes, and
the classes can be offered year-round.
17. Service Opportunities. Volunteer activities have increased on campuses, sometimes because of
concerns for resumes, but many students want opportunities to make a difference in their community. A
local church, with a permanent diaconal ministry, can be a resource to network students with service
opportunities in the community, as groups of students, or along with members of the congregation.
18. Christian Faculty Members. If they have a love for students and availability to students they
can be important role models, and their perspective on the university is highly respected by students.
19. Ministry to Out-Of-Town College Students. Young people from families in the church will go
to other campuses. Many of their friends go home over vacations or summers and find no place for them
in the church where they grew up. This should not be the case where a campus church maintains a yearround ministry. (An amazing ministry exists in a large church in the south which has 500 out of town
college students. Two full time staff members lead a followup and support ministry.)
20. Community College Ministry. Many colleges or universities are in towns where there is also a
local community college, with mostly commuter students. A ministry on commuter college campuses is
harder to maintain, because of the turnover, and the fact that many students are working longer hours in
addition to taking classes. But these students can be welcomed into a college or university ministry if
there is a conscious effort to do so, and care is taken not to identify the ministry as only for the
university.
21. Open Houses. Each fall offers a congregation an opportunity to have open houses for new or
returning students, medical students, etc. One church located near a medical school has a med school
open house on the first Sunday afternoon of the fall term, and many students cross the street, partly out
of curiosity, and partly because the church makes an effort to publicize their welcome in the med school.
22. Prayer Partners. Campus ministry staff can develop a core of people in the congregation who
pray faithfully for the campus ministry.
23. International Student Ministry. With the increase in international students on many campuses,
campus ministries can welcome students from all over the world. Sometimes they are older, some have
families with them, while others have left families behind. The majority are grad students, and in some
ways they relate more easily to the older members of a congregation than to American undergraduate
students. They often appreciate being identified with a congregation as ordinary members.
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24. Food. Students love it, need it, and the congregation may be able to supply it on a lot of special
occasions.
25. Sunday Night Suppers. On many campuses the residence halls do not provide Sunday night
supper, so for many years we provided a meal after our evening service at reasonable cost. The meal,
cooked by students or non-students, provides an informal gathering for students and others in the
congregation. Some campus churches have a Sunday evening meal and no evening service, but usually
develop some type of program or activity along with a meal.
26. A Church Booktable and Library. Students may be unable to find or buy many Christian
books, but a congregation may have a variety of books for sale or to check out.
27. Support at Key Events. To have church friends at recitals, athletic events, awards
presentations, and graduations means a great deal to many students.
28. Historical Perspective. Students will not know what God has done on campus, various means
of outreach, resources, etc., but a congregation can keep that collective vision and history alive.
29. Roots. By four years after graduation an alumnus may no longer know anyone at the
university. A campus church provides continuity for those who come back to visit, or who sometimes
return to the area permanently.
III. What a Church Can Provide for Its On-Campus Fellowship
If the church has its own campus fellowship it may take a generic name. The University of Illinois and
Michigan State teams are Illini and Spartans (so “Illini Christian Fellowship” and “Spartan Christian
Fellowship”). I believe such a name is better than “University Reformed Church Student Fellowship”,
though the group’s literature would identify the campus ministry as being related to a church.
While a campus group needs to develop its own identity, congregational support is important in a
number of ways:
1. Leadership training. There are likely to be resource people in the church who can assist in
leadership training events for students, and spare the campus staff from having to organize or co-ordinate
these themselves.
2. Retreats. These are important opportunities to get students away from campus for a day or a
weekend. Having a church office makes it much simpler to get flyers done and mailings sent out. At
retreats where you do your own cooking, cooks can be recruited from the congregation.
3. Finances. The church can provide a way of handling ministry finances, along with providing
major financial support for the ministry. Universities often have provisions for recognized students
groups to keep their funds with the University. We found this service slow and frustrating, and instead
had student fellowship funds in an account with our church treasurer, who could deposit funds and write
checks more quickly.
4. Locations for events. Campus groups can use campus facilities, but sometimes they are
restricted about bringing in food, the hours they can meet, getting rooms on weekends, etc. While
weekly meetings of student groups are ideally held on campus, other kinds of meetings are often more
conveniently located at the church, where there also may be more available parking.
5. Help for the weekly meetings of the campus fellowship:
a. Food- snacks afterwards, to help students linger and get acquainted
b. Speakers
c. Pray-ers- to pray through the evening at home, or in a nearby classroom, or to
be available for prayer with students after a meeting
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d. Greeters- before or after meetings, especially when there will be many
newcomers
e. A van and drivers
f. Operating the sound system for the worship team
6. When the campus ministry maintains a mailing list, the church office can most conveniently
send out mailings or newsletters.
7. When a university recognizes student groups it usually means the group can put up posters
around the campus, get the names of new students from orientation, be at student organization fairs, etc.
But being a congregationally- related ministry means that the group can also get the names of students
coming from the same or similar denominational backgrounds.
8. People in the congregation can be recruited to phone in the summer new students whose names
you receive, and call them again after school starts in the fall.
9. Especially in the fall ads in the student newspaper are important, and the financial cost of that
can be covered through the church.
10. Christian faculty are potential speakers and resources for the campus student group.
11. Evangelism - there may be people in the church who have experience and gifts in evangelism,
and can come alongside students in training or special outreach events.
12. Discipling - there should be people in the church who develop gifts for mentoring or discipling
students, and who can also train students to mentor other students.
13. Campus Ministry Associates (CMAs). We were indebted to First Presbyterian Church in
Seattle for their extensive list of CMA ministries, for which they provided orientation, publicity and a
spring banquet to express appreciation. There are many areas where CMAs are needed, such as items 1,
2, 5, 8, 10- 12 above.
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IV. How Students Contribute to the Life of a Local Congregation
1. Sunday School teaching
2. Working with middle school and high school youth groups.
3. Childcare at church events or at M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Preschoolers)
4. Participating in men’s or women’s retreats from the congregation
5. Ushers
6. Greeters
7. Participating in special programs, such as sending Thanksgiving or Christmas Baskets to needy
families.
8. Serving as part of the church’s missions committee
9. Being part of the church’s prayer chain.
10. Being part of the international students ministry of the church
11. Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes sponsored by the church
12. Being on church worship teams for Sunday services
13. Working in the nursery
14. Driving the church van.
15. Raising their own student mission funds to assist students going to short or long-term mission
assignments.
16. Evangelism
17. As babysitters for church families
V. What an International Student Ministry Can Include- 23 Dimensions (and Counting)
Our basic assumption is that international student ministry has the goal of discipling Christian
international students so that the ministry is not staff-dominated, but fosters leadership, evangelism and
vision by internationals.
1. A separate Sunday morning class for Internationals, which also can include interested
Americans with a vision for outreach.
2. Locate places for internationals to go on holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter).
3. Sponsoring English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
4. Sponsoring trips primarily for international students (Spring Break, Christmas Break, and
summer).
5. Evangelism - seeking to communicate the gospel to unbelievers
6. Working with the university to meet new students as they arrive, primarily in the fall.
7. Helping the university with other orientation responsibilities for incoming students.
8. Being a resource when a crisis occurs (a couple being cheated on a car repair bill, a family
whose non-English speaking preschooler is having surgery).
9. Consciously and persistently developing international student leadership for international
student activities.
10. Having Bible studies in the home languages of students (Korean, Japanese, Spanish, etc.)
11. Getting international students to InterVarsity’s triennial Urbana Missions Conference, and the
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special International Student Track there.
12. Providing scholarships for internationals to attend Urbana and other special international
conferences.
13. Providing Faculty Prep Nights, in which Christian faculty review some of the key issues for
those aiming to teach or do research in universities.
14. Developing an over-arching “International Leadership Team” for the ministry, with
international and American team members.
15. Identify international students who are gifted speakers or have important testimonies to share,
and find opportunities to use their gifts.
16. Using music in worship services from various countries and languages, reading scripture in
more than one language and praying the Lord’s Prayer in various languages, etc.
17. Having discerning people to troubleshoot with the university in cases where students may not
be treated fairly.
18. Helping students deal with matters that are confusing to them with the university, faculty or
staff.
19. Relating to the church's diaconate about special needs which arise for internationals: financial
problems, sickness, family needs, etc.
20. Seeing that someone walks closely with internationals when they are planning for marriage,
having children, bringing family from overseas, experiencing illness.
21. Providing counseling and prayer for internationals.
22. Meals for New Mothers, MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and other ministries for mothers.
23. A “family” at graduations and for “sending off” those who return home
VI. Situations Where Mentors Can Be Especially Valuable For Students
1. As students are contemplating engagement or have become engaged
2. When students get married. Campus ministry staff are not always married, and usually are
relieved to have other resource people in the church to turn to.
3. When students are trying to figure out questions involving finances.
4. Issues about future job or career.
5. Crisis situations
6. Where a person would like to meet for some extended discipling with an older person.
7. Where students have questions and issues about relationships between men and women.
VII. Connecting Graduates For the Next Stages in Life
A church may have resources to share with students as they consider future ministries and options:
1. Locating Graduate InterVarsity
2. Issues to be faced in grad school
3. Christian fellowship (CMDF) and issues for medical school
4. Christian fellowship (CVF) and issues for vet school
5. Christian fellowship (CLS) and issues for law school
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6. Student teaching and the first teaching jobs
7. Future university teaching – “Faculty Prep Group”
8. Those taking a semester abroad
9. Those going away on internships
10. Issues to think through when preparing for the “real world”
VIII. Preparing Students for Marriage
1. The goal is to prepare everyone for marriage potentially, which means that various aspects of
the subject should be dealt with on a regular basis in campus ministry.
2. The church should develop forms and requirements for premarital counseling. We usually
required four sessions. This probably cannot be done by the church staff alone. We had years when there
were 8- 10 weddings, and my wife and I could not have done the premarital counseling for them all.
Fortunately, there were three or four other trained couples who could do premarital counseling.
3. Couples can meet with engaged couples to talk particularly about finances or special issues,
such as a cross-cultural marriage.
4. The church can have classes or groups for young couples, guided by a more experienced couple
or two.
5. There should be a clear place for married undergraduates to fit in, and other young married
couples. A transition needs to be available into a group where they will feel at home and welcomed.
6. Marriage retreats are an important option, usually open to everyone, regardless of how long they
have been married.
7. The church library is a resource.
8. If the church maintains a book table, items on marriage should be an important part.
How The Church May Be Provide Counseling For Campus Ministry
Personnel:
1. Stephen Ministers – they can be a resource that students know about and to whom campus staff
refer students.
2. If the church has lay counselors, they will be needed at times by students.
3. If there are people in the church gifted with dealing with issues of same gender attraction, there
will be students who will want to meet with them..
4. Students need contacts with Christian counselors in the congregation, the university or the
community.
Key Areas:
1. Abuse - sexual or physical.
2. Abortion
3. Divorce, especially when parents are going through a divorce.
4. Death
5. Depression
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6.Alcoholism
X. How Families Can Provide Valuable Support to Campus Ministry.
1. Some congregations recruit “host families”, who are asked to have one to three students
assigned to them, and to have them in their home at least once each semester.
2. Families can provide holiday meals, especially for out of state students, internationals, and
those who are in athletics or other special programs where they can’t get away for a holiday.
3 Students appreciate having social events in homes.
4. When students hear speakers from the church, this can lead to getting to know some older
people, getting to talk with them personally, and to seeing them and their families at church.
5. Families appreciate having students as babysitters, and students are grateful that they can be in
homes.
XI. How Students Can Be Helped in Vocational Preparation
1. Education majors welcome the chance to meet veteran teachers in the church.
2. When students are student teachers or intern teachers they appreciate meeting experienced
teachers in the congregation, and talking about their experiences and insights.
3. Pre-meds or med students appreciate meeting those who are doctors, in practice or in
residencies.
4. Pre-seminary students often want the perspective of the pastor or others who have theological
training.
5. Nursing students welcome the chance to talk to nurses in the church.
6. Pre-law students are glad to meet lawyers in the church.
7. A good springtime plan is to have a series of sessions for graduating seniors to help prepare
them for transitions.
8. Especially when the job market is tight, it helps students to know there are some people who
will be praying for their job needs as they move toward graduation and beyond.
9. A whole range of specialized organizations exist, such as Christians in Social Work, Christians
in Philosophy, Christians in History, etc. Those with majors in such areas, or heading into such careers,
or to grad school, benefit by being alerted to these specialized organizations where people are thinking
through the application of the Christian faith to their discipline.
10. Campus ministry can supply information on the Pew Evangelical Scholars programs and other
programs which students at secular schools may not hear about.
XII. Where Students Can Help and Be Trained in Worship Leadership
1. The on-campus student fellowship needs those who can lead in worship (music teams, drama,
other leadership).
2. The Sunday services at the church may have worship teams which welcome student members.
3. The church may have youth groups- middle school or high school, which can use help in
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worship leadership.
4. The church may have connections with high school ministries such as Young Life or Campus
Life, where students can use worship leadership skills.
5. A Sunday college class may have a worship team.
6. The church may have a drama ministry in worship.
7. The church may welcome students who can provide special music.
8. The church may sponsor training events for those interested in worship leadership.
XIII. Student Ministry and Missions- Where the Campus Ministry and the Church Intersect
A vital campus ministry will encourage mission involvement and awareness. The most obvious options
are local ministries, Spring Break trips, Summer Mission trips of varying lengths, Short Term Missions
(three months to a year and a half) and Long Term Missions.
An important contribution from the campus ministry staff and the church is to do some initial sorting of
mission information. There are dozens of mission groups and organizations and everybody benefits by
narrowing that down to a dozen or less about which more extended information is made available to
students. These organizations may be parachurch groups that the congregation is close to, such as
InterVarsity, Campus Crusade, or the Navigators, or organizations that students have been with in the
past, or a denomination’s programs, or ministries from which the church supports missionaries.
For effective publicity, recruitment, fund-raising, and training the sites for spring and summer or longer
term trips need to be scheduled well in advance. This can be the responsibility of a staff member, with
student help, and with the help of the missions committee in the church.
The church budget needs to reflect some level of financial support for mission trips, by groups and
individuals. The campus staff and the church’s missions committee need to work on the budget for these
subsidies.
A knowledgeable group in the church- perhaps the missions committee, or subcommittee, or a specially
picked group, needs to come alongside the campus ministry and maximize the benefit of student mission
experiences by developing: cross-cultural training, support raising assistance, mentors for those going on
mission trips, and interviewing individuals to understand their sense of calling. These people should
answer questions and pray with students, develop prayer for them in the congregation, identify special
problems that may arise, and arrange for debriefing when the groups and individuals return.
The church’s missions committee needs to work closely with the campus ministry to consider
individuals who may be added permanently to the church’s mission budget, to consider how to maintain
contact with “tentmakers”, to support students who go on a semester abroad from the university, to
encourage student and non-student mission teams, and to consider ways in which student missions
interest can be tied in with missionaries who are supported in the church's budget.
When we heard that the ministry of “The Inn” at the University of Washington raised almost $40,000
yearly to support their fellow students in summer missions we were reminded that students do have
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money and need to be challenged to support their friends in mission outreach. Such a Student Missions
Fund is a direct way to mobilize financial support.
Students need to raise some of the support for mission trips, through individual or group fund-raising,
work days, etc.
XIV. What the Church Can Do for InterVarsity’s Triennial Student Missions Conference
(“Urbana”)
Since 1946 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has sponsored a student missions conference every three
years at the University of Illinois in Urbana. In 2006 it moved to St. Louis, Missouri. I can testify to the
tremendous value the conference has had for our congregation. Over half of the people whom we
support in our missions budget attended Urbana at one time in the past and it was a crucial event for
many of them. People may not go overseas the next year after attending Urbana, but it is an important
link to mission boards, training, materials, etc., as students move in that direction.
A church can support the Urbana Conference:
1. By providing a scholarship fund.
2. By contacting alumni of the congregation for Urbana scholarships. Alumni may be in new
churches, but there may be a special interest in giving for students who are going to get missions
training.
3. The church can help in recruitment for Urbana.
4. The church can provide travel arrangements for those in the area.
5. The church can especially recruit international students and raise funds for them to attend.
6. The church can schedule a Report Back session after Urbana, where the whole congregation can
be encouraged to hear what God has done.
7. The church or its missions committee can sponsor smaller debriefing sessions after Urbana.
8. The church can sponsor preparatory sessions before Urbana to orient students on what to
expect.
9. Churches should expect that the follow-up from Urbana would include more students showing
interest for summer missions and long term missions experiences.
10. The church can appoint an Urbana Task Force well before the conference to relieve the work
load of the campus staff. This group could help with many aspects of recruitment, transportation, etc.
11. The church may develop a vision for paying the registration fee for everyone from the church
who attends. Our congregation had that commitment every three years since 1993. In 1993, 1996, and
2000 we saw our attendance rise from 36 to 72 to 115. In addition to registration support, the church has
also provided additional scholarship funds for many.
12. Recruitment and scholarships should extend to students from the congregation attending other
campuses.
13. The church can develop a system of prayer for Urbana, before and afterwards, perhaps
recruiting prayer partners for each person who attends.
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XV. Relations with Parachurch Groups
An important challenge to churches which have a church-based campus ministry is to consider how they
are going to relate to parachurch groups. Some churches try to pretend that the other groups don’t exist,
and sometimes the students and staff of such groups feel marginalized or even suspect in the church. No
university campus is anywhere close to being evangelized, and could use twice as many staff members
as it has. It may be hard at times not to feel threatened or competitive, but a congregation ought to do
several things:
1. Identify the ministries in your midst. Do a survey of your students and find out what ministries
they are part of.
2. Publicize those ministries by mentioning them from the pulpit or in the bulletin: “We know and
celebrate that we have students who are part of our church and part of Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, the
Navigators, Young Life, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We rejoice in this and pray for you.
Please let us know if there are special events or special needs for prayer”. And then pray faithfully.
3. If staff members of Christian organizations become part of your church (not necessarily
members) identify those who are involved in campus ministry, giving their name and organization, in the
bulletin, annual reports, etc.
4. Pray for these groups in Sunday services.
5. Identify special events which they are having on-campus or off-campus.
6. The pastor(s) and campus ministry staff might meet with the staff of these organizations at least
once a year to maintain contact.
XVI. Possible Tension Points with Parachurch Groups?
1. When students move from a parachurch group to the church’s campus ministry or vice versa.
This is not an easy time, but then they are not “our students”. They do not belong to any one group, and
are free to change their loyalties, even though it can be bruising to the ego.
2. When students attend two groups. To most of us this seems precarious from a time standpoint.
But we cannot tell students to attend one group or the other.
3. When a Christian group suddenly contacts all other groups to say that “We're bringing ______
to town in three weeks. Please cancel your meetings and come to our special event.” This is always
awkward, not realistic, and not an automatic basis for canceling meetings.
4. When an ad hoc group announces that an “all campus event” has been scheduled. It still
requires weighing whether to cancel other events, whether to publicize the special event, or whether it’s
a priority to plan to be involved.
5. Where students are being recruited to go on the staff of a Christian organization when they
graduate. If a church staff member is uncomfortable about their maturity, or about other issues, it is hard
to send references for employment, or to encourage financial support from the church.
6. When the feeling exists that some ministry staff who are visiting the church are only “fishing”
for their particular ministry.
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XVII. How Students and Non-Students May Serve with Para-Church Ministries
In spite of potential problems, and unless the church gives negative and suspicious reactions to
parachurch ministries, local congregations with an effective campus ministry are going to attract students
and staff from parachurch organizations. It is not always easy to see the “bigger picture” of the work of
the kingdom of God and rejoice in that, but our church at Michigan State has been blessed over the years
as students and non-students have been involved in parachurch ministries. These involvements have
included:
1. Undergrads working part-time as volunteers at Young Life groups in area high
schools.
2. Undergrads raising support to be part-time student staff with Young Life.
3. Undergrads going on the staff of Young Life after graduation.
4. Non-students being drawn into the membership of a Young Life “Mission
Community” (support team) for an area high school.
5. Undergrads working as volunteer staff for Campus Life.
6. Non-students working as volunteer staff for Campus Life.
7. Students and non-students going on full-time Campus Life staff.
8. Students involved with Campus Crusade for Christ
9. Students involved with Athletes in Action, a sub-group of Campus Crusade
10. Students going on Campus Crusade staff fulltime
11. Grad students involved in Campus Leadership Ministries, the Grad-Faculty
Ministry of Campus Crusade.
12. Students involved in the InterVarsity undergrad group
13. Students involved in Graduate InterVarsity.
14. Students and non-students going on InterVarsity staff full time.
15. Full-time staff from InterVarsity, Campus Crusade, Campus Crusade internationals ministry,
Navigators, and Navigators’ internationals ministry.
16. Full time staff with InterVarsity, Campus Crusade, Navigators in our church missions budget,
both those working on our campus and other campuses
Appendix 1- Church-Related (but not Church-Based) Campus Ministry
There are a variety of forms of church-related campus ministry, which differ from the church-based
campus ministries, on which I focus in this paper.
1. Church-Sponsored Campus Ministries- Some congregations invest a considerable amount of
financial resources, perhaps all the resources needed for a campus ministry, but the congregation’s
investment is only financial. This is usually not the case with a church near a university campus,
although I have seen that happen- where the church supports a campus ministry financially, and has
almost no further interaction with students.
2. Denominationally-Sponsored Campus Ministries - At one time this was popular with the
mainline Protestant churches, but their decline in membership and financial resources has brought many
of those ministries to an end. When I first came to Michigan State, four mainline Protestant groups
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maintained eight different staff members with secretarial services in a suite of offices next to the
campus. All that financial support and ministry has been gone for some time. The mainline
denominational groups which still remain on some campuses are mostly Wesley Foundations (United
Methodist) and Episcopal student groups. But other denominations have strong campus ministry
programs: The Assemblies of God sponsors Chi Alpha groups on many campuses, The Southern
Baptists have Baptist Student Unions (BSU) on hundreds of college campuses. Some off-campus
churches maintain a ministry for the campus with their denominational label. The University Reformed
Church in East Lansing, Michigan, where I served as pastor, is a member of the Reformed Church in
America, though welcoming people from many different backgrounds, and the ministry, though selfsupporting now, was started and initially funded by the Reformed Churches in Michigan.
3. Church-Based Off-Campus Ministries - This would be characteristic of a number of AfricanAmerican churches which are not located close to a campus, but are anxious to maintain contact with
students there. They may provide buses or other rides and have a lively congregational interest in
students, though they may not be close to a campus.
4. On-Campus (University- Recognized) Student Ministries Which Play Down Their Connection
with Their Supporting Church. It puzzles me that, if a student ministry has a support base, it would be
reticent to let it be known. But I heard the director of a large university campus ministry complain that
he had to go to monthly meetings of the church board of a large church which totally supports his
ministry. He had little interest in the students knowing about the supporting church, which was only a
mile from campus, and really wanted only a financial connection with the congregation.
5. Church-Supported Campus Ministry in Which the Campus Ministry is Provided Financial and
Other Support But Discourages Student Involvement in the Congregation, Beyond Attendance at
Worship. The reason given may be that students have great opportunities on the campus and therefore
should not be distracted by working with a high school youth group, teaching Sunday School, or being
involved in off-campus youth ministries like Young Life or Campus Life.
6. A Church Relating to Campus Ministry Only on Sundays, with Campus Ministry Publicized for
One or More Parachurch Ministries (such as InterVarsity, Campus Crusade for Christ, or the
Navigators). On one Big Ten campus a church near the campus has more students than non-students in
attendance at Sunday worship during the school year, divided among three parachurch groups. The
church has become the “in” place for on Sundays. In another Big Ten campus church, with a number of
active staff from one parachurch group, they convinced the church that it should do no campus ministry
but only publicize the parachurch group for students who attend the church.
Appendix 2- Other Kinds of Non-Church Campus Ministries
1. Staff- run interdenominational parachurch organizations. While there may be some student
leadership this ministry is directed by the paid staff.
2. Student-run interdenominational parachurch organizations. There may be part-time or full-time
staff members, but they are committed to student leadership development. Usually the university
requires that there be bona fide student leaders in order to have a recognized student group.
3. Campus ministry groups with a distinctive doctrinal commitment. All evangelical groups have
doctrinal convictions, but the more distinctive examples are strongly charismatic, or, in many southern
states, the Reformed Campus Fellowships, which are committed to a reformed understanding of the
gospel, and derive their support primarily from the Presbyterian Church in America.
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4. Ethnic-specific groups. They may or may not be English-specific, that is, a Korean Christian
Fellowship can be a group from Korean-American backgrounds, but all the activities may be in English.
Or the group may function in Korean. A Chinese Christian Fellowship could be Chinese- American
students functioning in English, overseas Chinese functioning in English (because they are drawing
people from across Asia), or in Mandarin, or some other Chinese dialect.
5. African-American groups. These can be associated with local churches, but also may be
separate fellowships affiliated with InterVarsity or Campus Crusade for Christ.
6. International fellowships. These include fellowships which are for international students in
general, or an African Christian Fellowship, or a Latin American Christian Fellowship, etc.
7. Graduate Ministries. InterVarsity seeks to develop Graduate InterVarsity groups at the major
research universities. Campus Crusade has Christian Leadership Ministries to develop an outreach to
graduate students and faculty. The Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship has campus chapters in
medical schools. The Christian Veterinary Fellowship is in most vet schools. The Christian Legal
Society is in most law schools.
8. Outreach to athletes. Athletes in Action is a branch of Campus Crusade. The Fellowship of
Christian Athletes is active in high schools and on a number of college campuses.
Appendix 3- Personal Background
As a new Christian at the University of Illinois in Urbana I was encouraged in my Christian life by the
campus chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, while continuing to attend a campus student
foundation and church of my original denomination. The student foundation was the first of its kind in
the U.S., large and well-funded. The student foundation and church staff were quite liberal (the minister
did not believe in the resurrection), so I found myself there as an inexperienced new Christian, seeking
to witness for my faith, while at InterVarsity I was sustained by Bible studies, speakers and retreats. I
joined the Presbyterian Church before my senior year in college and attended a Presbyterian seminary.
While there I had the opportunity to work at InterVarsity camps over three summers, and to work on
half-time InterVarsity staff at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for one
school year. I also had a campus ministry internship for a year at Boston University on the staff of the
Protestant Chaplain. That staff included chaplains from three denominations, all quite liberal. I found
my worship and fellowship that year at the large downtown Park Street Church in Boston, an evangelical
landmark.
After seminary I went to work on the InterVarsity staff in Illinois, half time with the University of
Illinois, with the rest of the time spent with several universities in the Chicago area. I was contacted by
the Michigan Synod of the Reformed Church in America about their interest in starting a campus and
community ministry in East Lansing, Michigan, the home of Michigan State University. I accepted the
call to begin that ministry in August of 1966, and retired from the ministry of the University Reformed
Church in August, 2002, while remaining active in the congregation.
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