While most college students can't wait to toss their cares aside and dive into a week of Spring Break relaxation, several students across the nation give their time off to the cause of ministering to their peers at Beach Reach in Panama City Beach, Fla. If you've never been, you're probably wondering what it's all about. So here's a brief explanation of what you'll experience as a Beach Reacher. WHAT IS BEACH REACH? In one word, Beach Reach is about Jesus. It's about showing His love and sharing His gospel to thousands of college … [Read more...]
End It Now: A Passion 2013 Recap
60K College Students Rally at Passion 2013 for the World's 27 Million Slaves What happens when you gather 60,000 college students together in one place during their holiday break to talk about the injustices of the world? Some might call it a revolution. Or perhaps it's simply a divine intervention. Last week, the annual Passion conference took place inside Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Over 2,000 university campuses from 54 different countries were represented as students flooded the arena for four days of music, speakers, and hard … [Read more...]
Fall Break: Cheap & Chic Trips
Need plans for Fall Break? We have a few ideas that might be helpful. Tour Where You Be Go all Lonely Planet on your own city with wcities.com (also a phone app) for cool attractions, concerts, and activities. Milk Your Student Discount Try studentuniverse.com for trips by air or rail. See "FarePlay" to get trip deals from your city. Rock the Rental Instead of shelling out for a hotel with buds, check out the site vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) and score a mucho cheapo cabin or condo for your group. Seat-of-your-pants … [Read more...]
College Ministry: A Long-Term Career?
by Guy Chmieleski A couple of years ago I started polling my readers so I could: •Better understand who you are •Gain some statistical data •Test out some theories I have •Attempt to provide some posts that are meaningful and relevant to the work we are doing One of the first questions I ever posted was: How long have you been serving in college ministry? Nearly 70% of those who took the poll reported having served in college ministry for 6 years or more (6-10 years 31%; 11-20 years 31%; and 20+ years 6%). I, myself, am just … [Read more...]
Mentoring College Students
by Ryan Vanderland Mentoring is one of the hot-button words floating around college ministries right now. More and more people are realizing that one-on-one relationships are vital for the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of students. Within a college ministry context, Chuck Bomar has written extensively on the necessity of mentoring relationships. In his book, College Ministry from Scratch, Bomar outlines only two measures of effectiveness within college ministries as we help studnets "move toward Christlikeness." The first … [Read more...]
Collegiate: Campus Spotlight — Florida State University’s Go Week 2011 Moving in the Seminole’s Through Ch
by Sidney Huffman Florida State University is home to roughly 31,000 undergraduate students and 17 on-campus residence halls. With thousands of students moving in, the week before school starts can become quite hectic — especially when moving all your possessions in the humid Florida heat. Freshmen can be spotted quite easily with their families in tow as varying ranges of emotions spread upon their faces. Most upperclassmen have learned to stay as far away from campus for these move-in days, but many of Florida State’s campus … [Read more...]
What a week--a Collegiate Week!
Collegiate Week 2011 left an incredible imprint on students and leaders across the country. With more than 2000 students and leaders in attendance, Holcomb Auditorium was packed each morning and evening as students heard from two exceptional teachers: Michael Kelley and Matt Chandler. The much anticipated audio files from Collegiate Week 2011 are here! Michael Kelley’s sessions can be found in files 1-5; Matt Chandler’s sessions in files 6-9. (Note: The first session teaching starts at 05:00 on the file. Teaching begins on the … [Read more...]
College Ministers--Fall is here. Are you ready?
This week, the Threads team is in the middle of Collegiate Week at Glorieta. Collegiate Week is always an exciting week of renewal, fellowship, information and seeing God Work in the lives of college students. As a local campus minister, it was always the first event to help kick off a busy fall. One of the things that I always watched was to see the impact the week had on my leaders as they returned to our ministry in the fall. They always came back fired up and ready to serve. If you can get some of your key leaders to go with you … [Read more...]
College Leaders--How to make the most out of your summer Sabbath
Even though it has been a long time since I served on a college campus as a campus minister, I still feel like taking a deep sigh of relief as the summer approaches! I guess that routine of looking forward to the summer and a little bit slower pace just carries over all the rest of your life once you have lived it as a minister to college students. The Scriptures teach us to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” In addition to Sundays, I think the Bible is reminding us we need some special down time. What I don’t … [Read more...]
Make the Most of the First Month of the University Year
The first month of school shapes collegiate ministry for the entire year. Sure, God can and does move in October or April, but typically what does or doesn’t happen the first month of the university year matters in October and in April. Students set their patterns the first three weeks of Fall semester. They often decide quickly where they’ll park, when they’ll eat, who they’ll spend time with, and whether or not they’ll be involved in church or campus ministry. Bam! Decided. Tuesday/Thursday schedule … [Read more...]
