I’ve been talking with others about how to reach out to college aged adults for some time now. The advice I’ve received has consisted mostly of what not to do:
1) Don’t bother: they’ll only go to para-church campus ministries.
2) Don’t bother: young post-moderns won’t come to an established church.
3) Don’t meet in a church building.
4) Forget about Sunday morning; college students don’t like to get up early.
5) Do fun stuff; lots of trips.
6) Don’t do lots of trips: they don’t have any money and won’t go to things that cost real $$.
7) Focus on relationships.
8 ) And of course, the ever present (at least in Baptist circles) “if you feed them, they will come.”
Lest you think I’ve only spoken to senior pastors, church planters, and other professional ecclesiastic types… all of the above came from college students themselves.
Now, let me stop thinking like a churchman and start thinking like the family counselor I’ve been trained to be. Some random thoughts about reaching college age people:
First, re-define what “college age” means. Traditionally, “college aged” meant 18 to 22 years-old. Baptist churches would have “College and Career” Sunday school classes and ministries: college referred to university students. 18 to 22 year-olds who skipped college and went straight into the work force were in the “career” category. Now, the typical university student takes 5 years (or more) to graduate, not 4. And, many people are taking even longer.
This is especially true in Tulsa. TU and ORU are both traditional four year schools. But the state schools (OSU-Tulsa and NSU-BA) are relying on the junior college system (TCC) to provide the core undergraduate classes. If you stick around Tulsa, there is not the expectation of four years in one school and you’re out.
Second, college students are working now more than ever. Few kids have the luxury of leaving high school and being full-time students without a job. People are taking fewer hours at school and working more; often working two jobs while going to school. These are busy people who are prioritizing their time and are not looking to attend meetings and programs because someone tells them they should.
Next, sociologists have long seen college as inadvertently extending adolescence. If you think of adolescence as a developmental task and not a time period, this makes sense. The task of adolescence is to answer the question, “Who am I, really?”. Adulthood begins when one has a clear answer to that question and begins to pursue life activities consistent with the answer. (I like thinking in those terms because it explains the presence of 25, 35, and even 45 year-old adolescents.) I think this calls for remembering they are a work in progress. No longer teens, not quite settled into a place where they are comfortable with themselves. Adults, but still working out major life issues like career and relationships.
Finally, no one life stage exists independently of the others. In other words, a strong youth group in a church might help create a strong college ministry. Which means a strong children’s ministry. Which requires a solid ministry to parents. Each reacts to and feeds off the others.
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hi there. I couldn’t help but notice our similarities… both Christians in private practice with ministries to college age young adults. Cool. Then again, I’m not a middle aged man with teens….
Joylene,
Welcome to Counseling Notes. Thanks for stopping by; I’ll surf over and look at your blog tomorrow!
As a nontraditional college student who is trying to reach the students I go to class with, I just wanted to say hello and make a comment. You are so right about college age students attending another meeting. I think the best way we are going to be able to communicate with them is online. Keep up the good work.
Bowden, You know I love teenagers but next to them I love college students. Two inspiring thoughts I have read this week.
“Action happens in the community (this pertains to the college community as well), not in the church. No one lives in their church (well except for us 20% doing the 80%), people live in their community”
“A person (any age) decides whether they will return to a church within the first 5-10 minutes that they are there.”
Once our church, inclusive of all ministries (adult, college, youth, children, ect) believes these paradigms, there will be no effective evangelistic or discipleship ministry.