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I met Bob this week working on a college mission project. I was the construction “expert” on our crew, and Bob was along for the ride. Bob is not a college student. Bob is a retired minister, has worked with the campus ministry at his local college for a few years and came along with a group from the college-age/stage church in his city. Bob loves those college students. And from what I’ve seen, they love him, too. It is nice to see a group of 50+ college students roll up to a mission trip with their pastor and somebody like Bob leading them. Here’s to all the Bob’s working in college ministry — and youth ministry too!

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A pastor asked me last week, “How do you get college students and young adults plugged in? They come home and sing in the choir, but they won’t do any more than that.”

Systemically, go back to middle school and start engaging those students in a way that their faith becomes their own and that will draw them into a spiritual community long past their graduation from high school. We have failed a generation of students, and instead of finding a quick fix, let’s go to the source of the problem. Yet at the same time, we need to find a way for our young adults to reconnect.

I think it all boils down to this: keep it simple and small.

For a long time, churches have done a decent job of keeping kids as they finish elementary school and moved onto middle school, and the same for the transition to high school. But when they finish high school, a majority of students do not return to the church. Ever.

Now that leaders have started to ask questions and work to fix the system, many want a quick fix. This “fix” comes from two sources: the last connection these students had to the church was in youth group/youth ministry, which was big, fun and had a lot of bells and whistles. If you ask them, that’s what they will say they want ["What do you want from us?" response: "I want my youth group"]. Second, if you look at the big churches that have successful college/young adult ministries (Mclean Bible Church outside DC, University Baptist in Waco, NLCF in Blacksburg, Va., just to name a few), they have a band, great teaching pastor(s), a cool space to meet, some lights, a sound system. But the average church won’t be able to start with that infrastructure. And for most of those large churches, they probably didn’t start with that either.

SMALL: Kill any notion that you need to renovate your church building, buy a sound system or start a band.

SIMPLE: Find a leader, or small core of leaders, who wants to be a part of these young adults’ lives. They can be any age, any career, any family stage, as long as they follow these two simple ideas: preach a Gospel message that is relevant (it asks for a response, and shows a purpose and a connecting point); and be there.

If your leader volunteers, but can only be around every other week, then you might need to find a new leader. Consistency is key. This age group wants to find a connecting point in the church through a real, live person who will reach out and care for them. They want someone who will listen and not be quick to judge. They want someone who will be honest and not avoid the whole story.

The other important key is mission, to give these students a chance to live out their faith and connect their faith with the world around them.

They aren’t youth anymore. But they don’t want the church life of their parents and grandparents, with prayer meetings, “adult” Bible study and committee meetings.

Age span development: post 18, not necessarily single or educated
Consistency: of speakers, leaders, faces, comforts, point of contact, place of connection
Balance of self-leadership & mentoring
Rallying point: common mission or cause (THREADS: Get Uncomfortable)
Friends are “Near Us”: need some connection of people when they come back from being away at college. Probably most important for maintaining with early college students who have gone away. Also need to work on the HS/post-grad transition happening before students leave for school
They’re not “kids”
Respect their time
New bureaucracy

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props to Marko for finding this one:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&rel=1&border=0]

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I didn’t have to be as stealthy as Marko to get an early copy of “Remedy,” I just had to know the right person, and he loaned it to me. Crowder has always had a way with worship, and “Remedy” is no different.

“Remedy” begins with “The Glory Of It All,” a simple, yet powerful song that draws in the complete power and glory of God, from Creation to the end of time, and drawing on the whole Gospel story. It sets the stage for an experience of awe in worship that is incredibly powerful.

The rest of the CD? It continues on, almost as its own, complete worship experience. I’m ready to put a video background behind it with moving images, highlighting certain words (a la iWorship) and using it as a worship service sometime.

“…neverending…” features the hottest piece of Crowder’s summer tour, the now-famous use of the Guitar Hero guitar. Who turns something so simple (it only has three chords) into something so powerful? Well, other than Crowder… [side note: google "david crowder guitar hero" for a wide selection of YouTube/Google videos]

As usual, DC*B has innovated their use of music, they bring diverse styles to this album and yet remain so simple. The words are powerful, but not complex. They draw the listener in and share a hope for so much more.

On a personal note, this has been a really long week. When my friend handed me the CD Tuesday, he said, “I think you might need this more than I do right now.” It has been on repeat ever since. At some point, I usually get tired of listening to the CD in the same order, so I’ll let it shuffle. This one I have made sure to leave going in order. The song progression will lead you into a time of worship, and is quite remarkable. And now I’ll echo Marko’s sentiments:

“ok, i’m gushing, i realize. for me, this is why god invented music. sorry you have to wait a [week]. pre-order, i tell you.”

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For a couple years, I have had the hardest time finding decent Bible studies for college students. Get Uncomfortable has great media included — not an overdose, but a nice compliment — and great insight on a subject that so many students are passionate about these days: serving the poor, stopping injustice, changing the world…in Jesus’ name.

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Something I’ve noticed in my 16 months of church work is a general disinterest amongst the Boomers & Beyond of passing on the baton to the younger generations within the church. There are solid people coming through our doors who would flourish if only they were given some responsibility and a place of value within this church. One new member last year was asked to be on the Baptism Committee this year. I am making a huge assumption, but my guess is that they chose him because he was baptized last year. They probably also felt a need to “fill a hole” on that committee. Nevermind the fact that he would make a great member of our Properties Committee based on his work experience. Enough ranting…

The reason I posted this is because I ran across an article by Earl Creps, “Passing the Leadership Baton In Our Churches.” He digs into Paul and Timothy in describing a biblical way to train up and empower new leaders in the church.

The best idea I’ve heard recently for training up new leaders: we have experienced adults on our committees and young people who are more than capable of serving as well. If we pair some of them up, the young people will gain invaluable experience and the adults will be assured of the church being in good hands for generations to come!

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