Archive for the 'leadership' Category

The Challenges of a College Student

Published on March 15, 2011 by Chris Bean in Calling, Campus Ministry and leadership.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges that today’s college students face?

After a quick Twitter & Facebook poll, here are some responses I received:

  • complacency, lack of sense of outward mission/purpose attached to Christianity (particularly related to evangelism), and biblical illiteracy
  • sense of community/connection, rooting their self-esteem and identity in the right stuff, confusion as to what direction to go in life (what am I supposed to do?)
  • balance. Most have a full load of classes and are forced to work (at least) one part-time job. Add in dating, friends, family, student groups, and civic responsibilities, and it’s often overwhelming, especially being away from home for the first time.
  • complete and total exhaustion (submitted by a college student)
  • the crazy economic environment and short-term uncertainty about future jobs are major challenges, especially in the minds of juniors and seniors.
  • There is a ton of stress in students’ lives, (self-inflicted in many cases) by lack of sleep, crappy diet, and relationship flux.

I’m sure we could add to this list. Feel free to do so in the comment section.

The response I synthesized from this feedback and my own experience follows. I suppose I would sort these challenges into 3 categories:
1. Personal–Cultivating a sense of balance seems to be one of the major challenges for students. This is impacted by sleeping habits, diet/nutrition, relationships, and a sense of community/identity just to name a few causes.
2. Academic–Again, balance is difficult with the academic demands and many students struggle with the discipline needed to be academically successful and faithful to their calling as students.
3. Spiritual/Faith–A significant challenge for many students also has to do with their spiritual development. For those college students who are pursuing a biblically nourished journey with Christ…fully integrating their faith with the calling of being a college student provides many challenges which make it critical to plug into Christian community and seek out a spiritual director/mentor such as a campus minister.

To me, one of the encouraging places I landed while thinking through these challenges involved some affirmation of my own calling to work with college students for the next season of my life/ministry. Recently, I was asked to outline my 3 favorite things about working for the CCO as a campus minister. Here’s what I came up with.

College students are the coolest cats in town and I love them! Having a job that gives me the opportunity to be with these potential world changers is absolutely energizing.

Secondly, working with college students through the CCO allows me to live out my calling in a completely contextual way. Some of my passions include coffee, running, philosophy, music, hospitality, backpacking, etc…What other job lets you engage so many different interests on a regular basis!

Finally, most people like the thought of making a difference and changing the world. I have the opportunity to pour my life into college students for a few years and then watch them take their love for God and others all around the world to transform it?! That is super gratifying.

For those of you who work on campus with college students and from the context of a local church, what are the things you love about working with college students?

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My Approach to Campus Ministry

Published on December 8, 2010 by Chris Bean in Calling, Campus Ministry, discipleship, Faith and leadership.

As I have reflected recently on my own calling and approach to BEING with college students and simply walking alongside them in spiritually productive ways, God has been quite affirming lately.

At a recent FORMED event on the topic of prayer, Debbie and I spent a few hours with friends at the Speckled Bird in Norwood listening to someone’s prayer journey and then engaging in some prayer practices and disciplines which were really refreshing. One of the exercises which the Father used to encourage me was praying with a picture. Several pictures were spread out on a table and I quickly selected this one w/o glancing around much. As I was contemplating the image and praying, a few different things came to mind:

  • I love the outdoors, hiking, trails, etc
  • The trail is leading upwards and towards light (further up & further in, eh?)
  • I believe that for this season of life and ministry, I’m called to walk a little more slowly and intentionally…with one person at a time. Not sure a crowd would fit on this path.
  • God is calling me to deeper and more authentic relationships with students

After 10 or 15 minutes of prayer time with this image, I had a real sense of patience, contentment, direction, and assurance.

Then today I stumble across this great review by a friend in campus ministry, Bill Westfall. He provides a brief synopsis of the book Souls In Transition which has been on my “read immediately” shelf for several months. (Ha!) The first of five points which Bill sifts from his reading of this important book about emerging adults is this:

Students need a spiritual mentor during their college years.  Not only this, but they need a mentor who actually models, lives out, the type of life to which the student is aspiring.  Uh…read that last part again…we have to actually model what we are saying.  Good stuff.

In any kind of ministry, it is very easy to get distracted with lots of good ideas, strategies, methods, programs, etc. But I keep hearing this voice in my head that says, “Don’t get distracted. Keep it simple. Stop trying to DO too much. Just BE with college students as a spiritual mentor, coach, guide, and friend.

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Book 12: Less Clutter, Less Noise

Published on November 3, 2010 by Chris Bean in Church, Communication and leadership.

I read (skimmed really) this book as I was riding down to Catalyst in Atlanta with a couple of buds.  One of the guys who’s an “executive pastor” at one of our few Nazarene mega-churches had it with him and the title caught my attention.

After serving on staff at a few churches during my first 15 years of my youth/staff ministry career, I have seen the best and worst of church publicity and marketing. Everything from cut ‘n paste clip art to horrendous church websites caused me to engage Kem’s writing quite enthusiastically. You can find out more about Kem Meyer, the author, here by the way. 

I don’t have a copy of the book in front of me now, but these are the two biggest “take-aways” from the book for me.

  1. Website Design–your site ought to be a place for people to gather, not just a vehicle for information transportation.
  2. Focused Communication–I’m sure that’s not the actual title of a chapter in the book or anything, but it’s the basic idea that we often try to communicate too many things at once. I don’t know how many churches I’ve been to that, at some point in the service (usually not the appropriate point) someone blathers on and on with so many announcements that I couldn’t remember them if I tried. Another application for this which hits me is when communicating through a newsletter or even a single blog post. Make one main point and weave that single thread through the stories, images, illustrations, etc.

I certainly haven’t done a great service to Kem in this little post, so I encourage you to check out her book and website if communications, clarity, publicity, marketing, etc are things you’re passionate about.

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