Mega College Ministries

xaglen — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 18:43:20 -0600

Being big does not mean that a group has good theology or a sound philosophy of ministry. It doesn't even mean that the leaders are good Christians (although I don't have any reason to doubt those listed below).

But becoming and staying big does mean that they've learned how to attract and retain college students. Here are a handful of large college ministries in America, and we can all probably learn a few things from them.

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Over 1,000

Breakaway Ministries runs about 4,000 and is at Texas A & M.
The INN runs about 1,400 and is touching the University of Washington.
San Luis Obispo Campus Crusade runs over 1,000 and is reaching Cal Poly.

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Under 1,000

theMILL runs around 800 and is sponsored by Ted Haggard's church in Colorado Springs.
Grace On Campus is at UCLA and sponsored by John MacArthur's church. Evidently they're the largest ministry on that campus. They also do free consulting.
Campus Christian Fellowship is at Western Washington University and they're running about 500. They're a Chi Alpha ministry.

Sunday School Curricula

xaglen — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 18:19:57 -0600

When most churches think about college ministry, what first comes to mind is launching an age-specific Sunday School class. If that's where you're at, here are some resources to consider:

Prepackaged Curricula

The Scrolls

A very comprehensive curriculum developed by Pantego Bible Church. The best part is—it’s available for free online: http://pantego.org/resources/College_Courses/College%20Scrolls.htm

Influence series (Lifeway Press)

Great for turning college students into leaders—order at http://www.growingleaders.com/

Christian Ethics (Christianity Today International)

If you want something to generate animated discussions, look no further - check out http://store.yahoo.com/biblestudies/chet.html

Doing Life Together DVD Curriculum

This is a great series with clips from world-class teachers and tons of aids to make leading a small group easy. You can buy it all over the place—Google for the name.

Until The Whole World Knows (One Whole World Resources)

This is a Bible study written by a veteran college minister to get your students jazzed about missions! Order at http://www.onewholeworld.com/

Books Easily Adapted

How To Stay Christian In College

by J. Budzisewski
columns by author, publisher's info

Twentysomeone

by Craig Dunham and Doug Serven
http://www.twentysomeone.com/

Resources For College Ministry

xaglen — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:14:39 -0600

Top Picks: Books

How to Stay Christian In College – J. Budziszewski
This is a great gift book for freshmen and an awesome resource to have for preparing topical messages. Budziszewski fell away from his faith in college and came back after attaining his Ph.D. in philosophy. He’s also writes a regular column for the webzine http://www.boundless.org. Order from Amazon.

Leveraging Your Influence: Impacting College Students for Christ – Tim Elmore
This is a very practical guide to college ministry written by John Maxwell’s former college pastor. You can order it from http://www.growingleaders.com or from http://www.lifeway.com.

The Fuel and the Flame – Steve Shadrach
Steve is an incredibly passionate and effective discipler of college students. He was the college pastor of a church-based group running 800 students when he had some insights that revolutionized his approach to college ministry—this book summarizes them. Order from http://www.thebodybuilders.net or Amazon.

Campus Aflame – J. Edwin Orr
If you’ve never read the history of revivals you’re in for a shock—it all comes back to college students! He also wrote a great article called “Why Campus Revivals Spark Missionary Advance” (PDF).

Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students – Richard Dunn
This is a very practical guide to discipleship of college students—if you’re burned out on big-hype programs that don’t deliver life-change, you should really check out this book.

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Top Picks: Email Lists

Mine!
Get tips and resources each week and keep up-to-date with district events. Email chialpha at stanford dot edu to join.

The Leadership Link
Great leadership tips for college ministry. Subscribe at http://www.growingleaders.com/

The Campus Ministry Update
This email list will keep you abreast of what’s happening on the college campus – great stats and news articles. Subscribe at http://www.ivyjungle.org/

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Top Picks: Miscellaneous Resources

Relevant Network
This is the single best deal out there for ministry to collegians/young adults. For $30 a month you get a TON of books, CDs, and miscellaneous ministry resources. Order it at http://www.relevantnetwork.com/

Highway Video
If you want to use multimedia stuff in your meetings, this is some of the best stuff around. Depending on your budget it may be a tad pricey, but it’s outstanding content. http://www.highwayvideo.com/

Preaching Today
This is a great source for sermon illustrations—it’s well worth the monthly fee: http://www.preachingtoday.com/ If you really want to grow as a communicator, subscribe to their monthly preaching CD!

Powerpoint Slides

If you want Powerpoint backgrounds, the ones Doug Fields sells on this site are by far the best bang for your buck - http://www.simplyyouthministry.com

Graphic Design
Leigh Sarti works in college ministry and designs stuff with that demographic in mind. He’ll do quality work quickly. http://www.sartidesign.com

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Top Picks: College Ministries To Learn From

The College Gathering (North Point Church in Atlanta, GA)

Check out what they’re doing for their high-school seniors who go off to college elsewhere: got to http://www.collegegathering.org and click on “The College Network”

The INN (University of Washington)
70 years of church-based college ministry—a record hard to match!
http://www.upc.org/page.asp?id=34

Breakaway (Texas A & M)
This is the largest college ministry in America - http://www.breakawayministries.org/

Campus Crusade @ Cal Poly

This is the largest Campus Crusade in America, and is a lot closer than Texas. http://www.slocrusade.com/

Top Picks: Conferences

Reach The U (Springfield, MO)
This the single best training opportunity I am aware of for college ministry! There is a track for staff pastors who want to learn how to minister to collegians from their church. There is also a stellar track for students who want to learn how to influence their campus for Christ. It happens over the summer in Springfield, MO – learn more at http://www.reachtheu.com/

The Ivy Jungle Conference
This annual pan-denominational conference happens in mid-to-late November. The location varies from year to year. http://www.ivyjungle.org/

District College Ministry Drive-Ins
Once a month or so we sponsor half-day training events. If you’re on the district college ministries mailing list (email chialpha at stanford dot edu to join) then you’ll be notified of these as they draw closer.

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Sites With Lots of Resources

Reach The U: http://www.reachtheu.com/
Chi Alpha in Boston: http://www.cacmboston.org/
The Ivy Jungle Network: http://www.ivyjungle.org/
Growing Leaders: http://www.growingleaders.com/
Illuminate Resources (put out by Saddleback’s college ministry): http://www.illuminateresources.com/
Relevant Network: http://www.relevantnetwork.com/
Lifeway Publishers: http://www.lifeway.com/
Intervarsity: http://regions.ivcf.org/ and http://www.InterVarsity.org/campus
CampusCrusade: http://www.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/resources/
Focus on the Family's webzine: http://www.Boundless.org/
Alpha On Campus: http://jhfrahm.home.texas.net/
Boundless: http://www.boundless.org/
Campus Christianity: http://www.campuschristianity.com/
Leader U: http://www.leaderu.com/
Studentz.com: http://www.studentz.com/collegiate/

reviews

Mega College Ministries

Over 1,000

Under 1,000

Sunday School Curricula

Prepackaged Curricula

The Scrolls

Influence series (Lifeway Press)

Christian Ethics (Christianity Today International)

Doing Life Together DVD Curriculum

Until The Whole World Knows (One Whole World Resources)

Books Easily Adapted

How To Stay Christian In College

Twentysomeone

Resources For College Ministry

Top Picks: Books

Top Picks: Email Lists

Top Picks: Miscellaneous Resources

Top Picks: College Ministries To Learn From

Top Picks: Conferences

Sites With Lots of Resources