"In a forthcoming paper in the International Journal for the Psychyology of Religion titled 'Atheists Become Emotionally Aroused When Daring God to Do Terrible Things,' researchers asked subjects to make...horrible statements," according to an article in The Chronicle for Higher Education. "Some statements were offensive (puppy kicking), some were malevolent (parents drowning), and some dared God to do awful stuff to the subjects, their friends, or their families."

"The atheists found asking God to harm them or others to be just as upsetting as religious folks did."

"Those findings don’t prove that atheists believe in God, though the study does seem to suggest that the idea of God is extremely powerful, even in a relatively secular society like Finland," where the study took place.

Churches near colleges/universities have many opportunities to tell students, faculty and staff about the everlasting God who is mighty to save.  Contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu to learn more.

"Secular groups on college campuses are proliferating," said Katherine Don in a Feb. 7 article in Religious Dispatches magazine.

"The Ohio-based Secular Student Alliance, which a USA Today writer once called a 'Godless  Campus Crusade for Christ,' incorporated as a nonprofit in 2001," Don said.  "Today there are 394 SSA student groups on campuses across the country."

"The Secular Student Alliance is essentially a support network for the autonomous atheist, agnostic, and humanist student groups that choose to be its affiliates," said Don. "The rapid growth of the SSA is analogue to the general growth of the American secular movement. Atheist groups were once fringe organizations that didn’t get along. That began to change around 2007, on the heels of bestselling books from atheist authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Suddenly, the movement had leaders, a sense of direction and a common purpose."

If your Christian church is near a college or university, this article helps emphasize that you have a crucial campus ministry opportunity.  Transforming Campus Ministries can help you.  Contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu to learn more.

"For more than four decades, researchers at the University of California at Los  Angeles have surveyed the nation's incoming freshmen to learn more about their  backgrounds, views, and expectations," says The Chronicle of Higher Education.

An interactive graphic is available here "to see how their attitudes and self-images have changed since the 1960s."

Rev. Mark Hoelter and Mr. Jeff Pieper were elected to the Transforming Campus Ministries' Board of Directors at the Board's annual meeting on Dec. 12.  Hoelter is Fourth Vice President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's Northwest District and Pieper is Alliance Director at the Luis Palau Association.  Click here for more information about Hoelter, Pieper and all TCM board members.  Welcome, Mark and Jeff!

"There are 31 percent more international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities than there were a decade ago," according to the latest Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education. "The growth is largely driven by strong increases in the number of students from China, particularly at the undergraduate level."

Undergraduate international students stay in the United States longer and have more impact on campus culture, inside and outside the classroom, according to Allan E. Goodman, the institute's president, in a related article by The Chronicle for Higher Education.

This means campus ministries have more opportunities to serve international students.

Conact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu to learn more.

College students are expected to be independent.  But most community-college students aren't ready "to figure out which classes to take and then do most of their course-related work outside the classroom," according to The Chronicle for Higher Education.

"Even though they are often the first in their families to go to college, community-college students receive scant support or advice for navigating course choices. And most of them have jobs, leaving less time for homework. The result: Fewer than 40 percent of those who attend full time go on to graduate or  transfer within three years."

How might your church assist community colleges and their students?  It would be my privilege to help you answer that question.  Please email me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu to start the conversation.

"Nearly 500 of the nation's public four-year colleges have committed to  increasing the number of baccalaureate-degree holders by 3.8 million by 2025," according to The Chronicle for Higher Education.

"To reach that mark, the colleges pledged to increase the number of undergraduate  degrees they award annually from a little more than one million in 2011 to  nearly 1.6 million per year in 2025."

How will this news impact your church's emphasis on campus ministry?

It would be my privilege to assist you.  Please contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu to learn more.

Does a fourth century fragment, which may be a copy of a second century composition, provide evidence that Jesus was married?  No, according to an essay by Dr. Karen L. King, Harvard Divinity School historian.

It simply shows that, if the second century date is correct, the fragment provides "direct evidence that claims about Jesus' marital status first arose over a century after the death of Jesus in the context of intra-Christian controversies over sexuality, marriage, and discipleship."

Dr. Jeff Gibbs, Concordia Seminary professor, offers his response here.

Many colleges are trying to connect with students via Facebook, Twitter and other places where they "hang out" online.  Campus ministries will be wise to do likewise.  Click here to go to an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education to learn more.