Transforming Campus Ministries

 
 
"State Support for Colleges Falls 7.6% in 2012 Fiscal Year," is the headline of an article by Eric Kelderman in today's The Chronicle of Higher Education.

While less state support for higher education is problematic for colleges and universities that depend on such support, it also opens doors for churches to help fill the gap by providing services that have been, or will be, cut.

Porividing needed services builds positive relationships that open doors to share the Gospel.

Go to http://chronicle.com/article/State-Support-For-Higher/130414/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en to read the article.

Contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu or 319-338-4692 to learn how your church can discover open doors at a nearby college or university.
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Brie Richards, a student at Concordia University Portland, has joined the Transforming Campus Ministries team as an intern this fall.  Brie is helping with development and communications, and her internship is partially funded by the Association of Lutheran Development Executives' College2Career initiative.  She's also a newlywed, having married Jeremy Richards last month.  Welcome, Brie!
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The Fall semester has started, or will start soon, at colleges and
universities throughout the United States.  This is a good time to remind churches  that a ripe harvest field may be nearby on campus.

As a certified mission coach who has provided training, consultation and/or
coaching for about 200 churches in more than 30 states, it would be my privilege  to help you seize your opportunity, regardless of whether your church:
  • is not, and has not previously been, activley involved in campus ministry
  • previously was actively involved in campus ministry but is not at this time
  • is actively involved in campus ministry but has plateaued, is declining, has identified a new opportunity, needs to develop new funding sources, etc.

    • Please contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu or 319-338-4692 to learn more.
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I recently received certified mission coach status from the Center for United States Missions.

"A certified mission coach is a missional leader who is effectively engaged in a coaching ministry, understands and has mastered the art of mission coaching, and has successfully met and fulfilled the established requirements of coach certification," according to the Center's website.

A coach "comes alongside a person or team in order to help them discover God’s agenda for their  life and ministry, and then serving the Holy Spirit to see that agenda to become reality."

It would be my joy and privilege to serve as your coach.  Contact me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu or 319-338-4692 to learn more.
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I've been telling local, regional and national ministry leaders for several years that campus ministries need to develop and implement diversified, long-term funding strategies.

Depending too much on one funding source is simply too risky.  It also creates an unhealthy dependence on the funding provider and withholds opportunities from many others who would welcome the opportunity to invest in the ministry, financially and otherwise.

Campus ministries need to be proactive, instead of waiting for financial hardship that often results in desperate reactions.

Despite my pleas, I continue to hear about ministries that risk losing their campus pastor, church building and more, in part because they waited too long to take action.

Transforming Campus Ministries can help your campus ministry develop the support it needs.  We use what we teach and we have never had a deficit, even though we formed Transforming Campus Ministries at the depth of the worst recession since the Great Depression.  You can take the first step by emailing me at gfairow@cu-portland.edu or calling me at 319-338-4692.
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I will lead a Sowing Campus Ministry Opportunities workshop from 1 p.m.-Noon on June 2-3 at University Lutheran Ministries Association in Wichita, Kansas.  It's designed to help leaders from several churches begin to explore their respective opportunities to start a new campus ministry or transform an existing one.

This workshop is sponsored by the Kansas District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which will also subsidize a portion of the costs.  The early bird registration fee is only $119 per church, but you must register and make full payment by Thursday, May 5, 2011.  Afterward, the fee will be $159.  Up to four persons per church may attend, so this is a great bargain.

Go here for more information and here for a registration form.
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Transforming Campus Ministries has moved to the campus of Concordia University in Portland, Ore.  Click here for more info.
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 "She will give birth to a son,
and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
(Matthew 1:21)

 Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!
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I will lead a Sowing Campus Ministry Opportunities workshop from noon-to-noon on Feb. 21-22, 2011 at Memorial Lutheran Church in Ames, Iowa.  It's designed to help leaders from several churches begin to explore their respective opportunities to start a new campus ministry or transform an existing one.

This workshop is sponsored by Iowa District West (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod), which will also subsidize a portion of the costs.  The early bird registration fee is only $129 per church, but you must register and make full payment by Friday, Jan. 14, 2011.  Afterward, the fee will be $159.  Up to four persons per church may attend, so this is a great bargain.

Go here for more information and here for a registration form.
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(This is the twelfth in a series of blog posts regarding common campus ministry myths and mistakes.)

As I wrap up this series of blog posts, I want to say as clearly as I can that you shouldn't be expected to know how to begin a new campus ministry or transform an existing one.  It's a specialized ministry and you and other leaders at your church most likely need high quality, specialized training fto do so.

But with the right training and a willingness to be invested long-term, most churches with an area college or university can start and sustain a fruitful campus ministry.

As I noted in an earlier post, three-quarters of college students in the United States are searching for meaning or purpose in life and 80 percent have an interest in spirituality, but most rarely or never attend church services.  It's an extraordinary mission field that's waiting to sowed, cultivated, and harvested.

Like many new endeavors, campus ministry requires the development and implementation of a viable plan.  It's not complicated, but it doesn't happen accidentally.  The right people with the right training need to be in the right places at the right time doing the right things.

I have assisted churches from coast-to-coast.  It would be my joy and privilege to help your church, as well.  Please send me an email at greg@ourredeemer.org to begin to explore the possibilities.
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