College students live in transition–new housing each year, new courses each semester, breaks that bring them home or take them to new locations. Your congregation can invest in the lives of college students–those from your congregation and those at local colleges or universities, as an integral part of your ministry. These students often feel cut off from home, and you can help them feel connected to your congregation as a reminder of home or as a home away from home.
August is here, and colleges and universities are gearing up for students to return. Now is the time to think about how your church can intentionally engage with the students in your community: those who grew up in your church, and those who’ve come to your area for college.
For Students Who Are Away from Home:
- Reach out to the United Methodist-supported campus minister or the school chaplain to help them connect with the student. That can include submitting their name and contact information to the Board of Higher Education using this form. An even better option is to take the student to meet the campus minister in person over the summer.
- Partner members of the congregation with college students, and encourage them to reach out regularly to check in. Outreach can be by text, email, or note. This can be an individual pairing of a church member and a student, or a Sunday school class or small group can “adopt” a student or students. Periodically send a small care package or gift card.
- Organize your congregation, youth group, young adult ministry, or other small groups or classes to send care packages to college students each semester.
- Over Christmas or spring break, sponsor a lunch after worship where the college students can reconnect with each other and with others from the congregation. If you have paired students with congregation members, this is a chance for them to connect in person.
- Provide support for parents whose children have left home to attend school. This is a transition for them, as well.
For Students at a School Local to Your Congregation:
- Reach out to the school chaplain or a campus minister, or to the Office of Residence Life, and offer to organize some members of your congregation to assist with move-in for freshmen.
- Connect with the local campus minister or chaplain to ask if there are ways your congregation can provide support. Those efforts could include distributing welcome gifts for students, leading small groups, or supplying meals. One VAUMC campus ministry offers time for dog walking, which gives students a chance to interact with pets since they cannot bring their own to campus.
- Invite college students to join your congregation on local mission efforts, or church mission trips that happen during the school year or short breaks (fall break, spring break, winter break). You may partner with the campus ministry or with the office of volunteer services on campus to offer opportunities for students.
- Make your worship a space where college students feel welcome. Create a warm, inviting culture without laying heavy expectations on students initially, since they have school, extracurriculars, and jobs to juggle. Students are not inclined to do a Bible study that requires a great deal of weekly reading, but may come to a discussion group where the content is part of the sharing. Ask students what would be most appropriate for them rather than acting based on assumptions.
- Invite key leaders and individuals passionate about student ministry to take part in a study of Colleen Hallagan Preuninger’s Campus Ministry: Empowering Congregations to Support Students at Colleges and Universities (The Upper Room, Nashville: 2020), offered through United Methodist Lay Servant Ministries, which focuses on equipping churches to engage with campuses.
Preuninger suggests a number of opportunities for local churches:
- Funding the campus ministry or chaplaincy (38)
- A weekly free (or pay-what-you-can) meal and Bible study held at the church and facilitated by the campus minister/chaplain (38)
- Providing scholarships for students to travel on service learning trips through the campus ministry (48)
- Allowing faculty and students to use the church building for academic classes or small groups (48)
- Providing affordable housing in congregation-owned property (48)
- Providing paid student internships (48)
- Finding ways students’ interests and passions intersect with the church’s (e.g. justice work) (70)
Hallagan Preuninger outlines a process for congregations to discern their relationship with local campus ministries (89-103):
- Assemble a team, taking note of who is at the table (including diverse perspectives), keeping the team small enough to function while ensuring enough voices, and being clear to team members about the level of commitment required.
- Pray and study together
- Identify and articulate God’s Call for your congregation regarding student ministry
- Craft a ministry abstract
- Put feet on your dreams
The key to supporting college students–whether from your own congregation or at a local college or university–is building a relationship with the students and/or the campus minister or chaplain. Empowering students and campus ministers to help inform your congregation about ways that make sense for those specific students and campus ministries, and following their lead, ensures that your ministry is as effective as possible.
A Step to Take Today:
Many of the steps above take time and intentional effort to plan and prepare. One quick step anybody can take today is to submit the names and contact information of your college students to the Board of Higher Education using this form. It’s a simple step that helps make sure students from your congregation don’t lose their connection to the church during this season of transition.