“Reality is our Friend” (Cowtown to Urban Hipster #1)
Like any good spiritual leader Shana (a staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ) challenged me. Her challenge was to put my thoughts on paper (hopefully digital will work for her) as we make the shift from a booming college-town ministry to blank-slate metro ministry over the coming months. I’ll post my emerging thoughts in this series called “Cowtown to Urban Hipster” 
. Hopefully it will give insight into our teams planning and perhaps challenge you to love our cities. Collaboration is encouraged…so feel free to engage in conversation with me on this.
Like any good planning process you start with the reality of the situation right? Here’s the differences off the top of my head, both tangible and intangible.
College-town campus ministry (my experience has been in Bozeman, MT)
- 12,000 students (population of town is @ 60,000)
- Centralized ministry. (300-400 at our weekly meeting. 320 in small groups.)
- over 90% white students
- Community is built-in to environment
- On-campus housing (predominately freshmen)
- Campus Crusade has a solid reputation in the town
- Town is fairly conservative
- Mobilizing and empowering students has been the name of the game
Metro campus ministry (Portland, OR)
- over 100 thousand students (hard to stick a number because of part-timers and non-traditional students)
- 15+ campuses spread across the city. (check out the map here)
- only a handful of “traditional” 4 year campuses
- wide diversity (varies campus to campus)
- ultra-liberal environment
- Possible emerging partnerships (churches, seminaries, etc.)
- CCC has a slightly tarnished reputation in the city
- Staff team of 7 (including two Mom’s)
Some of the things we’ve done at MSU will transfer to Portland, but there will be plenty of room for seeking the Lord for Portland specifically. We’ve got some ideas, but if you were in my shoes facing this reality, what would be your critical path steps in light of the vision of giving every student in Portland a chance to say ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ?
Other LTI posts kinda like this one:
Hmm.. I wonder what you mean by "tarnished reputation?" Does that have anything to do with what CCC has done there in the past, or is it simply its name, Campus Crusade?
What I discovered in my thesis about contemporary protestant churches that target twentysomethings (at least in the Pullman area) is that strategies are being formed around the goals and values of being a genuine and authentic community, while helping young people understand Jesus' relevance to their lives. My generation has had it with our parents' ideologies, and we've distanced ourselves from their beliefs because we feel that it holds little value or meaning in our lives.
Authenticity and relevancy, that's the way to go! Those aren't steps, but they're values!
I'm still learning what the reputation of Campus Crusade is here in the city. As I talk with people, it's actually exceeded my expectations in quality. There are definitely people that want us here , so I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I think there are a number of things that have been hard in the past and a lot of things that have contributed to that, but we're moving ahead and are dreaming about having healthy, active partnerships in the city that expand the kingdom of God.
Thanks for your insight with authenticity and relevancy. I think you're right on point. Maybe you should come join our staff team!
These are just quick thoughts in reference to your cool question, but I'm excited you get to head over there!
I would be very, very slow to start – which I recognize might not be "allowed," but I'd fight for it. I would get to know the "collegiate situation" – even if it means getting to know each campus tribe individually. I would hope for my actions to be derived from not only my "sending organization" (in this case, CCC), but also the context – I'd want the baby to look like both those parents.
Exegeting would help avoid imperialism – both the kind that disregards the context and the kind that disregards the other missionaries. Especially in a Metro setting, I'd place a premium on partnership, though of course I'd be open for any and all situations that truly are helped by our presence. I would go in assuming there will be some campuses my ministry shouldn't be involved at, or places where I should be extremely deferential to what is already happening (the Griffins, for instance, are a good example of a tribe where caution is vital).
So like any good missionary, I hope I would start with good exegesis, leave as much as possible "on the table" for consideration, and watch plans unfold. Exegesis would, presumably, lead to the next questions to ask, prayers to pray, and crazy-creative solutions to the unique problems of these particular tribes.
There are some cool people up there. I can't wait to watch your new mission unfold. Let me know if you need any non-Cru Portland collaborators; I know a few.
I love the thought about "I'd want the baby to look like both those parents." Great insight. I don't know the Griffins, can you expand?
No problem! That's the tribe at Reed College.
I wonder if the CCC rep is really tarnished at all or if you are seeing Portland's general attitude toward Christianity… most of the places where CCC is involved actually have pretty good feelings toward the organization, including the schools where CCC is currently up and running. And that's probably another major difference is that some of the schools have some sort of student CCC presence that has been coached from a distance for at least a year, and the challenge of how to walk into that and say "Hey, we're you're staff now!" could be significant. Looking forward to this series and your insights into Portland and ministry in the Big City.
I would think that one way to help here would be making an effort to integrate with the schools well. I believe RUF calls this "seeking the shalom of the campus." I know that in some places Crusade is known for being more on the "independent" side of the spectrum, and there can be good reasons to work that way. But if you have opportunity to make an explicit effort to be good members of the campus community, it may help – especially up there.
Benson's advice to start as slow as possible is GOLDEN. This is not a crowd that you will easily gain credibility with, unless you're healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons and cleansing lepers in your meetings. Which actually would be a pretty awesome place to start, and some of us are working on that but… for now…
So I asked the Spirit what He says is a good thing for you to focus on, and the one word answer I got was "authenticity".
It's a really jaded crowd, as I mentioned, and ANYTHING that's a ploy or program or really any effort at all will be snubbed by many. They want Jesus, because the whole world wants Jesus (He is the Desire of the Nations, after all) but they're OVER religiosity, or expectations of any particular culture to behave or look a certain way… a lot like me, really. But when they taste the real thing, the real Jesus who heals broken hearts and who talks to people about their identity in Him, now that's totally irresistible.
So what's authentic? Well, what made you fall in love with Jesus? I fell in love because He spoke his promises of redemption into my bleeding heart, because He's the kindest and most passionate person I've ever met, because He took away my hypoglycemia and back problems, because He gave me authority over demons and taught me how to use it, because He took away the great generational pain that had me crippled and almost totally dysfunctional, because He led me into my true personality and said it was Him who made me like a lion, because the slightest insight into His ways blows up my ever-curious brain, because He gave me real power and authority, and because His word is like a fire, shut up in my bones as it was for Jeremiah. I can't get enough of Him, and nothing else will do! That's what's authentic, for me. Don't come bringing ministry. Bring Jesus. He'll show you how because He holds the heartstrings of every person He ever made.
I love your passion Andrea. Great thoughts about authenticity.
I think the scope of the city and multiple campuses can be overwhelming, but I think anytime the scope gets bigger than one other person it can be overwhelming, at least to me. The main thing you need, and I'm thinking about this a lot with my transition, is people that will come on board with you and buy in to the vision because you clearly can't do it all yourself. This will be your staff team, it will be volunteers, but it will also be students. Who are the students on the various campuses that are just waiting to have a vision for win, build, send breathed in to them? It doesn't take very many and you could start seeing some serious movement take place on a campus.
I know you guys are thinking this way, but the way I'd start is to throw out the nets to find students that want to multiply their lives and bring the gospel to their friends, classmates, and campus. Lead with the vision. And model what you want to see develop: people boldly but sensitively sharing Christ in the power of the Spirit.
As mentioned above, perhaps it will happen on a campus or part of the city that you weren't expecting. But…it does seem that there is a biblical model for being strategic and going first to those that are most likely to respond and branching outward from there.
I would love to know the thoughts and conclusions that you guys come up with. I work with CCC in Canada and I'd love to not have to deal with problems that I can avoid. I'm going to be dealing with something similar. I'm moving from cowtown to vast metropolis where the campuses are separated by 2 hours commute and one with a ferry ride.
I really like Benson and Darren's comments. Benson because there IS a need to know and to feel out where God wants you to be on the 15+ campuses. The reality is you can't be everywhere you want to be. Which is why Darren's comment is so golden, you want the right students to be leading the movement in the future so you need to start off in the right direction. The role that you are probably going to play if you want to be spread out on all these campuses is an encouragement role. So you need someone that wants to go your direction and encourage them in that. It's way better (and more loving) to let the people who don't align with the CCC vision to thrive in the ministry that God has prepared them for, rather than trying to change them. It would be frustrating for all parties involved.
Thanks Hannah! What city are you moving to?
I appreciate your thoughts about getting the 'right' students to lead and recognizing that not everyone is going to be a part of your ministry. There is still the question of partnerships (particularly partnerships)…how do you structure them? When do you say yes to a partnership and when do you say no. I need to hear from someone who has more experience than me in partnering with other ministries.
Stay tuned…you can learn from our mistakes!