The Role of Collegiate Ministers

A colleague and I were discussing roles of collegiate ministers in the lives of students. One metaphor meaningful to her was the African tribal elder who can point out to younger travelers the signs, footprints, and stories of the animals and plants that have left their mark in the veld around them. These signs point to a larger, richer world.

That reminded me of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and two places which correspond to collegiate ministry; the House of The Interpreter and the shepherds of the Delectable Mountains. During his journey, Christian comes to the House of The Interpreter. There he sees images with the Interpreter which help him understand his journey. Christian then leaves the Interpreter's House and continues on his way. Eventually he comes to the Delectable Mountains. There they meet the shepherds Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere, and are given a "perspective glass" so that they can see the Celestial City from the top of Mount Clear.

In both of these encounters, Christian is shown images and helped to understand how they make sense and direction for his journey of faith. During the college years, when most students encounter critical thinking along with the greater diversity of of the world, collegiate ministers help them interpret the images and experiences they are encountering through the lens of Christ. The students are assisted in their meaning-making and reframing of their personal stories in light of their educational banquet at college. In college they are shown the signs which point to a larger, richer world. Collegiate ministry helps interpret them.

This is evangelism, the sharing of the Good News of God in Christ Jesus. It is not quite the same sharing that Evangelist does during Pilgrim's Progress. Evangelist directs Christian to the "Wicket Gate," where the straight and narrow highway begins.

There are some college ministries which have as their primary goal the making of Christian converts, getting students on the King's Highway. For Presbyterian ministers in Validated Ministries (such as campus ministers and chaplains) the encouragement and discipleship of students is possible, but their baptism and profession of faith must occur within a congregation. Because of our Presbyterian emphasis on "loving God with our minds,"  the primary service we do for the Church is in interpretation and encouraging students while we encounter them on their journey.

The Leading Edge

At the recent Big Tent event, I realized the next step in Collegiate Ministry as R&D. We are also the leading edge. The leading edge is that part of a wing or sail which first comes in contact with the wind. By extension, it is used to describe the vanguard of an organization.

The P.C. (U.S.A.) is just beginning to realize that the emerging adult generation differs from their predecessors in that their disassociation from the church is more significant and lasting. There is currently a little hand wringing and little action.  If only the denomination could think to use the experience and expertise of the Academy and its ministers.

In the late 1990s, colleges realized that different strategies were necessary to recruit, teach, and retain the Millennial Generation. That generation expected more choices and individual accommodation (think self-designed majors, learning centers, residences instead of dorms). They valued authenticity over dogma. They were also more team orientated. They liked to explore choices, but were reluctant to make commitments.

Colleges and college ministries revised their methods of contacting, welcoming, and encouraging students. Would it dawn on the church's leadership to ask for help from those who have been living in this new, millennial, reality for over a decade and have had some success?  (Frequent feedback, voice, and input are also characteristics of these emerging adults.)



A Few Resources from the Academy
Emerging Adults: Learning and Development
Millennials Go To College, an executive summary
A Resource on Emerging Adults from Minnesota State University's Counseling Center

The Church's R and D

Collegiate Ministry often acts as the Research and Development Department of the Church. Before an issue blossoms into denominational awareness – and usually a concern because it is newness and change – it took root on campuses and college ministries addressed it. So there is a history of ways to address issues which denominations have available to them. Unfortunately, because collegiate ministry usually doesn’t get much attention, this history is ignored.

A recent Christian Century article discuss a recent trend of church membership. It seems that a growing number of folks don’t want to “join” a congregation, or to have “membership” in it.  Campus ministries have seen this for fifteen years. Students would come to events, participate, and even have leadership, but wouldn’t be “members” of the group. Sometimes you’d ask someone to step up to some leadership position and they would be reluctant to do that. Then they would reveal for the first time that they were Roman Catholic or Jewish or agnostic and assume that would somehow make them unfit. Or some student would say that they were a member of your fellowship group when they had only attended a time or two. Many campus ministries know their impact is wider and deeper than the numbers which denominations and governing boards seem to love.

How can we in collegiate ministry help the church see that our emphasis on hospitality, mirroring God's gracious hospitality, welcomes and allows seekers to find their home in Jesus?

Job Requirements

Today I received a job description for a Program Coordinator of Spiritual Life / Chaplain which contained a paragraph of "Typical Physical Demands." They included, " Requires sitting, standing, bending, and reaching."

Whoa.

I flashed on the perceptiveness of the HR person who unknowingly filled out this institutional standard form.

College ministry requires sitting:  sitting with students in their joys and sorrows, sitting with faculty and staff, sitting through long official functions and dinners, and sitting in prayer and reflection.

College ministry requires standing: standing for something, taking stands, standing around.

College ministry requires bending. Oh yeah. If you can't be flexible, you won't last long in this profession.

And  reaching. College ministry includes the  prophetic dimension, calling students, administration, and the institution itself to aim higher and deeper.

There was more.

"Requires normal range of hearing and vision."  The HR person got this section very wrong. College Ministry requires abnormal hearing and vision in order to pick up the flutterings of the Spirit. To be able to hear what is really being said and what actions really mean.


What is your real job description?

A Substitute for a Chaplain?

A disturbing trend in PC(USA) –related colleges and universities has been to replace  a chaplain with  a coordinator of religious activities or a confederation of local pastors. While the ostensible reason for this is stated in financial terms, I believe that the underlying reasons are more philosophical.

The stated thought-process goes like this: (1) our student body is too diverse and a chaplain couldn’t minister to them; (2) we are a serious academic institution and therefore have no need of religious superstition; and (3) we are more tolerant than earlier generations of administrators and faculty, the position of chaplain is no longer necessary.

Since we need to cut expenses, the functions of the chaplain can be easily assumed by  (A) an existing staff person do religious programming and (B) local clergy give prayers or chapel services when needed.

Let me reflect on each of those statements.

 (1) “The student body is too religiously diverse for a chaplain from one tradition.” This concern usually comes from a generation where student bodies were more homogenous, and white protestant Christianity was the norm. Most higher education institutions today are religiously diverse. Flagship Ivy League universities maintain a chaplain and a staff to address multifaith concerns. The smaller the enrollment, the more concentrated those multifaith activities become in the person and office of a lone chaplain. For smaller institutions, a trend has been to acknowledge the increasing religious diversity of students by combining titles in the same position. Some PC(U.S.A.) examples are  “Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life”,  “Chaplain and Director of Interfaith Campus Ministries”, and “Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life”.

The particularity of a chaplain’s religious tradition is a necessary  asset on a diverse campus. The chaplain is not a local, denominational pastor. The chaplain’s congregation is primarily non-religious, anti-religious, and Whatever. The chaplain serves the institution in helping the entire student body in its individual members’ spiritual journey. That means that the Presbyterian chaplain is also the voice on campus encouraging the Baptists, Buddhists, Wiccans, as well as the Atheists. (Not in the skill-set of most local parish clergy) The Presbyterian characteristics of hospitality, humility, and Otherness of God provide a good foundation for chaplains. 

A student life staff member with responsibility for religious organizations cannot provide this. Nor can local clergy.

(2) “Religion has no place in the academic enterprise.” This comment is sometimes heard from faculty fearful of the anti-intellectualism of their stereotyped Christianity. Presbyterians are the ones who take to heart the commandment to “worship God with all your mind.” The prevalence of this thinking (residual Enlightenment rationalism) on PC(U.S.A.) church-related institutions is an indication that we have done a poor job of communicating our Presbyterian academic ethos to new hires.

The chaplain embodies the unity of academic study and religious faith on campus.  Many chaplains have some academic involvement and teach courses. Thirty five percent have advanced degrees and almost thirty percent have faculty rank. Chaplains are immersed in the academic culture. This environment of rigorous critical thinking subject to public critique colors the way chaplains do their job. Sermons, workshops, and classes given by chaplains – in general – tend to have a higher academic rigor than those given other clergy.

(3) “We are tolerant.” This remark indicates the confusion between toleration and hospitality. Toleration is a post-modern virtue, and allows for passive non-involvement with The Other. Hospitality is a biblical virtue which actively welcomes and involves The Other.

The chaplain nurtures the spiritual dimension of the institution. This nurture is accomplished directly through public worship and communication, and privately, in pastoral conversations with presidents, trustees, faculty, staff, and students. This spiritual nurture of students increasingly encompasses alumni.  Most mission statements speak of educating “the whole person.” The Chaplain is the person on campus who continually raises the “whole person” issue.

The unique position of the chaplain allows her or him to be aware of the institution’s telos in a deep and special way. Only the college’s president shares this vantage point. The Chaplain sees the institution as a community, and recognizes in a deep, spiritual way how the individual parts of the community are connected.

(A) “An existing staff person can coordinate religious activities.” This may be true, but a healthy institution needs more than programming.  A program coordinator is focused on present student need and is reactionary in its responsiveness.  A chaplain is focused on the entire institution and is prophetic and visionary, as well as responsive to current student needs.

The chaplain acts as an identifiable focal point for the Transcendent on campus. This is broader and deeper than program coordination. This is a conduit for all areas of the institution to address the spiritual life of students. Recent scholarship confirms that attentiveness to the spiritual dimension of students result in better retention, grades, satisfaction. Those students also become more active alumni. Rev. Donna Schaper calls the “the transcendent role of chaplains.”

(B) “Local clergy can do the chaplain’s job.” Local clergy have gifts and callings appropriate to the local church. While students and faculty need a local worshipping community, there are … Congregations are self-selecting around theological and sociological foci. A campus community is incredibly more diverse in every aspect. Ministering in this diversity requires skills different from those needed in a traditional congregation in a local setting. 

The chaplain is the institution’s tangible connection to the denomination. Over a quarter  of PC(USA) chaplains act as the church relations officer. In the three types of church-relatedness used by the denomination since 1994, a specific chaplaincy is one of the marks of two of them. Only “historically” related colleges omit mention of chaplains. The Synod of the Covenant ‘s standard covenant with a college has a “funded chaplaincy” as one of the ways the institution shows its church-relatedness. Even when additional personnel are designated as Church Relations Officers, the denomination frequently uses the chaplains as connecting points.

I am well aware that the characterizations I have made do not describe every institution, chaplain, or chaplain substitute, and that institutions have vibrant programs. Nonetheless, an institution with a designated and supported chaplain has a better chance of developing those characteristics which define a church-related college or university. The position the institutional position of Chaplain is more helpful to a church-related institution than a Coordinator of Religious Programs.  

Thoughts?

Suggested Readings
Astin, Alexander W. et al. Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can EnhanceStudent’s Inner Lives. Jossey-Bass. 2010
Mohr, Jim. “To Be a Chaplain”, in Branching Out: The Journal of the Presbyterian College Chaplains Association, Spring 2011.
PC(U.S.A.) General Assembly “On Being Faithful: The Continuing Mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Higher Education” Adopted by the 206th General Assembly (1994)
Schachter, Ron. “The Changing Chaplaincy: The role of religious leaders oncampus as the spiritual needs of students evolve.” In University Business (UniversityBusiness.com), October 2008
Schaper, Donna. “The Transcendent Role of Chaplains”, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 12, 2004

Can They Find You?

Can folks who are looking for your ministry find you?
Off-Campus: Prospective students and their parents looking for Presbyterian support at, say, Mission Field University look for you in a couple of ways. They Google "Presbyterian Campus Ministry Mission Field". They search Facebook for "Mission Field Presbyterian" and they look at Mission Field's Website listing of Student Organizations. They might search the PC(USA)'s Campus Ministry Locator if they are seriously Presby-geek and persistent. If your ministry is known on campus by some other name (Westminster House, K-House, The Abby, The Bridge, The Inn, FOCUS, FLAME, etc.) you will need to be thoughtful in your media usage.

Web site metatags are what help search engines list what information appears on the search results page. Use them!

If you are a congregation hoping that some nearby college students will attend your church, your web site had better have something which specifically says "college students". They won't be attending without first looking you up for directions, times, and to see if you look like a church where they would be welcome.

A Facebook PAGE is good for your external visitors because it will appear on search engine results. The PAGE's title should not be the on-campus name. Save that for the INFO. A  Facebook GROUP for your internal (on-campus) organization should have the title by which your students would know you.

You should also check that the PC(USA) Campus Ministry Locator has up-to-date information. The procedure to submit changes can be found on the Locator front page. If you are a congregation near a campus hoping to attract college students and you are already in the Locator data base, you MUST have a website!!!

A Recommended exercise: Go to the library. Pick an institution similar to yours in another state. Imagine that you are first a parent and then a perspective student.  Use a computer there to search for a Presbyterian campus ministry at that institution. Did you feel as if you got a good sense of what faith support there might be there? Then repeat the exercise for your own campus.  (Don't use your own computer, it may skew your results)

If you have any comments or suggestions about being visible, please share them!

A Missionary Endeavor

Maybe one of the reasons the Presbyterian Church has high regard in the abstract and low regard in the tangible for collegiate ministry is because of the way the denomination views college ministry.

Most congregational-based campus ministries have a staff person (ordained or lay) responsible for the ministry and the finances and accountability structures are similar to that of the congregation's youth ministry. This structure unconsciously casts college ministry as an older youth ministry.

A better model would be to see the congregation's campus ministry at the nearby university in the same way it views its ministry to an overseas elementary school. The congregation supports the overseas school by raising and giving money to the school. They don't expect anything back from the school except occasional reports, thanks, updates, and photographs.They realize that the school enriches and impacts their congregation not by having any of the students participate in the life of the congregation, but solely for what the outreach ministry does for the congregation itself. The congregation might send a few of its members on site do some some work for the school. Often those "mission trips" involve physical plant support or intensive education events. The congregation is proud of its support for the school and places pictures of the school and its students on bulletin boards. Members who have been on "mission trips" to the school report back to the congregation.

Organized, stand alone Presbyterian and Ecumenical Campus Ministries  also need to been seen as missionary outposts by supporting congregations. There should be no expectation that the students involved in campus ministry will attend, participate, or contribute to the supporting congregation.

Chaplaincy programs are frequently overlooked by congregations. They think that because the Chaplaincy programs are part of the college there is no need for the congregation's funds, prayers, or physical "mission trip" presence. These campus Religious Life Programs are missional.

When will we take seriously the notion that ministry on campus to college students is a missionary endeavor? When will we start treating campus ministers and chaplains as missionaries and colleges as a mission field?  Campus Ministry is not just an older youth group, able to provide nursery workers, Sunday School teachers, and perhaps a choir member. Campus Ministry is a missionary outreach to a different culture. Members of that different culture have their own society, rules, and language. A few (15%) may be able to speak the congregation's religious and social language, but the overwhelming majority do not. (Even when the ministry on campus is vibrant and students are having their faith deepened, those campus ministry students will probably not be visible at the 11 o'clock worship.)

Missionaries get some training from the denomination before they report to their site. They receive public recognition and commissioning as they begin. The denomination actively supports them with publicity and communication. Periodically the missionaries are brought back home for rest, replenishment, and time to spend with the congregations which support them.

Notice, please, that while local congregations financially undergird the missionaries, a numerically strong denominational staff supports and coordinates them.
(I count about 125 Mission workers on the PCUSA website with 45 denominational staff.[Young Adult Volunteers and staff not encluded.]  I estimate about 300 organizational campus ministers, 450 congregational based staff, and 80 chaplains supported, coordinated, and publicized with one denominational staff person.)

Cultivating the Spirit

I just finished perhaps the most important recent book for those concerned about the spiritual life of college students, Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Student’s Inner Lives, by Alexander A. Astin, Helen S. Astin, and Jennifer A. Lindholm, published by Jossey-Bass this fall.

Despite the liberal arts’ penchant for educating the “whole person” and students’ desire that their campus encourage personal expression of spirituality, provide for their emotional development, and enhance their self-understanding; many institutions try to distance themselves from overtly spiritual or religious descriptions or activities. This book may help in stimulating discussions about college’s role in cultivating the inner life of students.

The book reports the findings of  “the first national longitudinal study of undergraduates’ spiritual growth,” a ten year study funded by the Templeton Foundation and conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

A survey  was administered to about  3,700college freshmen in 2003, and those results were used to develop measures of spiritual and religious qualities.  Over 112,000 first year students from 236 institutions were surveyed in 2004. Three years later they did a follow up survey of 14,527 students from 136 institutions. They conducted interviews and focus groups and interviewed faculty at selected institutions. Since one of the study’s goals was to investigate what college experiences were most likely to promote students’ spiritual development, additional faculty input was desired.  In 2005, 65,000 faculty from over 400 institutions were surveyed.

As a result of the initial survey, they developed measures to be able to separate and assess spirituality as well as religiousness. “Whereas religion is characterized by group activity that involves specific behavioral, social, doctrinal, and denominational characteristics, spirituality is commonly conceived as personal, transcendent, and characterized by qualities of relatedness.” (p. 5)  Making this distinction allowed for more fruitful engagement with academe. Colleges are engaged in students’ hopes, dreams, character and values development, even when they shy away from “religion.”

Here’s how the Study organized their analysis:

The Five measures of Spiritual Life:
“... an active quest for answers to life’s “big questions” (Spiritual Quest), a global worldview that transcends ethnocentrism and egocentrism (Ecumenical Worldview), a sense of caring and compassion for others (Ethic of Caring) coupled with a lifestyle that includes service to others (Charitable Involvement), and a capacity to maintain one’s sense of calm and centeredness, especially in times of stress (Equanimity).” (Key Findings, p. 2)

The Five measures of Religious life:
the extent to which beliefs play a central role in their life (Religious Commitment); religious behaviors such as praying and attending religious services ( Religious Engagement); questioning the notion of life after death, or that the universe arose by chance  (Religious Skepticism); feeling unsettled about religious matters, questions beliefs , or disagreeing with family about religious matters (Religious Struggle); and their position on such issues as abortion, casual sex, atheism, and proselytizing (Religious/Social Conservatism) .

A few of the findings:

Student’s level of Religious Commitment changes very little during college. Religious Engagement, particularly in attendance at religious services, shows a sharp decline.  Most spiritual qualities appear to be enhanced by the college experience. (p99)

Students who score high on Religious Skepticism tend to be nonreligious, while those engaged in Religious Struggle are often highly religious. (p. 113)

“One of the surest ways to enhance the spiritual development of undergraduate students is to encourage them to engage in almost any form of charitable or altruistic activity.” (p.147)

Students who professors encourage them to explore questions of meaning and purpose show larger than average increases in Spiritual Questing, although most students (62%) report that their professors “never” encourage discussions of religious / spiritual matters. (p. 37)

Faculty who encourage and involve students in conversations about matters of meaning and purpose in life, and who engage them in discussions of religion and spirituality play a critical role in student’s growth in the Ethic of Caring and Ecumenical Worldview measures. (p. 75)

And So:

On one hand, there are few surprises here for those of us engaged in the religious and spiritual questing of our students. There is substantial quantitative support for increasing the education of faculty and student affairs administrators on the positive impact increased spiritual and religious life has on both the academic enterprise as well as the campus community.

The importance of faculty in student’s spiritual development is greater than the faculty’s perception.

How can college “enhance student’s inner lives”, that is “cultivating the spirit”?
First, by continuing those activities and experiences which have such a positive effect on student’s academic life, leadership development, and satisfaction with college: study abroad, interdisciplinary courses, service with a reflective component, and having professors who encourage students to explore questions of meaning and purpose.
Second, by finding ways to help students spend time in contemplation, meditation, and self-reflection.

Read more about it at the book’s website, and the very helpful and informative Key Findings brochure.

Implications for Higher Education From the Presbyterian Heritage

Since I was asked, here's an attempt to lay out some implications in one page. Comments? Feedback?

There are common values shared by higher education institutions which reflect the Judeo-Christian foundation of our culture. Some of these common values are honesty, respect, and fairness.  Our college has an additional core of values because of its relation with the Presbyterian Church. Church - relatedness means that the college and the church share some of the same values.

The Presbyterian tradition is one of the Christian denominations arising out of the Reformed section of the Protestant division of the catholic (the word means “universal”) Christian church. The American Presbyterian family theology tree starts with ancient Israel through Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, to John Calvin in Geneva, John Knox in Scotland, to the Puritans and Scotch-Irish in the colonies.

The Reformed section includes The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (With which the college is officially related), four small off-shoot denominations,( The Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, The Reformed Presbyterian Church, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church) The Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and over 160 different denominations worldwide, most notably The Church of Scotland, the Huguenot Church, the Presbyterian Church of Korea, and the Presbyterian Church of the Congo.

Presbyterians have always valued education, and have emphasized that human beings are called to “love God with all our minds (Matt 22:37)” Higher Education in the U.S. has been significantly influenced by the Presbyterian  / Reformed emphasis, both in the number of institutions founded or led by Presbyterians, and in the North American liberal arts tradition.

In 1994, the PC(USA)’s General Assembly said that “to be [church] related or connected means…that the college attempts in its corporate life to be faithful to the Reformed heritage, its values, and its guiding beliefs. Among those values and beliefs are the sovereignty of God over all of life, the goodness of the created word, the value and limitations of reason, a commitment to the moral life, and a call to service.” On Being Faithful: The Continuing Mission of the Presbyterian Church in Higher Education, p.32)

Some principles of education from the Presbyterian Heritage

The purpose of the college is beyond itself.
The purpose of education is for the transformation of individuals within a life-giving community. It is personal, but not private. We have responsibilities to one another.
Learning and teaching are not just occupations, but sacred callings.
The universe is orderly and rational. Outcomes can be anticipated.
We have been given minds to discover how the universe has been created and sustained.
All responsible study, no matter what the subject or implication, glorifies God.
Faith is not threatened by any advancement in human knowledge.
Diversity is expected and welcomed.
Learning is always accompanied by humility. No human has complete knowledge, so others may be able to provide additional information.  This requires an openness and hospitality to diversity.
The thoughtful conscience of the individual trumps church doctrine or dogma.
There is a unity of knowledge (and faith), such that wisdom is integrated knowledge.  There may be concentrations in a major, but they are disciplines within the wholeness of a broad and integrative whole.

Most of these principles would be affirmed by secular American educators, who would not know their source.

The Presbyterian understanding of education is not proselytizing, nor is it afraid of any legitimate investigation. Its understanding is that the Christian faith can confidently participate and contribute to the academic enterprise without any dilution of intellectual rigor.

Mental activity is, at its heart, holy and worshipful.  Since God is God of all, there is no field of inquiry which is inappropriate for intellectual investigation.  The concept of academic freedom arose out of this conviction.   Anyone who is responsibly engaged in the discovery of truth is worshiping God, whether or not she or he even realizes it or even believes in God.

The Higher Education Presbyterian Ethos

I recently visited a PC(USA)-related college who is thinking about its church-relatedness in terms of developing a statement about faith and learning on campus.There seemed to be some concern by faculty and staff that such a statement would be constrictive and make them into one of the Christian colleges who require ascription to some common statement of belief.

I don't think that campus is unusual. I don't think we have done a good job in articulating and publicizing what it means for a campus community to be influenced by the Presbyterian ethos. Many corporations, especially those in the service industry, have an orientation program where the company ethos is presented and discussed. The PC(USA) has ordination requirements which help provide an immersion into the Presbyterian ethos. (Can much of the denomination's debates over ordination standards, presbyteries and synods, connectionalism, etc., be an indication that we are not doing a good job in this area either?)

Colleges and Universities should have some part of their orientation for new faculty and staff and students about what it means - as well as what it does not mean - for their institution to be in relationship with the Presbyterian church. The Chaplain would be the natural person to present this. A one-page take home sheet might be helpful to reinforce the campus ethos.

Campus Ministries might also find such a handout useful for those students and parents who wonder how the Presbyterian campus ministry differs from other Christian groups on campus.