Tag Archives: Campus Ministry

Free Audio from Family Vacation 2012: Never Roam Alone

20 Jan

For more like this, visit campusministryunited.com’s download page.

Amanda’s Baptism

20 Nov

Last Monday Airiel and I had the privilege of studying the Bible with Amanda – a college student enrolled at San Francisco State University. She decided to give her life to Jesus, and was baptized around midnight on November 14, 2011 – her new birthday. :)

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Congrats Amanda – this was and is the best decision you’ll ever make!

Free Audio From the 2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop – #cmuw11

11 Jul

Each year seems to be better than the last – 2011 was no exception. Please share these resources with anyone who may benefit.

2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop – #cmuw11

9 Jul

Having a blast at the 2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop!

Lessons are awesome, worship is inspiring, and the fellowship is great.

All audio recordings from the weekend will be posted to this website as soon as they’re available (shortly after the workshop is over).

To follow live Tweets from this event, check out #cmuw11 - it’s been a great year!

2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop Around the Corner

24 Jun

The 2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop is nearly upon us, and in a few days my family will pack our bags and make the journey from San Francisco to Arkansas to join everyone else on the campus of Harding University for this event.

I’m excited, because the CMU Workshop is more than just a meeting for campus ministers and students – it is an annual celebration of a movement we are all part of to plant new campus ministries and encourage evangelistic activity among college students nationwide.

What started in 2006 as a small meeting of about 40 leaders interested in reaching college students has grown each year, and many positive things have happened in a short amount of time.

Several brand new ministries have been planted around the country, a number of young ministers have been trained to enter full-time ministry, money has been raised, plans for the future have been laid at God’s feet in prayer, and, just this year, two full-time staff persons were added in Lynn & Carol Stringfellow to promote CMU’s agenda to reach college students year round. A large, influential church in Tulsa, OK’s Park Plaza Church of Christ joined the team in 2010 through sponsoring the Stringfellows, and elders and leaders from other churches have approached us about getting involved in other ways as well.

New ministry sites are being researched, plans for new plants are being made, and new people are contacting us about being trained for ministry. We have much work to do, many interested in helping to get it done, and for that we are thankful.

All this has been an answer to prayers prayed by people passionate about reaching others with the gospel of Jesus Christ and seeing His Kingdom break out in power on this earth.

God has been behind all the good things that have happened so far, and I believe He’s just getting started!

If you are interested in reaching college students with the gospel of Jesus Christ or simply in evangelism (regardless of the form it takes), you ought to join us at the 2011 Campus Ministry United Workshop July 7-10 at Harding University.

A Facebook Event Page has been set up, and pertinent info has been posted on the Workshop Page of campusministryunited.com.

The CMUW is more than just a workshop – it’s a celebration of a Christ-centered movement to reach college students for and with Jesus. If you want to be part of something bigger than yourself, join us.

God is doing something special!

Vast Majority of US Teens to Attend College – What’s the Church Going to Do About It?

14 Jun

The Barna Group’s research continues to tell us a story – a story about the church’s need to respond to the call to responsibly shepherd older teens and college students.

Here’s an excerpt from a study released in May of last year outlining how a nationwide sample of older teens responded to the question, “What do you think your life will be like 10 years from now?”:

The most common aspirations of teenagers were related to college and their professional pursuits. Finishing a college degree was their top-rated future priority. A majority of teenagers felt certain that they would accomplish this goal by age 25. In all, 93% of teenagers said they would either definitely or probably obtain a college degree by their mid-twenties.

Add to this David Kinnaman’s comments from Barna’s latest study (a follow-up to the one done a year ago):

With the vast majority of teenagers hoping to experience and graduate from college someday (see previous Barna study on this subject), Kinnaman suggested that college and career decisions represent an important opportunity for faith leaders to influence students. “Today’s teens have huge aspirations in life and a great deal of self-confidence that is sometimes out of proportion with their abilities. Taught to believe they can accomplish anything at anytime, many young people figure if they see a problem or a need, they can just start a new company or nonprofit to address it. And armed with technology, some of them are actually doing that.

“Still, many young people do not seem to understand how a rich, historic understanding of the Christian faith and the gospel ought to inform their career aspirations,” Kinnaman continued. “And faith leaders are not as intentional as they could be with instruction and coaching on these types of decisions. Understanding how teenagers hope to spend their professional lives can help faith communities and institutions better support these students as they discern God’s calling in their lives.”

Kinnaman is right in saying youth leaders should do more to guide young people toward making career decisions and future plans through the lens of faith, but couldn’t one also say more attention should be paid to intentionally ministering to students while they’re actually in college?

The moral of the story this research tells certainly indicates more could and should be done – 93% of the young people in this country are going to go to college, and 100% of them need to know Jesus.

If you are one who agrees with that statement, let me ask this: what are you willing to do about it?

I have some suggestions – more on this soon.

Family Vacation 2011 Audio

24 Jan

Family Vacation is a college ministry retreat held annually MLK weekend in Pensacola, FL. Several hundred college students gathered last weekend for the festivities, and from what I hear the retreat was great!

Audio recordings of the lessons have been provided for me to share, and I am pleased to be able to do so:

Enjoy!

For more like this, check out the audio archives at campusministryunited.com

2010 Cocoa Beach Retreat: “Loco in Cocoa” Audio

19 Sep

I arrived home late last night after spending a fun couple of days teaching 120 excited college students in Cocoa Beach, FL.

The lessons presented centered around the theme of maximizing our impact for Christ.

As promised, here is the audio and related materials from the 2010 Cocoa Beach Retreat:

  1. Wes Woodell – Maximum Impact: Defining Moments (50:42) PowerPoint; Video 1
  2. Wes Woodell – Maximum Impact: Greatest Commands pt. 1 (64:31) PowerPoint; Handout; Video 2
  3. Wes Woodell – Maximum Impact: Greatest Commands pt. 2 (73:45) PowerPoint

This weekend was a blessing to me … very encouraging. Before leaving Saturday afternoon, I had the privilege of witnessing one of the students being baptized in the ocean … what a great note to end on. :)

Florida has a very active campus ministry community. What a blessing it has been and is continuing to be!

For more sermons, visit the westcoastwitness.com Sermon Archive.

New Study: College-Aged Most Likely Group to Change Faiths

17 Aug

If you haven’t already signed up to receive The Barna Group’s monthly newsletter, you ought to do so.

The Barna Group is the same research firm that published unChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity & Why It Matters a few years ago (a “must read” for those working in the field of campus ministry).

Barna’s latest research reveals that about one quarter of those living in the United States move away from the faith they grew up with (be it Christianity, another religion, or no religion at all).

Among those who change faiths, two-thirds do so before the age of 30, the average age being 22.

David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group and the man who directed this study, comments on the implications of this data:

“It is difficult for many faith leaders to relate fully to the spiritual lives of people who struggle with their faith, particularly those who are younger. Clergy are typically older than those going through significant questions about their faith and are less likely to have personally experienced a period of major faith re-orientation themselves. What’s more, not every person goes through a crisis of faith, so individuals who are going through spiritual transitions often go unnoticed. Staying in tune with people’s questions and doubts—at whatever age they occur—is an increasingly important part of being an influential faith leader.”

This is important information for campus ministers for two reasons:

1) This study strengthens the case of the need for focused, evangelistic efforts aimed at the college aged in our country.

2) This study highlights the importance of campus ministers and church leaders being willing and able to articulate their own story as it pertains to their personal faith formation, and to be honest in sharing past struggles, doubts, and victories.

You will not reach college students if you are unable or unwilling to relate to where they are spiritually. Intentionality is a must.

To view this study for yourself, click here.

Stringfellows Moving to Work Full-Time Toward Nationwide Campus Ministry Plants

16 Aug

Youth ministries are very common among Churches of Christ, but very few campus ministries exist … in all, less than 150. There are over 2,600 accredited, four-year institutions in the United States alone, and if you factor in community colleges that number soars to thousands more.

Why am I telling you this? Because 77% of those who make a decision for Christ in the United States do so by the age of 21. Over 97% of the colleges and universities in the United States lack a Church of Christ campus ministry … this matters because as a fellowship we’re barely even trying to reach millions of students (much less actually doing it) when studies show the college years are among some of the best to do so.

Campus Ministry United (CMU) exists to remedy that.

Cryptic messages abounded on Twitter and Facebook last week prophesying “big news” to be announced in one week from CMU. One week is up, and the announcement is here: CMU is hiring two full-time staffers to promote church-run evangelistic campus ministry plants all over the country!

Lynn & Carol Stringfellow wearing traditional South-Floridian garb.

Lynn & Carol Stringfellow – long time campus ministers for the Bay Area Church of Christ in Tampa, FL – will be assuming their new role about a year from now.

Their job will be to work full-time in advancing  CMU’s mission in four primary ways:

DIRECTORS OF MINISTRY ADVANCEMENT – PRIMARY INITIATIVES

1)Fundraising
•Provide support for ministry/university church planters trained through CMU.

2) Networking & Recruiting
•Bring new students into CMU’s training program.
•Make connections with churches interested in sponsoring campus ministry/university church plants through CMU.

3) Research & Development
•Organize bi-annual study of Church of Christ campus ministry.
•Provide enrichment materials to address needs through provided outlets (CMU’s web presence, annual CMU workshops).

4) Public Relations
•Serve as an ambassador between planters, churches, Christian colleges and secular universities.

The Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK, has committed to being the sponsoring congregation behind this work, and Tulsa will serve as central headquarters for the Stringfellows and their ministry.

This work is a missionary effort, and like all missionaries the Stringfellows will live on support kindly donated from churches and individuals. We have about $100,000 we need to raise immediately to cover the operational budget (mostly the working fund) for this ministry for the first year.

If you have a heart for reaching college students and would like to find out more about financially supporting this ministry, please email CMU at campusministryunited@gmail.com expressing your interest and someone will get back with you quickly.

I am very excited about this news! People all over the world will now be blessed by Lynn & Carol’s work. Their ministry in Tampa has consistently made an impact on the lives of students, most of whom were not Christians before encountering the Stringfellows. The church as a whole will be blessed as their evangelistic zeal, focus on the unchurched, and influence spreads.

Folks, we’re working toward making CoC campus ministry plants a regular occurrence in a healthy way that’s never been done before. More news will follow – please post any questions you may have in the form of a comment.

Congrats Lynn & Carol – may your work be blessed! I’ll be keeping this work in my prayers, and I hope you will too.

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