One College Minister’s Vision
In previous blog posts, we’ve talked about the importance of having authentic community among the members of your organization, and how community is the number one reason students connect with a college ministry.
It’s our mission at NEWCHAPTER to create environments designed to foster Intentional College Community. The tool we use to accomplish this mission is a Student Living Center™. There are many added advantages to having a residential component for your college ministry. Rather than listening to my reasoning on why this makes sense, I’m going to share one College Minister’s vision presented to his Board of Directors.
“During these past two and a half years serving as the college minister at this campus, student involvement has grown significantly in our ministry. A number of students attend the weekly worship, participate in small groups and bible study, in service opportunities and mission trips, and in a number of social activities. Every day of the week you can find these students in our student lounge studying, socializing, praying, or just taking a break from their day. Much of this is programmed by our student leadership team and me. However, many of our programs have grown naturally or organically through students who have become part of our community of faith. What I have witnessed year after year is that our students want to be in continual intentional community together. They want to extend their Christian relationships beyond a worship service or bible study, they want to help encourage one another and hold each other accountable. They want that same sense of belonging that they experience within the “programmed” elements of our ministry. At the end of each year of, various groups of our students, who have become friends through our ministry, have decided to live together the next school year.
Imagine then, a facility that allows students to be in this “intentional community” beyond our programmed events. Imagine a facility where students, not only live, but study, hold social events, participate in prayer and bible study, discussions, and service projects. Imagine a facility where students live in a place dedicated an environment of learning, service, and spiritual formation. Imagine a facility that encourages dialogue around issues of life and faith, offers leadership opportunities for students, and creates creative space for writing, art, poetry and music. Imagine a student community drawn together around a covenant of loving God and loving neighbor.”
This is the vision that NEWCHAPTER wants fulfill. We can finance, build, and maintain a Student Living Center for you ministry, where students will live in intentional community with one another. This will not just be a “dorm,” it will be a place that operates as a home base for your college ministry, provide an immediately boost your community, reach out to new students, provide a unique living community on campus, provide an unparalleled presence on campus, and create an income stream for your organization. These are just some of the possibilities that could stem from a Student Living Center™.
In our next post we’ll talk about some of the possible approaches you can take to finding out if something like this is the right move for your organization.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
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