Yoo hoo sports fans,
Since I myself have visited and participated in many campus ministries, I’d like to discuss them since many of you may have preconceived ideas about them without having really been to one. At UGA, I’ve tried out Christian Campus Fellowship (CCF), Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), Wesley, Cross Roads, Navigators, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and Campus Outreach. I want to say that there’s one or two more that I can’t remember.
While all of them are unique in some way, I would definitely say that all of them are similar in that they promote fellowship, Bible study, and discipleship. Let me discuss each of these briefly.
All of them promote fellowship in that there will be many activities that are just for social purposes and getting to know other people there. While this might seem intimidating at first, many of these activities can be pretty fun and sometimes not what you would expect. Most of the people I have met at these campus ministries have been friendly, and I highly doubt that any of the ones I have not been to would be rude towards outsiders.
All of them promote Bible study or an active learning of life lessons (especially ones that can be learned from the Bible. I must point out that the Bible will definitely be taught in a much different way at a campus ministry than in a classroom setting, but then again not everyone wants to put enough time and work into taking an academic class on the bible (although I myself would definitely encourage you to do so!). But anyways, you can certainly take away a lot from these lessons if you’re confused about a certain part of the Bible or want to learn more about what it all means.
Lastly discipleship is certainly promoted in nearly every campus ministry I’ve known. It usually includes being a part of a smaller group that helps each person with that they’re going through in life. The whole idea is that you will get more out of this than being in a large group because you will build close relationships and be able to help each other on a deeper level. Often campus ministries will organize these small groups for people to join. Let me make one thing clear about discipleship. Most campus ministries will not pressure you into joining a small group and nor should you feel pressured into joining one. I’m not gong to lie though, you will probably get a lot out of joining one of these groups just by the close relationships you will build with others in the group, which can be beneficial if you’re trying to make sense of it all (which should be most of us).
Anyways, with all that being said I would like to encourage all of you to try out a campus ministry if you have not already done so. Take a friend if you would like to. Just don’t go through all four (or more) years of college seeing ads on the bus for campus ministries and tell yourself that you’ll go sometime and never give it a try.
Feel free to comment back if you need details on when and where a campus ministry meets.
Good thoughts, Michael.
What sort of time commitment could one expect from a campus ministry’s small group? I’ll admit that, because I’m an alum of a small Christian college, I’ve got almost zero experience with campus ministries of various sorts.
Well it really varies depending on the small group. To be honest though, to get the most out of a small group you really have to go to most of the meetings. Usually it’s about 2 hours a week. However, if you miss a lot of meetings you will certainly find yourself out of touch with everyone and behind on the discussion, which can detract from the learning. I’ve been in many small groups that are laid back with people missing meetings all the time, but I feel like it’s been the other small groups where people always come that I’ve really grown the most and learned the most.