Recently, a member of the Baptist ministry at my school proposed an interministry program in hopes of uniting the campus ministries, so that we become a significant force on the campus. The plan: begin with a meeting to get ideas. So that other students who haven't seen these initiatives can get an idea of what happens with interministry stuff, I'd like to relay the details of the meeting, and the challenges that face these initiatives.
First, the challenges. First and foremost, each ministry has its own way of doing things, and often its own doctrine (especially in the case of denominational ministries). They also have their own interests, so contact with other ministries often leads to either 1) conflict or 2) competition. Also, since each ministry typically has a paid campus minister, it is common for said minister to have to put his ministry ahead of others, since he must report to those paying him what he has done with it. While the man in charge of the presentation said "it's because God just happened to call them to different paths," I take a more realist view. It's not that being paid is bad, it's just that doing ministry as a job will sometimes create a conflict of interest between that ministry and that job, and you have to watch out for it.
If the challenges can be overcome, the tangible benefits are the ability to specialize ministry (i.e. become a literal "part" of the body of Christ), and the ability to coordinate events with other ministries, which can help when it comes to placing people in events, and avoiding copycatting on particular days. Intangible benefits include an opportunity to build up one's brothers, and to talk to others outside of a particular school of thought. This would lead to greater unity and brotherhood among all believers.
For the meeting, I noted the following:
First, there was the sales pitch. It was a long (~20 minutes or so) speech by the man from the Baptist group, mostly detailing how he thought of the idea and what he thought it would entail. Mainly, there was no statement of "let's do this particular thing;" the goal was to gather ideas. In any case, I strongly respect the man for acting, and for putting the meeting together, since no one else has gone this far.
Next came suggestions on the general spirit of the initiative. It is an important question, because if we don't decide where it is we are going, each group within the larger group will make a decision, and we will suddenly find that the ministries will still be fighting each other, and each claiming to be acting in the best interests of the interministry initiative. While a number of ideas about what would be good were given, no one really pointed out the big pink elephant in the room; people are going to disagree, and we have to handle it somehow. The man in charge touched on it lightly, but gave a relativist view; we needed to "accept" what everyone says. Having a level of tolerance does help prevent fights, but there comes a point when too much tolerance waters down any serious discussion of Scripture. It is this watering down that has caused me to distance myself from most campus ministries, therefore I will privately discuss the matter with him later. For some reason, confronting serious issues will go over better in one-on-one environments.
Suggestions were also taken on what to "do." This is, in my opinion, the second most important question next to "what are we trying to accomplish in this ministry?" It was... unsurprising that there weren't as many ideas for action as there were for the general spirit of the ministry. Still, a few were taken, namely shared prayer between the services and a website designed to improve communication between ministries. If they make it to implementation, and everyone agrees to act continually, then we could see some communication and a new kind of brotherhood come out of this initiative.
This will be something to report on in the coming months. Until next time... take care,
Michael
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The table
My campus ministry sets up a table four days a week inside the school's student center, with a simple sign that reads "Come ask us about the Bible." As far as different kinds of ministry go, I've enjoyed this one the most.
The main challenge of the table is that you can be asked anything, by anyone, with any intention. You don't know why the person is asking or what the ensuing conversation will be, so after a few questions, you learn to think on your toes. It also proves to be a challenge in terms of how much you know; there is no real way to be prepared for every question. To that end, I am going to tell you about a few of the questions and scenarios you will see when people ask questions. it might help those who are trying to find what spiritual questions are on the average man's mind.
The most common people you will see are other Christians who aren't there to ask questions. Usually, they'll either be there to say, "I'm glad that you're doing this!" There are also a few Christians who will tell you how to do what you are doing. In the latter case, I say that such people are free to do it their way. In the former case, it's great to be encouraged.
Next most common are still Christians who want to ask questions, or people who likely grew up in Church but drifted away at a later date. Oftentimes they will have a question about doctrine, or about pseudo-Christian writings such as the Apocrypha or books put out by the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons. There have also been those who were told one thing while the Bible says something else, and simply want validation for something they've been suspicious of. In these cases, you must keep in mind that they are seeking your help to better understand the Bible, and they may not look into the matter after they leave. You could set up a ministry just for such people, and in the case of my ministry, these are the main people we're reaching to.
After these, there are hecklers. Typically, an atheist or agnostic will be somewhat offended by your very presence, and will let you know as much. This is where you can get into a situation in which the person will deliberately ask irrational questions or talk too quickly in order to throw you off. Like the people in the previous paragraph, these people are looking to clarify or validate something, but in this case, they are validating unbelief, and will do so with hostility. One challenge I've seen is the level to which hecklers make faulty assumptions. For that reason, it'd be good to understand the doctrine you believe in, because you will likely find yourself saying "No, the Bible doesn't say that" or "No, that's not the way we see things" quite often. Being able to turn such discussions around and presenting information the heckler likely hasn't seen before will either result in their pausing to think about what hey are saying, or simply walking off, knowing they can't control the conversation. Don't worry if this happens, there's only so much you can do, and if you've done it right, then you've done your job.
Least common, meaning I've never seen one, is the person who is largely unfamiliar with the Bible and wants to get to know more about it. It's surprising, but since I am going to an American school, it would make sense that most people have some idea about Christianity, even if the ideas are skewed.
As far as numbers and encounters go... I usually see one or two people an hour at the table. If two people come, the odds of a third and fourth standing behind the first two and watching are fairly high. It's easy to draw crowds when the first ones come. Usually however, people will look at you as they walk by, and look away. There are some dynamics when other groups come around; when the campus atheists set up a table next to us (spontaneously), we got a dozen comments on "you're next to the atheists, was this arranged?" Most of the questions I see begin with an assumption, which isn't always true. My favorite one, from a man who came to heckle, began by saying, "well you know, you can't really know everything that you believe is true, so how can you have faith?" It's the notion that faith must be blind. We also get a lot of questions about Biblical history as well, with questions about extra-biblical literature, translations, and figures from church history. A lot of questions also revolve around where the Bible stands on one issue or another. While there are a number where the Bible takes a very clear stand, there are a few political issues where extrapolating from Joshua 5:13-14 is your best bet. These things typically are not things that you usually discuss in Bible study, but people want to know about them, so it'd be worth looking into a few of these topics if you'd like to engage in this type of ministry.
Is it fun? I'd say so. One thing I will say, of course, is that it truly is a stretch of the mind, so be sure to pray before starting. And, of course, be ready to take names. The harvest is indeed plentiful, there are many people who are looking for someone to talk to about faith, if you are willing to put yourself out there.
As time goes on, I will update this section (Day to day ministry) with questions of interest that come from people I meet, along with the things that arise from my other ministry, being an education director at a local church.
Take care,
Michael
The main challenge of the table is that you can be asked anything, by anyone, with any intention. You don't know why the person is asking or what the ensuing conversation will be, so after a few questions, you learn to think on your toes. It also proves to be a challenge in terms of how much you know; there is no real way to be prepared for every question. To that end, I am going to tell you about a few of the questions and scenarios you will see when people ask questions. it might help those who are trying to find what spiritual questions are on the average man's mind.
The most common people you will see are other Christians who aren't there to ask questions. Usually, they'll either be there to say, "I'm glad that you're doing this!" There are also a few Christians who will tell you how to do what you are doing. In the latter case, I say that such people are free to do it their way. In the former case, it's great to be encouraged.
Next most common are still Christians who want to ask questions, or people who likely grew up in Church but drifted away at a later date. Oftentimes they will have a question about doctrine, or about pseudo-Christian writings such as the Apocrypha or books put out by the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons. There have also been those who were told one thing while the Bible says something else, and simply want validation for something they've been suspicious of. In these cases, you must keep in mind that they are seeking your help to better understand the Bible, and they may not look into the matter after they leave. You could set up a ministry just for such people, and in the case of my ministry, these are the main people we're reaching to.
After these, there are hecklers. Typically, an atheist or agnostic will be somewhat offended by your very presence, and will let you know as much. This is where you can get into a situation in which the person will deliberately ask irrational questions or talk too quickly in order to throw you off. Like the people in the previous paragraph, these people are looking to clarify or validate something, but in this case, they are validating unbelief, and will do so with hostility. One challenge I've seen is the level to which hecklers make faulty assumptions. For that reason, it'd be good to understand the doctrine you believe in, because you will likely find yourself saying "No, the Bible doesn't say that" or "No, that's not the way we see things" quite often. Being able to turn such discussions around and presenting information the heckler likely hasn't seen before will either result in their pausing to think about what hey are saying, or simply walking off, knowing they can't control the conversation. Don't worry if this happens, there's only so much you can do, and if you've done it right, then you've done your job.
Least common, meaning I've never seen one, is the person who is largely unfamiliar with the Bible and wants to get to know more about it. It's surprising, but since I am going to an American school, it would make sense that most people have some idea about Christianity, even if the ideas are skewed.
As far as numbers and encounters go... I usually see one or two people an hour at the table. If two people come, the odds of a third and fourth standing behind the first two and watching are fairly high. It's easy to draw crowds when the first ones come. Usually however, people will look at you as they walk by, and look away. There are some dynamics when other groups come around; when the campus atheists set up a table next to us (spontaneously), we got a dozen comments on "you're next to the atheists, was this arranged?" Most of the questions I see begin with an assumption, which isn't always true. My favorite one, from a man who came to heckle, began by saying, "well you know, you can't really know everything that you believe is true, so how can you have faith?" It's the notion that faith must be blind. We also get a lot of questions about Biblical history as well, with questions about extra-biblical literature, translations, and figures from church history. A lot of questions also revolve around where the Bible stands on one issue or another. While there are a number where the Bible takes a very clear stand, there are a few political issues where extrapolating from Joshua 5:13-14 is your best bet. These things typically are not things that you usually discuss in Bible study, but people want to know about them, so it'd be worth looking into a few of these topics if you'd like to engage in this type of ministry.
Is it fun? I'd say so. One thing I will say, of course, is that it truly is a stretch of the mind, so be sure to pray before starting. And, of course, be ready to take names. The harvest is indeed plentiful, there are many people who are looking for someone to talk to about faith, if you are willing to put yourself out there.
As time goes on, I will update this section (Day to day ministry) with questions of interest that come from people I meet, along with the things that arise from my other ministry, being an education director at a local church.
Take care,
Michael
An introduction
Hello,
I am Michael, known around a few parts of the Internet as "Laboratory Mike." I am a student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and am currently finishing a research project and a Bachelor's degree, with the intent of getting a Ph.D and becoming a fully-fledged scientist.
Now that you know where I am with science, what about faith? It is my understanding that there is one God, that He is worth seeking for many reasons, and that it is through Jesus Christ that any form of communication or relationship with God can take place. Since I work within the scientific community, and can maintain my faith, I would therefore like to dispel a few myths about science and atheism, and alleviate a few fears. Also, after a few years of study within the Bible, I'd like to share a few of the things I've learned on the journey of faith.
For the most part, posts are going to be as straightforward as possible, and short. It's a style one comes to appreciate from research. My prayer is to continuously deliver inspired exhortation through this blog, and I do hope you enjoy reading it.
Mike
I am Michael, known around a few parts of the Internet as "Laboratory Mike." I am a student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and am currently finishing a research project and a Bachelor's degree, with the intent of getting a Ph.D and becoming a fully-fledged scientist.
Now that you know where I am with science, what about faith? It is my understanding that there is one God, that He is worth seeking for many reasons, and that it is through Jesus Christ that any form of communication or relationship with God can take place. Since I work within the scientific community, and can maintain my faith, I would therefore like to dispel a few myths about science and atheism, and alleviate a few fears. Also, after a few years of study within the Bible, I'd like to share a few of the things I've learned on the journey of faith.
For the most part, posts are going to be as straightforward as possible, and short. It's a style one comes to appreciate from research. My prayer is to continuously deliver inspired exhortation through this blog, and I do hope you enjoy reading it.
Mike
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