On Ministering to College Students

What do college students really need in the way specialized ministry?

For the last several weeks, I have been standing over at the student union on campus as a part of the New Student Orientation fair. There are all sorts of organizations represented that might be of interest to incoming students, and in the corner the various campus ministries are represented. A few have centers like ours, a few are sponsored by para-church organizations, and some are sponsored by local congregations.

I listen to Kate, one of our students give the 2 minute version of what the LSC is about: "The LSC has a free coffee house on Tuesday and Thursday nights where you can get free coffee drinks, smoothies, and cookies or just hang out. We have a supper on Wednesday nights where Pastor Scott sometimes makes his famous spaghetti and cheese bread. We have worship late at night on Wednesdays so that you can either sleep in on Sunday mornings or go to the church of you choice, and we sponsor mission trips in the spring and fall." Somewhere in the spiel she will usually mention, "I have met all of my close friends here at the LSC."

What should be the focus of a campus ministry? It was once worship, and the perhaps the most important reason we have worship at the LSC is timing (none of the 3 congregations have worship at 9:30 pm-- a good time for most college students). What we have been focusing on is hospitality and mission trips. The question is what should we be focusing on?