Making Excuses

There's one big drawback to starting a new campus ministry position in the summertime: college campuses are pretty quiet, especially in mid-July. While I'm thankful for some space to read, think, write, plan, and pray, I'm also a little lonely. There's no buzz, no activity in the Wesley House or on campus, so it's easy to spend all day in my air conditioned office.

I think when I started my first campus ministry position four years ago, I did just that. But new beginnings are for learning from your mistakes, so this time around I'm making excuses for getting on campus.

The other day I had a simple question to ask someone on campus that I could have emailed or called about. However, I had already decided to eat lunch on campus (another excuse to get out), so I decided to drop in and ask the question in person. I was there for maybe five minutes, but in those five minutes I accomplished something very important - I nurtured a relationship.

Emails are great, text messages are quick, phone calls are convenient, but a face to face interaction builds community exponentially more than any of those. In those five minutes, I asked my question, but I also learned a little more about the person. My presence communicated that I do not view this person simply as a source of information, but as a valued child of God. Technology helps us be productive and efficient, but too often at the expense of relationships. People are no longer people, but contacts in our address book who we call or text for information.

So, this summer I'm making excuses for myself...to get out of the office. But more importantly, to build and nurture relationships with the people across campus who I'll be in ministry with this fall.

First Things First

July 1, 2010. First day at the Wesley Foundation of Macon.

In moving to a new ministry context, I get to have a lot of firsts all over again. First worship, first meetings with students, first time at new churches, first time in a new city, first time on a new campus, etc. The first days in a new place are filled with things to do, including getting settled in to a new office space and learning where to get the best coffee.

But the very first thing that happens in our new location is getting my family settled in our new house. 

Every passing year as a campus minister ingrains in me the necessity to NOT become a burned-out minister or workaholic. While campus ministry is a big part of who I am, there still have to be boundaries. I think somewhere in Ecclesiastes it says, "A time to work, a time to rest; a time to answer the cell phone, a time to let it go to voicemail. A time to reply to emails, a time to not." In the age of iPhones, this becomes even harder to do, but I find it incredibly necessary. When I'm at home, my mind will think and pray about ministry matters, but my attention needs to be on my family first.

We moved to Macon last Friday, but today is my first day to spend significant time in the office. I'm not putting off starting my new job; I'm just making sure that our home is home before my work becomes work. And I think we have succeeded. Though the basement of our house is still in disarray, the main living parts of our house are beginning to feel like home. And this is important for two reasons:

First, it's important that the boys feel at home. There is a lot change with moving to a new house, and though they will not really remember the move itself, they do feel the effects of it. It's really just been the last couple of nights that we've all slept soundly - a good indication that our house is feeling like a home.

The second reason is because when I come home, I need to feel like I'm home. This goes for Corrie, too. Though she will be at home more than I will, it is important for the house to feel like the refuge it is meant to be. The place for play, relaxation, and rest.

The great challenge now is to maintain the home. And this does not mean keeping it clean (though that's a good thing to do), but keeping it a place of rest, not a place of work. As I get busier and busier this summer and fall semester, it will be harder and harder to leave my ministry concerns at the Wesley House. But if I'm to truly rest and be the husband and father I want to be, this must happen.

But for now, I need to get to work. Anyone want to help me put away all my books?

Dis-Orientation

It's Orientation season on campus. 

This means that nine times this month, the university will host freshmen and their parents for an intensive two-day overload of information. A part of orientation is what Ole Miss calls the "Rebel Roundup" - a time for all student organizations to set up a display on a table so the freshmen can begin to learn about all the organizations on campus. Usually, the set up consists of tables lined up down a sidewalk facing one another. When the students all come walking down the line, they are like herded cattle roaming mindlessly down a gauntlet. Most students and parents pass by with a blank stare, overwhelmed by all the different offerings. It is quite possibly the most disorienting time of orientation. 

And yet, we find ourselves here every year. We have cards, cups, and a board with lots of fun pictures. But so does everyone else. Every organization and campus ministry is hoping to get their small piece of the freshmen pie. But is it these things that will draw people to our ministry? Can we really sell ourselves through printed materials and friendly images?

The answer, of course, is no. 

If we really want to engage students and get them interested in the story we're telling through our ministry, then we must de-disorient them. We must look them in the eye with a smile and remind them that they are a person again; not a head of cattle being herded to the next session. By personally engaging those who walk by our table, we have the opportunity to truly orient them for their time in college. Of all the different organizations represented on the gauntlet, we are not offering another extracurricular to list on the resume, but an invitation to be a part of a story that will define their lives.

In all honesty, I've never really enjoyed the orientation sessions. The aforementioned setup, the summer heat, and the limited interactions make for a long, hot summer night. But this year I am reminding myself that it is orientation, and I am hoping to orient the students to something that will change their lives.