If I wasn’t living it right now – my day would make a great Apatow movie about campus ministry.  I had a frustrating 2 hour conversation that eventually got resolved, but not before I was late to my next appointment.  Once I got there and hauled all of our orientation paraphernalia inside – we got asked to leave a new student fair at one school (the lady who ran the event left over the summer and the rules about outside groups changed).  But the death blow came when I got an email uninviting me to a program that I was really looking forward to and had re-arranged my whole week to attend.

In the midst of the carnage, I took the student helping me at the orientation fair to lunch.  They way he sees it, its better to try and fail than not do nothing at all.  I then sulked into our staff meeting – which I wasn’t suppose to be at – to be met with kindness by a team who genuinely felt my embarrassment and disappointment. I called Nikki to vent and she responded with all the right verbal cues I needed to feel heard.  I remembered that people all through the church are praying for campus ministers just like me for the next 39 days (40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry).  I swear Sonic had its happy hour just for me today.  Then I heard the verse I rehearse with Canon when he wants to give up . . . .

“. . . for though the righteous fall seven times, they will rise again”  Proverbs 24:16

Princess Bride.

So without knowing it, I shaped the wedding homily to intertwine I Corinthians 13 with that fairy-tale love story.  Come to find out – it was one of Mandy’s favorite movies.

Score.  Here’s what I did with it.

1 Corinthians 13:4-11
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

One of my favorite date movies growing up was The Princess Bride.  So quotable (“Mawidge – come on, you are all thinking about this scene).

But for all of its humor – it’s reminds me of the same kind of love that Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13.  It tells of a love that always said yes, of a love that would never quit, and of a love that only got better with time.

Love always says yes
Do you remember how Wesley slowly won Buttercup’s heart?  It was with three simple words . . . “as you wish”.  No matter what she asked for, no matter what she demanded, he always responded with “as you wish”.  For her, his answer was always “yes”.

Out of love for each other, I pray that your responses to each other are always in the form of a “yes”.  “Yes” that seeks the best in the other.  “Yes” that holds on when the other has lost hope.  “Yes” that won’t let you settle for anything less than who you are created to be.  “Yes” that gives the other the strength to keep trying.  “Yes” that believes and fights for the best in you both.

Love never quits
What would the movie have been if Wesley or Buttercup had ever stopped fighting for or stopped believing in each other?  Through years of imprisonment, fire swamps, and R. O. U. S.’s – they never gave up on each other.  My prayer is that you will both never stop fighting for and believing in each other.  If we learn anything from the movie and from this verse, it’s that love never quits.  I pray that your marriage would enflesh the words in 1 Cor 13:7-8 – Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.

Love gets better with time.
Let me give you some homework – I want you to take 5 married couples out to dinner during your first year of marriage.  Find a couple who has been married 5 years, 10 year, 15 years, 25 years, and 50 years – then take each one out and ask them about their life together – the good, the bad, the finances, the kids, the in-laws . . .  anything you can think of.  But they have to meet these three basic qualifications:
1.  They should be couples in your church.
2.  They should reflect who you want to be at their age and stage.
3.  They have to still hold hands

Paul even says that we only see dimly now – but later it will all be as clear as day.  Whether we are talking about our love for God or the love that has grown between you two – here is one thing I know.  No matter how good it may be now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  Live in such a way that you can go the distance.  Let the love you have for each other now grow and deepen over the years.  Time is not the enemy of love.  Love, true love, gets better with time.

But unlike the love between Wesley and Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride, the kind of love Paul was writing about is not a fairy tale.  The kind of love he is speaking about is real.  It’s real because it’s the kind of love our God has loved us with.  God’s love says yes to the best of us.  God’s love never quits.  And God’s love will only get better with time.

May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit fill your lives with His love so that you may live it out within your marriage.

Woodstock was billed as “three days of love and peace” – but who knew we would still be talking about its cultural significance 40 years later. Terry Gross of Fresh Air did a great interview with John Rosenman and John Roberts – the two original organizers. I especially love the announcement (at 2:40) when they announce from the stage:

It’s a free concert from now on.

(Soundbite of cheering)

That doesn’t mean that anything goes, what that means is we’re going to put the music up here for free. Now, let’s face the situation. We’ve had thousands and thousands of people come here today. Many, many more than we knew or even dreamt or thought would be possible. We’re going to need each other to help each other to work this out because we’re taxing the systems that we have set up.  We’re going to be bringing the food in. But, the one major thing you have to remember tonight, when you go back up to the woods to go to sleep or if you stay here, is that the man next to you is your brother. And you damn well better treat each other that way because if you don’t, then we blow the whole thing, but we’ve got it, right there.

(Soundbite of cheering)

I believe that it is fitting for us to begin the 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. As I write this – Kansas City is getting pummeled by an August shower likes the ones shown in the old, pixilated footage.  Like Woodstock – we have had more people “show up” than expected. But unlike that 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY – we can handle as many people who will show up. And they are coming. From across the nation to the Philippines (someone please tell me what is happening over there!!!!)– people are hearing about this sacred moment and joining in.

Finally, just like Woodstock, this is not political. Abby Hoffman and the radical underground tried to blackmail Rosenman and Roberts in order to push his political agenda. But the organizers had different intentions:

And it had been our very firm intention to keep this as non-political as possible. This was three days of peace and music. Abbie Hoffman summoned us down to his headquarters down in Greenwich Village in New York and announced that if we did not come across with some money, and some stage time, and booths, and so on, that he was going to like make our life a misery.

Well, his worst turned out to be he jumped up on stage during The Who’s performance and was booted off, unceremoniously, by Roger Daltrey. Later on, I think, he did manage to distribute some leaflets. But that weekend stayed, at least for the course of the weekend, resolutely non-political. It was just half a million people trying to have a good time.

While we can’t help if some can find a conspiracy theory in everything they see – the motivation for this season of prayer is to turn the Church’s heart back toward our college campuses. While I do agree that prayer is conspiring with God to make this world new – no agenda, no party, no model, or group will ultimately benefit from this except the millions of college students we are called to serve.

What would it mean for the United Methodist Church to commit itself to pray for and be in mission to this generation of college students?  I pray that these 40 Days of Prayer for Campus Ministry would be one of the sparks of revival and renewal we believe is coming.

1. His deep knowledge and love for young adults and the university
2. his 30 years of wide experience in discipleship and mentoring.

 Over the 40 Days of Prayer, I’m looking to have 40 conversations with church leaders over the future of campus ministry.  The interview with Steve will be the first one.  I’ve been asking people inside and outside the United Methodist Church to have a conversation about the future because I believe we will find the pieces we need in surprising places.

I want to invite you into the 40 Days of Prayer and 40 Conversations about the future of campus ministry.  I’m trusting God to awaken the church’s heart for the university.

Trust me, I know the credibility gap that campus ministry has in our denomination.  Most United Methodists probably think of campus ministry as “13th Grade Youth Group.”  If we are honest, campus ministries don’t work because of poor appointments, lack of funding and no understanding of the strategic potential of the work. What’s more, these campus minister positions are mostly low-paying, dead-end posts with little room for advancement.  It’s one of the first line items finance committees go after to save money.  But like a wise pastor once told me, “it’s not a priority because it hasn’t worked”. 

Yet few would argue that our nation’s college and university campuses remain one of the most under-served, misunderstood and neglected mission fields in the United States.  These communities of learning are our neighbors, but few United Methodist churches acknowledge or know how to effectively serve the students, faculty and staff who walk their halls.  We can no longer remain on the sidelines and ignore the over 17 million students, from across the US and around the world, who are seeking answers to questions to which the gospel of Jesus Christ speaks.

The United Methodist Church stands at a crossroads in reaching college students and young adults. Even with all the excitement surrounding the conversations about “raising up a new generation of Christian leaders” (a phrase Dr. Steve Moore coined in 1980 at the Texas Tech Wesley Foundation), I still don’t hear our church talking about intersecting the one institution in American society where young adults explore, experiment and ultimately choose a vocation: it’s called college!  We can no longer continue to under-fund, under-appoint, and undervalue the strategic mission of campus ministry.

In order to move forward, we need to gain a clearer picture of where we currently are.  One source is John Schmalzbauer’s “Campus Ministry:  A Statistical Portrait” -an article based on the Lilly Foundation Campus Ministry Study that reported current trends among campus ministry organizations.  In the article, he cites the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry Web site as listing more than 700 campus ministries.  Most surprising is that the article estimates that approximately 32,000 students participate in some type of United Methodist campus ministry – a figure comparable to that of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s student participation.  This figure is based off of the Lilly Foundation study that found a typical group averages 30 students. 

Since GBHEM does not keep yearly records, there is no gathered list that tracks the data of students involved at individual ministries, annual conferences, or across the nation.  The closest snapshot that I can collect is from Wesley Foundations or United Methodist campus ministries’ Facebook Groups.  There are 15 with more than 100 members, 41 with more than 50 members, 35 with more than 20 members and 11 with more than five members—for a total of 4,450 students who are self-described members of a United Methodist group. Compared to para-church groups like Campus Crusade, InterVarsity and Victory Campus Ministry that gather and publish statistics on their Web sites each year, we are left to guess the true impact of our campus ministries. No doubt the reality of the impact of United Methodist campus ministry lies somewhere between those two figures – but it’s the gap that concerns me. 

Our most successful United Methodist campus ministries (UGA Wesley, Auburn Wesley, Texas Tech Wesley, University of Oklahoma Wesley and Southwestern College to name a few) offer examples of hope, yet overall we lack a significant presence on most of the nation’s top universities. I believe this absence is one of the major causes of our growing leadership shortage and continued decline.

The United Methodist Church has played a large role in American higher education in the past, but we must discover a new strategy for ministry with college students and young adults. For that to happen, we need to first ask questions that allow us to shape a new vision that is sustainable, entrepreneurial and shaped by the apostolic ethos of the gospel:

* What are the theological underpinnings of campus ministry?

* What is the history and state of United Methodist campus ministry? 

* Where is the United Methodist Church doing effective campus ministry?

* Does it serve our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ? How should it be measured?

* Do we have a model that is strategic? Cost-effective? Sustainable? Reproducible?

faithful to a Wesleyan understanding of the gospel?

* Does it create and nurture a culture of calling where students discover their place in the body of Christ and purpose in life?

* Does campus ministry connect young adults to the mission and ministry of the United Methodist Church?  

 To find the answer to these questions and discover a new way forward, we are calling the United Methodist Church to 40 Days of Prayer for our campus ministries from August 17^th – September 25^th, 2009.  As millions of students pour back onto our nation’s campuses, we will pour out our hearts to God to move anew among our Wesley Foundations, United Methodist related colleges, and local church ministries.  Over 700 people who heard their call to ministry through a United Methodist campus ministry have joined a Facebook group (United Methodist Campus Ministry – Raising Up Christian Leaders) to pray for our mission to this generation of college students, staff, and faculty.  On behalf of the women and men who serve on our nation’s campuses – I invite you to join us in praying for God to do a new thing among our campus ministries this fall. 

A prayer guide will be compiled be published on August 1, 2009 at www.collegeunion.org/prayer that can be downloaded to share with your church, Sunday School class, small group, or leadership team.

It was a freak show of humanity:  corporate types, professional chefs, soccer moms, a Samoan matriarch, farmers, male-dancers, and a host of religious beliefs and outlooks.  All I could think is this is why Jesus loved weddings.

Most surprising are the posts on the group page and the e-mails I’ve been getting from other campus ministers:

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Dear Creighton and Ashlee,

I wish you could see me giving you a standing ovation! I am on board with this proposal, and will support this effort.  I went to General Conference and listened to the Four Areas of Focus presentation, I was inspired to re-tooled our ministry plan using the focus area language for the Denton Wesley Foundation.  I have already made a presentation to our Conference personnel, and they responded very positively to our clarity and purpose. I believe that the NTAC is seeing more clearly that campus ministry needs to be a part of the plan for the church to experience renewal.  I will make sure to join the facebook group. Thanks for connecting us.

Cammy Gaston

Denton Wesley Foundation

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Creighton,

Michael

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Good morning, Creighton.

This is a terrific and constructive action and with all my heart I pray that you are able to move the church to hear what so many of us have been actively trying to shout from the mountain tops for YEARS!!!   In the meantime, yes, I will participate and will write a prayer for provision.  Thank you for the invitation.

Blessings,

Jan Rivero

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Great idea utilizing facebook for this endeavor. I invited 19 people that I’m friends with on facebook who came out of the OU Wesley Foundation into full time ministry . . . .

Daniel Dennison – OU Wesley

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On August 15th, we will call the United Methodist Church to 40 Days of Prayer for our campus ministries.  I want to thank the UMC Young Clergy for the idea.  Check out College Union for more details on the week of July 6th.

A month ago, we all woke up and Canon told Nikki that he wanted a haircut like mine.  So I make an appointment for all the guys to go get haircuts together.  In retrospect, it’s was probably too much to put on one person.  I mean, who could handle the rugged good looks of one Alexander boy, let alone all three?  It would be an overdose of awesomeness.

Actually, it was quite chaotic trying to keep everyone entertained while Marcy kept from giving either one of the boys a Van Gogh as they figedted in her chair.  We were there an hour and 45 minutes – you could say that everyone was glad to see us leave.  Then we we got home – Nikki showed me the bill.  It was $23 more than I was quoted, so I called back.  The manager was gracious, said she would take care of it, and that was it as far as I knew.

Until I tried to make another appointment today.  I set it up, but then the receptionist called back and said “Marcy believes its best that you find someone else to cut your hair”.  What?  She’s breaking up with moi?

So after I called the manager and went on with my life, the manager went and reprimanded Marcy, took the $23 out of her check (even though it was more the receptionists fault for misquoting me), and that is when Marcy decided to break up with me.  We talked today, but she was still hot – professional, but super-offended.  I could hear the tears welling up in her voice.  She had quit me a month ago and now I have to find someone else to cut my hair.

If Karlen (my twin) or my family was reading this – they are probably laughing their heads off.  I have been rather high-maintenance about my hair since anyone cares to remember.  But this time, it wasn’t my fault – I swear.  Sure – we stressed the whole salon out when the Alexander’s stormed the premises, but it was the $23 that did it.

The bottom line – I’m not good with rejection.  If you’re going to break up with me, don’t have your people call my people or wait till I find out about it – do it yourself.

Follow – up

I got an appointment with another stylist at the same place that Marcy works, but only after I called the manager back.  I tried to repair the damage, asked her to give Marcy the $23 back because it wasn’t her fault, and then asked her to apologize to her in the same way that she reprimanded her.   When I got back, Nikki asked if I talked to Marcy.  No, I didn’t – but not because we weren’t in the same room or didn’t make eye contact.  I’ll wait to the manager does the right thing today and say hello the next time I’m in.

You’ve seen this sign if you been at Muddy’s Coffee House – right above the computers you can rent to check e-mail.  You’d think that these computers were tucked away in some private corner of the coffee shop – but anyone who knows Muddy’s knows their isn’t anything private about it except the bathrooms.  The computer screen’s face out toward the middle of the store, yet someone still was looking at porn.  Like my grandmother use to say, people don’t make rules for something that isn’t a problem.

This has got me exploring whether I should do a Celebrate Recovery group or SAA group during the week.  I figure that is a better response than fawning disgust or laughing at how the rule was established.

This whole last semester has been one of releasing prayers as we began forming this new community called New City.  I had three consistent prayer partners – Ryan, Bethany, and Katie.  Others joined in – adding their voice to what God was calling forth.  It seemed small at times, but then I remember it has to be our first work as a community who is following after Jesus.

Over the semester, we developed a prayer that we will say together every week in worship.  One that gets at what we want God to do with our lives and in this world.  One that rose straight out of Scripture and now waits to be enfleshed by those who will gather on Sunday nights.  Will you help us release them into the lives of the young men and women in Kansas City?

Jesus, pour out Your Spirit upon us
Anoint us to bring good news to the poor
To bind up the broken-hearted
To proclaim freedom to the captives
To proclaim the year of Your grace
To rebuild the old ruins
To raise a new city out of the rubble
Through Your love, make all things new.
Amen.
Scripture References:  Isaiah 61:1-4/Revelation 21