I have had some conversations lately with some of you about how we can best serve our students after they graduate from high school. The statistics are dreadful (love that word) regarding the percentage of students who stay with their faith, the church, or Christian groups on campus. One of the questions we asked this spring in interviewing potential camp staff was about their involvement in a local church and campus groups. Generally speaking, those who were plugged into a church and campus group were the ones hired and those who were not plugged in, were encouraged to and prayed for, but not hired. It is so vital that students connect when they get to college and the odds are greater when they do so right away.
There is something really good (and relatively easy) that you can do about this challenge. You can make a connection with your students and a campus Christian leader that will result in participation as soon as the semester starts! I want to specifically recommend the ministry of RUF for three reasons.
First, they are committed to seeing students get involved in the local church. There are many wonderful parachurch ministries at colleges, but not all share this same conviction that I have to see students plug into a local congregation and experience worship, fellowship, and spiritual growth in the multigenerational body that is truly the church. It is simply not enough for a student to attend a campus fellowship if they are to stick with the church over the long haul. (statistics from studies support this idea)
Second, when I ask students who are really growing in their faith about their involvements at college, RUF comes up most often. In other words, I am seeing a consistent pattern in talking to past youth commission folks, camp staff, and others that RUF is a place for vibrant dynamic faith. I have not gotten this as consistently about other organizations. I have heard good things about some other groups and yet some college groups I hear about are really shallow.
Third, the emphasis of RUF is very consistent with our vision. They place a strong emphasis on teaching and studying scripture and engage students in some very deep and meaningful worship and prayer. They do not do teenage meetings for college age students. Can you imagine walking into a class in college and getting 9th grade level teaching from the professor? Sadly, some campus ministries are little more than that.
RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) welcomes students from any and all walks of life. They exist for the “convinced” and the “unconvinced.” Students from a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds are involved in RUF on over a hundred campuses in the United States.
Go online to http://www.ruf.org and enter in the name of the college that a student will be attending and you can find out who the campus pastor is for RUF. You can then email them the contact info of the student who will be attending that college and give the student the contact info about the RUF campus pastor. They will then be able to make contact with each other and your student has a college group to participate in from day one.
As I have said, there are other good campus ministries and if there is one you have had great experience with whom you believe will serve your students well, by all means, go online to that organization and do the contact process with them. What is most important is that students connect with a ministry that will equip and challenge them to remain faithful and strong during their college years. I believe it is vital that a local congregation be part of their college experience as well.
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