If you’re reading this post, chances are you believe there’s a place in the world for college ministry. We know the need. We know that an outrageous number of Christians leave church and often faith during their college years. We know that at a time when these students are being faced with tough questions about God and the Bible that the church too often leaves them. We know that there is a potential for revival and renewal waiting within the hearts of these students, if only we can show them the beauty of who God is. I truly believe that the hope for the future of the church lies in our ability and willingness to follow Christ onto the campus to inspire and develop leadership within college students. We know the need.

We also know the problem, but we hate to say it out loud. Let’s just deal with it. College students don’t tithe. Even if you have one or two that do, 10% of their salary from Starbucks isn’t going to fund a ministry. College ministry is a financial black hole. Churches pour money into campus ministry knowing that rarely if ever will these students return to the church that guided them through those years. Churches fund ministry knowing that there will be no financial return on investment. Again, we know the need, and we know that we all got into ministry to see spiritual returns, not financial ones, but there is a cold, hard reality on its way – if the church has to tighten its belt and make some choices, college ministry will be the first place that cuts are made.

Crisis provokes creativity. I believe that as the economy continues to drag, college ministry is headed for a crisis that will force us into new ways of reaching students. We will have to begin asking ourselves some difficult questions. Are we willing to become bi-vocational? Are willing to stop being dependent on our local church and denomination for our budget? Will we as college ministers begin to take responsibility not just for the running of our ministries, but for the funding of it as well? Some of you are already answering this question, reaching outside the box for new methods. We need to hear from you and what your experiments look like. One new, beautiful way ministries are beginning to deal with this new reality is through the work that Our New Chapter is doing (www.ournewchapter.com). This organization has the mission of funding ministries through intentional campus housing. It’s a beautiful solution, one of many that we will need. Another idea prompted Megan Davidson and I to take a trip to South Texas.

I’m a part of a ministry at TCU called The Lab. We’re only a year old, but we’ve seen some incredible results. Every Monday night we have our gatherings in the upstairs art gallery of a coffee shop near campus. Every Monday, I’m left wishing that we weren’t just leasing space, but rather – that we were running the coffee shop. Coffee shops and pubs are the new commons area for college students. They’re a place where people sit for hours, in community, talking about everything from homework to the meaning of life. If we’re going to engage students in deeper thinking about faith, mission, and calling, the coffee shop is a pretty good place to start. What if your ministry was based in a coffee shop near campus? What if you made sure that a portion of every cup of coffee you sold went to build an orphanage, or a water well? What if another portion was set aside for your ministry? With local volunteers and low overhead, do you think a coffee shop could help make college ministry self sustaining? This is my dream. In a couple days, I’m going to post some videos and thoughts about the shops we saw, but in the meantime, my question is simple – what is your dream for a financially sustainable college ministry? How are you answering these difficult questions?

I’ve been working on a Valentine’s sermon and learning to see the story of the bible as a love story. God pursuing his people passionately, chasing them for a relationship. The struggles of Israel and God are the struggles of man and wife. The struggles between the church and Christ, the struggles of husband and bride. I wrote this to try and capture the essence of that relationship.

You loved me before I loved you. You breathed new life into me, you awakened my soul. We walked together, talked together, lived together. In the beginning, we moved hand in hand.

You rescued me from a life of slavery and pain. You pulled me out of the darkness and into your light. I never could have imagined the depths of your desire for me. You were jealous of me, wanting me to be yours and yours alone. I was made for you, so we came together in our promises.

I yearn for our hearts to touch, for the fullness of your love poured out. I wait anxiously for the time when we shall be together again. The thought of being in your presence weakens my knees. I long for the day that we’re face to face.

May we learn to see our relationship with God not as a distant idol, or a king over his people. Instead, may we learn to live in the reality of God as the pursuer of our hearts.

This morning I went to a chapel service at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. This evening, I attended the first annual Verge Conference at Hill Country Bible Church in Austin. I’ve gone through some whiplash days in my life, but… this is up there.

This morning, I was a part of a service that included liturgy, a pennywhistle, communion by intinction (dipping bread in the cup), and sung prayers. This evening, I was a part of a service with a full light show, high tech videos, full contemporary band, communion with a cracker and tray of juice, and preachers doing their best to mix a meaningful & Christ-centered message with humor and laughter. Honestly, I think I felt a little out of place at both. But I think that’s ok.

There’s this temptation we have as Christians. I’ve seen it with the elderly, with children, and yes… with college students. There’s something within us that declares that “our way” is the best. Our ministry, our church, our preference – that’s the “right” one. The other is shallow, or out of touch, or too loud. Yet what struck me today was just how wrong that is. Not in a “duh, we’re supposed to get along” kind of way, but in understanding just how similar these things are. One group repeats a liturgy to share a common story and build community in their longing for God – another sings a seemingly shallow song of five lines that does the EXACT same thing. It’s beautiful. It’s diverse, yet it’s the same. If as a college minister I can help to shape students in any way, I hope I can pass on this simple idea; there is no “best” way. We need each other. And this goes beyond worship styles. The Calvinists need the Arminians in order to keep from being paralyzed and completely counting on God’s sovereignty. Arminians need Calvinists to remind them that God is sovereign and involved. Liberals* need conservatives to remind them of the cross. Conservatives need liberals to remind them of Jesus’ life. The Church shouldn’t find a way to be unified despite differences. We should be unified because we celebrate them.

I love my brothers and sisters who praise with voices and hands lifted high. I love my brothers and sisters who recite liturgies from hundreds of years ago. I love the Church. Love it.

*For the record, hate “liberal” and “conservative” labels, but most people are comfortable with them. They’re officially out of date though. Let me know when we have new terms!!

Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you’ve been there. It’s a formal meal, or a function, or something demanding a prayer, and all eyes turn towards…you. You know that feeling. When everyone expects you to commune with God on their behalf, when they expect something beautiful and profound to come from your lips… when they expect your faith to replace their own.

I’ve been that guy for six or seven years now in my family. Every Thanksgiving or Christmas, every Easter, I’m the one people turn to when it’s time to pray. For years, I never really questioned this, understanding that’s just my job. My family isn’t particularly spiritual or religious, so prayer has always just fallen to me. However, this year, I was troubled. I was confronted with what Peter Rollins calls “The Batman Principle.”

We all know the story of Batman. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire with an alter-ego. He spends his weekends fighting crime, beating up on the organized and unorganized criminals decimating his city. He fights them with the latest technologies, spending what must be millions of dollars on his batcave, batmobile, batsuit and many other tools with the prefix “bat.” Today’s understanding of economics though, has caused us to ask some new questions about Batman. Obviously, Batman is spending millions and millions of dollars on fighting crime, yet no one at Wayne Enterprises ever even raises an eyebrow at the money being spent. Which begs the question…exactly how profitable IS Wayne Enterprises? Obviously, this company is making so much money, it’s so profitable, that the millions of dollars being spent on Batman’s efforts aren’t even worth noticing. If anything, today’s climate has taught us one thing about big companies – if a company is clearing that much profit, somebody’s getting squeezed. Someone’s making an unfair wage, someone is getting pushed to the margins, someone is being taken advantage of. Which begs the question… Is Batman spending Monday through Friday creating the very enemies he fights on the weekends? In some way, do his efforts to fight crime act as a way to excuse his companies actions during the week?

For the Christian church, I’m afraid the problem looks similar. Do we allow the trappings of Christianity, the attendance at a church service on a Wednesday or Sunday, to compensate for our injust living during the week? Do we allow our measured participation in church to excuse our unchristian practices? In my case, I found that my family allowed my participation in faith to excuse their lack of participation, and so this year, I took a stand. When my mother looked at me to pray this holiday season, I flatly refused. It felt odd, refusing to pray, but when I realized that my family was using my spirituality as an excuse for their lack of relationship with God, well… I felt I didn’t have a choice. It was awkward to refuse. People looked at me. I said, “We can pray, or not, either way is fine with me, but I’m not going to pray.”

My mother’s eyes filled with surprise, confusion and even a little hurt. It was awkward. Yet, in the midst of these swirling emotions, my mom surprised me. She closed her eyes, grabbed the hands of my sister and I, and prayed. It was the first time in my life I’ve heard her pray. It was beautiful, amazing, and heart-wrenching all at the same time.

I have no idea what the future holds for my family. Whether they’ll discover God or not. Whether they’ll experience God’s love, forgiveness and grace or not. No clue. But I know this – they’ll no longer substitute my faith for their own. They’ll no longer pretend my words are theirs.

I’m starting to ask the question, how do my Christian practices actually excuse my own or another’s unchristian lifestyle or even beliefs? I’m beginning to wonder if being faithful sometimes means refusing to participate in faith. Then again, maybe I’m just pretending I have something in common with Batman…

Sometimes, you don’t need words…

31 | the sunrise project from JJ Starr on Vimeo.

So, there was this kid. I wouldn’t call him agnostic, but…he was toeing the line. He was dragged kicking and screaming to the first gathering of The Lab. Protesting the whole time. When he walked up those stairs into that art gallery, he knew he was walking into the same old thing, the same old tired message, the same guilt, the same out-of-touch story. But his experience at the gathering… well, it didn’t add up. It wasn’t what he expected.

He came back.

And he kept coming back.

A couple weeks ago, we sang this really cheesy worship song. You know, the kind that gets a little sappy, a little too “Jesus is my boyfriend-y”, the kind this kid would have rolled his eyes about not too long ago. As we’re singing, I look at this guy… and he’s worshipping. He’s connecting. He gets it.

Later on, that guy went out with some folks and said that for the first time, he felt like God was speaking to him. For the first time, he was truly experiencing the creator.

People keep asking me how it’s going at The Lab. People keep asking what we’re about. I hope that this sums it up. We’re a new expression of Jesus’ love, pointing towards the same old transformation.

The last task of Len Sweet’s EPIC worship gathering as outlined in Postmodern Pilgrims is to be connective. Establishing community in a worship gathering is really the most difficult task to me, but it seems to be the most important as well. We know this subconsciously, which is why almost every gathering has a time of meet & greet even though almost NO ONE enjoys it. Visitors usually find it awkward. Members find it pointless or awkward as well; after all, they’re talking to their church friends before and after service, they don’t need the two minutes to make it “official.” And yet, we know this is an important connection and needed… because this is where we try to establish community (yes, most churches or ministries try to do community by small groups or bible studies, but most of those same churches and ministries would say worship is the front door to what they’re about – shouldn’t visitors be welcomed into the community as part of their first experience??).

I think most of us would agree meet & greets are an ineffective practice, but a “necessary evil.” I can’t help but wonder if there’s a better way to draw people together. At The Lab, we’ve been experimenting with this in different ways. We designate time within the gathering to share stories, to let others know what God is up to in our lives. We have taken a particular week or two to just share a meal and experience community together in deep conversation in place of the traditional gatherings. While these ideas fit our gatherings because we’re not meeting in a group of thousands, I think there may be ways to do this for larger groups as well, regardless of size. For someone to plug in to the community of a church gathering, they’ve got to feel like a part of the story. They need to hear the narrative and share that. Some larger churches have used worship gatherings to share the stories of members, or ministries. Whether by personal testimonies or by using videos, these stories connect members and visitors alike to the larger narrative of the church.

So. How are you being connective? How are you drawing people into the larger narrative of the Church?

We’ve seen this video before, but what truly makes it powerful is how it draws us into connection and relationship with this church and these people.

One of the girls from The Lab is already doing what I want to do at TCU. Take a look! Can’t wait to see this happen on campus…

After a month break of just focusing on The Lab, the blog is back! We’re still looking at Len Sweet’s model of EPIC worship as laid out in Post-Modern Pilgrims and how we’re trying it out at The Lab (www.thelabtcu.com). This week is Image-Driven.

Shane Hipps laid out some theories on the power of images versus the power of words. He says that words are used to stimulate the individuals creativity. If I paint you a picture with my words, each hearer will see it a little differently. If I talk about a sunrise over mountains, each individual will have a different picture of exactly what that looks like. However, images are used to create a common experience. Both have their place, but it’s important to know when to use which.

In The Lab, we’re toying with different ways to use images. Sometimes we tell the story of Christ with a metaphor, or of stories of people’s actions. Sometimes, we use an image to create a shared experience. This last week, we tried to capture the beauty of God by describing His glory in the world around us, tasting chocolate and experiencing thankfulness there, and sharing a video that allowed for a common experience. How are you using images? Are you intentional? This next generation is more and more image-based, so these questions become more and more important.

This is the video we experienced together. Make sure to give it a minute to load!

Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world – (song is Please don’t go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

Monday night was the first gathering for The Lab (www.whatisthelab.com)! I’m still a little overwhelmed at what a great evening it was. We had 37 people packed into this art gallery for our first event ever, which is really encouraging; but more than that, we had a TON of people signing up to participate in different areas. To me, that’s the most exciting thing… seeing a group of students catching a vision and choosing to act.

Couple notes from the night:

• I can’t express how cool it was to see a group of students go from casually listening to literally jumping up and down in their chairs as we cast a vision. SO cool.

  

• The stories I’ve heard this week… Stories about people who didn’t want to be there but are now volunteering; about students who expected the same old boring thing and came away excited, enthusiastic, and grabbing friends to come next week;   stories of students who wanted nothing to do with church, who are now helping to lead The Lab. Just amazing.
• The chats I got to have today with people I didn’t know a week ago. Talking about philosophies and attitudes of churches and Christians, learning to live in the gray… Starting conversations about sorting out this life.

I can’t wait to share how this story unfolds and where this beautiful ministry heads. God is up to something interesting with The Lab, and it’s pretty crazy to be a small part. I’m ready to continue unpacking Len Sweet’s ideas about EPIC worship and what that’s looking like for us. More to come on that soon!