Tag: Collegiate Ministry

DIG!

Summer is a slower time for campus ministry and that is a beautiful thing. Campus ministry types like to say we cram 12 months of work into 9, so slowing down during the summer is healthy and needed. But, there are still a number of students who are around Boston, so we are initiating a gathering called DIG. I can’t give away what it stands for (there’s a contest), but it’s to do with Matt 13:44.

The idea this summer is to create community among students from different schools who might not otherwise connect, to explore the “virtuous circle” of scripture/stories/examples/community/practices, and to have fun. And since we are focusing our efforts on this one gathering we get to use the strengths of most of our staff which helps with things like vacation and sharing the work. I’m excited to see how this summer experiment works out!

Summer

The school year is winding down and the pace of life is changing, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening with Sojourn this summer. Here are a few highlights:

  • I will be helping REUNION write some community group curriculum
  • We are going to hold a city-wide weekly (thursday night) get-together for students who are still in the city 
  • Fundraise (see friday’s post)
  • Teach once a month at REUNION
  • Plan and scheme for the fall
  • Go to a conference I’m really excited about
  • A couple of weekends away for Amy and I
  • Get ready for the baby!

Some Things That Are Awesome…

Another busy weekend as the semester winds to an end…our final gathering of first year/potential leaders was on friday…immediately afterwards we held our final leadership community of the school year…REUNION, our church partner celebrated its 5 year anniversary…and on sunday we honored (slash mourned) our graduates. Lots to celebrate and reflect on!

BU leadership developement:

Leadership Community Dreams:

Dallas, Full Circles, and High Church

It’s been a whirlwind week! Two full days of work last Monday and Tuesday followed by an early morning flight to Dallas for part 2 of our Leadership Network experience. Our time with the University Ministry Leadership Community continues to be an overall good experience (there are some frustrations…I sat through maybe the worst presentation on multi-cultural ministry I’ve ever heard in my life). I think we are seeing some tremendous progress organizationally as we “operatationalize our values” so that we actually do what we say we do, as opposed to saying a bunch of nice things.

Saturday morning at 1:15 am I got on a plane and flew back to Boston, came home, took a 30 minute nap, made some coffee, then headed to BU for an Earth Day/Clean Up project with our students. Being around students was energizing which helped me make it through the day. The funny part of the experience was our project was at the Hale Reservation where I spent two summers with Bird Street Community Center’s camp program. It was a little weird to be back, but also fun to be able to show people around and even connect with an employee who remembered me. Felt like a full-circle moment for sure.

Finally, I got to be a reader at Marsh Chapel’s Interdenominational service on Sunday morning. Marsh Chapel functions as the center for Spiritual Life at Boston University and it was a good moment to strengthen relationship with the school now that I am a campus minister at BU. I usually do the offering moment at REUNION so it was kind of funny/ironic to be the “Offertory” reader during the Marsh service. Very different context and yet a similar role.

A couple more weeks and the pace slows down!

Links of the Week

Nearly blew up the blog yesterday with the baby news. On to the links:

  1. Peter Carroll thinks you can change the world, Donald Miller tells us why
  2. I’m not a huge NBA fan but I found this article to be fascinating. The pay off comes near the end when the author writes: “Consider the NBA at its very best,” but the best line comes in paragraph three: “The stars who win championships allow themselves to be criticized and coached.”
  3. A familiar sounding story…I love the title “Important Things Are Hard To Do“
  4. Scot McKnight’s look in to the future of college ministry
  5. Seth Godin on whether or not to pay attention to the opinions of others

Northeastern Nailing It…

The Northeastern leadership team took home the Golden Hammer (Nailed It!) Award for the month of March. Here’s how they did it:

Every spring NU holds an event called “Sex Week.” Its intention is to highlight awareness and safety (ie anti-sexual assaults) on campus, but it really turns into a raunchy celebration of sexuality.

Our Sojourn team at NU has long wanted to engage this week and to use it as a platform to talk about sex-trafficking in the city of Boston. The team put together a great event, bringing in a local detective who works exclusively on trafficking cases, a representative from Not-For-Sale (an anti-slavery organization), and providing space for questions and discussion.

The Sojourn event got advertised in the sex week publication (which was great and problematic at the same time…you’d have to see the “magazine” to really understand). Over 60 students showed up (some may have picked the wrong room: our group was in-between a lap dance class and the free condom station). They engaged the presenters and the issue well, asked a lot of good questions, and were really interested in learning and doing more to help the cause.

SojournNU nailed it for a couple of reasons: One, they engaged something already happening on campus. So cool to see them integrate into what most of the students are already a part of there. Two, this was almost entirely student driven. Three, it brought light and redemption to a week on campus that has a lot of hiding and darkness. Four, they highlighted an issue that is significant and troublesome in the greater Boston community.

Proud of the team…they nailed it!

Generosity Multiplied

I had an opportunity this weekend to stand in front of REUNION, our church community, and share about Sojourn’s Joplin trips. The moment reminded me of the powerful multiplying force of generosity.

Both of our teams (week 1 and week 2) had various responsibilities while we were in Joplin, but for the most part we got to see one house through from sub-flooring, to walls, to the roof, to siding, to windows: all of us from Boston were a part of that process. And while we were doing it we got to know the family that will be moving in. A family that lost absolutely every material possession in the tornado.

On Sunday it hit me: a church community in Boston takes up an Advent Conspiracy offering in December, a collegiate ministry sends 30 people to Joplin in March, and both are part of blessing a family through a house and money to furnish the house…a house that will become a home where generosity and hospitality are extended and multiplied again and again.

Our generosity is so much more that checks that we write, or stuff that we sell. They are stories that go on and on and often we won’t know even a fraction of them. Which creates a great deal of humility. God is always at work and we get to be a part of it and that is a beautiful thing.

Back From Joplin

We arrived back home in Boston yesterday after a rich week of hard work in Joplin, MO. I loved the week for a number of reasons, but I am most pleased with our students who are excited to be back in the city and to continue to tell good stories with their time in school.

Our mantra for the week was “Happy hearts, Run with the horses.” Our students did exactly that. No complaining, no lateness or dragging of feet…they jumped into the experience with both feet, strove for excellence, and did it with joy.

We ended the week talking about how great these trips are for at least five reasons…but with each great aspect comes a dark side, so I gave them five things to shoot for and then challenged them to pick one to focus on:

  1. These trips are great because they allow us to break from the norm and re-imagine what our lives could look like…the danger: escapism…the challenge: ongoing engagement back home (don’t run away!).
  2. These trips are great because they expand our world view…the danger: it only lasts while we are in the experience, then it’s right back to tunnel vision…the challenge: keep perspective.
  3. These trips are great because they create a deep sense of community through shared moments and memories…the danger: we continually try to recreate or run back to this group or experience…the challenge: extend that community to others through invitation and hospitality.
  4. These trips are great because they have a clearly defined, meaningful activity (life is not as ambiguous as at home)…the danger: we give up because it’s too messy or we only see trips as the time we can really serve…the challenge: ongoing, faithful service (even when it is hard).
  5. These trips are great because they allow us to take risks and get out of our comfort zones…the danger: we go right back to playing it safe…the challenge: go take a risk.

It was beautiful to hear our students process through their weeks, hone in on one of these areas, and commit to engagement, perspective, invitation, service, or risk.

A couple of other highlights. Between the two groups we sent down we were able to complete  subflooring, framing, roofing, and siding for a home for a young, single mom named Amy. Her apartment and all her stuff was completely destroyed/lost in the tornado. She’s been living in a fema trailer for 9 months. She will be moving in to this Habitat home (sponsored by one of our supporting churches) in a few weeks when the rest of the work is completed. At the end of our week we were able to present Amy with gifts for her two kids (who have been struggling in the wake of the storm), and $3500 in Sears cards to help furnish her new home. It was a powerful moment.

Finally, it was awesome to lead this trip with my wife, who was our only female staff/leader. She did a great job and I am super proud of her courage. And it was a privilege to lead alongside Nathan Griffith, our Director of Neighborhood Initiatives and a Joplin native. He did an amazing job!

Enjoy the pics!

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