Music city and collegiate church planting
My pops and I just got back from Nashville early yesterday morning and that is why I have not written a blog this week until now. We were asked to speak at a “How-To” Seminar that the North American Mission Board put on with LifeWay Christian Resources. There were over 700 people in attendance at the conference although we only spoke to about 50 of those people. We were asked to talk about Aletheia (of course) and the model that we have developed and have used to start the churches in Harrisonburg, Richmond, and in 2008, Virginia Beach.
We were once again reminded about how there isn’t a whole lot of interest in doing “college-aged” church planting. The ever-present question we have heard over the years and that we heard once again on Tuesday is “What about the funding?” “Where does your funding come from?” We answered those questions the same way we have always answered them. Our main demograph IS college students but it DOES NOT exclude other demographs. Our prayer before we came to Harrisonburg 6 years ago was that God would provide (along with the students) professional people, young families, post-college singles, and anyone and everyone else in between. The result was that God brought doctors, lawyers, businessmen, engineers, contractors, nurses, teachers, skilled laborers, professors, city officials, and many, many families to Aletheia. We have been so blessed as we have seen our prayers answered in amazing ways.
What a fun environment God has created at Aletheia. We are so privileged to be a part of something so unique, that most people have written off because they said it would never work…A bunch of college students hanging out with working professionals and young families. Can we be labeled as a college-aged church? Sure we can. How about being labeled as a youthful church with lots of college students and young families. Why not? However people want to label us, the most important label we could ever receive is that we are a church of the body of Christ which focuses on seeing the Great Commission fulfilled in people’s lives. There is no label to us that is more important than that.
Aaron,
I googled “collegiate church planting” and your blog post came up. Sorry I’m a year and a half late.
In case you’re still wondering about the funding issue (and yes, c.c.p. is still unpopular, unfortunately), I think I’ve figured it out. C. c. plants are competing with para-church campus ministries for funding. So long as denominations and supporters of these organizations believe the para-church is more effective in making and mobilizing college-age disciples than church are, they will continue to get the funds and collegiate churches will not. The question is, which is most effective? (Denominational) Student Unions across the country have been ineffective for several years now, yet collegiate churches have barely been given a chance. Yet my friends at New Life OSU (Ohio State) have experienced increasing and comparatively phenomenal success with the collegiate church model. I think it’s time that people from across the country who believe in collegiate church ministry link arms to raise the issue of what is most effective in the mission of making disciples among the collegiate populations.
His Kingdom come,
matt