As for your blog question… as you might have seen on other blogs, there certainly are people who combine their teaching with their updates. But that tends to hinder the readability of the blog for the wide majority of readers – who are only truly concerned with one of those two purposes.

Your aunt’s co-worker probably isn’t TOO interested in how to plant a collegiate church – though she may get a kick out of praying for and supporting your ministry. Meanwhile, those outside your acquaintance circle who might want to learn from you (like the dozens of collegiate church planters outside Aletheia) may not be extremely interested in the day-to-day updates (especially if, like me, they’re trying to keep up with multiple college ministry blogs), but they would be delighted to learn from you.

So really it’s about Hospitality, although it would bring more readers in the end, too.

The blog format makes “wading through” especially tedious. If, on the other hand, you’ve got two blogs, you’ll build a readership faster (and they’ll stick around longer). And it’s VERY easy for anybody who does care about both sides to read both blogs – they’ll be reading no more than they would have otherwise. And you can cross-post (and use the blogs to point to each other) as needed!

Anyway, I’m sure you’ll find your own best setup. Hopefully you’re already reading some of the college ministry blogs – while there aren’t a million of ‘em, there’s some great wisdom (and great blogging-methodology) out there! I’ve been uber-benefited by the multitude of counselors it offers.

In your branch of college ministry – collegiate churches – there are lots of people who have been serving for years and decades. But I don’t know of any blog that specifically addresses the methods / philosophy / strategy of that branch.

Also, though you didn’t mention it, blogging is a great chance for the blogger to learn, too. That’s one of the neat opportunities of blogging – you create opportunities for dialogue and debate that provide “teachable moments” not just for the readers but for the bloggers themselves!

If I can ever help you think through how to maximize your blog, let me know. And I can point you to some others who can help, too. Blogging (in the way you’re talking about) can be a tricky proposition! But my first suggestion may be the most important: You’ll want to make sure your Methods blog is a separate blog from your Updates blog. That’s one of the biggest mistakes people make!

Adam, maybe one day at Aletheia we will rock the robes together, without shame ha!