Youth Workers Need to Stay Connected

College ministers’ final consistent cry is for youth pastors and churches to remain connected to their students as they head off to school. Too often, seniors graduate and all the attention in the youth ministry immediately turns to the incoming freshman class, while the high school graduates stumble their way into college. As we already discussed, the first few weeks and months are crucial. Youth pastors have the relationships that campus ministers are seeking to build.

“Please don’t abandon your recent graduates once they head off to college, especially for the first year or six months. With students who make a good transition spiritually to college, you are still a welcome and influential voice. For those who struggle, a call or visit or contact initiated by you during their first Thanksgiving or Christmas break could pay dividends in their lives which would be hard to overstate. You still have access and influence in their lives which no newly found collegiate minister (assuming they even have one) can match, so please use it.”

—Dave Buschman, Baptist chaplain, Princeton University

“Youth leaders need to be vigilant in staying in communication with those who minister on the campus so that they can keep their understanding of college life accurate. Many leaders tend to either rely on their dated college experience or on the media when they look to prepare their students for college.”

—Patrick Bailey, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Western Illinois State University

“The youth pastor’s job should not end when [students] go to college. Stay connected with your students! Send them cards and care packages. A reminder of Christ’s love from home can go a long way to a lonely student who feels like God is far away.”

—Jackie Raffo, Campus Ambassadors, Worcester State University, Worcester, Massachusetts

Campus ministers are grateful for the work and relationships that youth pastors and volunteer youth workers have already invested in students. They want to challenge youth workers to do anything they can to stay involved and help young people grow so they will be prepared to arrive on campus with a vision for what the college years can mean for the Kingdom of Christ.

_______________

EVAN HUNTER has been involved with the Ivy Jungle Network since he served as a college pastor in the Chicago area. For the last five years he has worked with Ivy Jungle Network founder, Mike Woodruff, as Director of the Network. He and Mike also work together on Christian International Scholarship Foundation, a leadership development initiative for senior Christian leaders from the Majority World. Evan lives in the Chicago area with his wife Becky and two active young sons.