Tag Archives: the slow fade

High School to College Transition: Beginning the Journey

Posted on January 12, 2012 | 1 Comment

Graduation Cap And DiplomaOne of the areas of youth/student ministry that I strongly believe is lacking in American churches is the transition to college. We do a good job of meeting teenagers while they are in middle school and high school, but often, we do very little after graduation. After reading The Slow Fade last year, it has been on my mind that we need to push the “finish line” back a few years. So, as we continue in this journey of making this a better transition at our church, I thought it would be good to bring you along — just in case you want to learn from our experience… or mistakes.

I believe our goal is to help students not graduate from their faith when they graduate from high school. We need to do more to make sure they continue in their discipleship, and we need to help them stay connected with God’s church.

For starters, I thought I would share what we currently do at RCC to help this transition…

  • One of our parents meet with high school students in the fall to discuss plans and help parents navigate the college application process.
  • We invite the high school seniors over to our house at least once or twice during the school year to talk candidly about their college plans. We discuss what schools they are looking at and begin to help them develop some churches/ministries around each school.
  • We try to stay connected with our college students by phone calls, Facebook, and care packages throughout the school year.
  • When they are back for summer and holiday breaks, we try to have at least one event to get them together, share stories, and catch up.

It is our goal that these things will help our college students stay connected when they go away, instead of feeling like they no longer belong to the church. We also want to do our best to partner with parents, as this can be a difficult transition period.

Can we do more? Sure we can! In fact, we have some other plans to put into place very soon. However, that is for another blog at a later time.

For now, my question to you is: What do you have in place already to help your high school students make the transition?

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Thinking Back on Orange 2010 – College Ministry Breakout

Posted on February 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

Chuck Bomar led a breakout workshop last year based on ministry to college-age people.  Because many of our students were graduating, I felt it was a great opportunity for me to learn about how to minister to them.

Chuck made some amazing points on how we can begin to reach out to college students, providing them with what they need to feel a sense of belonging and growth.  The main point was to do this through “non-mentor mentors.”  The idea is to take the emphasis off of teaching them.  Instead, focus on getting into their lives relationally, walk beside them, and create opportunities to discuss life and faith.  A big quote I took away from this workshop was this: “If we cannot help college students find where they belong in the world, they will lose their identity in the world.”  As a minister primarily to teenagers and their parents, I hear that resonate with what I do while those students are still in middle or high school.  The goal of a college-age ministry is to help transition people from “student life” to “adult life.”

I bought his book, “The Slow Fade,” and I read it on the way home. It was probably the fastest I have ever read a book. Every point was solidified by what Chuck mentioned in his workshop. When I got home, I shared it with my wife, and we began to grow from it. We started to meet with our college seniors more often and make sure they are prepared for college. We also keep in contact with our college students more often. There is still much more we can do, and I thank Chuck for inspiring us to take action.

While my main ministry is focused on middle school and high school students, the fact is that the church cannot just let our college students go. At the very least, we need to make sure they are passed on to others who can continue to invest in them. As they navigate life from students to adults, the church needs to be present and active.

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