Campus Ministry Link, an online tool that connects graduating high school students to college ministries and campus churches, launched and became available to use this July. Studies show that around 70% of college students leave the church. One of the...

On February 16th through 19th, over one hundred college students from many different ministries and campuses gathered together for Ignite Ivy at the historic Tremont Temple in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2011, Jerry and Judy Ball started Ignite Ivy after realizing...

Over 30 churches in Columbus, Ohio, worshipped the name of Jesus as one body for the third annual ONE NIGHT at the Celeste Center of the Ohio State Fairgrounds on March 10.  ONE NIGHT is organized by a team of 180...

Campus ministers from twelve ministries at Clemson University pray together weekly and strategize towards seeing multiplication and unification on campus.  In the spring of 2016, a few of the campus ministers began talks about regularly working together. They followed up with...

Some stop, but most just walk past the group of people praying every weekday in the TI Plaza at the University of Texas at Dallas. Campus Renewal and five other ministries at UTD pray together in public every Monday through...

Micah 6:8 implores God’s people to do three seemingly simple things:  do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Ben McConnell, director of the Lawrence, Kan., non-profit organization, Justice Matters, sees the Church as having varying degrees of success...

On Friday, Oct. 28, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), Association of Black Collegians (ABC) and Student Association from the University of Tulsa (TU) partnered together to go on a walking tour to learn about Tulsa’s history of racial tensions. The Historical...

Greenhouse Church is a church that meets in multiple locations in Gainesville, Florida. One of these locations is in the University Auditorium at The University of Florida, which meets every Sunday night. The church has become a hub for college...

“Veritas Christo Ecclesiae (Truth for Christ and the Church)” ~Harvard University, 1636 “Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth)” ~Yale University, 1701 “Dei Sub Numine Viget (Under the Protection of God She Flourishes)” ~Princeton University, 1746 God has an inheritance for...

BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA – On Sept. 26 to Sept. 30, around 150 students prayed and worshipped in a white tent on Appalachian State University’s Sanford Mall. “Through prayer, and I don’t say this lightly, I believe the Lord was telling...

Knoxville, TN — On September 20, 2016, various campus ministries at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, came together to put on an event entitled, “How Should Christians Respond to Racism?” in order to address the issue of racism in our...

The full moon on the clear night backlit the red brick buildings with their white detailed inset windows. The bronze toe of Mr. Harvard’s large foot shone in the moonlight as I touched it and I prayed over him, this...

Friday nights are wild in a college town.  They are particularly wild in Lawrence, Kansas.  It’s as if the students on the hill (as the locals refer to The University of Kansas campus) leave their Friday afternoon classes with enough...

BELTON, TEXAS – Once a month, 500 to 700 students from every ministry at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor come together for a night of worship, bringing unity to the Christian university and providing students a way to connect with...

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS – Made Alive, a conference to help female college students realize their identity in Christ, takes place this Friday, October 14th, at 6pm at University Heights Baptist Church at Sam Houston State University. In college, there’s a lot of...

Emma DeCaro is an alumnae of The University of Texas at Austin, who graduated in 2015 with a bachelors in Public Relations and Environmental Sustainability. During her four years at UT, Emma was heavily involved in Ignite, a camp to welcome...

Syracuse, New York – On Friday night at 7pm, Syracuse University will have the largest Christian gathering they have seen in years spanning multiple ministries and churches with 5,000 people estimated to attend. Worship the King, which happens once a...

It’s funny.  You can’t make this up.  I just opened my computer to write this article on the power of perseverance and presence, when Facebook kindly congratulated me on 21 years of work for Campus Renewal.  It’s May 1st, and I...

It Started with One Question In January 2015, Brian Jenkins, now a senior at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, returned from a short term mission trip to Atlanta, GA with a question. After meeting people who...

Different Individuals, Same Body of Christ During Rez Week at The University of Texas at Austin, for an hour in the prayer tent, we broke up into groups and prayed with people from different ministries. As I sat and listened...

Around forty college campuses across the country united for prayer, worship and sharing their faith, during Rez Week, March 28th through April 1st.  The aim was to “make Jesus the most talked about person on college campuses”. “It’s one event,...

“Can we pray for sexual assault victims at the Good Friday service?”  The student sitting across from me in one of those overstuffed chairs was being completely sincere.  He had hoofed it up the hill to the student union to...

In the world of college campuses, it is so easy to categorize Christian groups as clubs — separate — each doing its own thing and not worrying about what others are doing. However, the Gospel is best represented through the...

Last month, several ministries at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) hosted Dr. John Lennox (mathematics, Oxford) to speak on the topic, “Has Science Rendered Belief in God Irrelevant?”  One of the most prestigious ballrooms on campus was...

Since 2001, campus ministry leaders at The University of Texas at Austin  have worked together to “spiritually map” our campus.  Spiritual mapping is defined as the systematic gathering and evaluation of data through surveys, research, and spiritual perceptions in order...

Slowing Down Lately, I have been feeling like I am slowing down, getting caught in the grind of schoolwork and ministry. The fire within me has grown low, and I am just trying to make it through each day. But...

“It seems to me that all of that racial tension on campus has kind of blown over.  Things are pretty much back to normal again, aren’t they?” I didn’t really know how to answer that question.  At our monthly prayer...

As we walked through the tall grasses and stepped onto the frozen sand – our souls paused… to soak in the supreme serenity and majesty of the sunrise. Predawn beckoned the fiery orb forth and wholly broke the darkness. Yes, during the predawn,...

As I write this, the Christian/Catholic community at St. Edward’s University, along with Catholics around the world, are getting ready for the beginning of Lent.  By the time you might read this, we Catholics will have already experienced the Ash...

Sometimes the best way to foster a greater sense of unity on campus is not to host a united event that brings people together at one time and in one location, but to create a common strategy that every campus...

Historic Old Testament Scroll On February 5, a live streaming event during the 2016 Purdue University Symposium will display a historic Old Testament scroll for the first time. The scroll, measuring about ninety-two feet long, was a gift donated to...

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord,...

When I talk about unity, some people get it.  Part of my job as the director of Campus Christians entails making the rounds to visit our supporting churches on a regular basis.  When I visit these churches, I like to...

Last week, I was reminded of the most rewarding part of being in campus ministry.  It came at a good time too, because I have been discouraged lately, wondering if my ministry is really making a difference on campus and in...

It was Friday, November 13th. The time was 10:30pm and there were about twenty-five of us college students, several of whom I had never met, in desks, chairs, and on the floor of a huge lecture hall –fervently praying. We had been...

Over the course of one week, The University of Texas at Austin was inundated with united prayer, worship, and evangelism. That trifold combination led to the salvation of one student (let’s call her Jasmine), as well as thirty-eight others on...

Ever since my fellowship group started the Campus Renewal prayer guide, I thought revival would come soon to our campus. I imagined one day where there would be so many people encountering God and committing their lives to Him, that...

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” – Hebrews 11:13 I believe that this is one of the...

Forward Thinking Even now seniors are being asked to predict the future with a precise certainty that would raise anxiety levels of even the most tranquil person. With last summer closer than is the coming summer, students are already asked...

Have you ever wanted concrete answers to questions like these? How many students on your campus are involved in churches and campus ministries?  How many students put their faith in Jesus in a given school year? How many international students...

Ten percent of the student body at The University of Kansas, where I pastor, is made up of international students.  Ten percent.  That means every fall, our little midwestern town gains around 2,500 temporary residents from outside the US.  International...

I have had the great privilege and blessing of being a part of God’s work in Williamsburg, Virginia. Freshman year, I came in believing God had a plan for me, but I didn’t know what that plan looked like. I...

When you first meet Pradeepan, a senior biology major at The University of Texas at Austin, he may seem a bit on the quiet side. However, it doesn’t take long for his smile to take over, and you discover his...

The form clearly read “Requested Amount: ____”. That was it, nothing complicated or abstract. Yet, why was I so nervous to enter an amount? I was submitting a request for funds from the university to help pay for our upcoming...

Every time I ask, or just simply think about a 24-hour prayer house for my campus, I receive the same answer from God: “Wait for me.” Knowing that my waiting could range anywhere from days to years, I’ve stayed motivated...

I Am Freed From A diverse group of nine students huddled together last Friday night, sprawled out with hands extended over an old map, heads bowed and singing freedom. We laid and sat, circled around a laminated campus map of...

I remember helping my dad build our swing set when I was a child. He handed me a hammer, and showed me how to pound, pound, pound a nail into a piece of wood while he looked on, guiding my...

What an exciting week to be Roman Catholic, or for that matter, anyone who was created in the image of God! Oh wait, that’s everyone! Something I ALWAYS have to remind myself of! Anyway, the Pope just hit the United...

There was no head-chair and no speaker to carry the floor; we were equals in a collaborative circle. The only sign of guiding was the girl who sat at the piano bench, strumming her guitar as she sang the first...

“He ministered in me by giving me a firm conviction to follow through with something that was on my heart for a while – to start a missional community within my major.” This was a response I received when I...

When I began my tenure with Campus Christians one year ago, my heart was filled with hope.  I hoped to make a positive impact in the lives of students at The University of Kansas.  I hoped to see Campus Christians...

Little, Green New Testaments Every semester, the Gideons pass out little, green New Testaments (with Psalms) to the student population at the University of Texas at Austin. And every semester, some people reject them, some people laugh, and some people...

On Wednesday, September 2nd, Campus Renewal hosted a Ministry Fair at Kennesaw State University.  The purpose of the fair was to bring several ministries and local churches together to table and promote themselves, giving students an opportunity to walk around, meet...

In 2001, ten years into leading the united prayer movement at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), I had a great desire to see a campus house of prayer where students could pray 24/7.  Since Rez Week, the annual united...

Chelsea’s Story Chelsea had seen many of her older friends fall away from their faith in college.  She did some research and learned that this happens to 7 out of 10 students, and she was determined to not let it happen...

Thursday nights at MIT House of Prayer, we have been praying John 17, Jesus’ high priestly prayer for His church:  “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may...

The day after Easter, U ARISE launched forty days of prayer over Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas.  Our daily prayer spans the forty days that Christ resurrected until the day he ascended. The Bible tells us that He...

The gospel is offensive. I’ve known this for awhile, but in a much more abstract way. In the back of my mind, I thought it was because Christianity–loving God, loving your neighbor–was offensive. It confused me, because this was my...

I remember the words spoken over me a few nights before I left home for my freshman year here at the College of William & Mary. “Pioneer”, they spoke over me.  A group of older brothers and sisters who mentored...

Every week students are coming to Christ at the University of Texas at Dallas!  The spiritual climate around campus has shifted this spring as if a warm, refreshing breeze had blown through to drive out the winter, and there is an excited...

If you’ve been wrestling with how to make your small group more missional, I feel your pain.  It is really difficult to do.  Our default setting is to exist for each other, not the people groups we’re reaching out to. ...

Hoop Dreams When I was a kid, I was obsessed with basketball.  It was all I talked about.  I didn’t just talk about it, though.  I did it!  I played every day after school, every weekend and every spare moment...

One of my co-workers has pointed out that I’ve caught the “unity bug”.  I caught it as a senior at Cornell University, sitting beside my Jewish friend along with 600 Christians and non-Christians in the arts quad for an inter-fellowship...

I love the evangelistic approach of Pope Francis in presenting the Gospel message in so many unique and refreshing ways.  The choosing of his name when he became Pope immediately suggested a new approach to the Papacy.  This may all...

It’s a real pleasure when you’re talking to someone who does not know you, who then proceeds to compliment you on something you created.  You know for certain that they are not just being nice, because they have no idea...

In light of our first Friday Fast on April 3rd, which also happens to be Good Friday, we decided post on what fasting actually is. So if you’re a seasoned faster, or just starting out, here are some good tips...

I realize this article may be controversial.  I do not write it in order to start an argument, but in hopes that it creates a much-needed discussion about how campus ministries should/could work together.  At The University of Texas and...

I recently heard someone say that there are thirty-three thousand different denominations of Christianity across the world. Thirty-three thousand. Coming so soon after a friend informed me that he had been this close to accepting Jesus before a conversation about...

“God spoke to nothing and created something, He spoke to chaos and it became order, He spoke to darkness and it became a light.” AW Tozer. I look back at Biblical characters, theologians, and heroes of the faith and find they have...

For about the last fifteen years, I have worked to develop a campus-wide missional community movement at the University of Texas.  While we’re still far away from our goal of planting missional communities in every college, club, residence, and culture...

The College of William & Mary was chartered in 1693 and has rich history embedded within its well-worn brick pathways and aged brick buildings. It is said that students who go to William & Mary enter in with aspirations of...

Growing Anxious A few weeks ago, a student from my on-campus Bible study expressed an interest in studying the book of James together in our group.  I agreed, forgetting for a moment one simple, long-standing opinion I have about the...

The walk from MIT to Park Street Church, a beautiful old Boston church, requires the crossing of the Charles River. Beneath your footsteps on the bridge is engraved a poem by Henry Longfellow that begins: “Listen my children and you...

When I started college, I only had experiences in the moderately charismatic, nondenominational, megachurch scene.  I thought I knew what Christianity looked like and thought that was the only way. Now, being on the post-college side of things, I am...

In the late 19th century during the golden age of alpinism, the English mountaineer Edward Whymper led an expedition to conquer one of the last mountain peaks of the Great Alps, the Matterhorn. He and others had failed in many...

I just attended the funeral of Dean Smith, arguably the greatest college basketball coach of all time. I was blessed to serve as a team manager under him, and the life lessons I learned through basketball (some 30 years ago)...

For those of us in the Roman Catholic tradition, we have heard the Church speak quite a bit about a new push in Catholicism, “The New Evangelization.”  The word “evangelization” is somewhat new to Catholic circles.  Not the concept or...

I have been in the “unity” business for a long, long time, ever since I first started gathering Christian students from different churches and ministries to pray together as a freshman at the University of Texas in 1991.  Over the...

“For nearly a hundred years the Church in America observed a day of united prayer for God to awaken and revive our colleges. At a time when the spiritual needs of our nation and world are so great, and so...

I testify that God is doing a mighty work here at UTD. In the last four years, I have witnessed the campus ministers consistently move toward collaboration, and constant steps toward united prayer be taken throughout the campus. Campus Ministry...

This Friday is Campus Renewal’s “First Friday Fast,” when we encourage students across the nation to fast from food for 24 hours in order to give their attention to prayer for their universities.  Some have wondered, is it Biblical to...

Jonathan Edwards, the great 18th century pastor and leader of the First Great Awakening, was one of the first in our country to ask the question, “How can we unite believers across the country in prayer.”  After hearing about how...

A salient thing I have learned from Baylor is that there is joy in serving those around you.  God never calls us to be successful, rich, or important.  He calls us to serve faithfully.  As I walk through my years...

  A new semester always brings me a sense of boundless optimism, usually along the lines of “I can do all the things!!” I have trouble remembering the burnout that overcommitment brought me in previous semesters, and feel (once again)...

Last January, as I sat on my bed and sketched out my goals for the year, I kept coming back to one simple and scary fact: I was just days away from co-leading a missional community (MC) at the University...

This has been the most difficult and unrewarding eight months of ministry in my life. Personally, I have been referring to it as the season of “buildings and bucks” because I have been acting as more of a general contractor...

I’ve been wrestling with whether or not to write on this subject. I normally try not to write my opinion on things that tend to divide the Body of Christ because I am so personally invested in bringing the Christian...

You loved all the incredible things that happened in college. Maybe you were plugged into an awesome campus ministry, grew in your faith, and made some awesome friends. You may have even spent time among the lost, sharing your faith...

Right now the time of year when campus ministries are gearing up for the start of a new school year. There is excitement in the air with the anticipation of returning student leaders and arrival of a freshman class. Before...

The other day a couple of students popped by my office to visit, chat and grab lunch at the same time. While we were sitting around the table catching up on the latest happenings, they told me about a sermon...

  It’s so easy to get caught up in the things of this world. We quickly loose sight of the eternal purpose of God in our lives and allow our minds and hearts to focus on the temporal things around...

The other day I was sitting having sushi with a good friend of mine when we started talking about a classmate of hers in her college. A fellow Christian, this person was capable of spending hours in prayer everyday, constantly...

I love missional communities. Not simply for theological reasons, but because of how they help cultivate spiritually healthy people. As I have taught and practiced missional community over the past year and a half, there have been three main ways...

  I few weeks ago my blog entitled Stop Praying For Me generated quite a buzz that I hope led to meaninful conversations on the important subject of how to pray for the disabled.  This week I’d like to give some...

This semester I would like to compare and contrast the different styles of evangelism.  In so doing, I hope you can learn to understand and respect those who think and act differently than you and, more importantly, be challenged to...

About a year ago I was enjoying a day of yard work while listening to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Yes, I must have been the last person on earth in leadership to read the book! I wish...

For those of us in the Catholic tradition, today is the feast day of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini.  Frances Cabrini was born near the city of Milan, Italy in 1850.  Fascinated as a young girl by the stories of missionaries,...

I grew up in church. I’ve always said I was born on a Friday and in church that Sunday. I love the church. Really, I do.  I see the full potential that God dreamed up in gathering people to be family. And really,...

One of the things unique about studying revival, is that people see revival  through so many lenses.  The end is the same: God being fully glorified on  campus.  The means, however, are very different depending on which lens  you see...

  Last week 85 campus ministers from 48 campus ministries united for five hours of prayer, testimonies, and discussion.  It is an annual event where we discuss the state of the campus.  We ask: What is God doing?  What is...

One of the things unique about studying revival, is that people see revival  through so many lenses.  The end is the same: God being fully glorified on  campus.  The means, however, are very different depending on which lens  you see...

One of the things unique about studying revival, is that people see revival  through so many lenses.  The end is the same: God being fully glorified on  campus.  The means, however, are very different depending on which lens  you see...

This past week I reached a new milestone in my life. I crossed the 1,000 friend mark in Facebook. And while I can already hear some of you groaning and rolling your eyes at my “achievement,” this really got me...

I’ve noticed that there are two “cardinal sins” that are objected to in our day: Sex and Greed. Few people are vocal about both sins. Rather, special interest groups, (political, religious, social, ethnic) shout about one while neglecting the other....

I recently saw this quote by Rick Warren bouncing around Facebook. It was posted during the recent Supreme Court proceedings regarding gay marriage.  The topic of homosexuality and gay marriage is at forefront of the nation and has been a...

My wife Brenda and I have a great tradition. Every year we take an anniversary trip where one person plans the trip and keeps it a secret from the other one. Yep, she’s quite a sport! I planned the 11th...

Perhaps some of you read my recent blog entitled Am I Spiritually Sick. There I spoke about the recent need I have been feeling to care for my soul. I am so busy “doing” that I forget about “being.”  As...

I hope the title to this blog is not too offensive to anyone. Or maybe I hope it is. That’s kind of why I am writing I guess, because I was bothered by it myself. Good Christian Bitches is the...

Did you know that I never missed a day of class my entire scholastic career?  That’s right.  I even got chicken pox over Christmas break! The only time I ever missed a day of class from kindergarten to graduation was...

Every year about this time we ask all of the 67 campus ministries at the University of Texas to complete a year-end survey. We compile the data each year and create a resource known as the  Longhorn Chronicles. It’s all...

Last week I wrote about the difficulty many students face this time of year, as they are being asked to consider positions of leadership in campus ministries. It has been my observation that this process causes a lot of tension...

Last week I wrote about the joyful weekend I had with some of my friends from college. It’s a joy to be with them because we are all still walking with the Lord. We’ve had ups and downs for sure, but...

I just returned from a wonderful weekend with the best friends of my life. The occasion: “Spring Owners Meetings” for our fantasy football league. Actually, it’s just an excuse to get together every spring break to share life with old...

Romanticizing Ministry Oftentimes I believe that there is a sugar-coated understanding of the reality of Christian ministry. You know the connotations of being a full time minister, an overseas missionary, a missional community leader and other baller Christian titles. Serving the lost...

A Confession How often do you ignore God’s voice when He tells you to do something? How many times have you kept quiet when you knew that someone needed to hear the gospel? Have you ever decided that the cost...

The following is an excerpt from my book Campus Renewal – A Practical Plan to Unite Campus Ministries in Prayer and Evangelism. The Way It Used To Be For a long time campus ministries mostly functioned as safe places for Christian...

Back in 1997 campus ministers at the University of Texas met to talk about what it meant to work together to see the University of Texas transformed by the gospel.  We, Campus Renewal Ministries, had been asking them to consider...

“Ohmigosh I am soooo annoyed!” I ranted to my roommate Jill. “I mean, seriously? I just… really really don’t like her!” Jill nodded her head, sympathetically agreeing with me. *sigh* “I guess you know what this means,” I said. “We...

One of the most significant values of Missional Communities, is also the least recognized.  MC’s are created and sold based on the value of conversion. In other words, “adopt missional communities as your outreach program, and you will expand as...

One of the difficult aspects of campus ministry is the high turnover of students.  It seems that just when you get some forward momentum, you lose leaders to graduation.  It’s not just true of students.  There is also a high...

I was leading a Bible study on the topic of prayer with some students today.  We all admitted that sometimes we feel too busy to pray.  We tend to think that we can accomplish more by “doing something” instead of...

“…Can you imagine what it would look like if college students who claim Jesus as Lord were equipped and released to lead their friends to Christ, Baptize them, and allow new legitimate local church communities to birth…?” Michael was a...

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to sit in on many sermons, given by many pastors.  Perhaps this can be attributed to the nature of my job over the last 5 years, to work with campus ministers of...

Thoughts on Verge During the Verge conference in Austin , TX last school year, we were blessed to have a pre-meeting to the conference.  During this time, many of the nation’s leaders in missional community thinking came together with local leaders that...

On college campuses, it’s easy for groups of Jesus-followers to feel like they are alone in a vast sea of people who could care less about God. Many Christian students aren’t even aware that God is moving in incredible ways...

I have a confession to make. I HATE doing the dishes. I’ll cook you anything you want to eat, whip up salads, bake desserts, but dishes? Forget it. There is a reason why God inspired the invention of the dishwasher,...

Humility is key to any successful partnership, whether one on one or with the multitude of ministries on a college campus. Here are a few things I’ve learned are helpful when partnering to reach a whole campus. Pray for the...

We’ve all been there before… everyone’s looking around, no one wants to volunteer, and finally, after some awkward glances and not wanting to prolong the silence, some self-sacrificing individual finally sighs and says, “Okay, I’ll say grace.” As comical as...

In most cases, the prayer meeting is the least attended gathering of every campus ministry.  The prayer meeting is the least emphasized and least supported.  We may say that prayer is a part of all of that we do, but...