Campus Ministry
Seventeen Ways to Welcome College Students
Your church can make a big difference in the life of a college student. Here are some fun and easy ways to welcome college students who visit your congregation. They’ll appreciate your efforts and your church will be enriched by their participation.
Make a point to meet and speak to college students when they come to church. Feeling welcomed is the #1 concern of students who attend a new church.- Invite students to sit with you during worship so they don’t sit alone.
- Treat a student to lunch after worship. Whether it be at home or a local restaurant, students will appreciate an invitation to talk and eat a meal that was not prepared at the dining hall.
- Bring extra food for after-church potlucks and invite the students to stay for lunch. Most students do not have kitchen facilities to prepare a potluck dish, but they want to participate in church activities.
- Make a personal phone call to a student who attends your church on Sunday morning, and answer any questions they may have about your congregation.
- Take a student for coffee during the week following their visit at church.
- Offer to drive students to worship.
- Send birthday cards, a bookmark, or words of encouragement throughout the year. Students love mail.
- Include college students on your Church Newsletter mailing list.
- Offer Sunday School classes on topics of interest to young adults.
- Organize a fellowship activity for college students.
- Present a plant to every new student who attends worship.
- Include students in worship, inviting them to read scripture, usher, or serve as a communion steward.
- Create “care packages” for students before finals week. Cookies, small toys, pens, sticky notes, stuffed animals, and even a Slinky would be great gifts for stressed out students. Enclose a note wishing them well on their exams.
- Adopt a student for a year, inviting them to meals and calling to be sure they are all right.
- Include students in your family’s holiday activities. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are hard times to be far away from home.
- Design a flier describing your local church and post it in the Student Union on campus. Be sure to include worship times and a map to your church.
Campus Ministry in Troy Conference
The following campuses offer Protestant ministry:
New York
Cornerstone Protestant Campus Ministry
The Rev. Sandy Damhof
State University New York, Albany
Chapel House, 1400 Washington Ave.
University of Albany
Albany, N.Y. 12222
(518) 489-8573, ext. 26
Protestant Campus Ministry
email
State University of New York, Plattsburg
10 Adirondack Lane
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(518) 594-7341
Skidmore College Office of the Chaplain
email
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-1632
(518) 580-5673
Union College Campus Protestant Ministry
email
Silliman Hall
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 388-6618
Troy Area United Ministries
email
Box 2080, Russell Sage College
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 244-4746
TAUMS serves both Russell Sage College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Vermont
Green Mountain College
Rev. Shirley Oskamp
One College Circle
Poultney, Vt. 05764-1199
(800) 776-6675
Middlebury College Office of the Chaplain
email
Forest Hall 128
Middlebury, Vt. 05753
(802) 443-5626
Northwich University Chaplain
email
Norwich University
158 Harmon Drive
Northfield, Vt. 05663-1035
(802) 485-2128
University of Vermont Cooperative Christian Ministry
email
461 Main Street
Burlington, Vt. 05405-1707
(802) 244-8468
Resources
United Methodist Student Movment is an outreach of the United Methodist Church to students, giving them the freedom to question, encouragement to serve, and opportunities to grow and sense belonging.
General Board of Higher Education and Minsitry
The Allan Jerome Burry Scholarship Application Form
The Allan Jerome Burry Scholarship is designed to recognize a United Methodist undergraduate student’s outstanding academic performance, leadership skills, and participation in the activities of a United Methodist-related campus ministry or chaplaincy program at his/her college or university.
So What About God Now That You Are Off to College?
