Youth ministries are very common among Churches of Christ, but very few campus ministries exist … in all, less than 150. There are over 2,600 accredited, four-year institutions in the United States alone, and if you factor in community colleges that number soars to thousands more.
Why am I telling you this? Because 77% of those who make a decision for Christ in the United States do so by the age of 21. Over 97% of the colleges and universities in the United States lack a Church of Christ campus ministry … this matters because as a fellowship we’re barely even trying to reach millions of students (much less actually doing it) when studies show the college years are among some of the best to do so.
Campus Ministry United (CMU) exists to remedy that.
Cryptic messages abounded on Twitter and Facebook last week prophesying “big news” to be announced in one week from CMU. One week is up, and the announcement is here: CMU is hiring two full-time staffers to promote church-run evangelistic campus ministry plants all over the country!
Lynn & Carol Stringfellow wearing traditional South-Floridian garb.
Lynn & Carol Stringfellow – long time campus ministers for the Bay Area Church of Christ in Tampa, FL – will be assuming their new role about a year from now.
Their job will be to work full-time in advancing CMU’s mission in four primary ways:
DIRECTORS OF MINISTRY ADVANCEMENT – PRIMARY INITIATIVES
1)Fundraising
•Provide support for ministry/university church planters trained through CMU.
2) Networking & Recruiting
•Bring new students into CMU’s training program.
•Make connections with churches interested in sponsoring campus ministry/university church plants through CMU.
3) Research & Development
•Organize bi-annual study of Church of Christ campus ministry.
•Provide enrichment materials to address needs through provided outlets (CMU’s web presence, annual CMU workshops).
4) Public Relations
•Serve as an ambassador between planters, churches, Christian colleges and secular universities.
The Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK, has committed to being the sponsoring congregation behind this work, and Tulsa will serve as central headquarters for the Stringfellows and their ministry.
This work is a missionary effort, and like all missionaries the Stringfellows will live on support kindly donated from churches and individuals. We have about $100,000 we need to raise immediately to cover the operational budget (mostly the working fund) for this ministry for the first year.
If you have a heart for reaching college students and would like to find out more about financially supporting this ministry, please email CMU at campusministryunited@gmail.com expressing your interest and someone will get back with you quickly.
I am very excited about this news! People all over the world will now be blessed by Lynn & Carol’s work. Their ministry in Tampa has consistently made an impact on the lives of students, most of whom were not Christians before encountering the Stringfellows. The church as a whole will be blessed as their evangelistic zeal, focus on the unchurched, and influence spreads.
Folks, we’re working toward making CoC campus ministry plants a regular occurrence in a healthy way that’s never been done before. More news will follow – please post any questions you may have in the form of a comment.
Congrats Lynn & Carol – may your work be blessed! I’ll be keeping this work in my prayers, and I hope you will too.
The Overflow 