As a Christian teen that did not walk away from the church in college, you might say Debbie Moreno beat the odds. In fact, Moreno not only stayed, she led in college student ministry both in her local church and on her campus with CRU. Attending a university in her home city of Miami, Florida allowed Moreno to stay rooted in her home and spiritual family. Unfortunately, Moreno’s story is not a common one.
In 2019, Lifeway Research released a study entitled Church Dropouts: Reasons Young Adults Stay or Go between ages 18-22. This research states that an alarming 66% of American young adults who once regularly attended church, drop out for at least a year between ages 18-22[1] The percentage of students leaving the church increases as they age—69% attending church at age 17, 58% at age 18, and 40% at age 19. Significantly, 47% of these students shared that moving to college played a role in their transition out of church.
While reasons college students struggle to connect to the local church are numerous, active efforts to intentionally reach and disciple this next generation of believers are harder to find. This ministerial issue is compounded by a church/parachurch divide, one commonly found in minority, rural, or small urban churches. Moreno continues in ministry to college students today and is committed to bridging this divide between the local church and parachurch ministries, like CRU, that serve faithfully on college and university campuses globally. With colleges students cautiously returning to school this month, or completing their coursework online from home, I sat down with Moreno to ask why the church should care about ministry to these young adults and how the Hispanic church is uniquely equipped to step in.
Hungry to Belong
Moreno did not hold back when I asked her why college ministry matters: “It is a crucial time in someone’s life. It’s when they are on their own. Not everyone is on their own, because some stay home and go to a local college or university. But in the sense that your parents are no longer forcing you to go to church or youth group. It is the age when you are deciding ‘what do I believe and what do I want my life to be about.’”[2] Typical college students bridge two stages of development.[3] The first is identity vs. confusion, which prompts the “Who am I?” question. The second stage is intimacy vs. isolation, which causes young adults to ask: “Am I alone or am I loved?” These developmental questions occur in this season as students transition from home to college, from a secure friend group to a new friend group.
Hearing the classic trope, “students lose their faith in college,” ministry leaders may be tempted to focus on correct belief by providing biblical teaching or theological training for students. While this knowledge is important, Moreno points out this is not the primary need. “College students are hungry to belong. Even if they don’t really believe in God or have any beliefs, just the idea of a group of people pursuing them is enough for them to be like, ‘I want to be part of this. I don’t know what is going on, but these people want me, and I am being pursued.’ It is a key moment to love.” Could we be missing an opportunity to invest in college students lives by jumping to belief before creating the space for belonging?
Culturally Equipped to Create
Minority churches, small urban churches, and rural churches might not realize how well equipped they are already to step into college ministry. If creating space for belonging is key, who better to do that than churches who are culturally constructed around family and hospitality? This is what Moreno found true of her Hispanic church, and the reason her church’s college ministry thrived. She described ministry meetings in the home of a ministry leader, eating food and talking until 1am: “It’s very family like—come into our home and just do life with us. Be with our family and become a family.” While this level of investment can occur in any church culture, there is a unique warmth and home centeredness found in Hispanic congregations, which creates a natural sense of family for college students searching for belonging. “What I have noticed,” Moreno observed, “Is that it not only helps [engage] Hispanics but is refreshing to students of all different cultures. [They think,] ‘You really do open up your house at any time of the day. You really want to feed me.’ It is a warm and inviting culture, that can relate to other cultures as well.” This is true especially for other minority cultures. For international students, living far from their communities of origin, the warmth of Hispanic culture may provide a taste of home.
Hispanic churches also offer a cross generational church family experience that students may not find in larger urban churches. Moreno fondly shared of attending birthday parties as a student and being welcomed into the familia of a church member. These events exposed her to abuelos and abuelas, tios and tias—loving church family of all ages, relationships she might not have had access to otherwise.
A Critical Partnership
We cannot overlook the churches that do step into college student ministry. These ministry leaders see the need to create a student ministry where young adults have a place to land on Sunday morning, when home on break or weekly if they stay local. However, that is often where these ministries stop—at the door of the church or the home of the ministry leader. Outreach and discipleship of students at the local college or university is left to the parachurch organizations, like CRU.
Moreno sensed a divide between these two ministries when she was a student, one that she continues to see today. “A lot of Hispanic churches I know are small, they do not have a lot of people to send out [to campuses],” Moreno explained, pointing to lack of resources as a contributor to the divide. Another dynamic is a cultural and generational one. Many Hispanic church leaders are first generation. Stepping on a college campus to meet students for coffee or lead outreach events could present a variety of barriers, including language, education, age, and cultural differences. For first generation pastors, elders, and deacons, going to campus may be intimidating, and focusing on the students who make it into the church doors is easier, if not safer.
This is exactly why Moreno is so passionate about partnership: “Partner with what is already happening [on your college campus]. Literally join the work! Ask ‘how can we help and what can we provide?’” By working with ministry leaders in already existing campus ministries, local church leaders can slowly work through any felt barriers and fill existing needs, rather than starting from scratch. Local church leaders can provide much needed, long term support to parachurch ministry leaders, helping them know they are not alone in ministry. Most importantly, connecting students to local churches is critical. Parachurch ministries, while strong in outreach and life-on-life discipleship, cannot fill the role of church family or equip students with skills to be a participatory member of the local body. With a time stamp of four years, students will eventually phase out of an on-campus student ministry. Whether returning home or staying in their university town, being welcomed into and loved by a local body of believers provides the foundation of a lifelong relationship to the church.
A Final Word
World Outspoken exists to equip the church for cultural change. So, this last question for Moreno was critical for you, our readers:
“Moreno, if you could sit down with Hispanic ministry leaders in the local church, what would you like to say?”
“They have so much to offer college students!” she stated strongly. “They are naturally gifted in a way that naturally draws in college students. These are future leaders that we are talking about and students who are going to make an impact on the future of this country and the future of other countries. They are at the age where we get to disciple and equip the future.”
As we look at the changing world around us and the divisive cultural climate in which we minister, a fear for the future of the church’s faithfulness to God rises to the surface. Yet Moreno’s exhortation spurs us to action. It is possible the future faithfulness of the church can be further secured through pursuing partnership and creating space for college students to belong.
Partner with Debbie Moreno
If you want to support the work of ministering to college students, join Debbie in creating spaces of belonging for college students. Learn more, here.
About Emily C. Alexander
A first generation college graduate of a rural working class family, Emily C. Alexander recently completed her undergraduate degree in Ministry to Women at the Moody Bible Institute. Emily lives in Chicago where she enjoys long walks admiring architecture and pondering theological and sociological issues. Her hope is to impact the lives of women and the flourishing of the church through thoughtful theological engagement.
Footnotes
[1] https://lifewayresearch.com/2019/01/15/most-teenagers-drop-out-of-church-as-young-adults/
[2] Deborah Moreno, interview, August 9, 2020.
[3] To learn more about Erik Erikson’s stages of psycho-social development, read: https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740