How to Strengthen Your Campus Fellowship

I do not consider myself an expert in campus fellowship, but it is a topic near to my heart. Being actively involved with my college fellowship played a big part in shaping who I am today and, looking back, was the most meaningful part of my college years.

Thankfully, when I became coordinator of my fellowship, two of my close friends in church were also coordinators at their universities. By constantly keeping each other updated on events and sharing our challenges, we were able to form an indispensable network. Here are some of our tips.

Start with prayer

Prayer is the single most important ingredient to any campus fellowship. I feel strongly about this because, during my first year at campus fellowship, the coordinator was an alumnus who could not come often given that his work was far from campus. Even so, I felt that the campus fellowship was so spiritually alive and filled with love because I knew he prayed a lot for it.

Even for a flourishing fellowship, regular prayer together is absolutely necessary for its maintenance. I witnessed the changes and felt the abidance of God when we had regular prayer nights besides the weekly Bible study meetings.

Gather a few members together to pray for unity and growth. These prayers can be held on campus or at members’ apartments. Our Lord promises us that, “where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). Do not be discouraged if the prayer group starts off small— just keep it consistent.

“I feel like my campus fellowship lacks unity.”

“Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). A campus fellowship is not connected because of similar personalities or interests. We’re one because we’re spiritually united by His blood, which is a different bond than all other groups we may associate with.

Lack of cohesion is natural when campus fellowship members are unfamiliar with each other or when the group has grown larger and impersonal. However, there are many ways to build  bonds among the members.

Older members should care for the younger members—for example, introduce the first year students to your favorite study spots and useful services on campus.

Take advantage of the fact that you have brothers and sisters with you at the same school. Support your fellow brothers and sisters in their other club activities, such as attending their performances or competitions. Plan a campus fellowship outing to a nearby museum, or go hiking and enjoy God’s creation.

Just remember that fellowship needs to be in the light (Eph 5:8-13). Spending time with church brothers and sisters is not automatically edifying. Be conscious of whether the way you use your time together glorifies God, and try to engage all members instead of forming small cliques.

“Campus fellowship is boring.”

A campus fellowship should be founded on the studying of God’s word. Bible study should remain the core of the meetings and be the attracting factor, but it doesn’t have to be the same all the time.

In our campus fellowships, we have found varying the format to be very important. During Bible study, you can engage the members through large or small group discussions, sharing before or after, having members draw their responses to the passage, or making posters of the main points.

Mix in a couple of special topics that are relevant to the lives of the members. A possible topic could be “How to choose your career.” Invite fellowship alumni to speak or brothers and sisters from nearby local churches. Have a praise session once in a while and teach new praise songs.

Have members suggest and vote for the book to study. Make sure that there are life applications throughout the Bible study. If the group is small enough, everyone can take turns to answer questions. You will find that this helps you to get to know each other a lot better.

“Our bond is okay, but we don’t have a spiritual connection.”

We want to care for and understand each other as if we are the same body.

            Now the body is not made up of one part but of many… so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one suffers, every part suffers with it; if one is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor 12:14-26, NIV)

Learning about each other’s needs is important to understand how to help one another spiritually.

Sometimes, members may want to build a spiritual friendship but are not used to talking about God or His work in their lives. Help the members get used to this by having them share God-related happenings in the past week before starting Bible study.

Try pairing everyone up into prayer or sharing buddies and rotate partners as often as seems necessary. Make sure that the focus is on spiritual friendship. After church seminars or events, have members share their reflections and what they learned. With practice, it gets easier. 

Post the current Bible study schedule and share event photos on the campus fellowship website. If maintaining a website seems too difficult, using a blog works just as well! Encourage each other during the week through emails. Send edifying testimonies or articles.

Have someone be in charge of collecting and emailing weekly prayer requests. Everyone will feel more united because they are caring for each other in prayer—you know others are doing the same for you!

“We find it hard to get our name out there.”

At student organization fairs, reserve a table with the school and prepare a poster with photos from past events and flyers advertising upcoming fellowship or church events. Rutgers University Campus Fellowship prepares freebies, such as pens with the fellowship website printed on them. Whatever is left can be distributed among members to pass out to classmates.

Many schools allow pre-approved flyers to be posted around campus and have newspapers or online event calendars that are good places to advertise. Some schools even offer websites for registered campus organizations. Make sure that the fellowship’s meeting information is up-to-date and that a contact person is assigned to answer inquiries.

Volunteer as a group for community service at school or in the area, such as at races for cures or at soup kitchens. Sing for the elderly or visit a hospital. If you have the funds to make fellowship T-shirts, this would be a good time to wear them. In addition to being a wholesome activity for the members, it is also a good way to shine for Christ and to let other campus organizations know of our church.

Finally, don’t give up! Like Paul, let us “press on, that [we] may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of [us]” (Php 3:12b).

“Our campus fellowship seems to lack direction or a goal.”

Campus fellowships require a lot of effort to remain balanced because the needs of the fellowship change often. It is good to have an evaluation every few months to clarify the purpose and goals.

If possible, try to have one at the beginning and end of each term. The evaluations can be casual and fun over a themed dinner or dessert. At the beginning, ask everyone to share their personal goals and group goals. Ask them to say specifically how they think the group goal can be reached together.

Plan activities that work towards these goals. Review the goals periodically to remind the members and check on progress. Have members anonymously fill out evaluations on whether the fellowship is progressing toward the goals, and ask them to offer their suggestions.

With members changing as people enter and leave each year, consider the various levels of spiritual knowledge amongst members of the group. Choosing books and church publications that include questions for discussion may be helpful for a fellowship with many members who have not have had much experience leading Bible studies.

Campus fellowship is a good opportunity for us to learn humility and to repay Jesus’ love and follow in His footsteps. If we care deeply about the growth of the campus fellowship, let us reflect this in prayer.

God does not call any of us to “save” the campus fellowship. God only calls us to serve as He did. I learned this lesson the hard way when I had many plans that I wanted to implement but became discouraged when others seemed indifferent or attendance was low. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).

When the fellowship is successful, it is not because of our capabilities. Likewise, when things seem like they could be better, it is the abidance of God that can turn things around.