College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture [Paperback]

Steve Lutz does an excellent job of two correlating tasks for anyone committed to campus ministry: 1) he accurately observes in clear, innovative ways what campus culture is like and 2) he challenges the ways faithful ministers of the Gospel see and go about their work.

Some specific aspects of the book I loved:

-Great job of explaining the changing look of evangelism on campus. As a recent graduate of a large secular university, I've felt tension between "old school" evangelism training I had received and the "Oh I'm their friend for a really long time" mind set.

- The book does a great job of breaking down the "types" of people in their relationship to Christ on a typical secular campus AND articulating effective strategies for serving each of those groups.

-He encourages "subversive" ways of creating platforms for the Gospel to be shared. Basically: know your campus and culture and work within existing structures.

-Description of "What is a Campus Minister". As obvious as this may seem for those who have been on campus a long time, his list is both a description and a challenge. Built on years of experience, he knows what students need from a minister and a ministry.

This book is also exceedingly readable. The writing is clear and concise. He does not repeat himself so every page is worth reading in its entirety.

In College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture Steve Lutz provides a much needed resource for understanding and connecting with one of the most strategic ministry people groups in the world - college students. The priority given throughout the book on the importance of missionality on college campuses makes it a book that is not only unique, but highly valuable. It is not only solidly theological but one that will be most helpful in the hands of a practitioner. Anyone involved in campus ministry will not want to be without this resource. I really cannot recommend this book more highly.

Stephen Lutz writes a book from his experience as a campus pastor at the thriving environment of Penn State, revealing that the unreached people groups of the world are crowding our college campuses en masse, and that in order to reach them effectively, we must change our tired strategies to be more missionally-minded.

I appreciate how Lutz cuts beneath the inspirational rhetoric so typical of this genre, and immediately translates "missional theology to the practice of college ministry."

A big theme throughout the book is the urgency to reproducing disciples, not just converts.

Lutz spends a considerable amount of time fighting the tendency to fall back on the usual modernist ministry proclivities such as concert infatuation, assembly-line efficiency, and head-counting as the sole measurement of success. He articulates the gospel masterfully, restoring college outreach back to the basics of one-on-one, long term discipleship. Lutz then ends the book with a call to die to self-absorption. Yes, I know... that's how ministry should look. But this is one of the first books I've read with a college focus that orients itself around the Great Commission of Jesus with such purity.

The layout of the book is a trisect of short, charged admonitions that move along like a narrative. Borrowing from a tree analogy, Lutz illustrates the activity of an effective college ministry as,

1) being rooted in the Gospel,
2) growing out in mission, and
3) bearing fruit that will last in discipleship.

This small paperback is dynamic considering its few pages and sharp focus.

As a college pastor in Southern California, former college student, millennial, and product of a college environment, I found the book well-suited to train others (myself included) for reaching out to campuses with the hope of long-term fruit. I wish I had read this book years ago.

Though the "college ministry" in the book title seems to imply a pastoral modus operandi, this is a book for ANYONE who wants to engage the college campus setting with results that will last. In fact, having wrestled with many of the obstacles that Lutz presents, both as a college pastor and a former student, I am suggesting this book as a MUST read.