Blog
Apr 9, 2013
CPYU President, Walt Mueller, recently blogged about why CPYU started the College Transition Initiative and reminds readers to sign up for the FREE webinar being held on April 10 at 1:00pm (EST): “Helping Students Transition to College.”
Here’s an excerpt from Walt’s post:
“As parents, what messages do we want to intentionally pass on to our kids? And are we choosing those messages in ways that prepare them to follow, serve, and glorify God in the next chapter of their lives? Or, are we simply letting nature takes it course? We all know that they are swimming 24/7 in a soup filled with messages that shape what they think and how they live. . . not only what they think and live now, but what they will think and live for the rest of their lives.
One area of hindsight-fueled regret that I hear over and over and over again is related to how parents, youth workers, and churches have failed to prepare students for the transition from high school to college. Consider these little research snippets:
Only one in seven high school seniors report feeling prepared to face the challenges of college life.
Forty percent of college freshman report finding difficulty in finding a church or Christian fellowship group.
More than half (60%) of all Christian teens and twenty somethings leave active involvement in church.
It seems that all of us. . . in unison. . . are asking, ‘How can we do a better job to help students be more spiritually prepared for college. . . and the life that follows?'”
Read the rest of Walt’s post here.
Register for the FREE Webinar “Helping Students Transition to College” here.
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Apr 8, 2013
My wife and I led a team of college students to Thailand in June 2005. We were there to help with the rebuilding efforts after the Tsunami ripped through Southeast Asia in 2004. I had never seen devastation like this before. Our guide took us first to the place where they brought the dead bodies. A memorial signifying all of the countries that had lost people was stretched across one of the outer walls. While the team gazed at the memorial and took pictures, two new bodies were delivered by pick-up truck. Immediately, the tone and posture of the team changed, and the trip took on even deeper meaning. We were surrounded by death and destruction and our “mission” was to bring hope and light into a very dark place. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Not only did we see villages destroyed and families in pain, but we also encountered another issue that we weren’t ready for: rampant prostitution. We visited a beach resort community deemed “the pedophile capital of the world.” Men were paying thousands of dollars to have sex with children, right in our midst. I was personally solicited a number of times by men and women looking to make money. We learned of an orphanage director who was offered $50,000 or more for children age 10 or younger.
How could a place so beautiful on the outside, be so ugly on the “inside?” If God is good, why was there so much pain in the world, especially among innocent children? Where was God the day the Tsunami hit the coastline, and the countless other days that sexual “tsunamis” devastate lives of young girls?
As you can imagine, for the first few days in Thailand, having confidence, faith and trust in the God of the Bible was difficult. Sure, we had all asked the philosophical, abstract question: “How can God be good with all of the pain and suffering in the world?” We even had arrived at some satisfying answers. But our questions were asked in Bible studies in suburban Pennsylvania, not in tragedy stricken Southeast Asia, and not surrounded by this kind of intense pain and suffering. Put simply: we began to have our doubts about the God we worshipped. We voiced these doubts in our conversations, prayers and journals…
Download the full article(.pdf) here.
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Apr 5, 2013
It’s that time of year… the College Transition Seminar will be making the rounds this spring, seeking to be a catalyst for more meaningful conversations about life and faith after high school. The “Seminar Tour” will kick-off in State College, PA (same place it started last year!), and eventually find its way to Ohio, Oklahoma, Connecticut and New York. But that’s not all, there will also be a tour stop in Alymer, Ontario, making this year’s tour INTERNATIONAL! Whoa.
There are still plenty of dates available. Please contact me if you have any questions about hosting a seminar at your church or school. If you already have a date in mind, go ahead and fill-out the Seminar Request Form.
Here are the scheduled events for 2013:
April 10: Webinar, “Helping Students Transition to College” (register)
April 13: Abba Java House, State College, PA (details)
April 20: First Friends Church, Canton, OH (details)
April 21: Asbury UMC, Tulsa, OK (details)
April 27: City Church, Williamsport, PA (details)
May 3-4: Mount Salem E.M. Church, Alymer, Ontario (details)
May 18: Black Rock Church, Fairfield, CT (details)
June 1: Argyle Presbyterian Church, Argyle, NY (details)
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Apr 2, 2013
Wednesday, April 10: 1:00pm – 1:30pm (EDT)
According to recent research by the Fuller Youth Institute only 1 in 7 high school seniors report feeling prepared to face the challenges of college life. The mission of CPYU’s College Transition Initiative (CTI) is to help students (and parents) to be more spiritually prepared for life after high school. This webinar conversation between CPYU president Walt Mueller and CTI director Derek Melleby will help you better understand the resources CTI provides. Derek will also suggest a 3-week youth group meeting curriculum to use with high school seniors.
REGISTER HERE
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Apr 1, 2013
In a previous post, I mentioned the work of Kentucky farmer and writer, Wendell Berry. I also mentioned a very good book about him entitled, Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life (Brazos Press) written by college professors J. Matthew Bonzo and Michael Stevens. What follows is a short interview with Dr. Bonzo about the book (the interview took place shortly after the book’s release in 2008) that explains why reading Wendell Berry is helpful to college students, parents and youth workers:
CPYU: Some of our readers may not be familiar with Wendell Berry. Tell us a little bit about him and why you think his work is important for Christians to consider?
Bonzo: Wendell Berry is a farmer, writer and former college professor. He has written several novels, volumes of poetry and multiple collections of essays. He has been called the social critic of our age. He continues to farm his land, live simply, and speak prophetically. Berry shows the believing community how easily it is to mistake a culture of death for a culture of life. As a recent Dallas Times editorial has suggested, “Wendell Berry is the man for our time.”
CPYU: What first drew you to Wendell Berry’s writing? How has he influenced your work as a philosopher and college professor?
Bonzo: I found my way into Berry’s work through his short stories where his concern for community and his emphasis on a sense of place resonate. As a professor I work hard to craft a classroom as place where students belong. Learning is a project that we engage in together. And we work hard towards the making of a good life that we share by asking hard questions about how we understand and what we desire. Beyond the walls of education, my family and I run a small C.S.A. (Consumer Supported Agriculture) farm the shape of which has been influenced by Berry’s vision.
CPYU: What were your motivations for co-writing your book Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life?
Bonzo: The book is an act of friendship. Michael and I wrote nearly every word together. We simply had a conversation about Berry, sometimes straying into talking about high school football, parenting, or lunch. The conversation grew out of two classes we taught together on Berry’s thought. We saw the impact his vision had on students’ lives. There aren’t many books written on Berry, especially doing the kind of synthesis we wanted to do. Thankfully the editors at Brazos agreed with us.
CPYU: The majority of our readers are parents and youth workers. How do you think this demographic would benefit from reading Wendell Berry?
Bonzo: Berry’s insight in what makes up a healthy community and his awareness of the forces that work against such practices are essential in a world that apparently has been stripped of meaning and purpose. As my wife and I raise our son, we intentionally try to equip him with the resources to lead a good life, a life which witnesses to the reality of the kingdom of God in our world. Berry’s wisdom reminds us of the goodness of creation, the havoc we fallen people wreak on creation and each other in the name of efficiency and wealth, and the healing that is a’comin’.
CPYU: Why do you think college students should read Wendell Berry?
Bonzo: College students are setting the habits and practices in place that will shape their lives. Berry invites us to be intentional about our habits and practices by forcing us to think about our future lives in relationship to the environment that makes that life possible and in relationship to the families, households, and neighborhoods in which we will dwell. Quickly we realize that a life overflowing with gratitude is the only proper response to what God has given us.
CPYU: For people who are new to Wendell Berry, where do you suggest people start reading?
Bonzo: It is hard to go wrong. If you start with an essay, I would suggest “The Body and the Earth.” If you are going to start with his novels, you may want to begin with an early work like A Place on Earth to set the context of his fictional village Port William. Jayber Crow is probably my favorite novel. There is a new collection of his Mad Farmer poems just out that I highly recommend.
CPYU: Do you have a favorite quote by Wendell Berry?
Bonzo: From the poem “Marriage:” “We hurt, and are hurt/and have each other for healing/It is healing. It is never whole.”
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Mar 27, 2013
The response to my article “Learning from the Tribe” in the Lancaster Sunday News has been encouraging and inspiring, to say the least. I’m grateful to hear that people have been genuinely touched by my reflection on the Donegal High School boys’ basketball team’s run toward a state championship. I’m even more thankful for the many emails I’ve received expressing how much this basketball season meant to others in the community. Here’s just a sample:
“Thank you for submitting the article and expressing how many of us felt this season. We have a special school and community.”
“It is so true how sports are a microcosm of life. There is so much to be valued when you are part of something so special.”
“Pride will follow the tears and as you know in years to come the memories of what we all just saw will be forever ingrained in the minds of every member of that team.”
“Our community was reminded that it can still be done the right way… That team reminded me that we can be on the same page about things that are genuinely good.”
“We had not attended a Donegal basketball game since our son and you played and wish we had attended more. We have had a great two months following these young men… Last Tuesday in Reading was the most exciting sporting event I have ever attended. I could ramble on about all the friends, classmates and Donegal alumni this team has brought together.”
“I was in 7th grade when Donegal opened its doors and the community was pulled together by another very good basketball team in the first year of the school’s existence… You captured the essence of what occurs when something good comes along to rally around.”
Readers of this blog may not be aware of two major influences of my life: basketball and the town where I live, Mount Joy, PA. This year I was reminded of how much both basketball and this community means to me. My article was an expression of gratitude.
Another major influence has been the writer Wendell Berry. I refer to his essay “The Work of Local Culture” which is found in a book entitled What Are People For? I highly recommend anything by Wendell Berry, particularly my favorite novels Jayber Crow, Hannah Coulter and The Memory of Old Jack. For what it is worth, I think the best book about the significance of Wendell Berry is Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of Life by my friends J. Matthew Bonzo and Michael Stevens.
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Mar 21, 2013
The mission of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding is to help parents, youth workers, educators, and others understand teenagers and their culture so that they will be better equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence. Studying and better understanding culture is at the heart of what we do.
In his very important and influential book, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (IVP), Andy Crouch invites readers to consider a more holistic way of thinking about culture. He writes, “Culture is what we make of the world… We make sense of the world by making something of the world. The human quest for meaning is played out in human making: the finger-painting, omelet-stirring, chair-crafting, snow-swishing activities of culture. Meaning and making go together—culture, you could say, is the activity of meaning making.” One of the many advantages to thinking about culture in this way is that it implies responsibility. Andy asks, “What does it mean to be not just culturally aware but culturally responsible?”
In December 2012 Andy became executive editor of Christianity Today, where he is also executive producer of This Is Our City, a multi-year project featuring documentary video, reporting, and essays about Christians seeking the flourishing of their cities. A few years ago, for a different publication, I interviewed Andy about his book and its implications for parenting and youth ministry. I think Andy’s wise words are worth paying attention to as we consider how to pass along the Christian faith to young people:
CPYU: What motivated you to write Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling?
Andy: It seemed to me that we needed a new vision for the relationship between Christians and culture. On the one hand, much Christian energy has gone into criticizing culture (and there is plenty to criticize, in our society and every other). On the other hand, many Christians simply consume culture fairly uncritically, absorbing the values of the dominant culture with alarming complacency.
Yet the biblical picture of human beings is of cultivators and creators of culture—neither critics nor consumers. Being “cultivators” means that we are meant to discern and preserve what is best in our cultures, and pass that along to the next generation. Being “creators” means that when our cultures are deficient in some way, we are meant not simply to complain or withdraw, but actually create new cultural goods and institutions. We’re meant to be culture makers.
CPYU: What can parents and youth workers do to help shape young people into becoming culture makers?
Andy: The first thing I would encourage is intentionality. There is nothing wrong with consuming culture, for example, but let’s make choices about what kind of culture we want to consume together, rather than just watching whatever’s on. The biggest fashion trend right now is not any particular brand of clothing, but customization. There’s tremendous energy for being culture creators among young people that we can recognize and encourage.
Then I would encourage us to model and teach the importance of disciplines, the practices without which we will always be cultural amateurs. We need to move beyond an “American Idol” model of creativity, which is just about well-intentioned self-expression, to the cultivation of skill and wisdom that would allow us not just to turn in one spectacular performance, but a lifetime’s worth of deep contribution to some arena of culture, whether that’s music, law, business, medicine, or creating healthy homes and neighborhoods.
CPYU: One of the chapters in your book is titled “Why We Can’t Change the World.” Why do you think it is important for Christians to be careful in describing their mission as “changing the world”?
Andy: Changing the world, at least at the level of grandeur that is usually implied by that phrase, is not an achievable mission. Human societies are so complex that no one can securely expect to change them. And most often people who set out to change the world end up changed by the world—implicated in the world’s broken systems of power and pride.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be bold in our culture making. But we are best served by a humility about our own role that “changing the world” doesn’t really imply. I deeply, completely believe in changing the world if the subject of that phrase is God, the one true world-changer. But if I am the subject, the agent of world-changing, I am putting myself in the place of God. I’d much rather we simply seek to cultivate and create great culture, and leave the world-changing up to Another.
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Mar 7, 2013
Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story (Zondervan) by John Sowers offers an eye-opening, bleak, but ultimately hopeful look into a generation growing up without fathers playing an active role in their lives.
The first half of the book paints a dismal picture of fatherlessness in America. Thirty-three percent of youth—over 25 million kids—grow up without a dad. According to Sowers “the fatherless boy lives with the nagging accusation that he will never be adequate, never measure up, never really be a man.” And, “while our fatherless sons rage, our fatherless daughters decay. Driven by a crippling sense of unworthiness and a gnawing hunger for Dad, they are emotionally and sexually promiscuous.” Citing various sources, Sowers concludes: “The fatherless generation is accountable for most of the serious problems we face today…”
63% of youth suicides
71% of pregnant teenagers
90% of all homeless and runaway children
70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions
85% of all youth who exhibit behavior disorders
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger
71% of all high school dropouts
75% of all adolescents in chemical abuse centers
85% of all youths sitting in prison
But there is hope. The second half of the book is an urgent plea for churches to invest in intentional mentoring programs. Sowers is currently the president of The Mentoring Project, which “seeks to respond to the American crisis of fatherlessness by inspiring and equipping faith communities to mentor fatherless boys.” He offers countless stories and statistics of boys and girls who made successful and healthy transitions from adolescence to adulthood. The common denominator was that they had mentors in their lives, showing them want it meant and looked like to be men and women. Understanding the daunting task of being a mentor, the book concludes with helpful and inspiring advice on how to engage the fatherless among us.
Sowers forces us to open our eyes to the devastating crisis of fatherlessness. It is pervasive. And because it affects everyone in some way, everyone should read this book. If you come from a fatherless background this book will help you to make sense of your situation. Youth workers should read this book in order to better understand how to serve the fatherless in their congregations and communities. And, finally, fathers should read this book to be reminded of the importance and challenge of being a faithful dad.
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Mar 5, 2013
During my recent visit to Olivet Nazarene University, I had a lunch conversation with the Counseling and Health Services staff. After explaining my work presenting College Transition Seminars for students and parents, I asked the counselors what they think I should be sure to communicate to students (and parents) before they head off to college. Right away, one of the counselors responded: “Tell them that college will be hard work!” She went on to explain that she has noticed a trend among the students she counsels: many of them were not prepared for the challenges of college academics.
That conversation was in the back of my mind when I came across the following infographic created by College@Home. College is hard work and this infographic reminds us that more can be done to prepare students for the transition.
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Feb 25, 2013
It is probably not surprising to learn that a hookup culture of casual sex exists on college campuses. What might be shocking are three discoveries made by sociologist Donna Freitas in her groundbreaking research and book Sex & the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses (Oxford University Press). After many years of surveying and interviewing college students, here’s what she learned: First, most students don’t want to participate in the hookup culture, but feel pressured to for lack of an alternative. Second, while many students identify themselves as “spiritual,” their spirituality has very little influence on their sexuality. Third, even though most students are frustrated and have been hurt by the hookup culture, they have very few places to openly discuss their concerns.
Freitas also interviewed students at evangelical colleges. While the hookup culture was not as prevalent, students still felt like they had limited ways to discuss sexuality on campus. There was intense pressure to be engaged before graduation (“ring by spring”) and students who were in sexual relationships didn’t have many people with whom they could confide. Freitas concludes, “The prevailing religious message about sex among students is either to guard purity with one’s life or to see sex as irrelevant to one’s spiritual practices and religious commitments.”
Because we must address this sobering sexual reality, I spoke with college ministry veteran Mindy Meier, author of Sex and Dating: Questions You Wish You Had Answers To (Intervarsity Press), about Freitas and her research…
Download the full interview (.pdf) here.
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