I said in the previous post that the next piece on churches and parachurches would be about improving the relationships between the two groups, but I would like to share a bit about why I am writing this series. Really, the main reason for this post is that I have written what is contained in this post in nearly every post on the series, but the information here does not neatly fit into any of the other headings. That, and this information would make the other posts unbearably long.

One of my primary motives for this series on churches and parachurches has been my experience as an alumnus of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), the organization which will continue to serve as our test case. A friend and staff worker with IVCF who was with me at UC Davis recently said to me that when he hears about former IVCF students, his first question is, "Do they still love Jesus?" He said it rather sarcastically, but we both knew that such a question has a lot of truth in it. My purely unempirical and anecdotal observations about the state between churches and parachurches have led me to believe that there is great room for improvement, especially those parachurches like college fellowships whose ministries significantly overlap with churches.

I know of several friends who either came to faith or matured in faith through college parachurches. They flourished in these settings, finding rich community with Christians who focused on participating with what the Trinity was doing on their campuses. They developed passions for Bible study, prayer, living in encouraging and accountable community, evangelism, racial reconciliation, being outside the Christian bubble, etc. The staff went to great lengths to disciple them and develop them into leaders. Many of the students led Bible studies, exploratory discussion groups for people outside the faith, musical worship at larger gatherings, or were on the student leadership team for the entire fellowship and worked with the staff to set vision and direction for the fellowship as a whole. Others, while not leaders in terms of having specific roles, became much more self-initiating and ownership for the fellowship grew.

I have seen a few options occur when these parachurch alumni enter into churches as young adults:

1. These graduates are welcomed and stay in the churches and try to participate as much as they can, seeking to learn from people of other generations, knowing that no two communities will be the same. They bring their gifts in ministry, but know that they are not entitled to express them.


2. They try to bring their ministry gifts, but are thwarted for whatever reason. They become disillusioned with their congregations, pine for their parachurch days, and leave churches altogether. Perhaps they will return once they are married and have children, but that is not guaranteed.


3. They become disillusioned because they aren’t allowed to express their gifts that they believe they are entitled to using and seek out another congregation that will appreciate them for the wonderful leader that they are.


4. They become disillusioned in the churches, but do not leave, and have the sinking feeling that they’re settling.


5. They eschew mixed congregations and seek churches that are almost entirely composed of people in their demographic—many of whom are just as disillusioned as they are.

My assumption is that both churches and parachurches are partly culpable for all these options, both the good ones and the bad ones. It is here in this liminal stage between the university and the working world that much of the tensions between college parachurches and local congregations exist. Anger and blame are thrown around. The following accusations are admittedly exaggerations, but I think there is some truth in them—at least truth in what people think and feel. Churches may say parachurches really offer no service to the students and in fact inculcate them into thinking that fellowship with one’s peer group is the norm of Christianity. The parachurches create a paradise on campus that isn’t translatable to the “real world.” Parachurches may say churches are too arrogant to try anything new, to see these young adults as adults rather than as old children. Churches are too concerned with maintaining existing structures rather than incorporating different ideas and means of outreach. The alumni stuck in the middle may say that parachurches offered a sense of reality that doesn’t exist outside the college campus, that the college fellowships brought their hopes up too high, only for them to be disappointed outside. These fellowships only taught them to be disciples in college and didn’t prepare them for life after the university. They may say of churches that these congregations are not welcoming of them, their experiences, or their ideas.

To a certain extent, college parachurches do not prepare their students well enough for the transition from university fellowship that is rather homogenous in its demographic to the complex and diversity (hopefully) found in churches. (Congregations can be just as homogenous as a college fellowship, but that is another post altogether.) Many students leave thinking that because they have been leaders in one group, that they are entitled to just show up in another group and begin leading. (This is a natural temptation, though somewhat odd, because at UC Davis, freshmen were discouraged from leading though many of us [cough, I raise my hand, cough] wanted to lead right when we showed up. Instead, that first year was focused entirely on discipling without having any formal leadership responsibilities.) As former student-leaders, we must learn that service does not equal leadership in all settings. This is not about advancing through the ranks, but about becoming a member of a community first and growing into whatever role God would have for the recent graduate there.

Another friend of mine who works for IVCF says she sees part of her ministry as developing gifts for churches. These gifts are young adults who “love God, love God’s purposes in the world, love God’s people, and love God’s Word.” (This wording comes from IVCF’s purpose statement.) Churches are often unequipped to receive these gifts from the parachurches. When many students leave the community in the university, they find a desert waiting for them in churches. Many congregations simply don’t know what to do with young single adults without children and relegate these young adults to the “singles group,” which functions as an extension of the junior and senior high school ministries with the exception that they no longer need their parents to sign release forms to go on outings. Many of these parachurch alumni don’t want to be relegated to ministering to themselves, but want to participate in the full ministry of churches.

The next post will deal with how parachurches and churches can better work together, I promise.