Seven tips on building a community

I never imagined that my call to ministry would land me soaking wet, in the back of a pick up, holding a very heavy gas grill, only hours before the first Horned Frog home game of the year. Yet, there I sat, in a puddle of rainwater on my way to set up for the Disciples on Campus tailgate. It's funny where we find ourselves when we're willing to do anything to build a community.

I think the same can definately be said for Disciples on Campus here at TCU as we begin our fall semester. For the past four weeks we have been having picnics indoors, worshipping on beanbags and blankets, and attempting to schedule interviews for a Disciples Campus Ministry intern to help coordinate our ministry until we have the funds to hire a full time Disciples Campus Minister. It has been an adventure to say the least. We're still at the beginning of our journey as a faith community, but I have learned a lot in the past month about campus ministry and about building a community. So, as I sit here at my computer on this ordinary Thursday night, I thought I might share a few thoughts from the road.

1. Never, ever be surprised to find yourself in the back of a pick up, soaking wet, holding a grill. When a community has big ideas and a dedicated group of leaders, those ideas often become reality.

2. Having a picnic indoors once a week makes you feel like a kid again. We have had some trouble reserving a room in the student center with actual tables and chairs, so for the sake of flexibility and nostalgia we have been worshipping and enjoying our dinner on blankets and beanbags for the past month. Who needs tables and chairs when you can sit cross-legged with a red plastic plate on your lap talking with a group of fellow Disciples?

3. Giant purple chalices compliment TCU's landscaping very nicely. One of the best means of advertising for D.O.C. is chalking the campus bright and early on Thursday morning. If a bright purple chalice chalked on the island in the middle of University Drive won't stop you dead in your tracks, then I don't know what will.

4. It's the in-between times that count. Even though we gather every Thursday night to eat and catch up, it's what happens in between Thursdays that really builds a community. A group of Disciples students have started getting together for a Bible study. Another group of us have been visiting local churches on Sunday mornings to learn about their college ministries and to try to find church homes here in Ft. Worth. Still another group of students spent last Saturday at the Salvation Army volunteering for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

5. Two hands are never enough. Every Monday night we have an open leadership circle to plan for Thursday night's worship and activities and to take a few minutes to check in with each other. A lot of our Disciples student leaders are involved in countless other campus activities, not to mention the leadership roles many of us have in local congregations. As a community of leaders, we rely on one another to carry the ball when one of us has a particularly crazy week.

6. Communities will never be perfect. So we don't always have a song planned for communion and we sit awkwardly in silence sometimes, and maybe we eat cake with soup spoons because someone forgot to buy forks. The true beauty is in the forgiveness and grace that we show when someone drops the ball.

7. Pray — for each other and for the community as a whole. Tonight at D.O.C. before we shared joys and concerns and after we worshiped, we started a prayer chain that we hope will become a permanent part of our worship space.