By Thomas B. Grosh IV and Hannah Eagleson
Jesus Among the Scholars
If you’re used to undergraduate ministry, grad students can seem like the special agents of the university: mysterious, shy, always busy deciphering some strange code, and glimpsed only in fleeting moments.
If that seems a little intimidating, don’t worry. Knowing the right buttons to push can unleash grad students to use their mysterious powers to strengthen your undergrad ministry, and build their own confidence and excitement about serving God in the process.
5 Tips on Ministering to Grad Students
There’s a reason grad students appear and disappear like secret agents on assignment. They’re often reading a book a week for three different classes, managing experiments that require them to check in on cells every six hours, or planning fieldwork in Tokyo on a limited budget. On top of that, many of them are teaching classes for the first time, applying for academic jobs, and starting families.
Consider these ideas to best engage grad students on your campus:
- Ask for meaningful short-term participation rather than ongoing leadership roles. Grad students are likely to turn down ongoing chapter responsibilities. But they might be thrilled to give a testimony at the beginning of the semester, sing on the worship team one week mid-semester, or bake cookies for one evening of a Bible study that meets near their house or lab.
- Let them know you respect their time. Grad students often wish they could be more flexible, but the reality is that they need to be very strategic about time use. If you let grad students know you’re thinking about this upfront, it builds their trust and increases their ability to say yes to requests. You could say something like, “I know you’re busy. Would you have 30 minutes to help with ___. You’re welcome to stay afterward, but we understand if you need to catch up on work instead.”
- Appeal to their experience and expertise. Grad students often feel like they don’t really know anything yet, but odds are something they’ve studied or experienced can encourage your undergrad chapter. Invite them to share how God has been faithful in their education so far, how they meet God in some aspect of their academic work, or how undergrads can live out their faith by encouraging TAs and professors.
- Share why you value their contributions. Provide them words of encouragement (Even a quick text or Facebook message can mean a lot). Share one small, specific thing you appreciate about how the grad student engages with your undergrad group. And invite undergrad students to write brief notes—this will make grad students feel welcome.
- Pray for them. Invite chapter leaders to pray for TAs and other grad students during large group, collect prayer requests from grad students and feature them occasionally, or ask a particular Bible study to pray for one grad student all semester.
Infographic by Chandra and Kennan Crane
Additional Resources
GFM has several platforms that provide helpful resources for grad students. May these serve you well in your ministry on campus.
- GFM Resource Library—offering helpful articles and tips for grad students, faculty, and all InterVarsity staff
- The Emerging Scholars Network—connecting, encouraging, and equipping those on the academic pathway with resources to live out their faith
- The Well—providing resources to encourage women in their professional vocations, their communities, and throughout the fullness of their lives. (These resources are great for men, too!)
- BSAP—ministering to black scholars and professionals as they experience the transforming power of Jesus, are renewed in their academic pursuits or professional lives, and serve as agents of change within the African American and African community.
