"I've been meaning to comment on this since it was posted. I have a question. Which Campus Ministry other than Campus Crusade would you point to as a model of innovation?"--from Ryan McReynolds, CCC Staff in the Northeast.
A post on The CORE of Campus Crusade for Christ prompted this question. In it new staff Dan Birch shared three principles that defined CCC in its infancy:
- Initiative
- Innovation
- Spirit-filled
I commented that we excel at initiative, battle to stay spirit-filled, and suck at innovation.
I would change my statement now that I've had a few significant experiences in seeing CCC from a different viewpoint: we excel at initiative, battle to stay spirit-filled, and suck at identifying and empowering innovations from the field. There seems to be a massive wall between the field and the national level that keeps innovations from making it to the top.
I've seen that many field staff excel at innovation; the problem is getting noticed and channeling the appropriate resources needed to develop their innovations to the point where they can be integrated and adopted on a greater scale.
Benson Hines might be able to give specific examples. He's been doing an outstanding job visiting college ministries across the country and showing the need to collaborate and work together for the greater good.
