Campus Church Networks
Archived content from 2004 -2009

 

 

For a number of years this was the Campus Church Networks' website.
In January 2010, Campus Church Networks dissolved and merged with a growing movement of student churches and mobilizers known as Student Church.
When this change occurred in 2010 visitors were encouraged to check out the up-to-date information and current testimonies from the movement at www.studentchurch.org. However that url now forwards to SCPX, another iteration of the organization that started as a dream in Erik Fish's heart to see a church planting movement.

Go to: https://scpx.org/ for the most up to date information about the movement started by Erik Fish so many years ago.

The new owner of this domain has chosen to keep some of the site's original content which is from its 2004 - 2009 archived pages.
Alas, it is just a small amount of the content that was originlly available.

 

Welcome

Welcome to Campus Church Networks, a student-led, relationship-based church planting movement dedicated to empowering students to plant new churches for a new generation on every campus around the world.


Start a revolution, start a campus church!
Every revolution starts with a revolutionary, are you willing to be the one? Is there a Campus Church on your campus? If not, do you want to start one? CCN is here to help you get started.

 

 

As a graduate who first encountered the Campus Church vision while I was a student, I can honestly say that the experience changed the direction of my life. The idea that a church could begin organically among students—led by prayer, community, and a genuine desire to serve others—was incredibly inspiring. What started for me as a simple gathering with fellow students eventually became the foundation for the place of worship I now have the privilege of pastoring. The emphasis on relationships, service, and faith in action that I first encountered through the Campus Church movement continues to shape everything we do today.

Our church actually began as a small campus fellowship, meeting in modest spaces and focused on community and spiritual growth. Over the years it has grown into something much larger than we ever imagined. One of the things that fills me with the greatest pride is how deeply our church has become woven into the life of the Providence community. Of course we still have vibrant worship services and Sunday school programs, but the building itself has taken on a life beyond traditional ministry. People from across the neighborhood know they are always welcome here.

In fact, the church has become known locally as a wonderful place to host community activities and gatherings. From neighborhood meetings to concerts, charity events, and seasonal celebrations, our doors are open to people of all backgrounds. It’s amazing to see how something that began as a student-led vision of faith and fellowship has grown into a space where the broader community feels at home.

Another source of pride for us is that our chapel has become a favorite venue for local weddings. Couples often tell us that the warmth and character of the space makes it feel both sacred and welcoming at the same time. Over the years we’ve had the privilege of working closely with many talented local caterers and musicians who help bring these celebrations to life. There’s a real sense of collaboration with the wider Providence creative community whenever a wedding takes place here.

And on a personal note, I always smile when people mention that our chapel has even developed a small connection to the renowned wedding photographer Rue Sakayama. Seeing such a respected artist capture moments in our space has been incredibly meaningful, and it speaks to how special the chapel has become for couples beginning their lives together.

Looking back, I’m grateful that the Campus Church vision encouraged students to imagine that church could be something dynamic, relational, and outward-focused. What began as a campus movement rooted in prayer and community has led to churches like ours—places that serve not only their congregations but the entire community around them. For me, being able to pastor a church that grew from those humble campus beginnings into a thriving part of Providence life is one of the greatest blessings of my life. Terrance Jersky

 

Here Come the Student Churches

 

October 29th, 2009

A Global Youth Awakening – Students Doing the Work of Ministry!

The Story of the Student Churches

In the book of Acts, a prayer meeting in Antioch produced apostolic sending. An apostolic team was sent out to travel, make disciples, and start new church communities. Today, the prayer movement is fostering a rediscovery of this type of apostolic ministry –students are starting churches among the unreached on college campuses around the world.

The Beginnings of A Student Church Movement

In the Bible, Joshua and Caleb saw things differently than others. God said they had “a different spirit.” The story of the student churches began with that same spirit.

Two students named Joshua and Caleb (yes, that was really their names) started to dream of a move of God across the UCLA campus. They began praying 24/7. As they prayed, they dreamed of forming students into simple house church communities that could meet across the campus. They went out to preach in the center of campus with towels in their backpack, believing that students afterward would baptize other students in the university fountains. The story that followed at UCLA is told in The Blueprint, by Jaeson Ma.

Today, students are baptizing students on universities all over the place. The seed of Joshua and Caleb’s prayers and dreams are beginning to spread across many universities.

In Western Pennsylvania at this same time, another student named Lee Myers and mentor friend Brad McCoy were contending for spiritual awakening at Allegheny College. As Lee would read the stories of Jesus, he began to meditate on a thought that kept coming back to him, “If Jesus could heal the sick, why couldn’t I at least try?”

Lee began to pray for people with illnesses. At first, there were very few healings. They kept praying.

Then strange things started happening. As they were faithful to keep praying for the sick and injured, the frequency of the healings started increasing.

In one semester, 40 healings were reported on the Allegheny campus. Injured athletes and others would come ask them for prayer. Lee began to organize the students into smaller gatherings led by students. Students from other campuses in the university-dense atmosphere of Western Pennsylvania began coming to Allegheny College to experience what God was doing and spread it elsewhere. The beginnings of a student church movement were happening.

When Lee tragically died a short time later, his testimony didn’t. It began spreading to universities all over the nation.

Heard it in the Prayer Room

The first time I heard of “student churches,” I was in a prayer room, desperate to hear from the Lord about where He was leading our family. I heard the words, “student church.” I saw a vision in my spirit of students leading small churches that multiplied and spread across campuses. I saw students and young people traveling from campus to campus, spreading the movement in the power of the Holy Spirit. Within a few months, I discovered God had been speaking the same vision to leaders across the world. This was God’s doing, not the idea or vision of men.

Spiritual Moms and Dads

As God is speaking to students, God simultaneously is stirring the hearts of spiritual moms and dads to support them. Where there are healthy, growing student churches, there are usually spiritual fathers and mothers that bless and serve those student leaders.

Agencies like All Nations Family have joined together with student church leaders to produce missionary training experiences like Student CPx. At these church planting schools, students are equipped and sent as student church planters to their university. These students preach the gospel, make disciples, and form students into simple church communities that gather in the areas students do life together.

Many local church leaders have also come alongside what they see God doing among the youth. They started asking, “How can I train and send the youth of my church to start new churches among the unreached?” One SE Asian pastor recently said, “I don’t care about having a mega church anymore. I want to see a movement across my nation. I’m willing to take a risk and send out the youth to plant churches.”

Yea, God! Do this everywhere!

Student Church Characteristics

1. Student churches are actual expressions of church. They are not just Bible studies, campus meetings, small groups, or evangelistic outreaches. The students see their experience of following Jesus together with other students their primary experience of what it means to “be the church of Jesus.”

2. Student churches are led by students. The students lead the churches. Mentors serve a support role only.

3. Student churches practice interdependent leadership. They are not characterized by one charismatic personality or leader. Gatherings are not small versions of a conventional church meeting. They usually gather in a circle to interact with the scriptures, apply principles to their lives, and exhort each other to live out the teachings of Jesus. They listen for the Holy Spirit, worship, pray, and focus on reaching other students with the message of the gospel.

4. Student churches are motivated by a love for the nations. When you spend time with student church leaders, they talk about fulfilling the Great Commission. They dream about going to the nations after college, or helping to send their friends. The seeds start on campuses, but spread to the cities and the nations.

5. Student churches are fueled by prayer. The student churches are birthed, sustained, and multiplied through praying students.

From Campuses to Nations

A short time after God called us to serve the student church movement, God reminded me, “Erik, remember, it is not about campuses, it is about nations.”

This has become a guiding mantra for how we perceive what God is doing on the campuses. He’s sending youth to the campuses to reach the nations. What a great way to reach the world for Jesus — send thousands and thousands of youth to be church planters in the university systems across the world. Students live in the dorms. They take classes with the future leaders of the nations. When they leave, they’re equipped with experience in church planting. The church can multiply at every university in the world if we will send the youth to do it!

Prayer + Student Churches = Global Student Missions Movement

The prayer and student church planting movement is part of a divine blueprint for a global spiritual awakening among the youth of the world. Here is a glimpse of what God is doing:

  • A graduate student baptizes five students and starts a student church with the new converts. 
  • A student starts an international student church on his campus with visiting PhD scholars from SE Asian nations — all who previously had never read a Bible before.
  • A student baptizes another first year student in a dorm shower. They soon begin sharing the good news of Jesus with Muslim students.
  • Students are stopped by university administration from baptizing international students in a campus fountain – so they improvise and use buckets to baptize them.
  • People are miraculously healed as students go out demonstrating power evangelism on their campus and city. 
  • A mission agency working in the Middle and Near East strategizes that university students are the most receptive to the gospel. They start efforts to plant student churches on the college campus.
  • A student at an American university leads three Asian students to Christ, baptizes them and starts a church on their campus. They travel that summer to a SE Asian nation and spread the gospel together to other students there.
  • Students begin indigenous-led student churches on a Native American college campus — believing for a church planting movement to spread from the campus to the 500+ tribal nations scattered across North America (many which do not yet have an evangelical church among them).

Across the world, students are moving in a rhythm of prayer and mission unlike has been seen in decades. Are we at the beginning of a global youth awakening? We believe, “Yes!”

“God let your kingdom come on campuses and in the nations!”

Let’s pray in faith!

  • Pray for the student churches to walk in love, power, and humility
  • Pray that a student church planting movement will spread to every university in the world; that God would send forth laborers to these harvest fields. 
  • Pray for spiritual fathers and mothers to love and serve the student churches. 
  • Pray for a global youth movement to bring transformation to the marketplace and the influential spheres of society.
  • Pray for a united effort among churches, youth ministries, and mission agencies to send a global tribe of student church planters to universities across the world. 
  • Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit among First Nations youth (indigenous people) across the world. They are hidden treasures God is raising up to be leaders and messengers in this next global youth awakening.
  • Pray for a global youth awakening in every nation and the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation!

 

By Erik and Jen Fish
Student Church Movements

 

 

Vision
Every Campus, Every City, Every Nation for Christ.

Mission
To fulfill the Great Commandment & the Great Commission in this generation through initiating and cultivating church planting movements on every campus around the world.

Values
"Great Commandment & Great Commission"

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to them, "You shall love the Lord your God with al your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment.

1. Loving God

Campus Churches value & empower every believer to have a passionate, intimate and vibrant relationship with God. The greatest commandment begins with loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Our main aim is that every believer's foremost desire is to "know Him" by cultivating a life of devotion in scripture, prayer, & spiritual disciplines in order to live a life of total surrender and obedience to the Lordship of Christ. We believe lovers always outwork workers. We are lovers first and workers second.

"Matthew 28:29 "And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

2. Loving Each Other

Campus Churches will value loving one another as we love ourselves. The goal is to develop authentic relationships where believers are spending time with each other in community for learning, accountability, prayer and fellowship in order to become whole mature disciples in Jesus Christ.

"Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

3. Loving the Lost

Campus Churches value evangelism as a lifestyle. Church is a body of believers and wherever believers are they are to evangelize the lost. Our conviction is the number one-way to evangelize the lost and to effectively disciple them is to plant new churches. Every believer is to be praying for the lost, caring for the lost and sharing with the lost the Good News with a mission to start or help plant a new church that will plant other churches in student populations un-reached with the Gospel.

 

The Method
5 Steps to Starting Campus Churches that Reproduce (Adapted from Neil Cole):

1. Practice of Prayer:
The first step to planting a campus church is to start on our knees. We must see what the Father is doing and simply join Him. Before we send out any campus church planter they are to seek the Lord in prayer and fasting for His direction. Prayer must precede planning. Practically, pray for God to bring you a team. You can begin to talk to other believers you know who can join you on or near campus or even flyer bulletin boards that there is a new church starting on campus. (Campus Church networks can connect you with a CCN coach to equip and mentor your team in the church planting process.)

Shortly after, start a prayer chain or begin prayer walks over an area of students the Lord is leading your team to start a campus church in. Begin to ask the Lord for the harvest and to raise up student workers from within it. Ask the Lord what are the spiritual strongholds of and in the different areas of the campus? Then pray for God to destroy the strongholds. "For our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12)." We must pray it out before we walk it out!

Campus Crusade the world largest Christian organization was started by a 24-hour prayer vigil on the UCLA campus. Founder Bill Bright decided before he would try to plan, strategize or reach out to the students, he would first pray for them. He formed a 24-hour prayer chain with college students from his local church asking God to open a door at UCLA to preach the Gospel. A short while after this prayer vigil God opened a door for Bill to preach to a sorority house where half the students gave their life to Jesus and in the following weeks 250 students on campus were saved including the Student Body President, Top Athletes, and Yearbook Editor!

2. Pockets of People:
The second step is to look for "pockets of people", who are un-reached with the Gospel. In Luke 10 Jesus sent out the 70 to towns and villages (specifically the lost sheep of Israel). We are to look for the lost sheep, not those who are well, but those that are in need of a physician. Jesus came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

As a campus church planting movement we are specifically targeting pockets of students normally un-touched by other fellowships on campus. Don't try to recruit and win believers, but always focus and start with unbelievers. Go to the campus hang outs, cafes, bowling allies, fraternities, sororities, sports teams, campus clubs/organizations, local clubs, downtown, movie theaters, parks etc. Our goal is not to bring the students to the church, but the church to the students.

At San Jose State University a student from a campus fellowship began to feel God's burden for the lost young women in the sororities. So instead of trying to invite them to a campus fellowship she acted like a missionary and brought the fellowship to them by joining the sorority! She is now a leader in the sorority and leading her sorority sisters to Christ!

3. Power of Presence:
The third step is to simply "show up." Jesus commanded His disciples to "Go" and make disciples, not wait for them to come to a church building. As we pray and are led by the Holy Spirit to pockets of un-reached students, we are to then show up and befriend those lost groups of students. The most effective way of befriending a lost group of students is by serving and caring for their needs. We do this before we share with them the Gospel, by finding out their needs and meeting them. For example, college students are hungry for a good meal, so hold free dinners. If the international students want to practice their English, hang out and talk English with them. Whatever it may be, meet the students felt needs. So we pray for them, we then care for them & when the door of opportunity opens we share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Jesus sent out the 70 telling them to take nothing with them. We should not be hindered in our church planting and evangelism because we don't have a facility, staff or finances. The resources are in the harvest field, our job is to show up, preach the Kingdom, pray for the sick, deliver the oppressed and expect God to open a dorm, apartments, classroom, café, or home etc for us to start a campus church.


In Cal State Long Beach a campus church planter started praying for students near the school art building. Pretty soon he developed friendships with students in the art department and eventually led them to Christ on the front lawn of the Art Department. They ended up meeting each week on the front lawn for church! That campus church ended up planting 8 more churches at Cal State Long Beach University.

4. Person of Peace:
The fourth step is to find the person of peace or the student of peace within the pocket of students. Jesus said to his disciples to go into the town and villages looking for the person who would welcome the gospel and open up their home. The student of peace is critical, because they will be the indigenous leader to win that community of lost students. They become the conduit for passing the kingdom message to the entire community of friends. Could you imagine if you won the leader of the fraternity to Christ, the whole frat could follow & come to Christ!

A person of peace is…(student of peace)

  1. Receptive: They are open to the message of the person and peace of Christ.
  2. Relational Connections: They know lots of students on campus and in the community
  3. Reputation: They are people of reputation good or bad (Cornelius/Samaritan Women)
  4. Reborn: They are normally a seeker whom you win to the Lord and are born again.

In San Francisco State University a campus fellowship led a star-wrestling player to Christ and very soon the same star wrestler led almost the entire SFSU wrestling team to Christ also! Look for the natural student leaders who already have influence with other students on campus.



5. People of Purpose:
The fifth step is as the student of peace brings his/her friends and family to Christ a church is born. The uniqueness of this birth is the church was born out of the harvest and is found among the harvest and is bent on a mission to continue to reach the lost as its main purpose. The student of peace could have the new church meet in his/her home, apartment, dorm or wherever is convenient on or near campus and may be even the new leader of the emerging church.

The key is once the new church is born on campus it is imperative for the campus church planter to work his/her way out of the new church plant by modeling & training the new emerging student leader to lead & pastor the new campus church. In this way, the new campus church will not be dependent on the church planter to pastor them, but they will indigenously take responsibility to lead themselves and reproduce leaders of their own kind naturally.

This kind of a church is not hindered by cultural Christianity (where it becomes a social club) or a church that is dependent on a full time pastor/staff, because the students from the start learn how to reach their friends, depend on God, each other and don't know any better than to follow Jesus and expect Him to save their friends, family and ultimately the nations!

In Los Angeles a major campus ministry realized their full time campus staff members did not have enough capacity to manage 8-10 campuses by themselves. In order to remedy this problem they took the above "student of peace" approach and started campus fellowships by winning students of peace & empowering them to win their lost friends immediately. Once a fellowship was formed the campus staff would model for the new student leader how to lead the campus ministry. After a short while the staff member would coach the student of peace from a distance so they would lead or pastor the new campus fellowship and reproduce likewise. This approach worked so well this ministry has since adopted this model and growth has exploded exponentially on different campuses. If they were still relying on full time campus staff workers to manage & lead all the different campus ministries they would never have the capacity to reach so many campuses with such effectiveness.



 

Evangelistic Tools:

There are many tools for evangelism that have proven effective in church history. Our philosophy is to not choose anyone over another, but to work with what works. We may use a variety of methods to win the person of peace on campus and his/her networks of friends and family.
Possible methods to be used are:

  1. Prayer evangelism: Prayer, Care, Share
  2. Power evangelism: Praying for signs, wonders and miracles
  3. Persuasion evangelism: Handing out tracks, 4 spiritual laws or other creative Gospel materials
  4. Proclamation evangelism: Holding evangelistic rallies, open air preaching during school
  5. Personal evangelism: Befriending them, inviting unbelievers to, free dinner, coffee, cell meeting etc
  6. Pasta evangelism: AKA: Alpha dinners 10 week intro to Christianity, seeker Bible study/forum, etc.
  7. Prophetic evangelism: dream & vision interpretation, word of knowledge or prophetic booths on campus at Starbucks.
  8. Present evangelism: Use whatever present creative means to be culturally relevant in sharing the gospel in a way they can understand.

 

 

The Gospel Challenge

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

"THE 13/30 WINDOW"
Missiologoists have coined the term "the 10/40 Window," defining the geographical region 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the Equator, an area of the globe considered by many to be the most unreached and unevangelized region of the world. But what is more crucial for us to consider is not "the 10/40 Window" but "the 13/30 Window." This defines the age group of people between 13 to 30 years old, which is really the greatest harvest field in the world today.

First of all, this age group is most open to the gospel. Secondly, it is the most important group because they are the future of the Church and the world. As such, when you reach the youth (who are located on campuses), you affect the future of Christianity and the whole world. Just look at the facts according to the UN Population Division and the Population Reference Bureau (2000):

  • 60 percent of the whole world are aged 24 and under.
  • 30 percent (or 1.7 billion) are aged between 10 to 24 years old.

This age group is the greatest harvest field because they are the most likely to become followers of Christ. Surveys say, 90% of all people become Christians before the age of 25. (Barna Research)

But who is going to reach them?

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38

The Strategy
At Campus Church Networks we desire to coach and help you become a great church planter on the campus the Lord has called you to. If you desire to become a Campus Church Network full-time church planter on a particular campus you can download the following online application to start the process. Once you have filled out the application and sent in your references our Campus Church Networks staff will prayerfully look over your application and contact you with our decision and advice for next steps.

If you are a student and desire to simply start a church planting movement on your campus with yourself or with your existing campus ministry and would like advice and coaching we at CCN are more than available to help you in the process & develop a networking relationship.

The Calling
First you have to seriously pray and ask God if you are called to start Campus Churches. Your calling has nothing to do with your ability, but everything to do with your availability. Starting a church on campus means you are willing to lay down your life for your campus and commit to ministering to the students of that campus long term if this is what God is calling you to. It means taking up your cross and pouring out your life as an offering for your generation. It means after graduating you are willing to do whatever it takes to continue to live near the campus you are called to in order to continue God's work on that campus. This is the challenge.

God is raising up a nameless and faceless generation of wholehearted lovers who are willing to pay the price in order to see their generation saved. It is not about what you can do, but what Jesus Christ can do through you. Prayerfully consider if God is calling you to help start a campus church planting movement on your campus.

2 ways to take the call…

  1. Become a full-time CCN church planter by raising support
  2. Become a student church planter on your campus

The Responsibility
With great calling comes great responsibility. Therefore, all campus church planters or student-leaders must have certain leadership qualities and characteristics to oversee a campus church. In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 the Bible clearly describes what kind of qualities and responsibilities a spiritual leader must have and continue to grow in to lead God's people. These godly attributes include godly character, maturity and faithfulness to God's leadership standards. As we read these two chapters we have a clear picture of what a campus church leader is to be and not to be.

The following list describes different characteristics a campus church planter or student-leader is to have and be developing in…

A Campus Church Planter needs to be growing into a person of F.A.I.T.H. ---

Faithful: responsible, reliable, keeps promises and commitments, has a good attitude in serving and exhibits the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 25:21, Galatians 5).

Available: it isn't about your ability, but your availability, a person who is willing and available to do God's will no matter what the cost. Has a servants heart like Christ this person says, "not my will but God's will be done." (Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 26:39)

Integrity: holiness inside and out, transparent and not living in deceit or hidden sin, trustworthy, held accountable to others and is responsible with his/her finances, relationships and personal holiness. (Psalm 41:12, Titus 1)

Teachable: a disciple, one who is constantly learning, in studying the Word, in prayer, in receiving constructive criticism and is open to new ideas. (Matthew 28:18, Prov 1:7)

Holy Spirit Filled: a spirit-filled believer, full of the Holy Spirit and power. For it is not by strength, not by might, but by His Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6, Acts 1:8, 6)

 

 

Apostolic Preaching & Prophetic Worship on Campuses!!!


(The emerging Jesus Revolutions on campuses)

I am writing this message because I sense strongly in my spirit God wants to release another “GREAT AWAKENING” upon the university campuses of America. We are coming upon the wake of another “Jesus Freak” movement. In the late 1960’s there was a major move of God among young hippies all over California. Radical hippie preachers like “Lonnie Frisbee” preached on campuses, street corners, bars on Hollywood blvd, & baptized thousands of hippies in the ocean beaches. What happened in those days was like it came straight out of the book of Acts… “Signs, wonders & miracles, speaking in tongues, thousands of young people swept into the kingdom of God, they were living in 24/7 communes together, sharing all things together and enjoying fellowship while radical street preaching was bringing in the masses to Christ.” Do it again Lord! I know You will & now is the time!

In the last 6 months the Holy Spirit has been impressing heavily upon me to see the book of Acts happen again on college campuses. There is too much “timidity” among Christian’s every campus I visit. There is a fear of what other’s think…and it is justified by an “I don’t want to offend others mentality.” It is compromise. The national average of Christian’s on each university is 4% and more than 90% of those 4% come from Christian backgrounds (Ivy Jungle Network: source). In other words, Christians are mainly reaching Christians on campus. If we don’t see revival now, we will have a post-Christian generation tomorrow. It’s time for radical Christianity…or should I say “normal Christianity” to be released on this generation with power.

I’ve been studying the book of Acts. The more I read, the more I am challenged. Church was never meant to be in a “temple” or a “building” it was meant to be on the streets. It was meant to be in the marketplace, 24/7 where the people were. Where would Jesus be preaching if He were here today? Where would Peter and Paul be preaching if they were here today? I highly doubt a Sunday morning church service or the next large group fellowship meeting. I know exactly where they would be preaching…. in the middle of the campus where all those students organizations are promoting their beliefs. It’s sad, but there is too much preaching in the four walls of the church & there is not enough preaching to the lost. Preaching was meant for the lost! Yet we have turned the powerful art of preaching into “sermonizing.” Lord have mercy & turn us back to the power of God unto salvation!

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to PREACH good news to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God!” Isaiah 61:1-2

Where am I getting at? There is a move of God that will sweep thousands of young people into His kingdom beginning on university campuses across California and then all over the United States of America. What is this move? It will be a move of two things…


1. Prophetic Worship
2. Apostolic Preaching

Last week a student leader in our campus church network was inspired during his early morning quite times to bring his guitar to school. This student goes to San Jose State University. Not sure why, he went with his guitar to the middle of campus where there was the most student traffic. He sensed the Holy Spirit wanted him to break out his guitar and worship at the top of His lungs. He did. At first, he was scared out of his pants, but as he continued to worship the manifest presence of God began to descend on the ground he was worshipping on. He later told me that all he was asking God for that morning was one thing, “Lord I want to see HEAVEN ON EARTH come down on this campus!” Well, he got what he was praying for.

As the Holy Spirit prophetically lead him to sing new songs by proclaiming Jesus over the campus, he sensed he was to pull out his Bible and read it out loud. With authority, he began to read out loud at the top of his lungs, the written Word of God. Students began to look at him, stare at him, even laugh at him. He didn’t care because he was in the zone with Jesus. As students gathered around to watch this Jesus freak, he began to read the Scriptures and prayed for students the Holy Spirit was pinpointing out to him. While praying for students, he saw a fraternity table with a fraternity brother sitting there. This fraternity brother was completely gripped by the Scriptures being read. All of a sudden the frat brother left the table and walked up to my friend.

He said, “I don’t know who you are, but while you were singing those songs to God, I felt the presence of God touch my body. You see I’ve been a backslidden Christian for over 3 years & this weekend our fraternity house burnt down. Everything I’ve ever owned burned down in that house this weekend, but there was only one thing left… my Bible!”

This fraternity brother broke down under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the spoken word of God. He encountered the presence of the living God in the middle of the day on a university campus while sitting outdoors at his fraternity table. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” Psalm 100:4

We don’t need more persuasion evangelism in this postmodern generation. What we need is more presence evangelism, encounters with an Almighty God. How do we bring the presence? It is only through worship and prayer. It’s prophetic worship that sings to Jesus from the heart, not from a power point slide. It’s passionate, raw, un-plugged worship that touches the heart of God and ends up touching the heart of a generation.

I see thousands of new prophetic worship bands hitting the shores of the college campuses during the day and into the night. Bands of young radicals who pull out their guitars, banjos, drums, all kinds of instruments and worshipping at the top of their lungs in the middle of campuses. It’s a prophetic band of worshippers who aren’t just singing the latest hit worship song, but they are worshipping in their own way, singing new songs, creating new lyrics, going all out, undignified like King David. It’s a sound that even the Christian world has never heard. They are the new sounds that come from the streets of heaven. Get ready because the sons of thunder are coming! They worship in spirit and truth while students are passing by, while others are gathering at tables, while others are watching…the presence of God comes. The lost have never heard this kind of worship, with such passion, with such beauty & attraction. It’s prophetic, for the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. This prophetic presence all of sudden invades and touches the hearts of young people & they begin to come under the overwhelming love of God. This generation is waiting to see true passion. But where is it? True passion is only revealed when we passionately worship the passionate One…our suffering King Jesus. When this generation sees true worship, they will come to worship God!

Prophetic worship is what ushers in the presence of God. But it’s Apostolic Preaching that ushers in the power of God.

“And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.” Joshua 6:12-13

Joshua followed the strategy of the Lord. He sent out the priests (the prophetic worshippers) into battle first, while the armed guard (apostolic preachers) stood prepared to attack. The presence of God must be ushered in first, in order for His presence to anoint the army for war. This is the same in relationship to prophetic worship and apostolic preaching for the campuses.

First of all, what is apostolic preaching? Let the book of Acts explain…

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:37-41

Apostolic preaching is the so powerful preaching of the Gospel that it cuts the hearts of men resulting in deep repentance and mass conversions. It happened in Peter’s day where we see three thousand coming to Christ in a day. We see 5,000 saved in a day later in the book of Acts and whole cities pushing their way into the kingdom through Paul’s apostolic preaching. You say that happened in the days of old, but certainly not in highly sophisticated campus cultures like Yale or Stanford? Why not? It happened in the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings of America. Where Jonathan Edwards a young preacher who attended Yale preached an unapologetic message around 1734 called “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” that sent all of all of the East Coast into repentance and ushered in a sweeping revival to a hell bent America. In 1790’s Yale University had totally forgotten about the great revival just years before. The student body had fallen into drunkenness, blasphemy and the majority of students were attacking the Christian faith because of a turn towards atheism & deism. During that dark hour, a young man named “Timothy Dwight” the only Christian on campus began to preach on the infallibility of God’s Word and His moral standard. By the end of the year more than one half of the entire Yale University campus had turned in repentance toward God. Do it again Lord! Surely, He will & now is the hour!

I’m passionate about this kind of preaching coming on the scene again, because I’ve experienced it. I use to travel from campus to campus preaching to crowds of students sometimes three & other times hundreds. There was never a time that the anointing of God to preach did not show up. No, when there is the preaching of the Gospel, God is obligated to show up, because He is obligated to His mission. “Go, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them everything I have taught you, and I am with you always unto the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18)

I remember one time when I was at a junior college and a crowd of nearly 500 students gathered the day after the school was saved from a planned bomb attack. I got up in the middle of campus and began to preach how God had spared their lives, how Jesus had saved them with a calling through his suffering, death and resurrection. I challenged each of them to repent & turn to God. No one threw a stone at me, instead the entire crowd was dead silent while I preached and many began to cry under the conviction and presence of the Holy Spirit.

There are more testimonies where we even saw a few hundred saved at one time at San Jose State University after preaching the Gospel to a completely unsaved crowd of students in the middle of campus.

Just today at the university, while my two friends were leading prophetic worship outside on campus I began to join them in prayer. As I paced back and forth interceding for the lost students on campus out loud I could sense the anointing of the Holy Spirit increase. People thought I was crazy, who cares, but as I prayed out loud I began to preach. We were only there for an hour, we didn’t draw a crowd of hundreds, but we did get to pray for at least 4 students who randomly came up and asked for prayer. We did get to converse afterwards with a bunch of fraternity and hip-hop looking brothers who wanted to know more about Jesus. Whether it’s one or one thousand, my question is what happened to the powerful preaching of the Gospel? Isn’t this what Jesus did most of the time…preach? With signs, wonders and miracles confirming the preaching of the Word.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” Romans 1:16

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14

Where are the apostolic preachers in this generation? Where are those who will preach with authority and power in the Holy Spirit? Where are the Peter’s and Paul’s who preached with a holy fear of God that resulted in entire cities coming to Christ with signs and wonders confirming? There was a Jonathan Edward for the 1st Great Awakening. There was a Timothy Dwight at Yale University in the 2nd Great Awakening. Where are those who will step up to the plate, pray like no tomorrow and preach like there is only today in this last Great Awakening?

As the Son is shining, during the middle of the school day, I see university campuses with prophetic bands of young warriors worshipping with all their heart and preaching with pure passion. These apostolic & prophetic warriors will have big posters advertising… “FREE PRAYER, FREE DREAM INTERPRETAION, FREE PROPHECY…CAUSE GOD LIKES YOU!” I SEE OTHER WARRIOR BANDS WITH “THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST” PLAYING AS A BACKDROP AS THEY PREACH…PASSING OUT TESTIMONIES AND GOSPEL TRACKS EXPLAINING THE SUFFERING, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE PASSIONATE SON OF GOD! I SEE YOUNG RADICALS CARRYING A HEAVY WOODEN CROSS WITH THEM AS THEY WORSHIP & PREACH THE GOSPEL WITH IT FROM CAMPUS TO CAMPUS…I SEE A HOLY REVOLUTION.

There is going to be an outbreak, an uncontrollable movement of God…a spontaneous revival hitting the campuses of America once again. There will be hundreds of students here, & thousands of students there, and small pockets of students everywhere having Church in the university courtyard. Yes, it’s church without walls, it’s a holy movement of God that can’t be touched or defined by some method of evangelism or some slick small group program. No church building can contain it and no conference can explain it. It’s God or nothing. There is a nameless and faceless army God is raising up at this hour on campuses across America. Do you hear the calling? Will you be willing to lay down your reputation, your comfort zone, your Christian bubble, possibly your very life to see revival on your college campus? Now is the time, now is the hour. Get on your face and pray until it hurts. Worship until He comes. Then get up and preach unapologetically & watch if God shows up! I’m praying to see HEAVEN ON EARTH on every campus in America. REVIVE THE CAMPUSES OF AMERICA LORD! REVIVE THIS GENERATION LORD! REVIVE OUR HEARTS AGAIN AND USHER IN THE LAST AND GREATEST AWAKENING THIS NATION HAS EVER SEEN…LET THE JESUS REVOLUTION BEGIN….

Praying for campus revival,

Jaeson Ma
www.campuschurch.net


(If you are one who desires revival & are committed to lead out in prophetic worship and apostolic preaching on your university campus email: [email protected])

Feb 10 2005

 

Help the Tsunami Relief w/ Resonance

Help the Tsunami Relief Effort w/ Resonance Life!

Hey College Students! CCN is partnering with
Resonance Life clothing to bring help to the Tsunami
Relief effort in a unique way...check out how below

In the wake of a disaster so sudden, so devastating, it is difficult to know how to respond. Yet, as the scope of this tragedy unfolds day by day, we also see the different peoples of the world uniting in a single voice of hope.

RESONANCE has always been committed to bringing together people of all backgrounds and beliefs to create one, powerful result. Now, with the partnership of one of our community partners, Operation USA, we bring to you an opportunity to become a voice of hope and restoration to those affected by the tragedy in Asia.

With HOPE FLOATS, 100% of the profits from your purchase of this t-shirt will go towards Operation USA's efforts in providing essential aid to those in need. The shirt design features the actual items that your dollars will purchase, and as always, it meets the high standards of quality and production ethics that we require of all our products.

Please join us in providing these much needed supplies and bringing a gift of hope to those suffering from this horrific tragedy.

Resonance Team

goto: www.resonancelife.com

Feb 09 2005

 

 

Apostolic Passion

CCN Article: Starting the New Year w/ Apostolic Passion!

Apostolic Passion

What is Apostolic Passion?

The term "passion" is used to describe everything from romance to hunger pangs. I don't know what it means to you, but for me passion means whatever a person is willing to suffer for. In fact, that's the root meaning of the word.

It comes from the Latin paserre, to suffer. It is what you hunger for so intensely that you will sacrifice anything to have it. The word "apostle" means a sent one, a messenger. "Apostolic Passion," therefore, is a deliberate, intentional choice to live for the worship of Jesus in the nations. It has to do with being committed to the point of death to spreading His glory.

It's the quality of those who are on fire for Jesus, who dream of the whole earth being covered with the Glory of the Lord.

I know when apostolic passion has died in my heart. It happens when I don't spend my quiet time dreaming of the time when Jesus will be worshipped in languages that aren't yet heard in heaven. I know it's missing from my life when I sing about heaven, but I live as if earth is my home. Apostolic passion is dead in my heart when I dream more about sports, toys, places to go and people to see, than I do about the nations worshipping Jesus.

I have lost it, too, when I make decisions based on the danger involved, not the glory God will get. Those who have apostolic passion are planning to go, but willing to stay. You know you have it when you are deeply disappointed that God has not called you to leave your home and get out among those who have never heard His name. If you will not suffer and sacrifice for something, you are not passionate about it. If you say you will do anything for Jesus, but you don't suffer for Him then you aren't really passionate about Him and His purposes on earth.

If you don't have it, how do you go about getting this thing called apostolic passion? Is it like ordering pizza at the door in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed? Is there an 800 number to call? Or better yet, just send us your special gift of $15 or more, and we'll rush you some passion, express delivery, overnight mail. If you're like me, you need help figuring out how to grow this thing called passion. I am motivated by reading how the apostle Paul got it. He chose it.

Paul says in Romans 15 that it is his ambition, his passion, if you will, to make Christ known. It began for him with a revelation of Jesus that he nurtured all his adult life. Paul not only encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he kept on meeting Jesus every day. This revelation of Jesus, and his study of God's purposes, gave birth to Paul's apostolic passion. Knowing Jesus and making Him known consumed the rest of Paul's life.

He "gloried in Christ Jesus in his service to God" (Rom 15:17). By comparison, everything else was dung, garbage, stinking refuse. Paul's ambition was born from his understanding that God longed for His Son to be glorified in the nations. It was focused so that the "Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 15:16).

Human enthusiasm cannot sustain apostolic passion. When God invests His own passion in you (the desire to see His name glorified among all people), you must build and develop what God has given you. Four things will help:

1. Apostolic Abandonment

Too many people want the fruit of Paul's ministry without paying the price that Paul paid. He died. He died to everything. He died daily. He was crucified with Christ. This strong-willed, opinionated man knew that he must die to self. He knew that in his flesh, he couldn't generate the revelation of Jesus; he couldn't sustain the heart of Christ. So he died. He abandoned his life. He abandoned himself.

We live in a world of competing passions. If we do not die to self and fill our lives with the consuming passion of the worship of God in the nations, we will end up with other passions. It's possible to deceive ourselves into thinking we have Biblical passions when, in reality, all we have done is baptize the values of our culture and give them Christian names. We will have chosen apostolic passion only when our hearts are filled with God's desire for His Son to be worshipped in the nations.

May I encourage you, dear friend, to give up your life? I challenge you to pray this prayer: "Lord, be ruthless with me in revealing my selfish ambition and my lack of willingness to die to myself." I guarantee that He will quickly answer your prayer.

2. Apostolic Focus

The greatest enemy of the ambition to see Jesus worshipped in the nations is lack of focus. You can run around expending energy on all sorts of good ministries, and not get one step closer to the nations. I don't have anything against all the projects and ministries out there. God's people do them, and I don't question their obedience to God. But the Church has an apostolic calling, an apostolic mission. God has called us to the nations. We must focus, or we won't obey.

Focus on what? I believe God wants a people for Himself. Activity without a desire that God have a people for Himself is just activity not missions. You can have evangelism without missions. Short-term ministries are great, as long as they focus on raising up workers to plant churches. You might say, "I'm not called to plant churches." Yes, you are! It's always the will of God to have a people who worship His Son in the nations. You'll never have to worry about making God mad if you try to plant a church. It seems crazy to me that people are under the delusion they need a special calling to save souls, to disciple them, and to get them together to love Jesus. Whatever ministry you are with, you must understand one thing: church planting is not for us, it's for God. We do it so God will have a people to worship Him!

3. Apostolic Praying

A young man in Bible school offered to help David Wilkerson years ago when he was ministering on the streets of New York City. Wilkerson asked him how much time he spent in prayer. The young student estimated about 20 minutes a day. Wilkerson told him, "Go back, young man. Go back for a month and pray two hours a day, every day for 30 days. When you've done that, come back. Come back, and I might consider turning you loose on the streets where there is murder, rape, violence and danger. If I sent you out now on 20 minutes a day, I'd be sending a soldier into battle without any weapons, and you would get killed."

You can get into heaven, my friend, without a lot of prayer. You can have a one-minute quiet time every day and God will still love you. But you won't hear a "well done, good and faithful servant" on one-minute conversations with God. And you certainly can't make it on that kind of prayer life in the hard places where Jesus is not known or worshipped. Here's a challenge for you: Read everything Paul says about prayer, then ask yourself, "Am I willing to pray like that?" Paul said that he prayed "night and day with tears without ceasing with thankfulness in the Spirit constantly boldly for godly sorrow against the evil one."

4. Apostolic Decision-Making

If you live without a vision of the glory of God filling the whole earth, you are in danger of serving your own dreams of greatness, as you wait to do "the next thing" God tells you. There are too many over-fed, under-motivated Christians hiding behind the excuse that God has not spoken to them. They are waiting to hear voices or see dreams all the while living to make money, to provide for their future, to dress well and have fun.

The Apostle Paul was guided by his passions. Acts 20 and 21 tell of his determination to go to Jerusalem despite his own personal anticipation of suffering, the warnings of true prophets, and the intense disapproval of his friends. Why would Paul go against his own intuition let alone the urgings of prophets and weeping entreaties of close friends? He had a revelation of greater priority, of greater motivation: the glory of God.

Apostolic decision-making starts with a passion for God's glory in the nations, then asks: "Where shall I serve you?" Most people do the opposite. They ask the where-and-when questions without a revelation of His glory in the nations. Is it any wonder they never hear God say "go!" They have not cultivated a passion for the passions of God. All kinds of lesser desires can be holding them captive. They might never realize it.

Present your gifts, vocations and talents to the Lord. Press into God. Stay there until you long to go out in His name. Remain there and nurture the longing to see the earth bathed with His praise. Only then will you be able to trust your heart if you hear God say, "stay." Only those who long to broadcast His glory to the nations have the right to stay.

If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining but devoted to spreading and proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame on the earth. The Father's passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God, and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, and the angels applaud you.

Your greatest dream is that His name will be praised in languages never before heard in heaven. Your reward is the look of pure delight you anticipate seeing in His eyes when you lay at His feet and the just reward of His suffering: the worship of the redeemed.

You have apostolic passion!

By, Floyd Mclung

Jan 04 2005

 

 

One Thing Young Adult Conference

Make sure to check out the annual One Thing Young Adult
conference in Kansas City hosted by the International
House of Prayer. The speakers and conference
info is below. God is orchestrating a worldwide prayer movement
of restoring the Great Commandment back to first place
in order to fulfill the Great Commission in this generation.
Don't miss this extraordinary encounter with God's presence.

One Thing KC Conference Dec 28-31
with MIKE BICKLE
DWAYNE ROBERTS
MIKE PILAVACHI
ALLEN HOOD
LOU ENGLE
PETER XU YONGZE
JASON UPTON
SARAH KELLY
SHANE AND SHANE
TODD GANOVSKI
MISTY EDWARDS
MALI


Limited Seating | FREE ADMISSION | Registration Required

Today, across the whole world, the Holy Spirit is raising up a young adult movement of lovesick worshipers who will experience the power of God to touch nations. These radical young adults will live as a "PEOPLE OF ONE THING" and will encounter new depths of intimacy with Jesus.

Living as a person of one thing is foundational to all who long to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary of Bethany lived like this as she sat at Jesus' feet, and He described her as a woman who sought "the one thing most necessary." King David did too as he sought "one thing... to encounter God's beauty" (Ps. 27:4).

During this conference, hosted by IHOP-KC, we will spend much time offering ourselves to God in passionate worship and asking Him for an impartation of His power to bring multitudes to Him. We are living in strategic times. Revival is coming, along with God's judgments. We ally ourselves with the Lord as He is now raising up forerunners to help prepare the unprepared Church before the second coming of Jesus.

Come cry out "YES, we will enter into preparedness!" along with the three thousand other people who have already registered. The first 10,000 people will get seating in the arena. The next 3,000 will be seated in overflow halls.

REGISTER NOW to guarantee your place. It's a solemn assembly. It is a time to respond to God. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS. Come be embraced by grace to join God in His heart for this age.

AGES 6 AND UP ARE WELCOME.

ONETHING - COMING OUT OF IHOP; The International House of Prayer, Kansas City
www.IHOP.org | www.onethingglobal.com

 

 

San Francisco State University Rally: Revelations

Dear CCN intercessors,

Please pray hard for us tomorrow as we do an outdoor evangelistic rally in the middle of Malcom X plaza at the center of San Francisco State Unviersity (Wed 10/13).
AACF, Intervarsity and Campus Church are uniting together with local churches in SF to preach the Gospel message with apostolic power at one of the hardest campuses in the country. Please pray for an OPEN HEAVEN and for God's POWER & REVELATION to drop like a BOMB with God's unconditional love on the masses of students! Let us proclaim victory and declare the SALVATION of the Lord! We will also work hard to get any new salvations into small group seeker Bible studies immediately, pray also for the follow up discipleship and reproduction of these groups.
We need your united intercessions from 12pm-2pm California time.
Thank you all for your prayers and ASK GOD....
TO REAP A GREAT HARVEST!!!!! amen amen amen!!!

For campus revival,
CCN team

The event is called: Revelations..... to reveal the mystery of Christ!

Oct 13 2004

 

 

More Background On CampusChurch.net

 

CampusChurch.net was the official website of Campus Church Networks (CCN), an evangelical Christian movement that emerged during the early 2000s with an ambitious vision: to see student-led churches established on college and university campuses throughout the world. Rather than encouraging students merely to participate in existing campus ministries, Campus Church Networks challenged them to become church planters, missionaries, and disciple-makers while they were still students.

Although the original organization officially dissolved in 2010, the ideas it promoted continued through successor organizations, most notably Student Church and later SCPX (Student Church Planting eXperience). As a result, CampusChurch.net occupies an important place in the history of modern student-led church planting movements, representing an early effort to combine campus ministry, church multiplication, disciple-making, prayer movements, and global missions into a unified strategy.

Unlike many ministry websites of its era that focused primarily on announcing conferences or publishing devotional content, CampusChurch.net functioned as a practical training center. Visitors found detailed articles explaining how to plant churches, disciple new believers, organize prayer movements, evangelize campuses, and reproduce indigenous leadership among students. Much of the site's content emphasized practical ministry rather than institutional growth, reflecting broader trends within evangelical church planting movements during the early twenty-first century.

Origins of Campus Church Networks

Campus Church Networks emerged during a period when many evangelical organizations were rethinking traditional campus ministry models. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, numerous ministries focused on gathering students into large weekly meetings, Bible studies, or denominational fellowships. Campus Church Networks proposed something considerably different.

Its founders believed students should not simply attend meetings organized by professional staff. Instead, students themselves should become leaders capable of planting self-sustaining churches among their peers.

This philosophy reflected several influential movements within evangelical Christianity, including:

  • Church Planting Movements (CPM)
  • organic church movements
  • simple church models
  • disciple multiplication
  • indigenous leadership development
  • prayer-based evangelism

Rather than concentrating ministry inside church buildings, CCN promoted the idea that churches could begin naturally wherever students already lived, studied, and socialized.

Dormitories, apartments, coffee shops, classrooms, student unions, and even outdoor campus spaces were viewed as potential locations for authentic church communities.

This decentralized approach distinguished Campus Church Networks from many traditional collegiate ministries operating at the time.

Vision and Mission

The archived website summarized its purpose with an ambitious vision:

Every Campus. Every City. Every Nation for Christ.

Its stated mission expanded on this vision by seeking to fulfill both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission through initiating church planting movements on university campuses throughout the world.

Rather than measuring success by attendance at events or conferences, Campus Church Networks measured success by multiplication:

  • new believers
  • new student leaders
  • new churches
  • new church planters
  • eventually new movements

This multiplication philosophy appeared consistently throughout the site's articles and training materials.

Student-Led Rather Than Staff-Led

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of CampusChurch.net was its insistence that churches should be led by students themselves.

Many campus ministries employ full-time staff members to oversee Bible studies and leadership teams. Campus Church Networks argued that this model limited growth because professional leaders could oversee only a finite number of campuses.

Instead, CCN advocated:

  • students leading churches
  • mentors serving as coaches
  • decentralized leadership
  • shared responsibility
  • reproducible ministry

According to the movement's philosophy, experienced adults should function primarily as "spiritual fathers and mothers," providing encouragement and accountability rather than directing every aspect of ministry.

This concept anticipated leadership models later adopted by numerous disciple-making organizations.

The Five-Step Church Planting Method

One of CampusChurch.net's most practical contributions was its explanation of a five-step process for establishing new campus churches.

Adapted partly from church planter Neil Cole's work, the process emphasized:

Prayer

Every church plant should begin with sustained prayer rather than organizational planning.

Prayer walks, fasting, campus intercession, and seeking divine guidance were considered foundational activities before launching ministry.

Finding "Pockets of People"

Rather than attracting existing Christians, students were encouraged to identify groups largely untouched by traditional ministries.

Examples included:

  • fraternities
  • sororities
  • athletic teams
  • international students
  • arts departments
  • social clubs
  • residence halls

The emphasis was always on reaching unbelievers rather than transferring Christians between organizations.

Presence

The movement encouraged leaders simply to "show up."

Instead of expecting students to attend church meetings, church planters were instructed to become active participants in campus life, developing authentic friendships and meeting practical needs before presenting the Gospel.

Examples included:

  • free meals
  • tutoring
  • language practice
  • service projects
  • hospitality

Finding the Person of Peace

Borrowing from Luke 10, CCN emphasized identifying influential individuals receptive to Christianity.

These "persons of peace" would become natural leaders capable of reaching their own relational networks.

Multiplication

Rather than depending permanently upon the original church planter, each new church was expected to develop indigenous leadership that could eventually reproduce additional churches.

This multiplication mindset remained central to virtually every training document published on the site.

Prayer as the Foundation

One recurring theme throughout CampusChurch.net was the conviction that significant spiritual movements begin with sustained prayer.

Numerous historical examples were cited, including:

  • UCLA prayer gatherings
  • 24-hour prayer chains
  • prayer walks across campuses
  • continual intercession before evangelistic efforts

The website frequently connected modern campus ministry with biblical examples from Acts, portraying prayer as the catalyst for missionary expansion rather than merely a personal devotional practice.

Prayer also connected Campus Church Networks to the rapidly growing 24/7 prayer movement of the early 2000s, particularly ministries influenced by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

Influence of the Prayer Movement

CampusChurch.net reflected many ideas associated with the broader prayer revival taking place within evangelical Christianity during the early 2000s.

Archived articles regularly referenced:

  • prophetic worship
  • continuous prayer
  • worship gatherings
  • revival
  • spiritual awakening
  • missions
  • intercession for nations

The website promoted attendance at events such as the One Thing Conference hosted by the International House of Prayer (IHOP-KC), featuring speakers including Mike Bickle, Lou Engle, Mike Pilavachi, and others.

These connections demonstrate that Campus Church Networks viewed campus ministry not merely as local evangelism but as part of a worldwide spiritual awakening.

Key Leaders and Contributors

Although Campus Church Networks functioned as a collaborative ministry, several influential Christian leaders shaped its identity and theology.

Erik Fish

Among the most significant figures associated with Campus Church Networks was Erik Fish, whose long-term vision ultimately outlived the original organization.

While CampusChurch.net featured contributions from numerous ministry leaders, Erik Fish became the primary architect behind the movement's evolution after 2010. When Campus Church Networks officially dissolved, its vision continued through Student Church, eventually developing into Student Church Planting eXperience (SCPX).

His later writings consistently emphasize several themes first introduced on CampusChurch.net:

  • disciple multiplication
  • simple churches
  • indigenous leadership
  • church planting movements
  • student missionaries
  • prayer-based evangelism
  • global missions

Rather than abandoning the original vision, the newer organizations broadened it internationally, providing structured missionary training experiences for students before sending them back to universities and unreached communities around the world.

This continuity demonstrates that CampusChurch.net represented the beginning of a much longer organizational story rather than an isolated ministry that eventually disappeared.

Jaeson Ma's Influence

Another major contributor whose writings remain preserved on the archived website is Jaeson Ma, a church planter and missionary who later became internationally recognized for his work in disciple-making movements.

His lengthy article, Here Come the Student Churches, serves almost as a manifesto explaining the philosophy behind Campus Church Networks.

Drawing upon examples from universities including UCLA, Allegheny College, and San Jose State University, Ma argued that students themselves—not professional clergy—could become effective church planters while still enrolled in school.

The article combines biblical interpretation, historical anecdotes, missionary strategy, and personal testimony to argue that universities represent one of the world's greatest mission fields.

Among the recurring themes are:

  • prayer preceding strategy
  • student baptism of new believers
  • multiplying churches rather than growing single congregations
  • empowering indigenous leaders
  • preparing students for global missions

His writing reflects broader evangelical interests during the early twenty-first century in disciple multiplication and church planting movements rather than attractional ministry models.

Floyd McClung and Other Influences

CampusChurch.net also republished writings by respected evangelical leaders including Floyd McClung, whose article Apostolic Passion encouraged readers to embrace sacrificial missionary service.

McClung's emphasis on:

  • surrender
  • prayer
  • church planting
  • unreached people groups
  • global missions

fit naturally alongside Campus Church Networks' own objectives.

The willingness to publish articles from established mission leaders suggests that CCN viewed itself as part of a broader evangelical missions movement rather than an isolated organization.

Theology and Ministry Philosophy

Several theological convictions appeared repeatedly throughout the website.

Church Is a Community, Not a Building

Perhaps the most recognizable theme was the belief that church should exist wherever believers gather.

Instead of requiring:

  • sanctuaries
  • church campuses
  • formal worship centers

the organization argued that authentic churches could flourish in:

  • residence halls
  • apartments
  • classrooms
  • cafeterias
  • parks
  • coffee shops

This reflected the simple church philosophy popularized by several evangelical authors during the early 2000s.

Every Believer Can Lead

Campus Church Networks consistently challenged traditional assumptions regarding ministry leadership.

Rather than waiting for seminary graduates or ordained pastors, the movement believed students could immediately:

  • make disciples
  • baptize believers
  • gather churches
  • train leaders
  • plant additional churches

provided they remained accountable to mature spiritual mentors.

Multiplication Over Addition

Nearly every strategy described on CampusChurch.net emphasized multiplication.

Instead of measuring success through attendance, buildings, or budgets, success was measured through reproduction:

One disciple becomes several.

One church becomes many.

One campus reaches neighboring campuses.

One nation influences other nations.

This philosophy reflected broader Church Planting Movement literature becoming influential worldwide during that period.

Campus Evangelism

The archived website devoted considerable attention to practical evangelism.

Rather than prescribing one universal method, Campus Church Networks encouraged flexibility.

Examples included:

  • personal conversations
  • prayer evangelism
  • healing prayer
  • public preaching
  • worship gatherings
  • free meals
  • Alpha-style discussion groups
  • creative outreach
  • prophetic ministry
  • service projects

The organization summarized these approaches by encouraging members to "work with what works," reflecting a pragmatic rather than highly institutional approach to ministry.

The "13/30 Window"

One distinctive concept promoted on CampusChurch.net was the 13/30 Window.

Building upon the well-known missionary concept of the 10/40 Window, CCN argued that the greatest mission field should instead be viewed demographically rather than geographically.

According to the organization:

  • most people become Christians before age twenty-five,
  • universities gather future leaders,
  • young adults are generally more open to life-changing decisions,
  • investing in students influences future societies.

This strategic emphasis helped explain why universities occupied such a central place within the movement's long-term vision.

Conferences, Events, and Networking

CampusChurch.net also functioned as a communication hub.

Visitors found announcements regarding:

  • prayer gatherings
  • evangelistic rallies
  • leadership training
  • conferences
  • mission opportunities

The site regularly promoted major evangelical events including the One Thing Conference hosted by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

Likewise, reports from university outreach efforts—including San Francisco State University and other California campuses—provided encouragement while reinforcing the movement's emphasis on public evangelism and church multiplication.

Relationship with Other Ministries

One notable characteristic of Campus Church Networks was its willingness to collaborate.

Rather than portraying itself as the sole solution for campus ministry, the organization regularly referenced partnerships with:

  • local churches
  • campus ministries
  • missionary organizations
  • prayer movements
  • church planting networks

The archived pages specifically mention cooperation with organizations such as:

  • All Nations Family
  • International House of Prayer (IHOP-KC)
  • Resonance Life
  • various local churches
  • university fellowships

This collaborative posture distinguished CCN from ministries operating independently or denominationally.

Geographic Reach

Although California clearly served as the movement's early center of activity, CampusChurch.net highlighted examples from universities across the United States and abroad.

Frequently mentioned campuses include:

  • UCLA
  • San Jose State University
  • San Francisco State University
  • Cal State Long Beach
  • Allegheny College

Articles also describe ministry among:

  • international students
  • Native American campuses
  • Southeast Asian universities
  • Middle Eastern mission efforts

This geographical diversity reinforced the movement's goal of expanding beyond North America into a genuinely international student church planting network.

Limited Public Profile but Lasting Influence

One interesting discovery during historical research is that Campus Church Networks maintained only a modest public profile outside evangelical circles.

Unlike nationally recognized campus ministries such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Cru, or Navigators, Campus Church Networks generated relatively little mainstream news coverage.

Searches of newspaper archives, academic publications, and major media databases reveal few independent articles specifically focused on CCN.

Instead, most historical documentation comes from:

  • archived versions of CampusChurch.net,
  • Erik Fish's later writings,
  • Student Church materials,
  • SCPX publications,
  • participant testimonies,
  • church planting resources.

This suggests the movement expanded primarily through personal relationships, conferences, leadership coaching, and church networks rather than through mass media attention.

Despite its comparatively small public footprint, its influence can still be traced through successor organizations and the continued use of many of its disciple-making principles within contemporary church planting movements.

Legacy and Historical Significance

Today, CampusChurch.net is best understood as an important historical artifact documenting an influential period in evangelical campus ministry rather than as an active organizational website. Although the original Campus Church Networks ceased operating in 2010, many of the concepts it championed—student-led discipleship, simple churches, church multiplication, and prayer-driven mission—remain influential in disciple-making movements around the world.

Perhaps its greatest contribution was shifting the role of university students from participants to pioneers. Instead of viewing college as merely a place to attend Christian meetings, Campus Church Networks encouraged students to see their campuses as mission fields where they could establish reproducing churches among their peers.

That philosophy continues to be reflected in the ministries that succeeded CCN.

Transition to Student Church

One of the most important developments in the history of CampusChurch.net occurred in January 2010.

Rather than simply shutting down, Campus Church Networks officially merged into a newer organization known as Student Church. Visitors arriving at CampusChurch.net were informed that the movement had continued under this new identity and were encouraged to visit StudentChurch.org for current information and testimonies.

This transition reflected more than a simple name change. Student Church represented an effort to streamline the original vision while expanding internationally and emphasizing practical church planting experience for students.

Evolution into SCPX

Student Church itself eventually evolved into SCPX (Student Church Planting eXperience), which today serves as the primary continuation of the original movement envisioned by Erik Fish and other early leaders.

SCPX continues to emphasize many of the same principles originally found on CampusChurch.net, including:

  • disciple-making
  • church planting
  • leadership development
  • prayer
  • global missions
  • multiplication
  • student leadership
  • coaching relationships

Training manuals and organizational resources published by SCPX reveal a clear continuity with the philosophy first articulated on CampusChurch.net, although they present it in a more structured and internationally focused framework.

This continuity makes CampusChurch.net an important historical record documenting the formative years of a movement that continues to influence ministry today.

Website Design and Features

Like many ministry websites of the early 2000s, CampusChurch.net emphasized content over sophisticated design.

Typical features included:

  • ministry articles
  • vision statements
  • testimonies
  • downloadable applications
  • training resources
  • conference announcements
  • prayer updates
  • outreach reports
  • leadership development materials

Navigation focused primarily on helping visitors understand the movement's philosophy rather than providing multimedia experiences.

Unlike modern ministry websites featuring podcasts, streaming video, interactive maps, or social media integration, CampusChurch.net relied heavily upon long-form written articles. These articles often resembled ministry journals or teaching manuals rather than promotional copy.

The site's straightforward presentation reflected the technological limitations of the period while also reinforcing its educational purpose.

Audience

CampusChurch.net targeted several overlapping audiences.

College Students

The primary audience consisted of Christian university students interested in ministry, missions, evangelism, or church planting.

Rather than simply inviting students to attend events, the site challenged them to become leaders.

Campus Missionaries

Individuals considering long-term ministry among university students found practical guidance regarding church planting methods, leadership qualifications, prayer strategies, and discipleship.

Pastors and Mentors

The organization also encouraged pastors and experienced Christians to serve as "spiritual fathers and mothers," coaching students without dominating their leadership.

Churches

Local congregations interested in supporting university outreach were invited to partner with student-led ministries rather than replacing them.

This broad audience helped position CampusChurch.net as both a recruiting platform and a training resource.

Popularity and Reach

Reliable visitor statistics for CampusChurch.net are no longer publicly available, making it difficult to determine the website's exact popularity.

However, several observations can be made.

The website attracted attention primarily within evangelical church planting circles rather than the general public.

Its influence appears to have spread through:

  • ministry conferences
  • leadership networks
  • personal mentoring
  • university partnerships
  • church planting organizations
  • prayer movements

rather than through mainstream publicity.

Because much of its growth depended upon interpersonal relationships and church partnerships, the movement likely had a larger practical influence than its web traffic alone would suggest.

Awards and Recognition

Extensive research found no evidence that Campus Church Networks or CampusChurch.net received major national awards from educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, or religious associations.

Similarly, there is little indication that the organization actively pursued public recognition.

Instead, success was consistently measured internally by:

  • churches planted,
  • students discipled,
  • leaders developed,
  • campuses reached,
  • missionaries sent.

This emphasis reflected the movement's theological priorities rather than institutional prestige.

Reviews and Public Reception

Unlike churches with physical campuses or commercial organizations, CampusChurch.net has virtually no traditional review presence.

Research found no significant body of:

  • Google Reviews
  • Yelp reviews
  • Better Business Bureau listings
  • Trustpilot reviews

Nor did the organization maintain a commercial reputation requiring consumer evaluation.

Instead, its reputation is preserved through:

  • archived ministry writings,
  • participant testimonies,
  • successor organizations,
  • church planting resources,
  • historical documentation.

Supporters generally praised the movement for empowering students and encouraging multiplication, while observers from outside the movement have occasionally noted that its emphasis on revival, charismatic spirituality, and apostolic ministry reflected a distinctly evangelical theological perspective.

Cultural and Religious Significance

CampusChurch.net emerged during a period of significant experimentation within evangelical Christianity.

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, many ministries questioned whether traditional church structures effectively reached younger generations.

Campus Church Networks became part of a broader movement advocating:

  • organic churches,
  • house churches,
  • disciple multiplication,
  • decentralized leadership,
  • missionary lifestyles.

Although these ideas were not unique to CCN, the organization helped apply them specifically to university settings.

Its emphasis on empowering ordinary students anticipated later trends in disciple-making movements that place increasing responsibility on local believers rather than professional clergy.

For historians studying evangelical campus ministry, CampusChurch.net provides an unusually detailed snapshot of these developments during the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Preservation Through the Internet Archive

One reason CampusChurch.net remains valuable today is that portions of its original content have been preserved through web archiving.

The current website intentionally retains selected articles from the 2004–2009 period while acknowledging that much of the original material has been lost.

Archived versions available through the Internet Archive allow researchers to reconstruct much of the site's history, including its evolving philosophy, organizational structure, and ministry priorities.

Without these archived snapshots, much of the early history of Campus Church Networks would likely have disappeared.

 

CampusChurch.net represents far more than an outdated ministry website. It documents the formative years of a movement that sought to redefine campus ministry by placing church planting, disciple-making, and leadership directly into the hands of university students. Rather than emphasizing institutional growth, the organization encouraged multiplication, prayer, evangelism, and indigenous leadership, believing that students could establish reproducing churches capable of influencing cities and nations.

Although Campus Church Networks formally concluded its work in 2010, its central vision did not disappear. Through Student Church and later SCPX, many of its core ideas continue to shape student missionary training and church planting initiatives around the world. As a historical resource, CampusChurch.net provides valuable insight into the aspirations of an influential segment of early twenty-first-century evangelical Christianity and preserves a record of how one movement sought to mobilize a generation of students to carry their faith beyond the classroom and into communities across the globe.

 

CampusChurch.net