When new students arrive on college campuses, nearby congregations are urged to welcome them in ways that include:

• A breakfast or luncheon some Sunday early in the semester, with personal invitations sent to prospective guests,
• Inclusion of students and campus staff in the leadership of worship on that Sunday,
• Circulation of invitations and an opportunity for members of your congregation to sign up for an adopt-a-student program, matching students and church member hosts for the remainder of the year,
• A reception where the church’s outreach and mission opportunities for students are presented and the category of affiliate membership is explained, and
• An invitation to be added to the church’s mailing list.
  

During Lord’s Day worship, the following litany may be offered:

Litany of welcome and commitment
Leader: The ______ church extends a glad welcome to those who have come to study in our community. Members of this church, will you greet the students who have entered our community with words of welcome and invitations of fellowship, receiving them even as God in Christ has received you?

Congregation: We will.

Leader: Officers and teachers of this church, will you serve the students among us as members of the household of faith, watching out diligently for their welfare and including them in the ministries of this church and community?

Officers and teachers: We will.

Leader: Will we all commit ourselves to demonstrating the gospel in our life together?

All: We devote ourselves to being Christ’s faithful disciples in this community, bound by the Spirit in common work and fellowship and worship, to the glory of God. Amen.

Prayer for those pursuing higher learning
God of all truth, we are grateful for your gifts of new beginnings, especially in the pursuit of learning. Enliven the minds of students, and fill their teachers with the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, that the paths they travel together will be rich with reward. Grant students strength
to meet the demands that lie ahead. Nurture them in strong bonds of fellowship, and preserve them from loneliness. Quicken and empower this community of faith to support them well, and open to us avenues of common service, so that together we may glorify your name, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

For more information, call Sheldon Sorge, Office of Theology and Worship, at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5310.