The pool is open, and vacation mode is in full swing. Pews are still lightly occupied, and the staff are taking turns getting some much needed rest and recovery. But just as surely as the cooler air will arrive, so too will the hustle and bustle of “back to school”. Oftentimes it sneaks up on us because our focus and attention has shifted into the launch of church ministries and activities. We end up with a quick prayer over the kids and teachers, and consider them “blessed” for the year. In this short series of blogs, we are going to help you reimagine these bridge weeks between summer and fall. Because they predictably arrive every year, they provide a formative opportunity to clearly communicate to your whole congregation a profound and often overlooked truth.
Education and studies in all shapes and forms are not a necessary evil – something mandated by the state or by the parents. They are not simply a rite of passage. We were created by God to learn, grow, discover, and play. Part of bearing God’s image is wonder and imagination. When these students walk into their classroom each day, they enter as priests and priestesses of the parish God has equipped them to serve. They serve through algebraic equations, beginner band, understanding grammar and sentence structure, world history, and so much more.
Once a year, we can seize the opportunity to remind these precious students of the value and goodness of their calling to be learners in God’s world. We certainly hope that happens more than once, but here is a formative opportunity to send students “back to school” through the lens of “back to mission.”
This first blog targets the students that are likely to need a sending earlier than others: college and university students. This demographic is unique for a number of reasons. First, they are seasoned students. They have done the “back to school” routine for decades so are less likely to be excited about a new lunch box, a box of fresh crayola crayons, and a top-floor locker. This is a prime opportunity to deepen their return to school and education. Not with the same excitement as their younger counterparts, but with a deeper and more commission based sending. “God sends you to learn, and God promises to be with you wherever you go.” Second, whether they travel hundreds of miles or just across town, these students experience a higher level of transition. Returning to school is a significant change – this can bring nerves, fear, and unsettled feelings. Speaking of transitions, there are parents involved who will need to adjust to their children going back to college/university. There is an opportunity to bless this transition with a reminder that God remains constant in all times of change and uncertainty. Finally, not only will your church send students, it’s possible you will receive students as well at the start of the year. This is particularly true if your building is anywhere near a university.
Below are a host of resources that we’ve labeled “goings” and “comings.” We hope they spark some creative thoughts about what might work in your church later this summer. As always, send us photos or copies of what you do! We want to build our resources and share them with others.
Goings
Commissioning for College Students
Today, we gather as a community of faith to commission and bless you—our beloved students—as you step into this new season of life and learning.
You are about to enter a chapter filled with opportunities, challenges, and growth. As you go, we send you not only with our love, but with our prayers and the promises of God.
We commission you to go in the strength of the Lord. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid… for the Lord your God goes with you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Trust that wherever you walk, God walks with you.
God go before you to lead you
We commission you to seek wisdom—not just knowledge. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5). Let your education be a tool God uses to form your calling. Created in God’s image, you were created to learn and discern.
God go above you to watch over you
We commission you to be a light in dark places, a peacemaker in divided spaces, and a vessel of Christ’s love wherever you go. Let your faith shape your studies, your relationships, and every decision you make.
God go behind you to protect you
We commission you to remain rooted in Christ. May you come to know how wide and long, how high and deep the love of Christ is for you, and for all that God has made. (Eph. 3:18) May prayer, Scripture, and Christian community anchor your heart.
God go beneath you to support you
We commission you to go with boldness, knowing that God has already gone before you. And so, go with this blessing
God goes before you to lead you, behind you to protect you
God goes beneath you to support you, above you to watch over you
And God is always beside you to befriend you.
Do not be afraid. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost be with you and remain on you always.
Amen.
Blessing for Graduate Students
May God bless you as you pursue knowledge with depth, diligence, and wonder.
May He give you wisdom beyond your textbooks, and clarity in your thinking and writing.
When the path grows heavy with deadlines and pressure, may the peace of Christ steady your heart and refresh your spirit.
May your research be meaningful, filling you with wonder about all that God has made.
May God open doors, align opportunities, and surround you with encouragement in your studies.
When publications do not come, experiments fail, and yet another paper must be written, may the love of Christ enfold you and bless you with confidence and rest.
And above all, may your work be an offering—a giving of yourself for the coming of the kingdom.
May all tasks, big and small, breakthru or routine, be a reflection of the One who called you and equips you.
Go with courage, go with God’s blessing.
Amen.
Collect Prayer for High School and College Students
O Lord, you who promise to be with me always, be with me this day as I begin my schoolwork. Keep me in health, I pray, and keep me from harm. In all that I do and say, may I love you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength, and may I love my neighbor as myself, so that I might fulfill your purposes for me and your calling on my life as a student. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Written by Dr. David Taylor
Collect Prayer for Parents
O Lord, you who promise to guide us through the wilderness and to protect us through the storm, we ask that you would make us wise where we cannot clearly see the way forward, make us brave where we feel afraid, make us strong in the face of our weakness, and make possible what to us seems impossible, so that we might joyfully entrust ourselves and our children into your tender care in these trying and troubling times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Written by Dr. David Taylor
A Prayer for Sending a Precious One
Dear God,
As we send out our loved one today, we are torn between joy and fear.
We delight in the calling You have given, but we are also afraid of releasing our loved one into a world that feels too broken and big.
If only we could hold them just a moment longer; if only we could be assured that no harm will come.
Father, in our grief, You are there. You are not only the God of mountaintops and sunny days.
You are also the God of the wilderness and the exodus, God of the raging sea and the storm, God of the vale of tears and the deep shadows.
So hear our prayers, Lord:
In the wilderness, give our loved one flowing springs and sweet manna. On the raging sea, speak the word that brings peace and give them eyes to see your path across the waves. In the vale of tears, O Lord, join our precious one as they weep. In the moments when fears become reality, hold them, even as the shadows deepen.
Help us to trust that the safest place for the one we love is in the center of Your will.
Sent in You, every footfall is set on a path growing brighter and brighter unto the fullness of day.
Help us, Lord, to remember this, even as we grieve, even as we cheer.
We pray in the name of Your Son, whom You sent. Amen.
Written by Sara Kyoungah White
A Prayer for New Beginnings
come close when the warm embrace of family leaves
raise in me a curiosity for others, for self, for creation and for you
unfurl me in new friendships, new ideas, new possibilities of learning and relating,
Ideas for use
- Write a card to a parent whose child is about to leave for college/university and include this prayer for them in their transition.
- Print this on a notecard and give to teachers and parents in your congregation.
- This prayer is short enough to be memorized. Use the month of August to memorize this prayer. Simple hand motions might help.
Written by JoAnn Flett
Community Blessings (Reminder of Church’s blessing and care)
- Purchase a 365 day devotional. Have members of the church sign a page with a note of encouragement. Send this off with the student with the congregation’s blessing.
- Put out a stack of post it notes with the student’s name on the top post it. Don’t tear them off! Gently fold back the paper and write a post it prayer on each of the pages. Have the congregation sign them or write a short prayer/favorite Scripture passage. Send this stack with the student to keep on their desk.
This Time Tomorrow Blessing
It’s a powerful thing to visualize where God is sending you before receiving a sending blessing. We are not just sent to some nondescript location – we are sent to a real place, with real people, with real work to do. Here are a few ways to send your students to the place God is calling them “this time tomorrow.”
- Depending on the number of students you have, put a picture up of the campus where they are headed. You can do this one by one, or make a collage of photos. With the photo on the screen, pray the following prayer written by Uli Chi over your students, inviting them to recognize God’s presence and blessing with them as they go.
Picture with me
where you will be tomorrow
what you will be doing
and whom you will meet.
And pray with me
for the place you will be
for the work you’ve been given to do
and for the people you will serve.
May you find
God there before you
working alongside you
blessing those around you.
And go in the name of
the Father
the Son
and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
- Beyond August
- Have the student send a photo of their dorm room once they’re set up. With that photo up on the screen, pray for that student in worship.
- Exam time – send prayers and care packages
Comings
Blessings
On the first Sunday of the semester, invite students to stand where they are (coming to the front the first week might be embarrassing), and say a prayer over their studies. Don’t lump them in with the rest of back to school blessings. Do one specifically with the language and words for those in university. See the above examples. This might be most useful to churches in a college town or close to a campus.
Beyond “welcome packets”
Swap out the traditional “welcome packet” of information about the church with a back to school care package for university students. These don’t have to be big or expensive to be impactful. Include a roll of quarters for laundry, some basic school supplies, snacks, or a giftcard to the best coffee shop nearby. Include a handwritten note with a blessing or prayer for whoever receives the packet.
Relationship Opportunities
- If you’re the pastor – dislocate yourself from the church. Rather than inviting the student to come back to church for a visit, take them to lunch near campus, ask if they’re willing to show you around campus. This reinforces the fact that “ministry” isn’t confined to the church building. Their ministry and mission field is the campus and classrooms where God has sent them.
- If the student is worshiping with you on a regular basis, find out where their home congregation is. Send an email to the pastor and let them know you’ve made contact. Build a pastoral team for this student so they know they have support and care no matter where they go.
