What do you do to stay “in the loop”?

As a minister, and perhaps even more particularly, as a campus minister, it’s important to stay in the loop.

Theologian Karl Barth famously stated that it was wise to begin the day with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.  Nowadays, we may integrate all our Scriptural and news resources into our laptop or smartphone.

I can think of 3 reasons why it’s important for campus ministers to work at staying in the loop, every day:

1. For personal reasons

We need new ideas. We need to be challenged. We don’t want to become static entities, just doing the same old stale things we did 5-10 years ago. This is what Stephen Covey calls “sharpening the saw.” One of the best ways to stay active, alert, vital, and fresh is to know where to go to sharpen your saw.

2. For professional development.

These first two overlap, but are important enough to be distinct. Campus ministers, like anyone else who believes their field is important, need to be active learners. Some of the best lessons to be learned are across disciplines. For example, it was through faithfully reading the Harvard Business Review email that I read an article on “How Innovators Think.” The first characteristic of an innovator is “Associating,” that is, making connections across disciplines. Quite a few good ideas have come to me through the seemingly incongruous reading of the HBR.

3. For missional reasons.

We work in places that highly value knowledge. A fully incarnational and faithful ministry should be constantly building our own knowledge-base. When we’re constantly reading, associating, and connecting the dots, it builds credibility with those we’re serving. I’ve had more than one professor smile with surprise and recognition when I cite something I’ve read in the Chronicle of Higher Ed or the New York Times related to their field.

Being active learners can open doors to new opportunities. It helps us learn and listen. It helps us remember what our students are (supposed to be) doing much of the time they’re not meeting with us. It helps us feel that we too are part of this learning community called a university.

So what do I do to stay in the loop?

It starts with my daily emails. Every morning, I get emails with headlines from the following sources:

The New York Times

I always read David Brooks on Tuesdays and Fridays. I also like Thomas Friedman. I read a lot of the Tech articles, including David Pogue’s posts. I’ve set up an “Alert” for special emails on anything related to Higher Ed. This saves me some search time. I also get special emails for movie and books reviews.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed

Much of the content they distribute is “premium,” which I don’t subscribe to, but a good bit of it is free. Plus, just glancing at the headlines gives me a feel for what people are thinking about and discussing.

Inside Higher Ed

Not as polished as the Chronicle, but with more free content. Also very valuable as a gauge of what’s “hot” in Higher Ed.

Harvard Business Review

Tons of great, readable articles on leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and other areas that are very relevant to what I’m doing.

I typically scan all these emails, clicking on articles that pique my interest, and I typically end up with anywhere from 5-10 that I’d like to read.

The only actual newspaper I read is Penn State’s Daily Collegian, one of the best student newspapers in the country.

Now, call me old-school, but I still like magazines: There should be a place for long-form journalism. I subscribe to several mags:

Rolling Stone

Fast Company

Inc.

The Atlantic

Christianity Today

Books & Culture

Also: Time, Wired, Comment, Entrepreneur

Add to these a host of blogs, many of which are listed at the right. My blog reading ebbs and flows though.

How about you? What do you read to stay in the loop?

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