Working with Students from other Denominations

Many Students don't realize until they start working with students from other churches that they are biased towards the specific beliefs of their own denomination.
What's the difference?
Religions are divided into a couple of major groups: Christianity (Catholics and Protestants), Islam (Moslems), Eastern religions (Hindus, Buddhists, etc.) and so-called "Christian Cults" (Jehovah witnesses, Mormons, Unity, etc.
The difference between these religions is their basic beliefs. 
Christianity is based solely on the Bible and its teachings, anything other than the Bible is of lesser authority and must be measured against the bible's teachings.  The is no exception.
Other religions have other sources of authority.  Eastern religions work from a philosophy such as that of Buddha.  Moslems use the book of Islam (based on the "prophecies" of Mohamed).  "Christian" cults use the Bible and some sort of modifier.  The Mormons have the Book of Mormon while the Jehovah's witnesses have their own unique translation which is not universally accepted by either secular or Christian scholars.
While we as Christians respect the beliefs of other religions as sincere, we believe they are incorrect.  In this age of being "tolerant," some might say we have no right to call some one else's beliefs incorrect, but Jesus himself made such judgments.  He said no one would see the father except through him.  We respect the beliefs of everyone, but see it as our responsibility to make the message of the Bible known for people to chose for themselves what they believe.
What is a denomination?
A denomination is a certain variety or kind of a certain thing.  1's 10's and 5's are denominations of money, for instance.  Christian denominations are organized groups
Christians are divided into two major groups: Catholics and Protestants.  The Catholic church goes back to the days of the Roman Empire.  Several hundred years ago, the catholic church was judged corrupt and far from the message of the bible by some, so they broke away "protesting" against the corruption of the catholic church.  Many reforms have taken place since that time, but Protestants hold to their beliefs.
The basic difference between Protestants and Catholics is that the Roman Catholic Church holds that the traditions of the church, when not in conflict with the Bible, are also seen as given by God. 
While some protestant groups also see some truth that idea, many do not.  Those groups that hold to some tradition (Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, etc) have come to be known as "Mainline Denominations," while those that hold the message of the Bible alone is the authority (Baptists, Assemblies of God, Foursquare, Calvary Chapel, etc) are known as "Evangelicals"--evangel is the Greek word for message.
Among protestants, there are many different beliefs, but these beliefs are thought of as less important to the central message of the Bible.
How Do I work with other groups?
The answer is both simple and complex.
The simple answer is stick to the basic message of the Bible.  What is that message? 

1. God created humanity.

2. All humans have done wrong.  Because of that wrong, all humans deserve punishment.  God's eternal purity requires a certain punishment--eternal death.

3. Jesus came to this world as a human to take that punishment for us.  He was God, but he became man.  He never did anything wrong, but he was punished for our wrong--he was executed.

4. He rose again after three days to prove that he was God and that he had beat death for everyone who has ever lived.

5. Every person has the chance to take advantage of the sacrifice of Jesus.  The Bible states that every person who will willingly admit to Jesus and all others that Jesus is in charge and believe in their heart that he came back to life, proving he was God will be a Christian.  These steps must be taken in faith and the evidence of that faith is seen in following the teachings of Jesus (it only follows that one who believes Jesus was who he said he was would put his teachings into action).

6. The Bible is the final authority on what's right and wrong.

7. Jesus will return and bring life as we know it to an end.  At that time, every person who ever lived will go to Heaven (a place of great happiness and wonder) if they have accepted Jesus as described or they will go to hell (a place of punishment, pain and eternal loneliness) if they have chosen to live as if Jesus had not taken their punishment for them.

Anyone who doesn't agree with this basic probably shouldn't be in leadership in your campus ministry, because this is the most basic biblical message. Keep in mind that there are some students from other religions who agree with this and don't really understand that their church religion does not--have a youth pastor, adult sponsor, or the pastor of your church help you through this one.
The difficult part about this is that everyone doesn't always realize the difference between that basic message and the things they have been taught all their lives at their churches, this includes you.  If you have always done communion at your church in a certain way, you probably don't realize that that has more to do with the tradition or specific beliefs of you church than the unquestioned teaching of the Bible on the subject. 
So what do you do?  Stay away from things like specific teaching on things like communion, baptism, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc.  Leave these things at your church and ask others to do the same.  There is a time for debate on these issues, that time isn't in view of non-believers at your school, you are there to win people to Jesus so they can spend eternity in Heaven, not to win them to your denomination so they can spend eternity in church building.
Are there any tools we can use to help us stay on track?
Yes.  You may not understand all the issues even after reading this, but we do.  We have developed the "Week-2-Week" Campus Club Program that you can use from the first to the last week of the year.  It will keep you on track, focused on outreach and away from denomination issues.