7 Tasks of a Strong College Minister

1. Intentionally Relational..... Relationships are the currency of our ministry. Obviously, we must relate to students, but also we must be intentional about relationships to college administrators and pastors/church staff.

 2. Demonstrates Integrity..... Most college ministries depend on others for financial support. Folks don't support someone they don't trust. I have served as a consultant in situations where church staff folks told me they did not trust the finances and the handling of it in the local campus ministry. We must go out of our way to demonstrate our trustworthiness. In the student realm, students often are wary of anyone in authority and Thry need to know they can trust us. For them to share their hearts, hurts and dreams, they must know we will be someone they can trust

 3. Is a Communicator..... Not all campus Minister's are or need to be speakers, however they must communicate. We must communicate vision to students and communicate our Minjstry to our stake holders and or supervisors.

 4. Continually growing..... I know some really good and very successful college ministers. One thing they all have in common is their continual desire to know more and to learn from others. They continually are growing in their own relationship to the Lord and in their skills and knowledge.

 5. Multi-tasker..... A dear friend and former student of mine who came back to work with me said he had forgotten that college ministry was like juggling. You have to keep several things in the air at the same time. One example would be working in the present and planning for the future.  Another would be working with students, but continuing contact and relationships with alums.

 6. Trusting and empowering student leaders...... The great multiplier of our ministries is students who are serving and reaching out to other students. But, we must trust them with responsibility and train them to be able to handle those responsibilities. Part of this is developing a leadership culture and actively recruiting students with the potential of high capacity leadership.

 7. Balancing ministering and ad-ministering...... By personality and inclination most of us tend to be either people or task oriented. Most college ministers can easily lean toward the people side and ignore the necessary administrative role. It is important to realize that good administration helps to build and solidify our ministry. One way some balance these two is focusing on administrative tasks during more slack student times such as summer, finals time, etc. None of us is perfect in all of these. But, part of the battle is realizing our areas that need work and being willing to give it some energy for development. Which is your strength......and......which could use a little extra effort? Ask someone who loves you.