Tone Matters!

One of the unpleasant, necessary, but sometimes very beneficial tasks of a College Minister is confronting students about their actions.  This is particularly true when it comes to working with and training student leaders.

A college ministry friend asked me recently what I thought about talking with a new student leader about some of their actions at one of their large group events that was not what one would hope.  I said yes that I would talk with that student.  But, that how it was done and in what tone was important.

Here's the deal.  Tone matters!  One of the bad things about a text message is you cannot hear the tone or see the facial expression.   Sometimes that is good, but most of the time I think it is bad.  In confronting or correcting a student leader, do they hear it as a result of you care about them or that they are the scum of the earth that you cannot wait to eradicate?  That is where tone is huge.

In the particular situation I was asked about, I thought it mattered because the student had just begun their new leadership role and most likely has a desire to do it right.  So, they are most open to correction right now.  Secondly, what a student leader does at the very beginning of their time of service most likely will go a long way toward determining how they do it for the rest of their time of service.

One student said,  "When the College Minister says, 'Can I see you in my office?", its like being called into the principle's office, you know you are about to get a paddling.  So, tone matters!  Is your tone angry?  Is your expression angry?  Does your tone, manner, and correction fit the offense?  It may be a no big deal thing, but not something you want to see modeled to the other students.  So, make sure they know why it matters, but it is not a life or death issue.

Also, it is important, when done sincerely, to be able to say, "I am telling you this because your potential is huge and lots of students look up to you.".  When the correction can be combined with a genuine compliment, it takes most of the hurt out and it reinforces the likelihood of a positive change and response on their part.

Sometimes, for our tone to be right we need to sleep on the offense before making the correction.  If you are like me, some things jump all over me, but in retrospect they are not killing offenses.  If I address the issue in my anger or frustration, I may overstate it in their hearing.

When you correct or speak to a student's behavior or actions, realize your tone is just as important or even maybe more important than your words.  Have I said, TONE MATTERS!

Pinelake Church Seeking a College Pastor

Pinelake Church which is a multi-site church in Mississippi is searching for a College Pastor for the Oxford campus which relates to the Ole Miss campus.  The qualifications are a Bachelor's degree or equivalent, and one to four years of related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Pinelake Church was established in 1971 in Madison, Mississippi.  In 1999 Chip Henderson became pastor and began to experience dramatic growth.  By 2005 average attendance had grown to  more than 4,000. In the fall of 2006 the church began launching additional campuses and now has ministries in five locations. Each Sunday the five campuses average 9,000 people in attendance.  The immediate supervisor for the position is Linda Halfacre Weir that many in college ministry would know form her time as Southern Baptists' national college ministry leader at Lifeway in Nashville.

Some Responsibilities include:
-Plan, develop, oversee and evaluate all components of the College Ministry.
-Establish goals and objectives with the Campus Pastor for the ministry and initiate strategies to fulfill them.
-Develop and implement avenues for leading college students to learn from, live in, and lead others to Christ.
-Lead college students to value becoming a part of the local body at Pinelake, Oxford.
-Plan and promote activities to support the College Ministry strategy and supervise the communication of these activities to other staff members and the church congregation as appropriate.
-Support the small group philosophy of Pinelake by developing and carrying effective processes to assimilate students into small group community.
-Develop a leadership and servant leader support structure to ensure oversight, discipleship, maturation and encouragement are carried out through ministry.

For additional information or to apply, go to Pinelake.org and enter "Employment Opportunities".

AFTER Spring Break Ministry Teams

One of the best feelings in the world is being on the last leg home with a Spring Break Ministry Team.  I can remember getting on flights to Memphis when returning from foreign trips.  Immediately, I would exhale and my body would begin to relax.  We had made it. Everyone was safe and we had had some experiences God had used.

Then, it was Monday after Spring Break.  College Ministers are tired and can see the end of the semester and summer just over the horizon. Many are beginning new leadership teams and the excitement that goes with that, but also the hustle and work of trying to make sure "the trains run on time" in the on-going of the ministry.

In all of this, it is easy to forget about Spring Break.  But, I believe one of the values of doing Spring Break Ministry Teams is what it does in the lives of the students who go.  But, they also come back to getting serious about finishing a semester and finalizing or starting plans for summer.

Here's the deal.  We need to help them process their experience.
1.  What did they see and learn about a new culture or just how church is done differently somewhere else?
2.  What did they do they never thought they could do (Maybe eat something and keep it down...maybe share Christ one on one for the first time....maybe sing or speak in a worship event....put shingles on a roof???
3.  Is there something they did on Spring Break for the first time that they could be doing where they are now...on campus...regularly?
4.  Did it affect their feeling in anyway about God's call in their life?  Will they be a different kind of teacher now?  Or, is God possibly using this experience to lead them to some sort of full time ministry?

Don't go through all the pain, work, preparation, sleeping on a gym floor, or in a shack in a foreign country with students and then not process the experience.  That is a BIG part of why you did it in the first place.

I have gotten off a plane with a lot of students saying, "You know I could be a foreign missionary."  Maybe meeting with each student who went on teams is impossible, but maybe you could have a "After Spring Break Get Together" and share thoughts, feelings, experiences.  You never know what you might hear, learn, or see a next step you need to take with some students.

Two Great College Ministry Resumes if YOU Are Looking for Someone

  Several years ago when I was still BCM Director at Arkansas State, I got a resume in the mail and this person looked like the kind of person you want to hire....to start this afternoon.  But, I did not have an opening.  I laid it on the corner of my desk.  The next day a friend in another state called and said, "I'm looking for an Associate; do you know anybody you would recommend?".  I said, "I don't know her, but I have a resume on my desk of someone I would hire, if she is half as good as it looks like.".  I mailed it to him and he hired her.  They worked together several years.

I have a couple of resumes on my desk like that today.  One is a woman and the other is a man.  They have both worked in large campus based BCM ministries and have also worked on church staffs.  Both have experience on different campuses. In my opinion, they are highly experienced to be still so young in the ministry.  The positions in which they currently serve are "term limited" to use a current political term.  Both serve in Assistant or Associate type roles and are open to either leading a ministry or serving under someone.  They come highly recommended by their current supervisors.

To me one of the best pictures into the potential of someone is WHO is recommending them.  Both of these have great "WHO's".

If you would like to receive either or both of these resumes, just send me a message.
Arliss
arlissdickerson@gmail.com

Two Additions to Collegiate Ministries Summit Program

Kelly Haer and Gabe Lyons have recently been announced as additions to the National Collegiate Ministers Summit in Nashville, May 2-4.

Kelly Haer works with Boone Center for the Family  at Pepperdine University where she is the Director of the Relationships IQ Program.  Dr. Haer has done research on relationships among young adults and is considered a leading authority in the areas of healthy friendships, co-habitation, and pre-marital sex.

Gabe Lyons is well known as the founder of Q, "a learning community that mobilizes Christians to think well and advance good in society".  Prior  to that he was a co-founder of Catalyst, a national gathering of young leaders.  His books, THE NEXT CHRISTIANS and UNCHRISTIAN co-authored with David Kinnaman are well known in collegiate circles.  Gabe will speak about engaging culture and "Q Union", a Q style event on university campuses.

Both will be part of the Friday morning session.  These are in addition to Ben Stuart, Russell Moore, Doug Schaupp and Tom Richter with worship led by by Brooke and Boggs that had been previously announced.

Mega Seminars starting on Wednesday afternoon, May 2 will include sessions by Dr. Jeff Nave (New Orleans Seminary)  leading sessions such as "Romance and Intimacy in the Fishbowl of Ministry"; Erica Reitz, author of AFTER COLLEGE:  NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS, RELATIONSHIPS AND FAITH.  Others include Robbie Gallaty, Dr. Bob Stewart, noted Apologist, Dr. Chuck Lawless and many more.  Plus, there will be sixteen Affinity Groups built around areas of interest such as "Ministry with Guys"; "Safety and Security"; "Technology"; "Singles in Ministry".

The Summit will be held at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville in the greater Nashville area.
Registration for the event is $160 which includes 2 meals, snack breaks, and a reception.  Cost for registering a spouse with a full registration is just $60.  There are a variety of hotels in the area with a special Summit rate.  Or, you can do the college ministry thing and sleep on the floor somewhere.

Join the more than 500 campus based, church based College Ministers, and volunteers from around the country for this time of renewal personally and in ministry.  What's better than hanging out with 500 people who really get what you do?  To register or for more information, go to Lifewayevents.com.

5 Factors in Determining College Ministry Strategy

In a recent Blog, I wrote about Michigan Baptists saying they were changing their college ministry strategy due to some college campuses attitude toward campus based religious groups.  Some had wondered if that were a turning point for how all of Baptists do college ministry.  One of the points of that article was to say that different state conventions in Baptist life have a very different amount of resources they are investing in college ministry.  So, it was not a "one answer fits all".

Here are 5 Factors in Determining a College Ministry Strategy:

1.  RESOURCES
There are three (3) parts to this and they are
1.  Money...Money doesn't make a ministry, but its hard to have a ministry without it.  The amount of money a ministry has varies widely from one ministry to another.
2.  Staff....The one person staff is significantly different than the multi-staff with ten paid interns.
3.  Facilities...A ministry with a large on campus facility is in a much different place than the
ministry with no facility, one that is far away from campus, or one needing to use college owned meeting areas.

2.  CAMPUS SETTING AND COOPERATION
Each campus is different in the type of students there, their availability, etc.  The all commuter campus requires a different strategy than the residential campus.  Some college administrations are super friendly to religious groups while others are not.  Whether a ministry can be a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) is a significant factor to consider.

3.  WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING
If there are five other ministries on campus, that will be a significantly different situation than to the campus where are there are no ministries.  Who other ministries are reaching and not reaching is another factor.  The style or strategy of other ministries is another factor.

4.  EXPECTATIONS OF SUPPORTERS OR EMPLOYERS
What do the people who support the ministry or who pay the College Minister's salary expect?  If it is a church ministry, maybe Sunday morning attendance is the number one goal.  Different expectations and goals must determine strategy.

5.  INDIVIDUAL GIFTS AND STRENGTHS
Some College Ministers are great speakers and others are best one to one with students.  Quite simply, the strategy of the ministry must reflect the particular strengths of the College Minister....especially if it is a one person staff.

No ministry can be a carbon copy of another.  Our strategy must be determined by the situation.

Some Universities Deem College Ministries Discriminatory...And College Ministry Strategy

Baptist Press (BPNEWS.NET) posted an excellent article on March 8th, "Under attack':Campus Ministries see changes ahead".  The article quotes the Executive Director of the Michigan State Baptist Convention, Tim Patterson, as saying Baptists "have to rethink how we do ministry on campus because the campus has changed."  The Wayne State University chapter of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship was deemed "discriminatory" by university officials for requiring student leaders to affirm a Christian doctrinal statement.

The article also mentions similar actions at Harvard, University of Iowa and Vanderbilt.  Patterson said the Michigan convention "has stopped funding most traditional campus ministry in favor of collegiate church plants that will focus on reaching college students but not seek recognition as student organizations."

It is certainly true that some colleges and universities have not been welcoming to Christian campus ministries as we have known them.  This is and should be of great concern to all of us who are believers and believe in the necessity of reaching and ministering to college students.  However, we must realize two different things.  First, this is not true on all college campuses across the country.  Some are hostile; some are neutral, and some are overwhelmingly cooperative.  It should be of great concern to us to see if this will be a developing trend nationally.  But, it is my view that we must deal with each situation individually.

Secondly, we must realize as we talk about strategies, Baptists already have some significantly different strategies across the country.  Southern Baptist ministries in Michigan do not have the resources that states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, etc have in doing college ministry.  And this alone has differentiated how different states and college ministries operate.  Plus, Baptists outside the Bible Belt do not often have churches near campuses with the resources and commitment to minister to college students.  I currently serve as the Interim College Minister for a church reaching out to the campus and this is in addition to at least three (3) other Southern Baptist Churches reaching out to the campus and all are experiencing from good to excellent response.  And, we have a large modern Baptist Student Center on the campus with a staff that is reaching students.

Recently, in visiting with the pastor of a fairly large Arkansas church with a ministry to the campus and whose church is a financial supporter of the on campus Baptist Collegiate Ministry, he indicated if Arkansas Baptists went to a campus church plant model, his church would withdraw their funding and start their own college ministry.  He was not being hostile.  His belief is the situation where his church and campus is is significantly different than those campuses where there are not nearby churches and functioning on campus ministries with Centers.

We should be greatly alarmed by the movement against Christian campus groups who are not allowed to select leaders whose beliefs are consistent with that ministry....as long as they  continue to be a responsible and cooperative student organizations.  Freedom of and from religion are twin tenets to which we hold.

As we consider strategy for college ministry in these definitely changing times, we must be careful to consider context.  Different situations are different.  Let's be sure to compare apples to apples.  A while back a person pointed to a campus church plant in a western state and indicated that it was obviously the model that all should emulate since they were reaching 400 to 500 students each week and most campus based ministries were not.  He was not aware that the campus church plant had more than twenty (20) staff members and most campus based ministries in Baptist life have one or two...and sometimes three or four.

Yes; times are changing and we must continually evaluate our strategy and change as needed.  A factor in that will always be resources.  Some predict that a decline in Baptist giving will likely impact our college ministry strategies more than what is happening on campus.  Some places we need collegiate church plants.  Some places we already have churches and campus based ministries functioning at a high level.  Let's do what needs to be done at each individual location with the resources available.

As always, these are my thoughts and do not represent those of any other entity.

A JOINT Large Group Worship Event?

I was in a meeting recently where it was asked, should that church consider doing a weekly large group worship event with another church and the on campus ministry the church helps sponsor.

The simple answer to the question of "Should we do a weekly joint worship event with churches and a campus ministry?" is a good question to ask.  Here are some questions to ask after that question.

WHY would we do a joint service?  If there are not enough students in any of the ministries to make a good crowd, that is a possible answer to having a stronger more appealing event.  WHO would speak, lead or sing at the event?  A joint event sometimes provides the talent to have a worship band that one ministry cannot provide alone.  Often at these joint events, the speaking is rotated between the College Ministers from the sponsoring ministries.  WHAT would be the responsibilities and commitments of each ministry that was a participant or sponsor?  Some such events have run into difficulty when some of the sponsors felt others were "taking" and not "giving".

One campus based College Minister told me that he had inherited a joint event done by multiple churches and the campus ministry.  He said in the beginning it had been a good thing because there had been ill feelings between the church and campus based ministry and it brought healing to those relationships.  But over a period of time, some of the churches dropped out and it was only one other church and the campus ministry involved.  They decided to each do their own thing and now are reaching more total students separately than they were in their joint event.  He said about 20% of the students attend both events.

Another campus based College Minister told of having a very large joint event with some other campus based ministries and local churches.  But, a huge drawback was they had to agree that they would not promote any of their individual events at the large group event.  One of the concerns was an overpowering set of announcements and announcing conflicting events.  Since the event was sponsored by a variety of campus ministries, there was some variance in doctrinal issues which had to be carefully navigated.  They had a killer band that would play for up to an hour....students loved it......and a significant number of students would leave after the band was done.

Does a joint event make sense for your ministry?  That depends on where your ministry is on its own and what would be accomplished that cannot be accomplished alone?  A joint event is neither a bad idea or a good idea.  It is an idea that might be good in some situations and bad in others.  The conclusion is know WHY you would do it, WHAT your goal is in doing it is AND what are the RULES or understandings that makes it fair and equitable to all involved. Like most things in college ministry, it is not the magic bullet.