My favorite people are College Ministers. I love being in College Minister conferences and workshops. That is where I feel the most at home. One thing I have begun to learn over the years is there are some different viewpoints from those who serve on church staffs and those who do campus based ministry.
For several years I have had the privilege of working on a conference which is attended by both church based and campus based College Ministers. In planning the program and in reading evaluations after the conferences, I learned that church based College Ministers want more preaching and campus based College Ministers want more hands on how to workshops. I have thought about that quite a bit and I still don't know why those preferences are different.
A couple of years ago I was trying to arrive at a reasonably accurate figure of how many "full time" church College Ministers there were in Southern Baptist life. As I consulted college ministry leaders in different states, many would say, "The turnover is so quick that it is hard for us to have an accurate number.". Yet, campus Based College Ministers tend to stay for many years on a campus. It is not unusual for a campus based one to serve 20 to 30 years. I am not aware of any church based that have served that long. Likely there is, but it would be very unusual.
None of this is meant to be a criticism or praise of either position or calling. We need both. But, I do believe long term ministries tend to be more fruitful overall. Continual change of leadership is one of the "Killers of a college ministry". Is there a reason church based folks move more often? If there is, how can we address that issue and help church college ministries have more long term leaders?
Another take away for me from this has been to think perhaps we need two different kinds of people with different strengths and gifts in these roles. Possibly they are not interchangeable.
I look forward to hearing a variety of thoughts on these perceived differences. Is it coincidental or are there other factors at work here?
Thanks, Arlis, for your observation. IMO church-based leaders see their ministry as a steeping stone, a place of skill development and mentoring, and opportunity to hone skills of preaching and teaching. Campus-based see themselves, as you observed, in a life long calling. I was with a church-based ministry recently that flatly said no one over thirty could be on their collegiate staff. They should move on to the work of the church. That mentality would have left you and me out in the cold. I did not agree with this approach. I think they see collegiate workers more as youth directors than people actually working with adults. At some point I think this mentality will come back to bite them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brett. Great comments and a scary observation!
ReplyDeleteArliss, I think it all comes back to investment. If a church chooses to invest financial resources into the ministry and into the college minister, the chances of that college minister staying greatly increase. The sad truth is, most churches will not or they think they cannot afford to invest in college students. So they under fund both the ministry and the minister. So the position of college minister in most churches becomes for a part time, or a young single person. As the young single person grows a family, what worked before financially doesn't work anymore. There is no one I know of in a church based setting that is raising their own support like so many campus based ministers are around the country. Thus, college ministry in churches goes by the waste side.
ReplyDeleteI've served at FBC Covington LA as College Pastor for 11 years now, but I've had to be slash guy to be in that role. I was college/student worship pastor, now I'm college/young families. It sure can make it difficult to focus on one group. Over the years, I have wished to be like a campus based guy for their ability to be singularly focused on college students!
Arliss I'm grateful for your leadership and investment in so many college ministers. I can't think of anyone better to receive the honor you did from my Alma Mater.
Blessings Friend,
Josh Jordan
Thanks Josh, Good thoughts! I think you're"slash" comment is right on. The folks who are raising their salaries say often they are more able to focus on college students and not "other duties as assigned". But, some starve out. Blessings to you. Keep on!
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