Arliss' Crazy, Stupid Rules for College Ministry

1.  When an outside or entry door has double doors, unlock both doors!  Why have double doors and leave one locked all the time?

2.  Before your major weekly event(s) check the bathrooms for toilet paper.....and an extra roll as well.

3.  Make no more than four announcements.

4.  When setting up for a meal, the fork goes on the LEFT.

5.  Do not leave stacks of chairs randomly and carelessly setting around the room.

6.  Walk across the campus and through the Student Center EVERY day.

7.  Eat where students eat at least once or twice a week.

8.  The outside appearance of a campus religious center is more important than the inside appearance to your donors and supporters.  Most of them will only see the outside.

9.  Write personal, HANDWRITTEN thank you notes.

10. If your Center or meeting space is dirty, messed, up or haphazzard,  it says to people that your ministry is dirty, messed up, or haphazzard.

11.  Pray out loud with students in individual meetings,  so they will learn to pray out loud with others.

12.  It's the LITTLE things done right again and again that make the difference. 

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five college ministry books available at Amazon.com for 99 cents each in eBook format.

Working Wisely in College Ministry

College Ministers have more to do than they can do.  Consequently, some ignore one area to focus on another.  The classic and over used example is the two extremes.  There is the College Minister who is always out on campus talking to students and hanging out.  Then, there is the College Minister who never leaves his/her office while doing reports, budgets, newsletters, etc.

A friend who leads a multi-person staff has spoken of helping his younger staff members understand its not about putting in forty hours a week, but being there when they need to be and getting things done that need to get done.....and usually that takes more than forty hours a week in most ministry situations. I believe we must have BOTH very structured time and very unstructured time.  And, the unstructured time needs to be planned into our schedule. 

Our weekly schedule could be divided into three categories.
-Making the Trains Run on Time
-Building Deeply into the Life of a Few
-Unstructured out On Campus Time

MAKING THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME
This is doing the things that keep the ministry going.  It is doing the budget, seeing that bills are paid, evaluating and planning related to our weekly events.  There are reports and newsletters that need to be done.  It is doing the preparation to speak at your weekly event or doing the prep for the Bible Study/Discipleship groups that you lead.  It is the everyday tasks that many people will not see but that make the ministry touch a larger group than you touch individually on a deep level.

BUILDING DEEPLY INTO THE LIFE OF A FEW
We must build deeply into the life of a few for BOTH the benefit of our ministry AND for the benefit of the ministry of churches where these will serve as vocational and lay leaders in the years to come. AND, for their personal benefit.  We should never take more from a student leader than we try to give them in our investment in their personal lives.  When we meet individually with out student leaders to plan, encourage, and disciple, we multiply our time and ministry.  When we don't prioritize and schedule this time, we short change our students and our ministry.

UNSTRUCTURED OUT ON CAMPUS TIME
One of my principles/sayings is, "Walk across the campus and thru the Student Center Every Day."  We must be meeting people all the time.  It can be faculty, staff, students, etc, etc.  One of the easiest ways is eating where students and faculty eat. Someone you know will introduce you to someone you do not know.  It is having certain days and time planned to eat in specific locations.  Sometimes, it will be arranged lunches with someone for a specific purpose and other times it will just be eating and seeing who shows up, etc.  This is about widening our circle of acquaintances.  The wider our circle of acquaintances is the wider our influence will be.  Someone complimented me recently by saying, "You know everybody."  I don't know everybody.....BUT....I am trying to know everybody.

Do you have a plan or structure to your week?   Does it have all three categories in it?

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format for 99 cents each at Amazon.com

Three Practices of Good and Effective Leaders

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook what she thought successful leaders with whom she had worked had done and been.  I want to share by quoting what she said.  I think she understood the basics of good leadership. 

1.  They set clear expectations, communicated clearly, and did what I call a "check in"on a regular basis.

2.  They focused on the strengths of others and affirmed those strengths regularly.

3.  They made sure those under their leadership would know how to to carry on the practices, etc when they were gone. 

That is a pretty great leadership course right there.  Those of us who are in leadership roles would do well to check ourselves on these three points.  Special thanks to my friend Danielle!

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format for 99 cents each at Amazon.com.

Put July 8-10 on Your Calendar....The College Ministers Fellowship

The College Ministers Fellowship is July 8-10 from noon to noon at the Baptist Student Center at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.  The College Ministers Fellowship is one of my two favorite meetings (the other is the Collegiate Summit).  This informal meeting was started as a result of a handful of BSU/BCM Directors who just wanted to get together and swap ideas in a very informal setting.

Many meetings are speaker driven while this one is White Board driven.  What do you want to know?  What have you tried that works?  Who are some speakers you have used?  How do you reach freshmen?  There is no registration fee and most meals are provided free of cost by Southern Baptist Seminaries and agencies.

For some the best part is finding someone who is on the same page and just being able to get off in a corner and talk it out.  There is a free morning for golf, movies, shopping or sleeping...or more getting with whomever you want to get with.  Your cost is your travel and lodging.

Back in the 1980's a group of Baptist Campus Ministers were sitting around a table in a fast food restaurant after a formal session of a regional collegiate ministers meeting exchanging ideas.  Someone said, "This is way better than the conference.  Wouldn't it be great if we could do this for two or three days?".  The next summer about ten College Ministers met at Arkansas State University and did just that.  And, The College Ministers Fellowship was born.  I credit it with being a time of encouragement, fun, and some of the best and most helpful ideas I have ever heard in college ministry meetings.  The single best thing that grew our ministry at Arkansas State I learned at one of these meetings.

Steve Masters, the BCM Director at LSU (lsubcm@eatel.net) is the coordinator of this meeting.  You can contact him for details or to indicate you will be attending.  I hope to see you there.

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five college ministry books available in eBook format for 99 cents each at Amazon.com.

Talking to College Students About the P Word

We talk about the M word (marriage).  We talk about not using the F word.  But, I am afraid we are not doing what we need to do in talking about the P Word.  The P word is Politics.

I have written at different times encouraging College Ministers and other ministry types to stop making divisive political comments on social media.  I have a personal rule to not make political comments......I break that rule about twice a year.  Many College Ministers have been told by their supervisors to make NO political comments and to not even click "Like" on political comments on Facebook.  I get all that but here is my concern.

I really believe that Christians should be involved in politics and that voting should be a part of what we do as Christians.  I want Christians to run for office, etc.  I have written previously about the super well known Christian speaker who spoke out about the personal immorality of a well known political leader.  That speaker now draws smaller crowds and speaks in smaller settings.  Who knew speaking against immorality would be a problem for other Christians.

Each year some students ask me to speak on "Christians and Politics".  They have a wide variety of questions and views.  Some have said they do not vote because they see it all as dirty.  Others see Christians selling out the Gospel for political gain or that the end justifies the means.  And still others ask if one political party is really the party that all Christians should belong to.

Here are some of my thoughts and what I say to students when I speak or in an individual setting on this topic.

-I believe Christians should vote...."Render unto Caesar".
-I believe Christians should run for office.....more "rendering".
-I believe all the good or bad people are not in one political party.
-I do not share my specific views on who I do or do not vote for in a large group.  But, I will tell students my specific views if they want to talk to me individually.  Yet, I work at being very supportive of their views even if they are totally opposite mine.  Some of the finest students I have had have well thought out views that are different than mine.  Hooray for them.

Many have told me in certain races they have not voted because it feels like choosing between the "lesser of two evils" and that evil is evil.  My response to that is one of those two people is going to be elected....there is no "None of the Above" option to check.  So, I encourage them to make a decision on one of the choices which will do better or if you will, be less harmful.

I think we must find a line between making dumb political statements and not speaking on political issues at all.  Yet, I am opposed to the idea that pastors should make political endorsements.  I teach a Sunday School class of older adults.  I have someone in my class who has spent the night at the White House when President Clinton was in office.  I have others in my class who have been on tours with Fox News Commentators and others who are active in the Tea Party movement.  I think that is what church is supposed to look like.

So, I encourage you to think....and think wisely.....about talking with your students about politics and their participation in our government system.  I also encourage you to NOT violate any guidelines you have been given by your supervisors.  And, you maybe should not click "Like" on this article.

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five very practical books on College Ministry available in eBook format for 99 Cents each at Amazon.com/dp/B0741DM1CD.

The Golden Age of College Ministry?

A couple of years ago I wrote an article entitled "Has the Golden Age of College Ministry Passed?".
In many ways I think it may be more relevant now than then. Don't worry it's not an all gloom and doom article.

You can check it out at my former Blog site. It's at www.arlissdickerson.blogspot.com

Hope your semester is off to a great start!  I've had a good first week.

Arliss

The 4 Laws of Announcements

Announcements are necessary....not a necessary evil.  They become evil when done poorly.  The start of a semester is a key time for announcements.  There is much that needs to be communicated.

1.  Make no more than four announcements.
The more you announce, the less people hear.  If one announcement is THE most important one, make it at a separate time.

2.  The person making the announcements needs to understand the announcements.
All of us have attended Christian events where the person making the announcement obviously did not have a clue what it was about and therefore everyone there was clueless as well.

3.  A first time attendee should be able to understand the announcements.
Often, it seems that the announcements are done in code so that only "the insiders" will understand them which helps newcomers feel even more left out and that they do not belong.

4.  The announcements should not become the main event.
Some in an attempt to make the announcements entertaining or not a negative go overboard with time or videos, etc.  I was at one event where "the announcement team" took twenty minutes doing the announcements.

Arliss Dickerson is a part time college ministry consultant for Lifeway Christian Resources and the author of five books on college ministry in eBook and print at amazon.com (type in Arliss Dickerson).

The 2 Most Deadly and Quickest Killers of College Ministries

There are several things that will kill either a campus based or church based college ministry.  Some are slow killers and others can be almost instant.  There are two that are the most deadly and I do not think you can rank one over the other, as they are different.

CONTINUAL TURNOVER OF MINISTERIAL LEADERSHIP

This one can be either instant or slow.  There are many reasons that continual turnover is destructive to the ministry.

-Some students always disappear when there is a change in leadership.  They were drawn to the previous leader and that relationship is no longer there.

-Due to some circumstances in their own life, they are not there when the new leadership takes over and no one misses or re-enlists them.  Or, it seems that no one cares they are not there.

-Often times a new leader brings a completely different philosophy or approach to the ministry and previous students are not comfortable or do not feel they fit the new approach.

-A new leader may attract a different or new set of students and those previously involved feel left out or that they do not fit with the newer students.

So, what do we do with this issue?  The answer is complicated because many things go into causing the problem.  First, frequent turnover often comes due to a lack of emotional support to the College Minister or financial support of the ministry.  The salary may be minimal and people quickly move on just to survive financially.  Or, they feel no one cares but them.  A growing issue is additional duties being added to College Minister job descriptions that make it feel impossible to do what is being asked..

Another factor is that College Ministers must realize that it usually takes three years for a college ministry to begin to operate at full force. Simply put, that is three years of studens coming into the ministry under the same philosophy, expectations, and leadership relationships.  So, a College Minister, when possible, needs to make a long term commitment to that ministry.  That means suffering through the hard building days and not assuming the grass is always greener in a new position.

Outside the College Minister's scope, those who provide the position must see the need for a livable salary that provides for a family and a job description that is do-able and attractive to someone who is called to college ministry.

IMMORAL OR CONTINUAL MISBEHAVIOR BY STUDENT LEADERS

This one can be instant when others become aware of it.  They simply see the ministry as a sham and they want nothing to do with it or don't want others to think that ministry represents who they are.  First, please hear me, this is not a call for continual snooping or spying on leaders to insure their perfection.  They will not be perfect.  But, the issue is when there is a continual pattern of inappropriate behavior by people seen as being leaders.  Be aware, sometimes outsiders have a different or incorrect perception about who the leaders are.

-First, there must be clear expectations communicate to potential leaders of what the standards are.  This can be done in interviews and with a signed covenant.

-When the ministerial leadership becomes aware of inappropriate behavior, those students must be talked with individually....and respectfully....not in a accusatory manner.

-Remember, that are false accusations made and there are one time mistakes made by the finest of students.  This come to the point where you sometimes accept the word of a student that the accusation or appearance of wrong doing is false or misunderstood by others.  And, sometimes you extend grace and a second chance even when it is as it appeared.

Several years ago, I became aware of continual misbehavior by several students in our ministry.  Some were in key roles and others were not.  But, they were strongly identified with our ministry.  I confronted the issue with them and immediately the attendance at our large group meeting dropped by half!  Students who were involved in the inappropriate actions immediately stopped attending....as well as friends of theirs disappeared.  I was shell shocked, but felt I had done the right thing.  But, I had not anticipated how heavy the price would be.

Then a crazy thing began to happen.  Attendance at our large group meeting began to grow and went back to where it had been.  First, there were new students coming who had been turned off to our ministry due to the behavior they had seen in several.  They just assumed it had represented our ministry as a whole.  Not only had I not realized what was happening, but had not realized how it was affecting our ministry.  Students on campus know the reputation of your ministry.....even if you do not!  Then, some who had been involved in the misbehavior came back with a new spirit and understanding of Christian actions and responsibilities.

I cannot promise, if you take a moral stand and students leave, that the ministry will quickly grow back.....BUT, I can promise you it is possible.  

If at all possible, commit to the long term of your service in leading a college ministry and be willing to stand up to misbehavior that affects the ministry as a whole.

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry/leadership consultant and the author of five books on college ministry at amazon.com (type in Arliss Dickerson).  "ALMOST Everything About College Ministry will be available in early summer.

The Quick Cheat Sheet for Repairing or Growing a College Ministry

A Cheat Sheet is a quick summary of a lot of information.  Here is my Quick Cheat Sheet for a college ministry revitalization.

1.  Look at and as honestly as possible, determine what issues are holding your ministry back.

2.  Listen to and get input from your core students. Get input, but do not ask them to vote on actions to take.

3.  Determine if any of "The Ministry Killers" are at work in your ministry.  (Playing favorites, Inappropriate Behavior by student leaders, No joy or fun in the ministry, Same old/Same old, Lack of excellence).

4.  Decide which of two basic approaches to take.  Is it "Do a complete overhaul and change everything."  or "Tweak some things within your current ministry.".

5.  Establish a starting point...this is FIRST! Prioritize it and move on it.

6.  Look at the common characteristics of large and growing ministries....what is one that could most quickly move your ministry in a positive direction. (Two are Effective small groups and Sense of Mission).

7.  Develop an overall plan.  A written plan or strategy is a plus to making continual progress.  Don't let the everyday tasks keep you from doing the things necessary for the change.

8.  Assess honestly the ministry's healthy or unhealthy "atmosphere".

9.  Be prepared for the push back and personal attack that often goes with change.

10.  Consider slimming down what your ministry offers to beef up the quality of your offerings.

11.  Make an OBVIOUS change or multiple changes that show this is a NEW day.

12.  Invest deeply in a few that can be difference makers.

13.  Clean up the ministry reputation where needed with outsiders.

14.  Understand how other ministries may be having an impact on yours.

15.  Determine how much more or less you need to be the up front face of the ministry.

16.  Begin now to determine your plan for connecting to and reaching freshmen in the fall semester.

Adapted from FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY, Amazon.com/dp/1521876665.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV