A Conundrum of College Ministry

A conundrum is defined as, "a confusing and difficult problem or question" according to Google. Merriam Webster says its "an intricate and difficult problem." My homemade definition would be that "it is a problem that is contradictory in its parts...yet all are true."

 Here is a conundrum of college ministry.  Having a solid core group that is close and loves being together is beneficial.  Yet, that very plus can become a problem when it causes others to feel left out or not wanted.  When your ministry group becomes a co-ed fraternity or sorority, it works against your ministry being more inclusive of new people.  When new people come, they sense that this is a closed group.  Core members tend not to invite people because they like the way it feels and their social and even spiritual encouragement needs are being met.

How does your large group meeting look and feel?  Is it a tight group of friends or are there a wide variety of students there that don't exactly all fit together?  Believe it or not, I think the second is a little more healthy for the long term benefit of the ministry and your outreach to the campus.  One thing that communicates this closed group feeling is when the announcements are all "in code"...they only make sense to the core group.

I believe in social events within a ministry for many reasons.  They are outreach events; they build a healthy fellowship....they help students learn to be social, etc, etc.  HOWEVER,  I think we should be careful that our ministry is not geared toward meeting ALL your students' social needs.  That is when it has gotten to the point of working against your ministry being more wide spread and touching a wider variety of students.

If your ministry has a large group weekly meeting, thought should be given to how to make it feel comfortable for a wider variety of people.  Some ways to do that are:
-Have different parts within the program (Different things speak to different people....drama, testimonies, videos, etc.).  Even if each event is a Bible study by you each week, there can be different things done by students....and not always the same students.

-Intentionally ask students who are NOT in the core group to do things in front of the entire group.  That is more likely to bring or connect other students not in the core group.

-Challenge your leaders to not always sit with the same people and even in the same places.  Yes, college students can have their "regular pew" just like older Christians.

-Students have long laughed at my "freakiness about chairs and set-ups".  Setting your room up differently on different nights helps break up the "regular pew syndrome".

Obviously, there is no magic formula for this issue or it would not be a conundrum.  But, the first thing is to be aware and constantly working at connecting different students with different students.  And, it also goes to my often stated belief, "Walk across the campus and through the Student Center every day."  It is part of connecting to different students and never losing sight of a larger campus other than just your core group.


Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format for 99 cents each at Amazon.com.  His paperback version of FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY is temporarily priced at $3.99.