Jesus' Disciples Didn't Jell Their Hair??

I was standing by an older pastor at a special University Sunday at his church.  The Youth Minister and a student band were leading in a very well done contemporary worship set.  The pastor said to me, "You've seen music go from soup to nuts during your career haven't you."

Yes, I have.  I remember when at each of our events a different student was asked to lead and another student was asked to play the piano.  We went from that to taped accompaniment and the words put on the wall with an overhead projector.  We were out front and way outside the box!  Then, when we started what is now the contemporary worship movement, a College Minister said to me, "We have finally gotten to authentic worship".  I said, "I wonder what will come after this."  He looked at me horrified.....there is nothing after this....this is it was his clear thought.

I know to some it is sacrilegious to say, but THERE IS ALWAYS A NEXT.....there will be another new thing at some point.  It might be as crazy as one person playing a keyboard and leading. God uses different things at different points.  We must never lose sight of that.  It is always difficult to keep the message and the vehicle separate.  Jesus did not have a cool worship leader that I know of.....maybe even none of the disciples jelled their hair or wore skinny jeans.  Plus, I don't think there was a light show at the Sermon on the Mount (unless God lit the sky).

Our message must never be that we are cool, edgy, outside the box or look good in V-neck tee shirts.  Our message cannot be that our band is better than or louder than your band.  Our message must always be that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and broken.

If your vehicle is your message, your message will go out of style.  If our message and ministry is clearly about Jesus.....then, our ministries will be good for eternity.  Be current....connect with students and communicate in ways they get and understand.....just don't ever think the cool and your edginess is the main thing.

"Methods are many, principles are few.  Methods often change, principles never do."

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

What if 50 Students is MAX This Fall?

There has been some discussion that if colleges have students on campus this fall, there may be a "50 students together maximum" rule.  How would that affect your ministry?  For some that would not be an issue.  But for some it would be a major problem.  Will students observe social distancing requirements.  Many do not now.  If your university requires it, but your ministry does not meet on campus, should you adhere to it?  Should parents' expectations be a part of your planning?

Here are some options to consider and spur your thinking:

-One College Minister told me he was considering having simultaneous events at students houses at least for Welcome Parties.  He would have pizza sent to each house or gathering.

-For your large group worship event, have a 7:00 o'clock gathering and a 9:00 o'clock gathering.  One could be Freshmen and Sophomores and the other Juniors and Seniors.

-Have a Freshmen Worship Event and an Upperclass Worship event.  But, enlist some sharp and caring upperclass students to be leaders at the Freshmen Worship

-Of course, there could be a Tuesday night event and a Thursday night event.

-What about Outreach Lunch Programs?  This is a head scratcher.  Could there be reservations?  But, if it is filled with reservations, what about new people showing up and being brought by friends?  Could there be reservations for fifty and then fifty available seats for first come, first serve/  Many Outreach Lunch Programs are served by volunteer and "OLDER" adults from churches.  Will they come?  Should they come?  Would it be possible to ask them to consider a financial gift equal to the Lunch they would provide and divide that between the different smaller group events?


-What about having Class Worship events?  There is Freshmen Worship, Sophomore Worship, Junior Worship, and Senior Worship.  Some are in student houses, others are in the regular meeting place, etc.  These could be held simultaneously or at different times or even nights to accommodate different schedules.

-Could there be multiple meeting sites built around a different topic for the event and students choose according to the topic with the understanding that fifty is max?  Or, again, would students make a reservation? Asking students to make a reservation is tough as all of us know from lots of past experiences.  But, this is a new normal.  Will there be a different attitude among students about making reservations?

-What about once a month or twice a month large group worship gatherings for different groups by classes.  Or, is this time to think about gatherings by types of majors?  This gathering is for Health Sciences majors.  This gathering is for Ag college majors, etc.

None of these may be good ideas or spur any good ideas in your head.  BUT, what if your campus says there can be no gatherings over fifty at once?

WARNING:  In providing a variety of fifty max gatherings on different nights, it is possible for a College Minister to break their family!  Figure YOU and YOUR FAMILY into any great plans that you make.

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

Why Do High School Seniors "Graduate" From Church?

It is the season of high school Senior Sundays at churches.

 Anyone that has any familiarity with college or young adult ministry these days is concerned about the number of young adults walking away from church and faith connections.  Part of addressing an issue of concern is not how do we fix it after it happens, but how do we keep it from happening?  How do high school seniors go from being "church kids" to not connected?

First, let's say something that cannot be politely said on Senior Sunday.

  Many of those walking across the stage that day and having their cute baby pictures shown on the screen have not been involved in church for awhile.  I participated in one Senior Sunday a few years back where thirty seniors were introduced and applauded.  The Youth Minister told me about half of them had not been involved for the last year or two.  I have even been to Senior Sunday where a Youth Minister, who had been at the church for two or three years, said Senior Sunday was the first time he had ever seen or met some of them.  So, a bunch of these seniors have not suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

An interesting fact is that many churches have a larger attendance of youth on Wednesday night rather than Sunday morning.

 Wednesday night is when there is the specific youth event tailored just for them.  Sure, there are some there who have come from smaller churches that do not have a youth ministry.  But, the overwhelming fact is many come to the youth events, but do not come to the church wide events. Their parents come on Sunday morning, but their sons and daughters do not. 

  Here is the bottom line:  students belong to the youth group...NOT to the church.

  So, when they graduate from the youth group, they have graduated from church in terms of their connections and experiences.

So, how does this happen?

For one thing, many parents okay it.  One sweet mom said to me that her son is just so busy with all the things he is involved in, that Sunday morning is his only time to sleep and catch up on rest.  Everything he is involved in is good and helpful to his development, prep for college and career, etc.  I tried to be kind in my response because parents have it tough these days. And, I said that.  I also said, "But he is missing some of the teaching and training that will inform his choices and decisions later." We need to do a better job of helping, understanding, and working with parents in these days.  Life is crazy hectic for many.  Maybe half of youth ministry these days needs to be helping and working with parents.  By the way, I think parents should talk about and expect spiritual involvement from their young person in college.  Many say they cannot do that.  Parents talk about grades, ask about classes, and encourage keeping scholarships.  What parents say and do not say communicates what they think is important.

Churches have known for years that we have a problem transitioning single young adults to overall church involvement.

 We are more geared to families and young couples with babies. An eighteen year old high school graduate does not suddenly fit in a "Singles Class".  Here is another fact that is  weird.  Many churches that have active college ministries that reach students from campus find that their own home grown college students will not attend the college ministry. Why? Partly, they suddenly feel like strangers in their own church.  Who are all these people I do not know?  Perhaps, we need to intentionally have some of our home grown students enlisted to help lead our college ministry as they take the next step.  Maybe Senior Sunday is part of their "commissioning".

Honestly, most Senior Sundays feel like a graduation event.  So, why would seniors not feel that it is over?  I like Senior Sundays.  I think we should do Senior Sundays.  But, we need to help them be a "Transition Event" not an ending.  Part of the service can be handing them off in a formal way to the next step. Before we can fix a problem, we have to acknowledge we have one.  When you are enjoying all the church Senior Sunday events, realize maybe, JUST MAYBE, that is the first time some of them have been around on Sunday in a while....or even a long while.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

What About Your College Ministry Facilities by Darrell Cook

There are countless college ministers out there doing amazing work without facilities or space to call their own.  For those of us who do have space that we are stewards of, summer is a great time to go beyond just maintaining those spaces and keep improving them.  As we teach students to live out Christ-centered hospitality, our ministry spaces can be great places to learn how to do that.  Here are a few questions that are worth asking annually as we make the most of these places that can be made into even better tools for ministry.

*  Anything around your facilities that would cause someone to ask, "I wonder why they don't fix that?"

*  Anything not working as it should that we have just "adapted" to?

*  Have we invited anyone in lately to look over layout, systems, and aesthetics with "fresh eyes"?

*  Any storage areas that have held unused items for a long time?  Perhaps, its time to purge?

*  Any furniture that needs to be replaced in the next year or so?  Or is there a gap in furniture needed for small groups or other ministry needs?

*  Any areas needing paint touch up, repainting, color scheme changes?

*  Any wall hangings, pictures, accessories that are getting dated?

*  This list is mostly about  smaller cosmetic and functional building needs - Do we have a "dream big" list of what we would do with larger structural changes/adaptations to make the facilities better fit ministry to students?  In other words, if we had the resources, what would we change about our facilities?

Darrell Cook is the Baptist Campus Minister at Virginia Tech University and is renowned for his "Alumni Work Weekend" that is part paint up/fix up, part reunion, and part alumni banquet.

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

Things I Have Heard from College Ministers

I have been privileged to talk with different College Ministers and be on different Zoom groups during this weirdest of times.  I have heard all kinds of things people are trying both in relating to their students and "finishing the semester" in some way or other.  I am more impressed than ever by what different College Ministers are doing in an attempt to minister to students and reach new students.

Here are some ideas or things said that stuck with me:

1.  No ONE THING is working for everybody.
Some have indicated they have been very pleasantly surprised at the response to their large group worship event on line.  Others have said the response has been disappointing.  Some small groups have continued to function well on line and others have not.  Here is the thing.  We are reminded again that every situation is different.  Don't beat yourself up by comparing to someone else.

2.  Call Students.
One person has shared how they are working through their entire list of students and just calling them to say hey and visit briefly.  It is a personal touch.  Obviously, this is more difficult in a large ministry, but it could simply be done over the next month or the whole summer.

3.  Send mail.
Another commented how they had sent mail to their students and how much it was appreciated.  Is that write notes to students?  Is it a return to the old idea of sending out a "Summer Newsletter"?  Everybody is sending emails, doing Zoom meetings, etc.  Is snail mail the NEW IDEA?

4.  Give students a break.
In the first rush of excitement of Zoom and other media being used, there has come from some the thought, "Hey, we can do this all summer and why haven't I been doing this before?"  Do students need a break"  Is part of their coming back fired up in the fall the fact that they have had a change and it fuels their being back?  Others have said they are ending the semester and will give students a two or three week break, then do "Summer programming" on line and then take a two or three break before the start of the fall semester, whether it is on line or in person.

5.  Give yourself a break.
Most College Ministers I talk to during this time are working harder and or feeling more stressed than usual in May. Giving your students a break can also mean giving yourself a break.  Beware of over doing it during this time.  Make sure to do some of the restorative things that you normally do when school is out in May.

6.  Plan for the unusual.
Another College Minister told me he was planning and figuring out how to do his ministry this fall in small groups totally, if school is on, but large groups are not allowed.  He said, "I can always switch easily to how we have done things, if fall is normal."  Are you planning for the "Unusual"?  Maybe, fall will not be all on on line or not all normal.  Maybe, there will be classes on campus but all done very differently.  What if the University says, "no gatherings of more than 50"?  Make a plan for "what if".

Keep thinking all those good ideas and let me hear about them, so I can share them with others.  Hey, it is May...take some time for YOU and FAMILY!

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