A friend was telling me about a church he attended where they decided to let their full time College Minister go because he was "only averaging about 20 students". The church was paying him a full salary with benefits and decided it was not a good investment of their money.
There are lots of questions and issues here.
WAS HE WORKING HARD AT REACHING STUDENTS?
While I believe that God is at work in any ministry that is challenging non-believers to come to Christ and encouraging believers to grow, nothing beats hard work. If this person has not been working hard, has that issue been addressed in evaluations and coaching as time has progressed?
DID THIS PERSON HAVE EXPERIENCE DOING COLLEGE MINISTRY OR BEEN MENTORED OR TAUGHT HOW TO DO COLLEGE MINISTRY?
This goes to past background as well as providing opportunity and funding to attend conferences and go look at other ministries to learn best practices. Has an "Expert Evaluator" been brought in to provide objective evaluation and coaching? We owe it to young ministers to help them learn to do what they are called to do.
WAS THERE A GOOD STRATEGY DEVELOPED AND BEING UTILIZED?
Every campus is different and the resources of every ministry are different. So, was there a strategy that fit being utilized here. Hard work and the wrong plan still usually equals the wrong plan.
HOW LONG HAD THE COLLEGE MINISTER BEEN LEADING THE MINISTRY?
It usually takes three years for a ministry to become full blown. That is three years of the ministry utilizing and implementing a good strategy. It is three years of students coming in under the same philosophy. It is three years of developing relationships on campus. It is three years of understanding that particular campus. It is three years of developing student leaders. One of the main reasons church college ministries falter is continual turnover of the College Minister. (You can check out my Blog, "4 Killers of Church College Ministries".) Ground is lost and students are lost every time there is a change. Is it Year One, Year Two, or Year Three?
COLLEGE MINISTRY NUMBERS ARE DIFFERENT THAN OTHER CHURCH NUMBERS.
If 500 non-college adults attend the church over a three year period, that will be mostly the same 500 people. A college ministry gains and loses students every year due to graduation and transfer. Reaching 20 students a year over a three or four year period will result in touching the lives of 50 to 75 different students at least. So, in evaluating numbers, the question has to be, "How many DIFFERENT students are we touching over multiple years?"
BUT, HERE IS THE MAIN QUESTION: HOW MUCH OF A PRIORITY IS THE COLLEGE MINISTRY?
That is not meant as a snarky comment or question. No church can meet every need or address every situation. Ministry priorities of churches vary related to situation, resources, opportunity, etc. If every ministry is a priority...NO ministries are priority! If college ministry is one of the priorities, then that settles the issue. If we are reaching twenty every year, we will keep reaching twenty until we reach more. It is a missionary commitment, just like sending missionaries overseas.
Some churches in struggling with this issue do a combo position, but there must be honesty about it being genuinely a combo position and that time and resources are rightly divided. And, expectations are realistic and fit with the division of time and focus. Also, as the ministry grows, will the position become college ministry only?
Not every church should have a College Minister. But, every church close to a college campus needs to consider it. And, some churches need to have that as ONE OF THEIR MINISTRY PRIORITIES.
What would you say are the ministry priorities of your church?
Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry coach, blogger, and author. His new book, ALMOST EVERYTHING ABOUT COLLEGE MINISTRY, is available at amazon.com. Type in his name or the title.
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