Reaching MORE College Students

Most College Ministers want to reach more students.  Whether a ministry averages 25 or 250, we know there are other students that need to know Christ and or be growing in that relationship. Here are seven thoughts or actions to consider, if you have a desire to reach more students. 

1.  BEWARE OF MINISTRY KILLERS.

There are several  that can be holding a ministry back.  Two of them are, Inappropriate Behavior by Student Leaders and Same Old/Same Old.  If other students see what are key leaders behaving inappropriately, it gives the whole ministry a black eye.  Same Old/Same Old can be simply a lack of excellence in what is done.  Or, the ministry has failed to update and adjust over the last few years.

2.  DOING TOO MUCH.

There is always more that needs doing.  But, it is possible for a ministry to be attempting too many different things to do any well.  Plus, it spreads student leaders thin either in effort or responsibility.  Nothing is done well in the haste to do it all.  Is your ministry offering to many options, events, or ministries?

3.  YOUR MINISTRY IS NOT "THE IT MINISTRY".

If your ministry is working where there are multiple ministries and there is one that is obviously "the IT ministry", it can suck the oxygen out of other ministries.  Beware the temptation to copy what they are doing.  Don't bad mouth what they are doing. Decide what is the unique strength of your ministry and YOUR unique strength and bear down hard on those.  Be the best you that your ministry can be.

4.  COMMUNICATE THE SENSE OF MISSION.

"Open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest." John 4:35.  Do your students sense that your organization is on campus for a mission or to provide wholesome activities?  Help students and especially student leaders grow in their sense of mission.

5. BUILD CAMPUS AWARENESS.

Simply put, does the campus as a whole know the ministry is there?  Use publicity, special fun events, outreach tables, etc, etc.  As the Campus Minister, relate to key administrators that can close or open doors for the ministry.  Some events are done just for awareness.  Everybody is looking for a well done fun event.  First class publicity communicates that the ministry is first class.

6.  TOO MUCH YOU OR NOT ENOUGH YOU?

There is a balance for a leader and that is being up front enough to provide direction, etc or up front too much.  If the leader is too much the central focus of the ministry, the ministry will only connect to those students who relate to that leader's personality.  Some College Ministers are too much the focus of their ministry and some are not visible enough for modeling, etc.

7.  FOCUS ON SOME DIFFERENT TARGET GROUPS.

There are a wide variety of groups on every campus.  There is the band, Greeks, athletes, Stem students, commuters, etc. Many times multiple ministries are all aimed at the same campus group or two.  Is there a different group that your ministry could develop a relationship to?  Reach someone in that group and that group is open to your ministry.

I am NOT suggesting you immediately do ALL seven of these.  Pick one or two that you sense could be a weakness in your ministry or you sense an opportunity in that area.

These ideas are bits and pieces from my book, "Fixing a Broken College Ministry".  I goofed when I used that title and slant. Since most ministries are not broken, most saw it as not applicable to them. It really should have been "Reaching MORE College Students".  If you are interested in more ideas and an expansion of these seven, "Fixing" in eBook form is on sale this week (November 16-20) for 99 cents at amazon.com.

Arliss Dickerson's new book, ALMOST EVERYTHING ABOUT COLLEGE MINISTRY, is available at amazon.com.