5 Easy Ways to Avoid New Students Coming into Your College Ministry

 New students showing up at your ministry are so bothersome!  Sometimes, they are not Christians and you have to go through the plan of salvation with them.  They don't know where to sit and you have to introduce them to people.  But, there are some easy ways to make sure you do not have too many new students come....well at least, they won't come back.

1.  Do your announcements so only the hard core insiders understand what they are about.  Also, make them long and dull.  Another good tip is for the person making the announcements to obviously not understand any of them and need to be corrected often.

2.  Make sure there is NO FUN at your large group events!  Laughter is a disruption.  Keep it grim!  If word gets out that students are enjoying being there and having fun, that will cause more problems.

3.  Have NO greeters at the door.  Too many friendly faces at the door welcoming, meeting and helping them find a seat is just too much trouble.

4.  Make absolutely sure that no one follows up with them for at least two weeks.  Quick follow-up may give the impression you like that they came and want them to come back.  Wait a couple of weeks before contacting them.  They will probably have even forgotten that they came.

5.  Make sure that your starting and ending times are not reliable.  If it is supposed to last an hour, a good two or three hour service will shake them up.  Or, start about 15 or 20 minutes late.  Standing around and waiting at a new place with strange people is always a plus!

Arliss Dickerson's college ministry books are available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX

What if You (like me) Are Not REALLY Good at Anything?

 So, what if you are a College Minister and like me, you are not especially good at anything?

Some years ago, a pastor friend of mine and I had just heard a famous pastor speak at a meeting.  He had been terrific. Following it out in the hall, my friend said, "He could not pastor my church." He went on to describe his situation as pastor of an Arkansas county seat First Baptist Church.  I don't think he was bitter; I just think he was correct in describing his situation and what it took.  My pastor friend went on to say that he thought for many hearing the famous preacher talk about how his church was booming was more detrimental to most pastors than encouraging.  I get that.

I have  College Minister friends who are great speakers.  Another is a gifted athlete and goes to the gym and everybody wants to introduce themselves and be on his team.  Some play great music and sing.   A long time ago I bought a guitar.  I was told that with a little rhythm and three cords you could play anything.  But, the rhythm thing was not there and I was not especially adept at the three cords.  I had a handsome Associate once who would strum his guitar about once in a whole song....but there was that handsome thing. Most of us are not All-Stars.    

So, what are the majority of us supposed to do?

CONSISTENCY  is the answer!  Be where you say you will be.  Be on time for meetings.  When you tell a student that you will pray for them.  Pray for them and check back later to see how that issue is going.  They will appreciate that CONSISTENCY.

Show up for work every day...on time...and do what you came to do.  I was speaking for a workshop one time and the person introducing me said, "Our speaker has the gift of stating the obvious."  I was not sure how he meant it, but I decided I would take it as a compliment.  Somebody has to state the obvious...again and again, it seems.  Somebody has to do the obvious....again and again.

College ministry is hard every day work.  Students will let you down.  The school will schedule a big event at the same time as one of your events.  The weather gets in the way.  Tornadoes happen in the middle of your big worship event. What do you do?  You keep doing.  It is called CONSISTENCY.  People send students to a ministry because they know what will happen there....it is consistent.

How do you build a ministry?  You put one month on top of another and one year on top of another.  And, you keep stating the obvious....God loves you, forgives you, and wants to have a relationship with you.  That is called CONSISTENCY.

So, what if you, like me, are not really good at anything?  Keep being and doing what God called you to do.  It is called CONSISTENCY.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."  I Corinthians 1:58

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

Dreams and Nightmares of a College Minister

Someone has said that, "Dreams are a window into our soul."

 Some years ago when I first stepped away from being the Baptist Collegiate Minister at Arkansas State, I started having vivid college ministry dreams I had not previously had.  Some were just dreams and some were almost nightmare.

Freshmen Survival was our big start of school event that we recruited to all summer through orientations, mailings, etc.  Our Associate would carefully select and train our upperclass leaders for this one day event that involved a large number of freshmen.  One night I dreamed that I had gone to campus and had just been there for a few minutes in our campus Center when freshmen started streaming into the building saying they were there for Survival.  I had FORGOTTEN that it was Survival Day!  I immediately ran out onto the sidewalk and began grabbing upperclass students who were walking by saying, "Come inside, you are going to be a Survival leader."  I woke up in a cold sweat and feeling like I had been run over!

My wife, Sue, coordinated the churches that did the meals for our Lunch Program.  On those weeks we did not have a church to do it, she would prepare the meal.  She also has coordinated large food events for our church.  She occasionally has food event dreams where she has prepared for one hundred and two hundred show up, etc.

Sometimes the people in our dreams are recognizable and often they are former students who meant much to the ministry.  They are in the same dream, but they were not in school at the same time.  It is a reminder that God has used many wonderful students to minister to, share Christ and help a ton of other students grow in their relationship to the Lord.  And, it was never a solo effort.

When I wake up, I often try to analyze the dream and decide what it means.  I have just about given up on that.  I think mostly they mean I am either mentally ill or at my core, I am a College Minister.  (Those two may automatically go together.) And that I have had the uncertainty that goes with college ministry.  Some days it works great and some days it just is a nightmare.  But, that God is at work in our feeble efforts and that our concerns are often comical to Him.

"your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:17b

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

It's NORMAL for College Ministers to be Discouraged in February!

 I have always believed and FELT that college ministry was the hardest and most discouraging in February!  The weather is cold....and I do not like cold.  Students are sick.  They would come in and hug me and I would ask, "How are you doing today?".  Then, they would say, "I've been sick all day with fever"  Or...."Been throwing up all day....I just got out of bed to come here."  Oh, thanks so much! AND, throw normal February into Pandemic February and just wow!

The thrill of being back from a long holiday has long worn off and Spring Break seems another world away...IF....there will be one this year.  Plus, you are discovering that some of your contributors are not continuing this year.  Attendance is down at your night events because it is cold and dark outside too early. You started out doing two events on your event night in order to meet the school's required attendance max and now you don't need two.

So, what do you do?

1.  Always remember, God's movement is not determined by how you FEEL.

2.  A crowd does not determine whether God is at work or not.  I love crowds.  But, Beer Busts draw big crowds.  Is that a sign God is blessing them?

3.  Winter is a time of preparation.  Be building into the lives of those who are giving you their time right now.  Who are those four or five super promising freshmen?  What are you doing with them every week?

4.  Thinking needs time to be done.  I always felt short of thinking time when the ministry was "booming".  If you have a little more you time, are you looking at your campus and evaluating your strategy, etc.  WARNING:  Don't make big changes in the middle of February when you feel a total failure!

5.  Call another College Minister friend and encourage him or her.  One of the ways to face and handle our own discouragement is by encouraging someone else.  AND, you may find their current mess is worse than yours and you can be happy....just kidding!  Call and encourage and just laugh about some of it with somebody who gets it.

6.  Beware of talking about your frustration ALL THE TIME with your spouse.  Sure, they are one you need to talk to and process with......just do NOT do it ALL THE TIME.

I have a Masters Degree in Guidance Counseling.  I know that's weird right.  Sometimes, people ask me to tell them what I learned.  Here it is and it was well worth getting that degree.  

"It is easier to act your way into a better way of feeling than to feel your way into a better way of acting."

Know that it is ok to be feel frustrated but that you are normal and God has not forsaken you. Be faithful.  Go do the things you know that God has called you to do and that need doing. Your feelings will catch up much quicker than if you just sit there waiting for your attitude to change. 

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

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

2 Important Characteristics for College Ministers

 Aside from continuing to grow in relationship to the Lord and being faithful to God's calling, In juggling all the different parts of college ministry,  I think there are two characteristics that are most significant in determining a College Ministers success.

The first is RELATIONSHIPS.  A College Minister must be able to take joy in relationships and relationships with a wide variety of people.  Liking and relating well to pastors is vastly different than relating well to the tatooed skater on campus  Even within students the wide variety of types of students is huge.  And, one of our necessities is to see in students not just who they are, but their potential.  We have to see things in them that they do not even see in themselves at this point.  And, to be able to call and affirm what we see in them, they have to know we like them and that they can trust us.  Obviously, all of us are more comfortable relating to certain types of people.  But, part of relationships is just being willing to try.

With whom are you most comfortable?  What types of relationships are a struggle for you?  Do you work at knowing a WIDE variety of students on campus?  When you walk across campus every day, who do you speak to and who speaks to you?  By the way, are you walking across the campus EVERY day?

The second characteristic is CONSISTENCY.  Consistency is "keeping on" when it is not easy to keep on.  It is being dependable.  I would even go as far as saying consistency is students knowing when and where they can find you, if they need to.  It is being where you said you will be and when you said you will be there.  It is the ministry being consistent in who and what it is.  Supporters know what they are supporting.  Churches and parents know what they are sending their students to.....or at least encouraging them to be connected.

There is a thin line between healthy consistency and being outdated.  Your ministry can be both dynamic and consistent. When you tell students something, do they naturally assume they can count on it?  Do pastors or fellow church staffers know you are interested in them and not just trying to get something for your advantage?  Does your ministry adjust as needed but stay true to its basics?  Are YOU willing to change when necessary?

CONSISTENCY and RELATIONSHIPS pretty well are about 75% of what determines what happens.  Is that too high.....OR too low?  Keep on juggling!

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

Campus Lunch Programs by Invitation Only??

The health pandemic and all sorts of campus requirements for student safety have impacted most all college ministries in the country...some more than others, depending on the region and specific campus.  One outreach ministry that has been affected are campus wide Outreach Lunch Programs.  The BSU at Mississippi State is often credited with "inventing" the idea of having a free or very cheap meal with a Christian speaker at noon.  Some of these have reached as many as 400 students at a time.

One ministry that has had a long history of a strong such Lunch Program that often had more than 200 attend on a weekly basis, could not continue this past fall due to the campus requirements.  According to the campus formula, they could have a maximum of 50 students (social distanced) at their lunch event.  Plus, the churches that brought senior citizens to serve were not an option any more.  So, it was forget it, or develop a new plan.

They decided they would have a couple each month where they would invite a specific group and get a response to how many would attend...up to 50.  Then, they would serve each a "Box Lunch" with a Chick- fil-A sandwich, a bag of chips and a cookie. Plus, everyone got a bottle of water. They started with a group they had close ties to in the Nursing Department.

Following that one, they had ROTC cadets and then Agri students.  For the ROTC cadets, they had a College Minister from another campus who had been an Army Ranger speak.  When they were planning the Ag students Lunch they called a pastor who had an extensive agriculture background to speak.  He loved the idea so much he said, "Why don't I bring some of my guys to grill steaks."  Who knew being an Ag Major was the place to be?

The Campus Minister says they possibly will never go back to the former Lunch Program model.  So, why should other campuses consider this model?

-If you have had a Lunch Program done by church volunteers in the past, will they come back?

-If you have not had the resources to do an every week unlimited number Lunch Event, could you do 3 or 4 a semester?  They could be done by sponsoring churches or out of your budget.

-Could you connect better if there were a limited number?

-Would you reach more different students over the semester out of different campus groups?

Who could you invite?

-The fraternity and sorority presidents with a major CEO type who would talk about Christian leadership

-The women's Volleyball Team with an outstanding Christian coach or former pro athlete

-The campus ambassadors that do campus tours for visiting high school seniors with a Christian PR Exec

You get the idea.  Maybe a Lunch Program has never been an option for your ministry.  Maybe a "Targeted Lunch Program" could be.  Maybe having a lunch every week is killing your budget or your volunteers.  Don't get me wrong; I still love the idea of having 200 or whatever number hearing a Christian message every week.  BUT, one thing the pandemic has given us....it is the NECESSITY OR OPPORTUNITY to think new thoughts.  DON'T AUTOMATICALLY go back to everything the way it was.  Make intentional choices about what your ministry will look like in the future.

AND, you could experiment with one "Targeted/Invitation Only Lunch" this semester and see, if its an option for the future.  You always learn something the first time you try something!

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

What I Said in 1988

 I was privileged to serve as the president of the Association of Southern Baptist Campus Ministers (ASBCM) in 1987-88.  ASBCM was a professional organization that met for two days each year prior to the Southern Baptist Convention.  I recently ran across a copy of the speech I gave at the end of my term at the closing banquet in 1988.  Dick Houston, former Baptist Campus Minister in Georgia, had put all of the ASBCM journals on line shortly before his death.  A copy of my talk was printed in one of the journals. 

 It is surprising and not surprising that some of the issues are still issues.  For your benefit, I am just printing a portion of my comments under each of the points.

                                                 SIX THINGS I WANT TO SAY

After a year as President of the Association of Southern Baptist Campus Ministers, I felt like there were six things that came through to me that needed saying and that I hope others will pick up on and respond to.

1.  Baptists don't realize how good of a thing they have in BSU.

I received a fund raising letter recently from a non-denominational student ministry claiming to be the largest Christ student ministry.  They reported being on 700 college campuses with 28,000 students involved.  That does not even come close to the 1,042 campuses and number of students being reached with a BSU ministry.......Put simply, Baptists are reaching and touching more college students on more college campuses than anybody else.  Should we do more?  yes, but let's do a better job of telling our story to Baptists and never hang our head when compared to anyone else.

2.  Baptist Student Ministers need national involvement and communication with each other.

One reason I started going to ASBCM meetings was to be involved with people who had a different perspective from mine.....In these days of shrinking budgets and other frustrations, it is easy for us to draw in and just get with those who are in similar situations to ours and see things just like we do......The current proposal for a National Workshop once every ten years is inadequate....the more infrequently these meetings are held, the more unlikely it is that Directors from different parts of the country can develop and maintain on-going relationships.

3.  Realize there is no one way to do student ministry and BSU.

Different situations call for different strategies just as different budgets and staff resources call for different approaches....This also means realizing that there is no "Top Ten Directors" list.  I often hear speculations about who the "Top five" or "Top Ten" are.....But, I want to say that the best Student Ministers might be on some campus no one ever heard of....and that they hold it together is a miracle every semester.

4.  We have lost our sharp focus nationally on campus ministry to students.

Unless the national strategy changes, I fear that Southern Baptists' ministry to students will be splintered and will decline.  Let me state my credentials:  I am a church person.  I go on Wednesday night and I go to Training Union.  My wife and I were at Wednesday night church supper on our Anniversary.  All BSU Directors I know are church people.....Many churches are hearing today's emphasis as that it is better for everybody to do their own thing than to cooperate in one strong ministry.  (This was in regard to some national leaders saying BSU Directors were not active church people and that it was better to focus more on church college ministries and less on BSU.)

5.  BSU can model communication between Baptists who are at different points.

I have students out of churches who identify themselves as moderate and fundamentalist churches.  It should be that way.  Some of the students know nothing about the labels; others use them and don't understand them.  In BSU, they talk and learn from each other in both formal and informal situations. I really believe that our Student Ministries can help break down some of the walls that are developing in Baptist life as we help future Baptist leaders talk to each other.  (This was early in the days of the Baptist battles over being "moderate" or "conservative" and dividing into two groups.)

6.  Life calling emphasis has helped Baptist Student Ministry.

Baptist Student Ministry has benefitted immensely from our emphasis on Student Ministry being a life calling from the Lord--not just something you do until you can get your own church......If we are going to ask people to stay a lifetime, we must have the salaries to go with it.  BSU Directors kids have to pay to go to college too.....If we want mature professionals, and we say we do, then we need to pay for mature professionals.

As you can see, one change has been the terminology from Student Ministry meaning College Ministry and obviously, the change some years ago to a wider variety of names from Baptist Student Union (BSU) to Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), Baptist Student Ministry (BSM), etc.  I think I still stand by everything I said.  If you got this far, thanks for reading the "blast from the past".  Love to hear any comments or feedback.

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