Common Mistakes in College Ministry

 All of us make mistakes but some are more costly personally or to the ministry as a whole.

1.  Fighting the administration over minor issues.  They always win and it affects more things than you realize.

2.  Being too tied to your core groups or just a few students.  Of course you want to be close to and invest in your core students, but you are their leader, not their buddy.

3.  The appearance of improper behavior with students of the opposite sex. We can be perfectly innocent and not be perceived that way.  One of my rules is NEVER go to a girl's dorm room or apartment.  Yes, people have been fired for this even though it was perfectly innocent.

4.  Forgetting that student leaders are students with other responsibilities.  Never take for granted the time they give you and that sometimes they need a little grace.

5.  Not having personal friends other than college students.  Part of your value to students is having another perspective and with no outside life, a College Minister is headed to burnout.

6.  Lack of balance in the ministry and just being all about one thing.  All ministries have priorities, but it takes more than one thing for those priorities to happen.

7.  Trying to imitate your favorite speaker or college ministry hero rather than living and serving out of your own gifts and personality.  Louie is probably a better speaker.

8.  Not keeping good financial records and being transparent about the use of money.  I have never known a College Minister stealing from a ministry, but I have seen lots of sloppy record keeping and poor use of money that did not inspire the support of outsiders.

9.  Being happy with your fifty.  No number is magic and there are always other students that need your ministry.  This is the most common complaint I hear from college ministry supervisors.

10.  Not staying in one place long enough to build the ministry.  Of course, people move and that is not wrong.  But, realize it takes time to grow a culture and build a ministry.  Plan to invest the time until God shows you otherwise.

11.  Being all in on the ministry and being unfair to family.  You don't get back time with your young children and your spouse deserves more than the leftovers.  Don't cheat work or family!

12.  Trying to be an imitation of the latest "It Ministry".  It may not fit our gifts or our school. 

13.  Building the whole ministry around your personality.  This is a tough one because we must live and serve out of our gifts and strengths but we must empower and allow others to make their gifts part of the ministry personality.  Different students strengths different years will shade the ministry some different directions.

14.  Thinking it can all happen on your own apart from God's leadership and movement.

Most of us can plead guilt to some degree or other on most of these at some time or other.  But, beware of settling there.  As much as possible, have someone on the outside look into your ministry and give you good feedback.

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