The Conundrum of a Smaller College Ministry

 Every ministry has a strength and that strength should be recognized and promoted.  Usually, somebody pushes back and says, "But our ministry is small."  My pushback to that is....."Small can be a plus."

I genuinely mean that too.  Some students do not want to be part of a large ministry.  They feel lost and unknown in the crowd.  For two years I led a church college ministry that was much smaller than the campus based ministry that I had led.  I found that we were able to connect some students who were not comfortable with the large church ministry in town.  They felt no one knew them or were just plain uncomfortable.  As our ministry became more known, we were able to connect them to our smaller ministry.  That was a plus for them and us.

A conundrum is defined as being "a question or problem having a conjectural answer" or "an intricate or difficult problem."

Here is the Conundrum:  Many of them were not comfortable inviting others or bringing friends.  Some even did not want the ministry to grow as they enjoyed the smaller dynamic.  I really realized this after we had done a special event on campus and connected with one of the fraternities through it.  The following week, one of the fraternity members came to our regular worship event.  A few spoke to him, but did not relate well individually.  The next week he came and brought his girlfriend.  Again, there was not much personal interaction between our regulars and he and his girlfriend.  The next week he came with his girlfriend and her roommate.  Again, not much connection from our regulars.  He never came back and did not respond to my attempts to connect with him on campus.  I get it.  He just did not feel welcome.  He had given it three tries.

4 Things:

1.  We must be genuinely understanding and sensitive to the fact that inviting, bringing others, and visiting with strangers is painful for some.

2.  We must identify any of our students that might be outgoing and spend some special time with them making them aware of the situation and even "training" them in being great minglers, etc.  Their knowing the situation and being aware of how they can really make a difference can be a plus.

3.  Speak some about the vision for the ministry....not just fussing at them for not being more friendly or inviting others.  Promote vision.

4.  Music playing prior to an event starting can help fill "uncomfortable quiet".  I am also good with not all of it being Christian music.  Obviously, clean is important.  Some College Ministers are great at developing such play lists and sharing them, if that is not your strength.  I think "non-Christian" popular music helps "non-churchy" students feel comfortable.

Leading a smaller ministry has its pluses and minuses.  Hang in there and keep working with it.  

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9