Does Higher Education INCREASE the Likelihood of Quitting Church? The Figures

 In a Nationscape Survey of 477,225 here are the results in terms of education and church attendance. A growing concern is the number of young adults when asked their religion reply, "None".  Those of us in college ministry have often quoted the figure that 7 out of 10 high school seniors who were active in church make no spiritual connections in college.  So, the take away for many is that higher education is the problem.  So, WHO is most likely to say they are a "None"?

The Groups most likely to say they have NO religion by education:

Less than high school 32%

High School grad only 28%

Some College  27%

Trade School 26%

Associate Degree 24%

Bachelor's Degree 24%

Doctorate 24%

Bachelor's degree plus some graduate work 21%

Masters Degree 20%

According to this survey, the less education someone has, the greater the likelihood they will NOT be religious.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX  The College Ministry Success Formula is at amazon.com/dp/B091F5S1RF.

The 4 Legs of a Strong College Ministry

 Apart from the work and movement of God's Spirit in and through a college ministry, there are four things that determine the level of response and or "success".  When a ministry blesses the life of one college student, it is a success.  But, obviously all of us want and work for a greater response than one.

The Four Legs of a Strong College Ministry

1.  The College Minister

2.  Student Leaders

3.  The Campus and or Church Situation

4.  Resources

The gifts and strengths of the College Minister will always have a major impact on the ministry.  It is the biggest factor in determining the personality of the ministry.  This does not happen instantly, but will grow and become a greater factor as more time passes.  

It takes two to three years to begin to develop student leaders who have bought into the process of the ministry.  That is a part of a College Minister's gifts beginning to shape the ministry.  Plus, there will be no major buy in to the ministry apart from some level of buy in to the College Minister.

Little to nothing can be done to shape or change the campus or church situation that affects the ministry.  But, learning to understand the situation and what the strengths and weaknesses are of the situation will benefit the ministry.

Money, staff and facilities will always have an effect on the ministry.  They will not make the ministry, but they will always be a significant factor.  Part of developing the ministry must always be attempting to grow the resources, sharpen them, and use them the most effectively.

The two greatest areas of impact that the College Minister has are his or her self and the development of student leaders.  Be working on your being the most effective you can be and developing and investing in student leaders.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and The College Ministry Success Formula is amazon.com/dp/B091F5S1RF.

Is YOUR Success Formula Realistic and Personal?

 All the College Ministers I know work really hard with lots of hours.  Because there is always something else that needs doing or another student we need to contact, it is difficult to feel successful. Part of it comes down to having a realistic and personal success formula.  It is easy for us to base our sense of success on what we see others doing and how we compare to it.  And that has all sorts of land mines connected to it.

One of the killers of College Ministers is comparison.  Why isn't our ministry as big as that one?  How come donors don't give us big checks like they do to that one?  How come I don't get the recognition and appreciation that College Minister gets?  There are lots of variations of these questions and comparisons.

Let me let you in on a secret:  I have seen and known LOTS of college ministries and College Ministers (some even sort of famous) and I don't know a one yet that is or was perfect.  So, if that is what you are expecting, forget it. That is a myth.  I think it is important that you have a personal success formula that is BOTH realistic and personal to you.

5 Things that go into a healthy and realistic personal success formula:

1.  You know and are utilizing you personal gifts and abilities.  Our gifts are what shape our personality and utilizing them is how we are being who God made us to be and give us the greatest sense of satisfaction.

2.  You know what the people who are paying you expect and you are working at those tasks.  Like it or not, that has to be part of our formula.  When we take the job, we say okay to those expectations.

3.  You do some tasks that give you personal satisfaction.  Part of a feeling of lack of success is never feeling done.  Each College Minister needs some things he or she does that gets "finished" and it feels good.  It may be writing something.  It may be developing that new Bible study series.  But, have some personal tasks that get done that you can feel good about.

4.  Make sure your expectations of your ministry are consistent with the campus or church where you serve. Every situation is different.  A deep south ministry and one on the most "unfriendly non-Christian" campus outside the Bible Belt just do not compare.  Rejoice in what happens other places, but remember where you are.  That is not about excuses...it is about seeing where God has you right now.

5.  Just as WHERE you are affects a realistic success formula....WHAT you have to do with affects the reality of your situation.  One ministry may be able to serve pizza after every event and another is doing iced tea once a month.  Be the best steward of what you have.  I like iced tea just as much as I like pizza!

So, cut yourself some slack and figure out where you have been doing too much comparison to others and "that perfect College Minister" and remember, he or she probably has cooties and somebody does not like the way they are doing it. Have a great week!

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and A College Ministry Success Formula is at amazon.com/dp/B091F5S1RF.

College Students and Vocation

 A college ministry veteran said to me recently that he felt we were not doing a good job talking to students about God using their “secular” vocation. In our emphasis on encouraging students to be missionaries or to go plant a church, we are leaving out something. 

He says that something is how God can use each of us in every day work places. God does not want all of us to be missionaries and that we don’t just work to make money to support those who are “doing God’s will”.

Being a Christian teacher is not a second class calling. Being a Christian at work is serious and wonderful!

Are you talking to your students about it?

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.  A College Ministry Success Formula is at amazon.com/dp/B091F5S1RF.

A Second Spiritual Experience

 "I got really saved yesterday."

One of the things College Ministers must be prepared to respond to in a right and helpful way is when students share they have had a "second spiritual experience".  Many years ago in reading applications for  missions appointments, the vast majority of them, in telling their spiritual story, would say something like, "I came to Christ when I was 8,9, or 10 and then when I was 19...."  They would then share some other very meaningful spiritual experience.

Some declare it "when I really became a Christian".  Some call it a re-dedication.  First, we must be grateful that students are growing, changing in their relationship to the Lord, and being serious about it.  Most of these students I have dealt with were the ones who were already very serious about their relationship to the Lord.

How do we deal with this and help them?

    First, we must hear it with a warm heart and express joy with the student in this experience.  For many, it is what I call a "discipleship commitment".  They have gone from a "child-like" faith to the beginning of an adult faith....not just "I don't want to go to hell" to..... "I want my life to count for the Lord." Hooray for that kind of experience!

    We must let them name it and decide where it is leading them now and will lead them in the future.  It may be an initial salvation experience or it may be a new understanding.  We must avoid telling them what it means.  It is easy for us or someone else to tell them God has called them to the ministry. Or,, this is what it means.  We must also beware of talking them out of it. If they decide it is "coming to Christ" for the first time, we must trust that. We must walk with them....not for them in this experience.  Listen to them as they process this experience and put it into their words.

    One point of understanding may be to talk with them about different spiritual peaks in our lives.  Some come through gaining knowledge, some through a direct encounter with the Lord, and sometimes as one of different signposts in maturity and change in a full life. It is part of what the Apostle Paul spoke of in Philippians 2:12 to "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

The great privilege of a College Minister is to be part of this process.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.  A College Ministry Success Formula is at amazon.com/dp/B091F5S1RF.

"DOING" the Bible is Complicated

I teach a Sunday morning Bible study group in my church and have for many years. I attend a pretty traditional down town county seat First Baptist Church.  We have many community leaders and lots who are upper level professionals.  

Recently, a young woman who was living on the street started coming to our worship service.  After a few weeks, she came to my Sunday Bible study group.  Our class is very interactive and she began to speak up often and sometimes was a bit disruptive in being over talkative.  After attending solo two or three times, the next time she came she brought some others with her who were living on the street.

Our scripture focus that day was about care for the poor.  Talking about care for the poor when it is just a topic is one thing and talking about it when "the poor" are present is a whole other thing. I worked hard at being careful and considerate in what was said.  It was not just a philosophical discussion.  It was about real people with real people present.

A few Sundays later, she was back with with two or three other friends she had invited  Part of our scripture that day dealt with anger and how to handle it.  I said, "What happens when we let our anger control us?".  One of the men spoke up quickly and said, "You wind up in jail" .I had to work to suppress a chuckle.  I thought he sounded like he was speaking wisdom from experience.  

The lady who is the leader of the group spoke to me after we finished and said she wanted to share some things next week.  I am not sure quite what I said in response.  But, a friend on the church staff who has been working with her told me later  that she was planning to "teach next week".  I have been thinking exactly how to handle that.

Several years ago, our church had a brief discussion about whether to stay down town or move to a new location with the pluses of building a new building that would not have the issues of dealing with an "historic" church building.  Some said they wanted to stay down town because churches were needed down town.  That is easy to say.  The reality of it can be difficult.

It is easy to talk about what the Bible says about ministry to the poor, etc.  But, "doing" it is complicated. A minister friend of mine was "accosted" many years by a man with one of those fourteen pound Bibles and said, "My Bible is a red letter Bible.  Is yours?"  My friend responded truthfully, "I have a Green letter edition.  It has the ACTIONS of Jesus underlined in green."

I am good with the Red Letters.  It is the Green Letter stuff that gets real complicated!

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.

A Blind Spot in Dealing with Criticism

 If one serves in ministry for very long, they will experience criticism.  Some comes from the best of motives and some comes just from ugliness.

It takes a strong backbone to withstand criticism and continue to do what you believe is right in the face of harsh rhetoric.  I have served in a couple of Christian leadership roles in where I, others, received criticism.....and sometimes related to stories that were inaccurate.  It takes continuing resolve to plow on, do what you think is right, and not just throw up your hands and walk away.

But, here can be the problem or the blind spot.  It can be easy to not listen to any suggestions, helpful advice, or good feedback. Our  being resolute can turn into harmful  rejection of any other view or idea.  I have seen it happen in others, which suggests to me that maybe, maybe I have been that way sometimes.

Two Suggestions when dealing with Criticism:

First, make a real and concerted effort to sort out that which is just criticism and that which is good and helpful feedback.  Everybody that disagrees with you about something is likely not against you.  And, there is usually more than one way to see things and even to do things right or best.

Second, one way to sort out helpful feedback from just angry criticism is to "consider the source".  If someone is always negative, that is an identifier.  But, when someone has demonstrated their positive concern for the situation and for you, then likely their "criticism" is something that at least needs to be heard and not ignored.

There is a difference between criticism and a different view of the situation or possible alternatives.  We must do our best to sort it out.  Beware the fine line between being resolute during times of criticism and being stubborn or bullheaded to your own detriment!

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry,  is available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.

Nathan Porter Was a Hero and a Friend!

 I learned Monday of the passing of Nathan Porter, who died at the age of 90 in Waco.  Nathan was large in my life for several reasons.  He was the featured speaker at the first state wide Baptist Student Union retreat I attended as a freshman. He was one of the five or six well known Christian speakers on college campuses in the 60's and 70's.  I had never heard a Christian speaker like him.  He was warm, funny, and did not yell.  He talked about issues I had never heard in sermons.  They were real life stuff.  I had thought just about all preaching was about the Israelites.  He and Ed Seabough (another one of the great campus speakers of that era) influenced the development of my own speaking style.

When he closed his message that day, he said, "Let's pray with our eyes open."  I certainly had never heard that or done that before.  It was a powerful moment for me as we looked at each other around the crowd and prayed.

I later became the Baptist Student Union Director at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and was asked to serve on the Pastor Search Committee at First Baptist Church, where we attended.  Our Search Committee wanted someone that would relate well to students since there were two Universities in the city. Nathan came to be the pastor of First Baptist Church and he and Fran took the town by storm.  Fran began to lead a Senior Citizens ministry at the church and Sunday nights at FBC became like Collegiate Week at Glorieta with large crowds of students in attendance.  

I posted on my Facebook page Monday of the death of Nathan because I knew he meant a great deal in the lives of many who would want to know.  Here are some of the comments that different ones made.

"His messages of compassion always found their way into my heart."

"I had him speak to my students on hunger."

"He was an outstanding leader and friend."

"He was my favorite pastor from my growing up days at FBC.  At least one of his spiritual gifts was to listen intently during a conversation, even with a teen, and respond well with wise counsel."

"Nathan Porter was speaking to us by a big fire next to a pond. I was experiencing disappointment with 'organized" church mainly due to overt and residual racism.  He challenged us to remain with the 'organized' church and make it better."

"He was a great friend to everyone but especially the University community."

"He was the perfect college pastor."

"Nathan baptized me."

"His love for college students was obvious and our college experience was better because of him."

"Never will forget him!!! Great influence on my life."

"Nathan is on my list of godly men who influenced my life."

"He gently helped to bring me to a better place regarding race, exclusion, and respect.  He was also courageous, transparent, and fun."

One former student told me that Nathan had asked him how he dated since he did not own a car.  So, from then on, Nathan loaned him his car.  He said, "it was always washed and full of gas."

Many young College Ministers leave college ministry due to feeling alone with the ups and downs of college ministry.  Nathan was a super friend to me during my early days as a College Minister.  I later served as the Personnel Committee Chair at FBC, Arkadelphia and worked with Nathan dealing with different church issues.  Nathan was always about how to communicate better and connect with people.   He took down the large ornate pulpit and simply stood on the platform and spoke.  I remember the call I got as some were upset because to them the "pulpit represents preaching God's word".  We weathered that and some other storms together.  We sometimes butted heads dealing with tough church issues, but we were always friends, 

Nathan Porter was one of God's choice servants.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX

Supervision is NOT a Dirty Word!

 I have had lots of supervisors in my life from a Lieutenant Colonel in Vietnam to a Summer League Baseball coach showing me how to rake the baseball diamond.  I have had great ones, some okay and one or two I would pass on.

Several years ago, I was given the responsibility of  helping our one year Outreach Coordinators and working with their supervising College Ministers.  Some of these recent college graduates were having a great experience, making a real difference in the ministry and others were frustrated and even confused.  So, what was the difference?  I believe the simple answer was supervision.  One College Minister said he told his newly graduated and appointed Coordinator, "I am going to treat you like a professional.  Go do what you think needs doing."  Here was the problem with that:  the newly appointed Coordinator had no clue what needed doing because he was not "a professional".  He had never done this before.

TWO THINGS LACK OF SUPERVISION CAN CAUSE:

Lack of Focus - I found that those without supervision tended to jump from one thing to another.  It was sort of whatever direction the wind was blowing that day.  And, it was not connected to any long term strategy of what the ministry was all about or trying to do. Consequently, their efforts did not make any significant difference in the ministry.

Less than a Positive Experience - Those who did not have good supervision tended to leave their one year position with less than positive feelings about it.  And, many had signed on for that year to see "is this possibly something God is calling me to do."  There are more and more reports of a shortage of young adults feeling or committing to a call to the ministry.  We need to be doing everything to help young adults experience and respond to a call to vocational ministry.

TWO THINGS GOOD SUPERVISION DOES:

Teaches - Usually, a supervisor is in that role because of their previous experience.  One thing we are trying to do is pass on that experience to others and they do not have to learn everything the hard way.  The tuition cost for the School of Hard Knocks is often expensive and painful.  One of our jobs as a supervisor is to help them be and feel successful.  And, we are to help them evaluate and learn from both the good and the bad.  We can help them process experiences, which I think is huge in their growth.

Encourages - Good supervision encourages.  First, it helps them not feel they are in it alone.  One of the biggest killers of College Ministers is the sense of feeling alone and that I am the only one that cares. Just knowing someone else cares is a huge encouragement.  Even when something does not go well, we can help someone know their effort was good and worthy!

ONE MORE THING GOOD SUPERVISION DOES:

When there is more than one College Minister, and even if the one or two others are experienced, there has to be somebody in charge.  Besides encouraging and teaching, they work at everybody being on the same page and pulling together in the same strategy.  There are lots of strategies that God uses.  But, they usually are not very successful, if multiple staff are working on different strategies. So, if you are a "Supervisor" make sure those with whom you work feel appreciated and cared about.....and that everyone is on the same page in the strategy and what their role is in that strategy.

I will go way out on a limb and say not only is supervision not a dirty word, it is one of the tools that God can and does use.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.