Every ministry has a down year. It is not because you are not working hard or not doing what God has used in the past. You go to meetings or read articles and everyone is talking about their success. For one thing, none of us tend to brag about the "bad year" we are having. If someone has been in college ministry for many years tells you they have never had a down year.....don't buy a used car from them. We all have and we will again in the future.
"Trust the Process" is a term used by college coaches that have gone into a rebuilding situation, but have not arrived yet. I would tweak that to say, "Trust the Lord and Keep Working the Process."
8 Ways to Keep Working the Process:
1. Make sure you are continually and consistently articulating a strong vision for the ministry. One time in frustration I said to our Leadership Team, "I have said this a thousand times before." Then it dawned on me. I had not said it to THEM a thousand times. Have your current students and particularly student leaders heard often and clearly enough the vision?
2. Communicate your brand. That is advertising lingo for communicating to the campus who you are and what you are offering. This is particularly key where there are multiple ministries. Are you communicating what makes your ministry unique and worthy of their time?
3. Make sure you are MAXIMIZING the strengths of your ministry AND your personal strengths and gifts. The busier we get the easier it is to take for granted and lose focus on those things we normally have done well. The thicker the weeds get, the more we must maximize our strengths. Consider whether you may need to drop some things that are taking time and effort away from those strengths. It is easy to keep adding to the point nothing is being done well.
4. Continue to look for, to develop, and to empower strong student leaders. You as the college ministry leader and your student leaders are the two most important assets of the ministry. You probably cannot multiply you or your staff, but you can build up stronger and even more student leaders.
5. Be consistent in WHO and WHAT you and your ministry are. Unless it is wrong, not working, or outlived it usefulness, don't kick it to the side. When a ministry is consistent, students know what to expect and supporters know what they are supporting.
6. Evaluate and Tweak your large group meeting. Has it gone stale? Are you trying to copy someone else's large group meeting and do not have the resources to do it? Are you speaking to students' current needs? Are you utilizing the students in the large group event that need to be there? What about day, time, and place?
7. Maximize quality freshmen outreach. Believe it or not, right after Spring Break is the time to think about and plan your fall outreach to max those first two weeks. How do some of your best Jesus loving students need to be trained for freshmen outreach and ministry for the fall?
8. Keep doing discipleship whether in one to one, small groups, or both. Lives that God has changed will be used by God to change lives. Meet individually on a regular basis with some key students to keep nudging their growth and potential.
You get out of the weeds by trusting the Lord and keeping on!
You might find my book, Fixing a Broken College Ministry, is helpful at Amazon.com/dp/152187666..
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