3 Toughest Jobs for College Ministers #1

 A college ministry veteran said to me a while back, "My 3 toughest jobs are Supervision, Networking, and Administration.  

Here is my quick response to Supervision:

I agree this is often a weak spot I see in college ministry situations with more than one staffer, particularly when there are young, inexperienced interns or others brand new to full time ministry.  One College Minister who had just gotten a new Assistant said, "I am going to treat them like a professional and tell them to just go do what needs doing."  Here is the problem with that approach, they often do not know what most needs doing and they often have no clue how to do it.

Supervising someone is not a put down.  It should be our attempt to help them be the best version of themselves and the most effective they can be. Mentoring young College Ministers is one of the most important things we can do.

1.  Spell out clear expectations and job responsibilities.  What is priority and what is not?  Working hard and caring is usually not the problem for those just starting in ministry.  The problem is investing the time and energy in the ways that are most productive and necessary.

2.  Give immediate and clear feed back in the beginning.  What are they doing right?  What are they doing wrong?  Always, always give credit for effort.  Share little pointers you learned the hard way.  Not only is the first 2-3 weeks of the fall the most important in shaping the ministry for the year, it is also the most important in their learning to be a successful and fulfilled College Minister.

3.  Make sure they know it is never wrong to come and ask questions.  It is important they see you as a friend....with authority....not someone who is hoping to catch them messing up.

4.  Warn them of some of the obvious pitfalls in ministry.  Help them know the importance of how they do opposite sex meetings, how a few students will monopolize their time, students who might want to date them, choosing to be just a buddy, etc, etc.

4.  Have weekly meetings.  Discuss the ministry, what is going well, etc.  But, give them opportunity to express their feelings, concerns, etc.  For young fresh out of college Assistants, I have learned it is usually helpful, at least in the beginning, to give them some specific tasks that need to be done that week

Next:  Toughest Issue #2:  Networking

Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry is at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and is marked down to $9.85 this week