Right, Wrong Or Different in College Ministry?

 Some years ago when I was fortunate enough to get to travel the country some helping with different college ministries. I learned something very powerful.....at least for me.  There is more than one way to do college ministry right and well.  I think prior to that I thought there was really only one way (with a few variations) to do it well and right,

Two things go into the "Right Way" to do College Ministry:

1.  The setting.  I have written and spoken many times that what we do must fit the campus where we are.  Four year campuses have a different vibe than two year campuses.  Primarily commuter campuses are very different from primarily residential campuses.  Different things work and don't work on these different campuses.

BUT, HERE IS A KEY THING:

2.  Different people can make different things work.  There can be a RIGHT approach for your campus, but it not be an approach YOU can make work.  Due to giftedness, experience, and tenure, different people can make different things work.

You may have a right strategy and it be right for that campus.....BUT.....it is not a method or approach that YOU can make work  God is always at work through our giftedness.  

Some Questions to Ask:

Why are you doing the approach or strategy you are doing?  Did you inherit it?  Or, have you seen it be successful somewhere else?  Do you see it working and are you comfortable with it?

The MOST IMPORTANT Question:  What is YOUR giftedness?  Are you the big crowd person or are you a behind the scenes organizer?   Are you a speaker or are you a one-to-discipler?  What gets your juices flowing?

It is still a MYSTERY!  As much as I believe and have seen that different people can make different things work, I still do not understand totally why it is true. 

But, here is the OVER SIMPLE truth:  You may have to try different things (that is part of experience) until you see what YOU can make work best.  Do the things YOU can make work and God will use them!  Let me add a HOWEVER:  Everything must be done within the confines of what you are being paid to do and what is expected of you.  Don't lose sight of that.

But, there are still some principles that apply in EVERY situation AND you can learn from old pros without having to start from scratch.  You can shorten your learning curve by watching and learning some someone who is farther down the road.  BEWARE of thinking you are an expert!

I Corinthians 12:4-6 (NIV):  There are different  kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of work, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

What is a Blog article you would like to see?  arlissdickerson@gmail.com

Check out Almost Everything About College Ministry Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and Reaching MORE College Students Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.

Glitz vs Substance in College Ministry

A pastor said to me that he wanted his church college ministry to be one of "substance not glitz" and I agree with him.....some, a little, maybe 50%.  And, I don't think it is just because I am shallow.

To me, substance in college ministry is all about communicating the truth of the Gospel to a specific audience.   It is about facing and talking about the tough issues of the day and those students are encountering.  It is about helping them see how the Gospel connects to and speaks to those issues.  Ryan Burge, the Christian Pollster, recently shared that in a survey of 2400 "Non-religious" asked when they walked away from faith, the most mentioned age was 18.

I am all about substance, but doing it to an empty room is not too helpful!!  Some ministries are proud of the fact they do not have big crowds.....that must mean they are doing nitty gritty substance....or it just may mean they are plain dull or do not know how to speak to their audience.

Beware of being PROUD of your small crowd!

I shared recently that I had read someone who said, "A ministry should be like a swimming pool with a shallow end and a deep end.  Some are not ready to swim in the deep end."  I could not love that statement and truth more.

Let's call Glitz the Shallow End.  Freshmen come to college looking for two things:  Friends and Fun.  I am all about college ministries offering some glitz that has some substance tied to it.  My last year or so at Arkansas State, our Tech Team loved wiring up new things and adding dimensions.  Somewhere they came up with a rotating glitter ball and they immediately installed it in the middle of the ceiling of our chapel area.  They loved to turn it on in the middle of one of the upbeat songs before I spoke.  I hated it!  The students loved it!  Also, a very serious event can have some fun and glitz either before or after the serious event.

Some years ago, there were two college churches in our town that were working hard to reach students.  One opened the fall with a month long series on world hunger.  The other opened the fall with a month long series on love, sex, and dating.  Guess where all the freshmen went.  And, the College Minister there is one of the most serious Bible teachers I know.  He knew most freshmen start in the shallow end.

Some of the most "substance driven" college ministries I know have some of the "glitziest events" at the start of school. I flinch at some of them.  I believe choosing between glitz and substance is a false choice.  I am not arguing anything is ok to draw a crowd.  Years ago, I spoke for a weekend event held at their campus center.  On Friday night there was a Beer Bust next door.  They had a bigger crowd than we did.  I am not arguing that anything that draws a crowd is okay.  But, fun and appealing is not necessarily of the devil!

I believe that Jesus laughed and had fun.  Notice that tax collectors and other sinners wanted to be around him.  I don't think that meant Jesus had no substance.

I walked across the campus one day and there was a man standing on a ladder screaming the Gospel.  Students were walking all around and no one was stopping to listen.  I stayed for a while and agreed with everything he was saying.  But, no students were stopping to listen.  He had substance.  He sure was not glitzy.

I believe more than ever we MUST be reaching out to and speaking to 18 year olds about the Gospel and how to apply it to life.  But, we also much remember that they will think and act like.....wait for it......18 year olds. 

 I hope and pray this is your best fall semester ever!

You can check out Reaching MORE College Students at Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN and A College Ministry Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP.

College Ministry Outreach and Statistics!

Adam Venters, BCM College Minister at the University of South Carolina, as a result of his own experience and talking with other College Ministers, said that he believes the response rate to contacts of students attending following a contact is 10% to 12%.

Another BCM College Minister that I spoke with who heard Adam say this went back and checked his contacts and the response rate of incoming freshmen signing up for an event he has promoted and he said, "It was 11.4%.  

So, what is the bottom line?  It is what we have always assumed, but here it is in figures:  To reach more, we must contact more.  Getting names and contact information is key to our ministry!  Are there MORE and NEW ways to get lists or contact information of incoming freshmen?

Venters says, "If you want 200 at an event, you must contact 2,000."  Obviously, that is a bit daunting when put in those terms.  It tells us something we have always sensed, but this puts it in more concrete terms.  The number of freshmen contacts we have pretty much determines the size of our freshmen response.  

You may say that this does not take into account Personal Invitations by upperclassmen and you would be correct.  Or, does the same 10% to 12% apply to personal invitations????  While I have no "evidence" to back it up, I would say the response rate to a personal invitation is much higher.

Here are some reminders of figures of which you are probably aware:

20% to 30% of emails are opened.

97% of Text Messages are opened with 90% read within 3 minutes.

One former College Minister who was an excellent speaker and known for having large crowds at his worship events said, "You should spend as much time personally texting and inviting students to the event as you do preparing to speak at it."

Does your experience bear out the 10% to 12% response rate?

What if you have NO Contact Info for incoming freshmen???  That increases the necessity of excellent training of your upperclassmen and getting them to buy into making personal contacts and individual invites of new students during the first couple of weeks of school.

Can you give your upperclass leaders 4 or 5 contacts to text before your first big event of the year?

Check out Arliss' book,  A College Ministry Formula, Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP and Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades is at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.

Six College Ministry Keys

1. Be visible and available on campus.   Attend campus events, eat where students eat, walk across the campus and through the Student Center every day.

2.  Empower student leaders.  When students have ownership, they invest more time, energy and all of who they are.  Plus, they will connect with students the College Minister would never even see.  You know I am ALWAYS going to say student leaders are key!

3.  Focus on Issues with which student wrestle.  What are some of the current questions students have?  What are some issues on campus?  What are the tough questions about faith?  Speak on these and show how the Bible relates to and speaks to these issues.

4.  Combine fun with depth.  Every ministry needs easy entry points.  Someone has said, "A ministry ought to be like a swimming pool with shallow ends and deep ends.  Some are not ready to swim in the deep end."  Gosh, I like that and wish I had said it.  Plus, students can laugh and be serious at the same event.

5.  Prioritize personal discipleship.  Meeting one to one with students is the most transformative thing you can do.  Start with your leaders.

6.  Keep a weekly "Relationship to do List."  Who should you check up on?  Who have you not seen in a while?  Who is new that you could meet up with for a coke and follow-up? Who wants to meet in the cafeteria for lunch tomorrow?

Looking for something for new staffers to read, check out Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8nPMN  Looking for a good short study group for Freshmen or Upperclassmen, check out Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1 .