Church Plants and Campus Based College Ministries

I am unabashedly an advocate of campus based college ministry and the value it brings to Christian witness and ministry to the college campus.  In recent years, there has also been a movement of planting churches for the primary purpose of reaching and ministering to college students.

I was visiting with a friend who is going on staff with a large church plant that started about five years ago to reach a nationally known college campus.  Within that five years, they have grown to an attendance of one thousand (1,000) on a normal Sunday.  That is a jaw dropping success story, which should be celebrated.  

In situations such as this, there has often been a campus based ministry that has not had nearly that numerical success.  Some point to this as evidence that the church plant is the only way to go.  That is not my conclusion, but it raises the interesting question,  what are the differences?

From the outside looking in from a distance on these church plants, I see four distinct differences from most campus based ministries.

1.  They start with a core.  In many of these church plants, a core group of people move there to begin the church. It is not just the pastor and family.  There are 20 to 30 to begin with.  So, the ministry and outreach is shared and there is something to invite people to join into.  I helped a friend once try to begin his school year with some specifically freshmen programs and topics.  One night we had enlisted some upperclassmen to be a part and then publicized it to freshmen.  At the last minute, all of the upperclassmen notified us that they could not come.  Two freshmen we had never seen showed up and it was me and the College Minister and the two freshmen.  We did what we planned to do and they never came back.  They did not feel they had come to anything.  Having a core to begin with is huge!

2. Resources - Most of these type plants have a sponsoring church or multiple churches and begin with some resources that they provide.  These resources not only provide needed equipment, funds for special events, etc, they give a message of the significance of this new thing. For a variety of reasons, campus based ministries often do not have any or much significant sponsoring partnerships, at least in the beginning.

3.  Multiple Staff - Many of these type church plants have more than one staff member as a result of people raising their own salary from other places in order to be there and minister there.  More campus based ministries are now moving toward having multiple staff raising their salaries,  It is a simple fact:  more staff reaches more students.

4.  Entrepreneurship - I believe THIS is the single greatest difference.  These church plant pastor/leaders usually see the issues, situation, etc and look at and develop new ways to address these needs.  They don't think it has to look exactly like something else.  One state wide College Ministry BCM leader said that one of his sharp young College Ministers left because the State Convention Business Office would not let him use a Square Reader to allow students to pay at their Lunch Program.  It didn't work in their system.  Hooray for entrepreneurship!!  

Many campus based college ministries are sponsored by State Baptist Conventions or other state or regional organizations.  They have guidelines and generally approved methods.  While these provide some obvious benefits, they also can be a hindrance, particularly relative to number 4.  

For campus based college ministries, we must see and maintain the advantages of our organization and templets, but also encourage new thinking and approaches.  I continue to believe there is both the need for and value of campus based ministry and church plants aimed at campuses.

Campus based ministry, church college ministry, and campus focused church plants are cousins, but not triplets.

Check out Reaching More College Students at amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN and A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1 .

Why Do Student Leaders Often Not Succeed?

 If you know me at all, you know I am a huge proponent of developing student leaders in a college ministry.  The two greatest factors in a ministry (apart from the work of the Holy Spirit) are the College Minister and the student leaders.

Some Reasons Student Leaders Often do NOT Succeed:

1.  Right Student....Wrong Spot - They are a great student who loves the Lord and we just have put them in the wrong place.  it is particularly easy to do with one who will do anything we ask.  Proper placements by gifts and temperament is huge on our part.

2.  We HAD to have someone. - This is closely related to number 1.  We have a position and we feel the pressure of having someone there.  So, we place them in a position they just don't fit.  Some times we just have to say, we don't have anyone to fill that spot.  That is tough, but usually works out best in the long run.

3.  They are overwhelmed with discouragement. - Sometimes, a student does everything that can be  done and there just is not the result anyone would desire.  That is where we must help them evaluate on effort...not result.  And, help them never feel alone.  Be a partner with them.  Praised them for effort.

4.  They were never taught how to do what they are asked to do. - Some believe  the way you teach leadership is to throw someone into a role and let them sink or swim on their own.  I believe this is a recipe for disaster.  One of the reasons I strongly believe in weekly meetings with student leaders is that it is a continual coaching and teaching time.

5.  They wanted a position....not a responsibility. - Everyone wants to be chosen.  Everyone wants to be recognized.  One of the difficult things in selecting student leaders is discerning if they just want a position or are they really willing and able to accept the responsibility.

6.  They were not told clearly what the responsibilities were. - We must communicate clearly what the responsibilities are and what it takes to accomplish them.  We can tell them some of what has been done previously by others who served in that role, but give them room to do it in their style.

7.  THIS IS THE WORST ONE:  Seeing a student with GREAT potential and putting them in a role they are not ready for.  I have seen freshmen and sophomores ruined for future leadership because they were thrown into roles that overwhelmed them.  Some ministry leadership roles are Junior or Senior roles...they just are.  That negative experience can cause them to back away from future service. 

Check out these college ministry materials by Arliss Dickerson:  Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX or Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.

Some Rules for College Ministry

1.  Believe and act on the fact that God is ALWAYS doing more than you know.

2.  Ask a student to do it, if at all possible.

3.  Affirm student leaders, express appreciation for their service, and help them grow personally and as a leader.

4.  Play fair with the school and with all other ministries.....even those you don't like.

5.  Build on previous years while realizing every year is brand new.

6.  Look for partners.

7.  Always express thanks to those who serve and support the ministry......personal notes are never out of style.

8.  Model what you expect from students.

9.  Make the most of each campus season and of each personal season.  They all have pluses.

10.  Never let the ministry take the place of your relationship to the Lord.....beware of the temptation to love the work more than the Lord.

11.  Work wisely hard and take care of your family.  

Arliss Dickerson's college ministry resources can be found here starting here:  amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1 

Some Ways to do College Ministry WRONG

I have often said there is more than one way to do college ministry right.

So, are there DIFFERENT ways to do it wrong?  

1.  Copy another ministry.  No two situations are alike.  No two ministries have all the same resources.  No two campuses are totally alike.  No two College Ministers have the same gifts and abilities.  You get the idea.  Learn from others, use the same principles and essentials.  

2.  Become a closed group.  This can happen two ways.  The first is philosophical.  "We are a discipleship ministry and only for those who are ready to be serious and go deep.  That does not leave much room for the student who has questions about faith.....either as a Believer or Non-Believer.  And, it usually precludes the the Believer that has strayed and struggling with how to "come back."

The Second is when a group just becomes an unhealthy clique.  Everyone is best buddies and you have to be best buddies with the group to be in the ministry.  There is a fine line between a group being caring for each other and not shutting others out.  If we are honest, most ministries struggle with this to some degree or other.

3.  Fight or Ignore the Administration.  Some ministries take great delight in breaking the campus rules.  The campus may say, "No flyers put on windshields."  The ministry says, "We are telling people about Jesus, so it is ok."  The more rules we break, the more rules and restrictions tend to get put on religious groups.  A rule breaking ministry can harm all other ministries.  Doors get locked to these ministries.

Second,  some ministries just ignore the administration.  When campus administrators see our ministries as partners or at least, not harmful, it is beneficial.  Doors open to helpful partners.  If administrators  don't even you or your ministry is there, how does that benefit anyone?  Know and befriend those that need to know you.

4.  Church college ministries that separate the college ministry from the church as a whole.  In the short term, this may seem beneficial as everything is college student friendly, directed, and some would say, it keeps students from seeing unpleasant church stuff.  But, here is the thing, will these students love the church and fit into the imperfect church with all kinds of different people in the years to come? Doing real church over the long haul usually means being with a bunch of people who are not just alike and all on the same page.

5.  Thinking YOUR ministry is the only one God can use or cares about.  There is a story about a city wide church progressive dinner organized by the campus based ministry for freshmen to be exposed to different churches in town.  The first stop was at the large and strong college ministry church that had a super attractive set up with lots of different games, etc.  When, the food was winding up and time to go to the next church, it was announced, "If you want to stay here for the evening, our bus will take you back to campus later."  Many of those students stayed and did not go to the remaining churches.  REALLY?

6.  Thinking it is all up to you and that the Lord is lucky to have you leading it.  

Some people read and are helped by Arliss Dickerson's college ministry books.  If you might be one of those, you can start checking them out here, Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

5 SECRETS of Successful College Ministers

 For a number of years, when I was working as a part time college ministry consultant for Lifeway, I was privileged to travel around the country and see a number of different college ministries....large and small.  One thing I learned, many of those asking for help and new ideas were already doing a terrific job.

Here are 5 "SECRETS" of those doing it really well:

1.  They keep looking and learning.  They never think they have it all figured out.  They are even open and willing to learn from those with whom they disagree theologically, etc.

2.  They don't make major changes each year.  They just tweak it a little here and there.  They keep building on their campus situation and personal spiritual gifts. They continue to be students of their campus and situation (resources, etc).

3.  They build up their ministry by building up their student leaders (both spiritually and numerically).  They both look for and develop student leaders.

4.  They look for and enlist others to counterbalance their weaknesses.  They are not afraid to promote others or put them in the spotlight.  They are even fine to hire people that might outshine them.

5.  They understand that a ministry of any size must have at least adequate funding and they are willing to commit time and priority to develop relationships and communication that draws people to support the ministry.  They connect with alums and others who see a need for college ministry and have a desire to invest in ministry that is well done with a kingdom vision.

And they read my Blog…at least sometimes  

Arliss Dickerson writes college ministry books that some find helpful.  You can check out one here:  Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.

College Ministers and Fund Raising for Salaries - Part 2 Eric Reiber & Ben Neiser

 Eric Reiber serves as a College Minister at Penn State University and Ben Neiser started a college ministry at Brigham Young University and then transitioned to a church plant near the campus.  Each responded with their thoughts as ones who have raised their salaries.  These were their first thought responses to my previous blog and are re-posted with their permission.

Eric Reiber:

As someone who has raised his salary for years, it has confused me when conventions are reluctant to allow this.  A couple things come to mind:

1.  Campus Minister to Campus Missionary mindset.  We are not here for the 1,000 or so Christian students but the 45,000 on campus.

2. There is a lack of awareness that support self funded guys have been in our SBC ranks for years!  When they see the stats, ours are included, but most assume and may not be corrected, that we are salaried.

3.  In the SBC world, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) actually has put us in great position to fundraise.  They have a platform and cover the overhead to make it possible that our donating partners give 100% of what is donated to the specific ministry.  This is a part of the Cooperative Program giving.

4.  God will provide for those he called to a place.  Much of it is fear, fear of losing control, fear of coming off as a beggar, fear of letting God do more than our infrastructure can handle until we catch up.

5.  It may actually help relations with the state conventions.  As the worry of being cut for funding, or on the other side, taking away tough decisions to cut funding, allows for a space for good faith partnership to occur.  It will probably look different than what is currently  in place.  College Ministers are becoming a bit more autonomous as they have a slew of stakeholders in their ministry now, but trust and good contractual agreements can cover that gap.

Ben Neiser:

It is unfortunate to say but the most substantial work I have EVER done as a Southern Baptist happened when I was not held accountable by a Southern Baptist entity, ie. State Convention, NAMB, etc.

It happened when I was held accountable by local SBC churches and SBC individual partners.  I took seriously consistent reporting to my partners.  I was held accountable by them.  The local church that I was a member of, housed my finances that I raised.  So, they knew what my salary was and helped me set it.  I was 1099, not W-2

Whatever the setup is, financial partrners need to be confident that their gift is actually going to the individual they are supporting.  If an entity eliminates that position, then those funds need to roll into the operational budget of that campus ministry.  If an entity wants to  provide oversight and accountability, then THEY ALSO NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT.

In conclusion, set the bar high for ministers.  Provide clear training of how to raise funds and provide consistent and clear reporting.  Let the supporting local SBC churches and individuals hold a local minister accountable in their way.  Allow the entities to provide training  and encouragement - not oversight and control.

Arliss Dickerson writes college ministry books that some read and find helpful, if you might be one of those, go to Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV and you can start there.

College Ministers and Fund Raising for Salaries??

 Southern Baptists for many years proudly said, "We pay our people and they don't have to go around begging for money for their salaries."

In the area of college ministry, many nondenominational campus ministry groups have been raising their salaries for years.  And.....much of their money was coming from individual Southern Baptists.  In recent years, as giving has declined and expenses have soared, some Southern Baptist State Conventions have cut back on their number of BCM College Ministers.  Declining offerings and increasing insurance costs, etc are not a good combination.  So, we have seen the cutback of the number of BCM College Ministers in different states.

Did you know that Texas Baptist Student Ministry has 126 college ministry staffers raising all or part of their salaries?  As a result, there over 200 people doing college ministry in Texas. They still have people who receive their salary (about 40) without fund raising.  But, as college campuses have grown and more and more young adults have not confessed faith in Christ or are stepping away from church involvement, the need for college ministry has only increased.

Why are we afraid or reluctant to let college ministry staffers raise their own salaries?

1.  For Southern Baptists one of the main concerns is that it will affect people's giving to their local church, which will in turn affect the Cooperative Program and simply cause ministry funding to decline even more.  That is a logical argument.  Yet, some who have studied that issue say it is not accurate.  One factor is that more and more people today want to give some of their money directly to things they care about and see the need it is meeting.  So, they are going to do it and we can choose whether or not to offer them a channel or let them go elsewhere with their gifts.

2.  If people raise their own salaries, they are not answerable to anyone or "you can't control them."  Again, this is a reasonable argument.  I know the day I drove by a car wash and saw a sign that said it was raising money for the BSU Gospel Choir.  Yikes!!  I did not know anything about that.  But, many places outside of the south have been allowing Baptist Collegiate Ministers to raise their salaries and have established excellent working parameters and partnerships that have benefitted all.  It can be done.

3.  They can raise some outlandish crazy salary.  Somebody please point me to a College Minister who is getting rich raising their salary.  Surely, there is at least one.  Somebody point him or her out.  Usually, those who are working in conjunction with a Baptist ministry, their salary figure is set in accord with a formula.  And, many are working with only a part of their salary figure raised.  In those situations they are usually required to have a certain percentage raised before they can start work or be full time.

4. “But, we have a Baptist College Minister on our campus” is one response.  Hooray!  Glad that is true.  How large is your campus?   How many students are there?  Did you know that nondenominational ministries that do fund raising for salaries sometimes have as many as 15-20 staffers on a large campus?  One large denominational ministry (not Baptist) in Georgia that has  as many as 75  Interns raising their salary for one year of service has had as many as 1500 students at their weekly worship event.  The number of staffers with a solid strategy has a direct proportional effect on the number of students being reached.  Are you satisfied with the number of students that are being reached on your campus or in your state?

It is time for Southern Baptists, as a whole, to have a healthy conversation about fund raising for college ministry salaries.  It is uncomfortable, but NECESSARY!

Arliss Dickerson writes some college ministry books that a few read and find helpful.  If you might be one of those, go to Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV and you can start there.