College Ministry is This Simple........and this Hard!

 All of us who do or have done college ministry are always trying to continually understand the basics and in the midst of all that has to be done to break it down to those difference makers.

Here are 5 Difference Majors for College Ministry:

1.  Develop and train leaders.  Nothing expands the ministry or touches more different students for witness and connections than a strong group of core leaders who are invested.

2.  Share a vision and draw students into it. Where is the ministry trying to go?  Is it just a club on campus or is it a witness for Christ?  

3.  Work at making the ministry widely known on campus.  The more the ministry is known, the more likely it is for students to considering connecting or to respond when invited.  Remember, the number one reason students attend the first time is, "Someone invited me."  Some do it with big deal Welcome Week events. Others advertise widely.  Some do service projects on campus.  How can you make your ministry more widely known on campus?

4.  As a leader, be visible on campus. Walk across the campus and through the Student Center every day.  It gives opportunity for connecting with administrators (who open and close doors), workers, students that your students will introduce you to in just being there.  Plus, you will have a greater feel of the campus.

5.  Cast a WIDE net.  Do your best to reach into a wide variety of groups.  When you reach a student in a different campus group, you have a greater possibility of reaching more students in that group.

It's that simple......and that hard!

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4 Steps to Consider to ENLARGE Your Ministry This Fall

1.  Talk to some core students and get their feedback and thoughts as to some possible changes, tweaks, or adaptations.  Listen to them and think through all their thoughts and ideas.

2.  Consider slimming down all your ministry offers in order to focus more on what you see as your main ministry drivers.  It may not be a question of what is good or bad, but simply is it worth the cost time and emphasis.  Are you spreading your leadership team too think?

3.  Make an OBVIOUS change to your weekly Large Group Event.  It may be time, day, place, format, etc.  Has it grown stale?

4.  Does there need to be MORE of you or LESS of you?  Are you upfront too much or two little?  Should there be more students in up front roles?  Should there be more or less guest speakers?

Finally, go back to your Core students for their feedback on your tentative plan. Get their input, but you make the final decision.

Check out 162 Tips and Hacks for College Freshmen:  Fun, Faith & Good Grades at Amazon.com/dp/B0H466D8Z9 

Questions to Ask as You Prepare to Speak to College Students this fall

In recent years, it has become more and more the trend that College Ministers speak at their large group worship events.  

If you fall into this category, I want to throw out 5 Questions to ask as you begin to prepare:

1.  What are some Biblical basics, they need to hear or understand?  We know increasingly that many Christians are biblically illiterate.  A recent survey indicated that the major of church goers do not read the Bible regularly.  So, are there some basics you believe must be part of this fall's talks?

2.  What do students WANT to hear? I think that has to always be part of your equation as you plan.  I think we always have some responsibility to speak to where they are.

3.  What are some "every year topics"?  Unless your ministry is the total perfect exception....as I am sure it is....there will be some students only there one year due to change in schedules, due to change in priorities, etc, etc. If they are only in your ministry one year, what is something you want them to hear?

4.  What are some possible "attractional topics" for the first three weeks?  I am unapologetic in being a "Topic Speaker" to college students.  Even when I have done a book study, I used a topic title for each week.  I also am unapologetic about the need and value of utilizing topics that students want to hear as they make those key start of school decisions about where they will go.  But and however, it cannot be bait and switch.  Speak on what you advertise.  One reason I favor topics, is that it makes it easy for students to use those in inviting people.

5.  What are some "issues" on YOUR campus?  Some years there are issues and questions that arise among Christians and Non-Christians in different locations such as faith healing, speaking in tongues, etc, etc.  Would it be helpful and beneficial to speak to them?

One More Thought:  When you have made a list of possible topics, throw it out to your leadership team and see what feedback you get. 

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Hard Conversations in College Ministry

 Part of doing College Ministry well is having hard conversations.  Here are some examples.

I went to visit a College Minister at his office and he was tied up with a student.  As he came out, he said, "That was one of those tough conversations.  I had to tell him if he was going on the Spring Break Mission Trip, he had to take a shower every day."

Some students indicated to me that one of our Freshmen Ministers was involved in some behavior totally contrary to the lifestyle commitment she had made.  I confronted her about it.  She denied it and I told her I would take her at her word.  I think the information I had been given was accurate, but I also think we must take people at their word.  That was a painful conversation!

One of the most committed students I ever had and an excellent student in the midst of a conversation said that she was doing a book report on a book she had not read.  I said, "Isn't that cheating."  She looked stunned and said, "I never thought about it."  The next week when we met, she said, "I read the book."

One of our guys was a natural leader, but had never stepped up in a leadership role in our ministry.  One day, I said, "If you aren't going to do a leadership role in BCM, you need to run for president of the student body."

One of our newly elected ministry leaders was a very attractive young woman and well liked.  I said to her at our first meeting, "You can get by on your good looks or you can really grow your leadership ability."  She became one of the best leaders we ever had.

A College Minister friend of mine who leads a large church ministry had to leave a meeting in Nashville early to go home and deal with the word that his Worship Leader was being seen drunk in student bars on Saturday night.  You think that was a hard conversation?

One of our really good BCM Presidents transformed personality wise almost over night it seemed and no longer was the leader he had been.  We had multiple hard conversations that resulted in no explanation or change and he sleepwalked through his last couple of weeks as our student leader.  I later learned that his parents were going through a divorce.  We never know all that is going on in a student's life.

What HARD conversations are you having with students?  It is part of the job AND it is part of doing the job well.  Often, saying something to a student they don't want to hear is for their benefit and future benefit.  Some will walk away, but many will stay and grow because you care enough to have hard conversations.

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