Last semester I got a message from a new campus based BCM Minister asking for any advice I would give a newbie. This week I met with a former student who is starting a church college ministry. I was impressed with the questions both asked. It was obvious each had some previous background either as a student or intern type.
Here are Some of my Suggestions for Newbies:
1. Make sure you know what the expectations are of the people who are paying your salary.
2. Look for and invest in students who can be the core or the student leaders of the ministry. A ministry must have a core so that there is something to invite new students to connect to. Starting from scratch is the hardest because who wants to go where no one else goes.
3. Make friends with the campus administration. If they do not know about you and your ministry, it is to your advantage for them to know you. If the ministry has a bad reputation due to something in the past, it is good to know it and begin to repair that reputation.
4. Hold some listening sessions with a handful of students to get the lay of the land and what they see as the needs and opportunities. That being said....and being true....realize that students are not always the best ones to say what a ministry should and should not do and when. Crazy I know...but it is often true!
5. If there is no alumni list, start one. If there is an old out of date one, start working to update it. As funding continues to shift for college ministry, individual donors become more and more key. Don't start out asking for money, send a couple of newsletters each year. Just inform them and ask them for tips on who is coming and for prayer. The grapevine can either help you or hurt you. The Grapevine is almost NEVER neutral.
6. Establish a work schedule that is do-able for the long term and works best for your campus and ministry. Being on campus every night till midnight may help the ministry, but kill you and or your marriage. Long term veteran College Ministers are the best. Figure out how to do your ministry that you can last for the long term.
7. Don't start 15 new things. Start with some basic ministry components and build them and later you can build around them. Remember: "Be YOU on the campus WHERE you are!"
8. Be careful to be wise and transparent in the use of funds. Very few, if any, have ever been stealing from college ministry funds, but lots have gotten in trouble for being sloppy. Donors do not like to give to ministries where the use of money and records is sloppy
9. Be intentional in developing a plan and personal policy in working with, meeting with students of the opposite sex. Again, the problem here is often appearances. What do you do when that really good looking girl or guy hugs you a little extra friendly? Where do you meet when they have questions about the faith? College Ministers have been fired over appearances.
10. Do everything possible to get names of new students and make connections with them prior to their coming to campus.
11. If you are a campus based BCM person, connect to all the pastors in the area in some way or other.
12. Look for similar situations to learn from...not copy, but learn from.
13. Get a couple of College Minister buddies to talk to and it helps if one is from another state and you will hear a wider variety of ideas and practices.
14. Write personal thank you notes to donors. They don't have to be long.
15. Walk across the campus and through the Student Center EVERY day!
Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen: 124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9. A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.
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