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.

"The IT Factor" - Part 2

 6 Things College Ministers with "The IT Factor" Do:

1.  Encourage - All of us need encouragement.  But, today's college students report high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.  A positive word often goes farther than we would even begin to realize.

2.  Affirm - Tell college students the potential you see in their life.  Affirm the gifts and abilities you see in them.  Many have never had anyone do that for them.  Most Christian college students will say they have no idea what their Spiritual Gift(s) is or are.  Yet, it is key to Christian living and service.

3.  Give them feedback.  - One of the most important things we can do for our student leaders is to give them feedback in their area of service.  What are they doing that is working?  How could they improve?  You can always brag on effort!

4.  Develop and Train - The two greatest impact factors in a college ministry is the College Minister and the Student Leaders.  We can't ask them to fill a role without training and showing them some ways to do it.  Our job is to help them feel and be successful.  If they are to serve in the church in years to come, they need training.  Many student leaders feel a sense of failure as a result of not knowing what to do or a clue how to do it effectively.  "IT College Ministers" coach!

5.  Pray with them and Teach them to Pray. - Every time you meet with them, pray with them.  Ask them to pray.  Many Christians have never prayed out loud with another person.

6.  Express Appreciation - Student leaders and any student who does anything in your ministry from greeting to setting up chairs is benefitting you and the ministry.  Make sure they know that you appreciate it.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Reaching MORE College Students, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.