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.