There are things always below the surface that make a ministry successful and impactful for God's kingdom in the lives of students. Here are three:
1. OWNERSHIP - Students take ownership of the ministry and therefore are willing to invest themselves in it. And as a result they grow more personally in their relationship to the Lord. Plus, they grow in developing their life skills....and ministry skills. Some argue the number one task of a college ministry is developing leaders for the church in the years to come. When our students feel ownership, they invest more, they grow more, and we reach more. Ownership means their input and decisions are important. Are you helping your students experience and practice ownership?
2. IDENTITY - Many alums of our college ministry have told me in one way or the other that they found out who they were as a result of the opportunities and challenges afforded them. If you ever ask for a show of hands at a Christian gathering of how many there know what their Spiritual Gift or gifts are, you will see few hands go up. Yet, God's will for our lives is usually written into our spiritual gifts. How can someone be who and what God has called them to be without knowing their spiritual gifts? Part of the role and action of a healthy college ministry is giving students the opportunity to try different things and experience affirmation in some of them.
3. EXAMPLE - The single greatest influencer in a person's life is the influence of others. We are a result of our parents' influence. Who and what we become as young adults in college is usually the result of the influences of those we choose to follow. What are you doing to influence students by your example? Students are watching you all the time....ALL the time. What are you doing to teach students to be a godly influence in the lives of other students? Albert Sweitzer said, "Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.".
Practical ideas for Campus and Church based College Ministers
Search This Blog
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Thursday, February 23, 2017
When You Want to Hide at Your Own Ministry....The 4 Laws of Announcements
Ever felt like hiding at your own ministry or pretended you were not there? If so, it likely happened during the announcement time. Honestly, a time or two it happened during a student testimony. But, the most common time was during announcements. Since lots of us have been through that experience, there are many ministries that say, "We don't do announcements at our main event.". I am not of that school. Since there are things we need and want everyone to know, we have to have some announcements.
A prime example came several years ago when I had been invited to speak on a campus for a weekend and they had arranged for me to come and speak at their large group event on Thursday night. They had asked me to speak on a topic I had done that had significant student interest. They had done a great job promoting it and inviting students. There was a large crowd and I was told there were lots of new faces. Shortly before time for me to get up and speak, the "Announcement Team" took the stage and did a twenty minute skit containing the announcements with lots of corny and inside jokes. The longer they went the more I was calculating what I would cut out of my talk to stay within their allotted time. When they finished, the leader of the ministry got up (obviously frustrated) and said, "We are going to go overtime tonight to allow our speaker to have his full time and do what we asked him to do.". We have all been there in one way, time or another.
The Four Laws of Announcements:
1. Make NO more than four announcements!
The more you make.....the less people hear. If one announcements is the KEY announcement, do it at a different and separate time.
2. The person making the announcements should know and understand what they are announcing.
All of us have heard someone read announcements off a sheet in the world's worst monotone. Or, we heard someone "promoting" an event they obviously did not have a clue what it was.
3. The announcements should be such that a first time attendee understands what is being announced.
Often, the announcements seem to be in "insider code". Only a few in the crowd understand what it is about. It adds to the discomfort and the "Maybe I don't belong here." feeling.
4. The announcements should not become the main event or distract from the worship.
Obviously, a twenty minute announcement skit has been a time issue. But, I also think about the time our worship team had an ice breaker where there were volunteers swallowing all sorts of things quickly. To see the lead vocalist throwing up at the side up the stage before going back up to sing was just a bit distracting to the worship event.
Announcements can be done in a quick video which insures the proper amount of time. They could be run at the beginning and end of the event. Each person could be handed a annoucement flyer as they leave. But, mostly someone who knows what is going on and is comfortable on stage making no more than four announcements they understand will almost always work. One idea is to pick out four or five of your students who do a good job with this and rotate them around making announcements. Then, maybe you will not have to pretend you don't know who is in charge of this ministry!
A prime example came several years ago when I had been invited to speak on a campus for a weekend and they had arranged for me to come and speak at their large group event on Thursday night. They had asked me to speak on a topic I had done that had significant student interest. They had done a great job promoting it and inviting students. There was a large crowd and I was told there were lots of new faces. Shortly before time for me to get up and speak, the "Announcement Team" took the stage and did a twenty minute skit containing the announcements with lots of corny and inside jokes. The longer they went the more I was calculating what I would cut out of my talk to stay within their allotted time. When they finished, the leader of the ministry got up (obviously frustrated) and said, "We are going to go overtime tonight to allow our speaker to have his full time and do what we asked him to do.". We have all been there in one way, time or another.
The Four Laws of Announcements:
1. Make NO more than four announcements!
The more you make.....the less people hear. If one announcements is the KEY announcement, do it at a different and separate time.
2. The person making the announcements should know and understand what they are announcing.
All of us have heard someone read announcements off a sheet in the world's worst monotone. Or, we heard someone "promoting" an event they obviously did not have a clue what it was.
3. The announcements should be such that a first time attendee understands what is being announced.
Often, the announcements seem to be in "insider code". Only a few in the crowd understand what it is about. It adds to the discomfort and the "Maybe I don't belong here." feeling.
4. The announcements should not become the main event or distract from the worship.
Obviously, a twenty minute announcement skit has been a time issue. But, I also think about the time our worship team had an ice breaker where there were volunteers swallowing all sorts of things quickly. To see the lead vocalist throwing up at the side up the stage before going back up to sing was just a bit distracting to the worship event.
Announcements can be done in a quick video which insures the proper amount of time. They could be run at the beginning and end of the event. Each person could be handed a annoucement flyer as they leave. But, mostly someone who knows what is going on and is comfortable on stage making no more than four announcements they understand will almost always work. One idea is to pick out four or five of your students who do a good job with this and rotate them around making announcements. Then, maybe you will not have to pretend you don't know who is in charge of this ministry!
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
By Request: 7 Reasons Why Students Attended a Christian Event the First Time
Some years ago, a group of BCM Directors working as part of one of the BCNet committees (a national college ministry development and organizational group made up of teams of church and campus based College Ministers) did a survey of 400 plus college students in different states. Why did they attend a Christian event the first time? The responses equal more than one hundred percent because students could give more than one answer. Here are the top seven responses.
7. Website 10%
6. Mail 12%
5. Social Media 17%
4. Advertising 34%
3. Food 35%
2. Appealing Event 46%
1. Someone Invited Me 77%
For some, the obvious take-away from this is to only operate by personal invitations. While I totally believe the most effective form of enlistment is a personal invitation, I am not of the school that says do that only. A church college minister I was working with was aware we did a variety of things to reach students and he wanted me to tell him the best one. His intent was to do only that one. It is not that simple. I am of the opinion that some of these other things help make a personal invitation so effective.
Often, when students would come to one of our events for the first time, I would ask how they knew about it or why they came. A common answer was, "I have been wanting to come, but I did not know anyone who came.". They had seen advertising or social media, etc. The personal invitation finalized it.
One of the things that I had to finally understand was that core students do not automatically invite students to events. They have to be trained, encouraged, and reminded to invite others. I call it "developing an Invite Culture". Having an "Appealing Event" as listed as the number two reason students came makes it much easier for core students to invite others.
7. Website 10%
6. Mail 12%
5. Social Media 17%
4. Advertising 34%
3. Food 35%
2. Appealing Event 46%
1. Someone Invited Me 77%
For some, the obvious take-away from this is to only operate by personal invitations. While I totally believe the most effective form of enlistment is a personal invitation, I am not of the school that says do that only. A church college minister I was working with was aware we did a variety of things to reach students and he wanted me to tell him the best one. His intent was to do only that one. It is not that simple. I am of the opinion that some of these other things help make a personal invitation so effective.
Often, when students would come to one of our events for the first time, I would ask how they knew about it or why they came. A common answer was, "I have been wanting to come, but I did not know anyone who came.". They had seen advertising or social media, etc. The personal invitation finalized it.
One of the things that I had to finally understand was that core students do not automatically invite students to events. They have to be trained, encouraged, and reminded to invite others. I call it "developing an Invite Culture". Having an "Appealing Event" as listed as the number two reason students came makes it much easier for core students to invite others.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Some Materials to Consider
One of the questions we all ask each other all the time is, "What materials are using?". It may be for small groups or materials to give students for their individual and personal study. Here are some new things I am aware of and have a good first impression of them.
Janae Shatley Camp is a church staffer in Florida who does lots of girls ministry. If you are looking for something for your girls groups, you might check this out. She has a set of materials she has called, THE IMAGE BEARERS BIBLE STUDY. There are DVDs with eight teaching sessions and a student workbook. Also, individual teaching sessions can be downloaded as needed. You can look at samples, etc by going to http://www.janaeshatleycamp.com/image-bearers/
Lifeway has a new set called THE DISCIPLES PATH which contains six different study books. They are:
The Beginning - This is first steps for new disciples...good to give to new Christians, etc. It addresses some basics for believers from the centrality of Christ to being in community
The Way - This is a study focused on Jesus' Disciples and being a disciple.
The Call - The focus is what Jesus did and the priorities and cost of being a disciple.
The Truth - Some studies include, "The Doctrine of God"; "The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit"; and "The Doctrine of the Church".
The Life - This is a study in living the disciples of community, serving, prayer, etc.
The Mission - It speaks to the mission of Christ and disciples being part of that mission.
There are two or three different formats in which these studies can be purchased. So, check out all your options. You can get all of them or just one two which meet a particular need you have.
Don't hesitate to let me know something you have found that our tribe of College Ministers might find useful or meet a particular need.
Thanks for those who are sending me questions, comments suggestions for my current writing project, FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY. You can email, Facebook, or call me. Love to have your input!
Arliss
arlissdickerson@gmail.com
Janae Shatley Camp is a church staffer in Florida who does lots of girls ministry. If you are looking for something for your girls groups, you might check this out. She has a set of materials she has called, THE IMAGE BEARERS BIBLE STUDY. There are DVDs with eight teaching sessions and a student workbook. Also, individual teaching sessions can be downloaded as needed. You can look at samples, etc by going to http://www.janaeshatleycamp.com/image-bearers/
Lifeway has a new set called THE DISCIPLES PATH which contains six different study books. They are:
The Beginning - This is first steps for new disciples...good to give to new Christians, etc. It addresses some basics for believers from the centrality of Christ to being in community
The Way - This is a study focused on Jesus' Disciples and being a disciple.
The Call - The focus is what Jesus did and the priorities and cost of being a disciple.
The Truth - Some studies include, "The Doctrine of God"; "The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit"; and "The Doctrine of the Church".
The Life - This is a study in living the disciples of community, serving, prayer, etc.
The Mission - It speaks to the mission of Christ and disciples being part of that mission.
There are two or three different formats in which these studies can be purchased. So, check out all your options. You can get all of them or just one two which meet a particular need you have.
Don't hesitate to let me know something you have found that our tribe of College Ministers might find useful or meet a particular need.
Thanks for those who are sending me questions, comments suggestions for my current writing project, FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY. You can email, Facebook, or call me. Love to have your input!
Arliss
arlissdickerson@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)