Are You Speaking to the SPECIFIC Needs of 18-23 Year Old College Students?

 One of the things I have fussed about in the last couple of years is that I think there is a danger of college ministries becoming "too churchy".  Partly I mean that the events can be all worship and preaching and no fun and laughter.  Students need healthy fun and laughter.  Second, because of the increasing ignorance of the scriptures, College Ministers are more and more "preaching scripture".  

Here is the Problem:

Eighteen to 23 year olds have lots of specific needs that will not be addressed in Sunday church type settings.  That is one of the things that I think is so great and so important about the college ministry/local church partnership.  We each are speaking into important parts of their lives in ways the other cannot.

What are some 18-23 year old Topics?

-Sexuality and Gender Issues - This is not a Sunday morning church service topic...at least in most churches.  Helping students understand and navigate this tough issue in our society today is huge.  If I don't have a steady boyfriend or girlfriend....am I gay?  How do I relate to a friend who is going through this?

Personal Identity - Students are wrestling more than ever with understanding who they are and what to do with their lives.  Are you speaking to "Spiritual Gifts" and how that plugs into who we are and how God would use us?  Who are we to be as a result of accepting Christ?  How does that change or affect who we are?

Healthy View of Marriage and Dating - Marriage has almost become disposable in our society today.  As one young woman said the night before her wedding, "I think this will be a good first marriage for me."  How do young adults view marriage and family?  How can they get ready to do it by dating in a healthy way?  Are guy/girl relationships more than just about sex?

Dealing with People of Very Different Ideas - There is a movement in our society today that says, "There is Your Truth and My Truth".  In other words, whatever anyone thinks with sincerity is true.  Really?  How can young adults deal with that AND understand there are basic truths (you know like in the Bible).

As you evaluate this past school year's ministry ask yourself, "How have I or my guest speakers done in speaking to their SPECIFIC ISSUES?  These are just examples to get your head working and I hope not throbbing.  It is hard, but College Ministers are the BEST and if anyone can do it, College Ministers are the Ones!  

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV

Discipleship Journey Partners Ministry for Incoming Freshmen

 Many campus based and church based ministries match up freshmen with a Discipleship Partner during the school year. Our BCM here at LSU has decided to match them up during the summer before they begin college.  The name of the ministry is, Discipleship Journey Partners.  We are inviting the new freshmen in the Fall of 23 at LSU to have a discipleship partner.  When they sign up, we match them up with either current students in our BCM ministry or other freshmen in the fall of 23.  The discipleship partners call each other once per week to pray together and give discipleship reports from when they get matched up throughout the summer until the Fall Semester begins.  Then, they will meet face to face each week during the school year.

We provide partners with a guide to use during the call.  We ask them to share a discipleship report each week in the areas:

1.  Personal and corporate Bible Study (What was the message your Pastor gave?)

2.  Personal and corporate prayer requests.

3.  Church attendance and involvement (How are they using their spiritual gifts?)

4.  Outreach/Evangelism

5. Then we suggest they share a life report (Work, family, friends, etc...)

Then they close the meeting by praying together.

 We have 46 freshmen signed up as of today. The sets of partners began their calls to each others on the Sunday night after Easter.  We did a zoom call before that with just the freshmen guy and then the freshmen girls to help them connect with each other and to explain the ministry.  We will make thse Zoom calls periodically throughout the summer to helop the freshmen connect with other freshmen.

We suggest the partners call each other on Sunday night, but it can be whatever day works best.  Our BCM has signed up 32 freshmen primarily though a phone call or text invitation.  The other freshmen were signed up by one of the 25 freshmen.  They texted me the name of a friend they had talked to that wanted a partner.  The freshmen involved are already feeling ownership of our ministry  We have never had this ownership of our ministry this early by incoming freshmen.

I am excited about this ministry for the incoming freshmen.  But, I am also excited about it for the current college students in our ministry that have a partner.  It is going to help them "step up their spiritual life" throughout the summer.

This ministry is also going to help our collegiate churches.  We are matching up the out of town freshmen in the Fall of 23 with students thar are involved in our collegiae churches that reach out of town students.  We feel the connection they establish  over the summer will lead to those freshmen seriously checking out the church of their partner in the fall.  WE have lots of commuter students involved in our ministry that are involved in a church that is 20 or more miles away.  We are matching up the commuter freshmen in the Fall of 23 with those current students that are commuters.

We want our ministry to help students become strong disciples of Christ.  We want them to develop strong relationships with other believers.  We think this ministry is going to help us do both of these things.  

The following are some testimonials:

"I am participating the DJP because I want to meet more like minded believers.  I feel like it will help me with any questions that I may have as well as becoming stronger in the word. I'm going to be a finance major and I plan on becoming an invesment banker.  I'm from Bossier City, Louisiana."  Sara

"Hey my name is Hayden.  I am from Denham Springs, LA and plan to pursue a PTA degree.  I joined the BCM to surround myself with fellow believers that will push me and help me grow in my faith.  I'm excited for the future and what God has planned for me and how he is going to use me to grow his kingdom."  Hayden

"I'm from Benton, Louisiana and will be majoring in physics and concentrating in astronomy starting in the fall.  I love reading, eating Mexican food, and telling dad jokes.  "im so excited to build genuine, deep, Christ-centered friendships through the DJP  Geaux tigers!"  Chloe

"I am participating in the DJP because I strive to disciple myself in college and strengthen my relationship with God so that temptations don't interfere with my spiritual growth.  I am looking forward to meeting new people that have similar interest as myself so that I can freely worship alongside them with no judgment and compassion.  I feel like this program will help me stay grounded and focused on my growth academically wise and spiritually wise."  Abigale

To help our BCM staff and student leaders monitor the program, we have setup a Google document for it.  Each week we ask the participants through a group text to report on the contact they have with their Discipleship Partner during the previous week.  They record on of the following:  TC - Telephone Call between the two partners.  T -Texted each other, ZC - Zoom Call between the two partners, PM - Personal Meeting (This will especially apply in the Fall semester.) DNR - I texted them and they did not respond.  The Google  document is really helping us keep up with the ministry.

I am excited about this ministry for the incoming freshmen.  I have sensed a real excitement about the ministry from the freshmen signed up.  I know this ministry will be of great benefit to the participating current students in our ministry.  I feel like this ministry is a good "spiritual bridge" between the spring semester and fall semester for the participating upperclassmen.

Steve Masters, LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry

Send me an idea YOU are using to connect with freshmen this fall that we can use in a future blog article.  It may not be NEW, but it works for you.  Pass it on.

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 at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

8 Factors in College Ministry Growth and Size

 "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1 

 The movement of God's Spirit in and through a ministry is the most important and significant factor in any kind of ministry.  Yet, I learned a long time ago, sharper instruments are the most productive.  Is your ministry as "sharp" as it can be?  Or, are you asking God to overlook the "dullness" of your ministry. 

1.  Staff Size - We can cut it any way we want to, but it just makes a big difference in how many people are reaching out to students, connecting with students, and having time to build into their lives. Part time and Senior Assistants are options when full time staffers is not.  

2.  Appropriate and Workable strategy -  There has to be a plan that shapes the work, events, and overall ministry of what is being done. The strategy has to be consistent with the gifts of the minister or ministry staff and it must be applicable to that campus.  Harvard events and approach does not work at Commuter Tech and vice versa.

3.  Quality and Investment/Ownership of Student Leaders - To build the ministry, we must recruit, develop and build up student leaders.  A significant number of highly bought in student leaders can offset a lack of staff.  

4.  Financial Resources - Resources can affect everything from the food or lack of food served at events, mailings and publicity, to the appearance of the meeting area to quality of events held during the critical first two weeks of the fall semester.  Money does not make a ministry, but it is hard to have much ministry apart from the needed finances.

5. Campus Atmosphere, Type, and Administration Openness - Again, there is a big difference in the atmosphere, students, and opportunities at Harvard and Commuter Tech.  On some campuses, the administration is helpful to campus ministry groups, other places they are neutral and in some, they are hostile to religious groups.  Every campus is different and the ministry must recognize and work with that difference.  Commuter campuses are harder to reach than residential ones.  There is a large difference in the attitudes, availability, and types of students at commuter campuses and residential campuses.  Make it a priority to work at a positive relationship to campus administrators  

6.  Other Options - Some campuses literally do not have much happening and others are overrun with activities.  Some campuses have only one or two ministries reaching out to students.  Other campuses have several ministries reaching out to the students. Plus, a college ministry with a bad reputation can have a negative effect on ALL ministries.  When there are a variety of quality ministries, it is essential to establish and build on the strength and uniqueness of your ministry. One key issue when there are multiple ministries is the number of student leaders available to invest in the different ministries.

7.  Long Term Tenure of the Ministry Leader - There are a lot of reasons that the larger and more established ministries are led by long term leaders.  They build respect on campus.  They know the campus.  Others know them and are willing to invest.  People send students to campuses with well known and long time respected leaders.  

8,  Consistency Over Time - I do not think we give enough credit to the value of a ministry being consistent over the long haul on a campus.  That is part of what earns it trust which benefits it both with campus administrators, with supporters and with students.  This also ties to the long term tenure of the leader.

"There are 12 million full time and 8 million part time college students in the United States.  The most optimistic figure given by college ministry leaders is that all of the evangelical ministries combined (both campus and church) are reaching approximately 5% of the student population."  from Reaching MORE College Students Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.

Should the size of the campus be a factor in the number of college ministry staffers?

Are you and your ministry working on those areas within your control?

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and  A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

How College Ministers Can Publish their own Million Dollar Book!!!

 College Ministers must self publish for the benefit of college ministry as a whole.  So, where do you start?

After my blog, "College Ministers MUST Self Publish" I was overwhelmed (ok maybe one or two) with requests to do a quick "How to" on self publishing.  Even though I have done several self published college ministry books, I am far from an expert.  At first, I paid a former student to edit and do the work of uploading it to Amazon, etc.  But, that was an expense, I sometimes did not recover.  So, I ventured out on my own.  If I can do it, YOU can do it.

BASIC STEPS:

Go to Kindle Direct Self Publishing.

Set up an account at no cost.  Just follow the prompts.

Click on Create..  It will give you the choice of eBook, Paperback, or Hardcover.  I did a few eBooks in the very beginning.  But, I now do only paperback.  It is just my preference.

Blanks to fill in will come up..  These are Title, Author, Description.  The Description is very important.  This is what will appear on the Amazon page about your book where people can order it.  So, the description and appearance of it are very important. You might go to Amazon and pick a book or two you like and see their descriptions.

Key words is next.  You can list several (7 I think) these are words that people google that might lead them to your book such as "Christian youth ministry" or "College Ministry" etc.  Look at the page of some college ministry books on Amazon and you will see how they are ranked.  Shane Pruitt's new book, Calling Out the Called, shows up in "Christian Church Leadership" and "Christian Evangelism".

Cover Creator is one of the next and FUN steps..  It is just that.  You are creating what will be the cover of the book.  You can upload your own cover or you can click on their cover options, which is what I do.  There are several categories to choose from.  You can try several and see which you like.  In this, you will also write what will go on the back cover.  This is usually a quick squib or paragraph about the book and a bio sketch about you and most have a place for a picture.  Adding the picture has always been one of the toughest parts for me, for some reason.  I always explore several cover options before I pick one.  You just click on it and your title and subtitle will appear on it.  It is pretty amazing.

Uploading the Manuscript- Remember, your book must be at least 25 pages.  You simply click on it and then click on your manuscript.  I had trouble here the first time due to having typed my manuscript in separate "chapters" and uploaded each to a file.  That is WRONG!  It needs to be all one manuscript.  My college granddaughter was able to rescue me with the chapters file and make it work.  But, don't go there.  Just do one single manuscript.

One issue that I have each time, is it will then state that my manuscript is outside the book page borders. But, there is a place to click on the left side that will re-size it to fit.  Don't panic.  That will solve the problem.  Just click there and it will automatically do it.

Pricing will come up.  It will tell you what the minimum price must be to cover their cost and then it is up to you to price it.  It cannot be free, as I understand some sites will let you do free for an eBook.

Click Publish!  Then, it will go through their review process and then  notify you by email in about 24 hours that it is available and you can click on your new book at Amazon Books.  That is a crazy feeling to see it the first time!  I always then order one to see for sure what all the final product looks like and if I want to re-work before I announce it. Let me warn you.  If you order "Author Copes" which are super cheap....BUT, you must pay shipping and they usually take 10 days to 2 weeks to ship.  

 There are inexpensive books available on Amazon on how to self publish and promote it. I read one after I had been doing it a while and learned some things, but was not blown away with the information.  But, I had already done it.

You can do it....probably better than me!!  Let me know what you publish and I will mention/promote it for the benefit of all.

Arliss Dickerson's book, A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades is at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.