Most Successful College Ministers Are Workhorses....Not Show Horses!

 Occasionally, people who are looking for a College Minister for their vacant position will call me and indicate they want someone who is a great speaker.  Could I recommend someone? I know a few that are good speakers and maybe one or two that are great speakers.

They are looking for someone that can instantly double or triple their ministry with their speaking.  But, here is the problem with that formula....IF that is all it is built on, when the great speaker leaves, many of those who were attracted will instantly disappear also.  Usually there is no structure to support that ministry and the students involved.

I think there is probably a little too much emphasis being put on College Ministers being speakers these days.  Don't get me wrong, I am all about College Ministers being as good of a speaker as possible.....I was a Speech Major!  I love a big crowd.  Never had as many as I had hoped to have at any event!

But, most of the great College Ministers I know are Work Horses!  They put one good year on top of another.  They build into students' lives individually and they grow student leaders for service in God's Kingdom later as well as blessing the ministry on campus as they are developing.  Collins English Dictionary defines a Work Horse this way...."they can be relied on to do a large amount of work, especially work that is dull or routine."

Two Key Words:  Dull and Routine!  

Don't worry about being a Show Horse or a Rainmaker......be willing to do the dull and routine again and again and again.  Talk to freshmen, listen to them, challenge them.  Help that student with a good personality be a good leader and know how to lead a meeting.  Teach that shy kid how to share their testimony with a friend.  Help a student who has really messed up sense God's forgiveness in their life and that God can still use them.

But, be the best speaker you can be......there is nothing holy about being dull!

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate, author, and sometimes pretty good speaker.  Check out some of his resources here:  Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN or Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP.

As Your Semester Ends and Before the Next One Starts

 Before Your Semester Ends:

1. Have a de-brief with your key leaders.  It can be a formal evaluation or just go to lunch with some, ask some questions and listen.  What went well?  What do we need to learn from this semester?

2.  Invite 4 or 5 freshmen for coffee or coke.  Ask some questions and listen.  Why did they connect and why did some of their friends not connect or stay connected?

3.  Make a list of folks that disappeared as the semester progressed.  In the busyness of the semester, it is easy to not realize some have not continued to be involved.  If you have some big end of the semester event or Christmas party, send them an individual message about it and wish them well on their finals.

Before the Next Semester Starts:

1.  Write PERSONAL thank you notes to contributors.  Give an example of something that went well or that their gift helped make possible.

2.  Remember that some people do year end giving due to bonuses, profit sharing, or just catching up on giving.  Do something that puts your ministry on their radar.  Send a newsletter to alums or post something on your website.  Post something on Facebook about the semester and give a link to give.  Make sure there is an address somewhere for those that do not do on-line giving.

3.  Look back at the list of freshman whose names were given to you by pastors or friends last summer.  For those that never showed, make a personal contact.  They were sent to you because whomever sent it saw them as a possible key leader or they especially needed your ministry.

4.  If you are speaking for your weekly event, lay out your topics and scripture.  You can always change as the semester goes along.

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate, author, and sometimes speaker.  Check out some of his materials here:  Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX 

Collegiate Ministry Discipleship Groups by Morgan Owen

Morgan Owen is the Baptist Campus Minister at The University of Tennessee at Martin.

Around 15 years ago we changed how we did small groups.  We went all in on gender specific small groups.  Instead of guys meeting in separate groups throughout the week, we set a specific night of the week as Men's Discipleship (we call it ManUp.). I got the  idea from someone who said that men are wired towards "conferences"....all guys gathering together to learn, grow, and have accountability and to feel like one unit (much like the values of a fraternity);

We meet all together on Thursday nights for a lesson from a speaker (20-25 minutes) and then the guys break up up into small groups led by ManUp leaders.  The ManUp leaders are interviewed in the spring and lead the following school year.  Each ManUp group has co-leaders.  Staff determines the theme for the semester and communicates with individuals to speak (pastors, youth pastors, professors, alumni) on the topics/scripture provided to them.  ManUp leaders are given discussion questions ahead of time to prepare.  Most of our speakers provide an outline that give focus and direction.  

This worked so well that a few years later our ladies asked to have the same approach, which we call Radiant.  Before this approach, we would have around 40-45 involved in small groups with both genders.  In the years following this change we were having 65-70 attending.  We've seen as high as 120 involved in ManUp and Radiant combined.

This is reprinted with Mo's permission from a comment he made in an on-line collegiate ministry discussion group. Are you doing something different in this area that you want to share?

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate, author, and sometimes speaker.  You can check out some of his resources here:  Reaching More College Students Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN  and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV

Nostalgia Vs. Principles

 Mark Robinson, Baptist Collegiate Ministry leader for Louisiana, had a great post on Facebook recently about being in a meeting where young and old heads were planning a mission trip.  The old head wanted to do it like they had always done it in the past.  The younger guy said, "I refuse to be held hostage by Legacy Thinking.

I want to speak to both sides of sides of that (and from an old guy viewpoint).  

Students have changed and we must adapt to the changes.  If we think college students act and behave....and think like they did years ago, we are definitely out of touch.  We must be continually learning and adjusting.  Plus, every campus is a little different every year.  The ebb and flow changes at least slightly.

BUT, some things are principle driven.  Beware of doing something just because it is the latest thing.  I believe there are principles in college ministry, just like every ministry, that never change.  We must continually be about identifying and understanding those principles.  Is this new thing principle driven or is it just a fad that will soon pass away?

I was confronted once by a young and fairly new College Minister who said, "You do college ministry the old fashioned way."  He had recently come to a campus and had thrown out their program of Freshmen Ministry to do something entirely different.  I don't know the nice way to say this.  His new way was reaching far less than the old way had the year before.  He was reaching way less than our "old fashioned way" was reaching.  In two or three years he had gone on to another job.

Change, adapt, and don't just say, "That is the way we have always done it."  But, beware of falling prey to the bright and shiny object that is just new, but not principle driven.

One of the reasons I am high on experienced College Ministers mentoring new College Ministers is I think they both learn and benefit.  The new guy gets some principle driven facts and the old guy gets some of the new thinking.  College Ministry is better on both ends as a result.

Beware of "Legacy Thinking" and don't put something down because it has been done that way for a long time.  Look for the Principle!

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate, writer, and once in a while speaker.  Check out his college ministry resources here:  Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX. and here:  Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP

College Ministers Quick Tip #8 You are the FACE of the Ministry

Parents look at who they want their students to model themselves after and be mentored by.  Potential Donors want to invest in the ministry of someone in whom they believe.  Pastors and Youth Ministers want to have confidence in who they are sending students to.

You are that face!  It is not about ego.  People identify with people.  You must be responsible to embody the ministry that you lead. No one expects it to be any different than you are.

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate and author.  Check some his resources out here: Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP.

 

College Ministers Quick Tip #7 You are more Critical than a Pastor

 God calls thousands of pastors. He only calls a few hundred College Ministers. Never ever underestimate the high calling of college ministry. It is perhaps the most crucial ministry of our time and this generation. YOU are one of the chosen and few. 

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate and author. Check out his resources for College Ministers and students at Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP

Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministry's 3 Areas of Competency

 Beverly Parrish Skinner, who leads the Baptist Collegiate Ministry in Georgia, shared with me a 360 Assessment for Campus Ministers that she worked with an organization called Corpus (Corpusvitae.org) to develop.  Their main focus is church revitalization and pastoral leadership.  But, they worked with Beverly to develop this tool that shows 3 areas of core competencies and skillsets within each of these for Campus Ministers.

Here are the 3 Core Skill Sets with 3 areas of Competency under each:

Cultural Awareness

    -Adaptive to Change

    -Cultural Sensitivity

    -Multi-Directional Relationships

Spiritual Competence

    -High Self Awareness

    -Models Spiritual Vibrancy

    -Teaches the Bible

Leadership Capacity

    -Leads with Vision and Strategy

    -Administrative Capabilities

    -Disciple Multiplier

Here are the 5 Areas that College Ministry Alums said made the difference in their lives.

Highly Relational

Role Model

Mentor/Discipler

Developed Leaders

Taught the Bible and made it Relevant to the College Experience.

My purpose in sharing these is for your personal evaluation as a veteran College Minister and to help newer College Ministers not to have to learn the things that make a difference the hard way.

"Let the wise listen and increase their learning, and let the discerning get good counsel."  Proverbs 1:5

Arliss Dickerson is a college ministry advocate and author.  Check out "A College Ministry Formula" at Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP.