In the last minute rush to do all the details before school starts, sometimes it helps to remember some of the main things. There are 3 words I believe are key in ministry to students. They are Ownership, Identity, and Example.
Ownership-Do the students already involved in your ministry feel like it is theirs? Do they feel responsibility for it. The more ownership your core students feel...especially your leadership or ministry teams, the more they will invest in the ministry and the more they will want to involve others in it. That comes from knowing their efforts and decisions matter. Make sure your leadership team has some say in key decisions. Give them some choices....but make sure they are all choices with which you as the leader can live!!
Identity-There are two parts to this. First, does your ministry have a clear identity on campus. Market people call this "your brand", but in my language, I would say do all you can to make sure the campus knows you are there and that they have a favorable impression of your ministry. First class publicity and welcome events go a long way in this. Some years a go a student friend who was attending a major university where he was a member of "the top fraternity on campus". I asked him how much they spent rushing students each year. It took my breath away when he said, $50,000. Are you doing all you can for students to know about you and have a correct understanding of your ministry?
The second part of "Identity" is one of the callings of our ministry and that is to be helping students discover their identity....who God made them uniquely to be. I recently attended an event where adults in their 50's talked about what their BSU had meant for them and done for them. A constant thing repeated several times was, BSU had helped them discover their identity in a safe environment.
Example-You attract who you are in most cases. Make sure you are the example to your leaders that they need and make sure your leaders understand how important their example is to other students. Do the freshmen see people they want to be like? Are you modeling to your students what you want them to be like....in your relationship to Christ....in your relationship to others.....in your work habits....in your vision for the campus?
Two other things: First, as you plan and serve in this coming school year, make sure you have the Collegiate Ministers Summit on your calendar. It will be in Nashville May 2-4 with speakers such as Gabe Lyons. As usual, there will be outstanding worship times, mega seminars and best of all the chance to be with college ministers from all over the country who share your calling and passion for reaching this generation. It will start on Wednesday and end Friday at noon. If you are interested in other articles on college ministry, you can check out my blog at arlisdickerson.blogspot.com/.
Arliss Dickerson
Leadership Contract Worker
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