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do they see some good?
February 16, 2012 in assessment & strength, for evangelism, for fun & social activities, for large-scale efforts, for mission trips & other trips, for recruitment, for service, teaching topics | Leave a comment
College ministries have the amazing chance to draw people to the Lord – and establish change on their campus and in the world – by beating the world at its own game(s).
Surely, students in your campus ministry and the average non-Christian on your campus have some hopes in common. Surely, your ministry and the campus administration have some goals they’d agree on. What are they? Are others seeing your good deeds and asking How?
Surely, we who know the King of the Universe, who are instructed in His thoughts and His ways, should be seeing fruit in ways that others don’t. Christians in history have often exemplified excellence at many of the very things the world itself (rightly) sees as “good”… while staying holy in regards to the places the world is confused.
Are you doing that on your campus?
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tying college ministry to valentine’s, romance, and more (frideas galore)
February 10, 2012 in campus integration, for evangelism, for fun & social activities, for funding, for large group meetings, for large-scale efforts, for service, for teaching & small groups, frideas, teaching topics | Leave a comment
Yesterday I wrote about using Valentine’s Day (or Valentine’s Week) to make students (especially the gals) feel special, to help students learn about serving others, to discuss Christianity’s counter-cultural version of and vision for romantic love, and other possibilities.
The thing is, romance, possible romance, and thoughts of future romance are always going to be a big part of college students’ lives (especially since by “romance” I mean any related topics). So why wouldn’t we tie some portion of our work to this very teachable moment, an area in which Christianity truly has an awful lot to say?
Today, some ideas about the How of all this. Beyond the normal “Dating series,” what can your college ministry do about these issues surrounding V Day – or any other time of the year? I figured I’d throw out a handful of Frideas, and hopefully some of them will be useful – or get you thinking!
- Campus-wide seminar (on sexuality, dating, etc.)
- Fundraisers connected to Valentine’s (sell roses, Val-o-grams on campus, care packages paid for by friends or significant others or parents, etc.)
- Serving local adults on Valentine’s by watching kids during “date night”
- Etiquette Dinner
- Regular, somewhat nice dinner on Valentine’s Day (or any Friday night) for college students just to get to know each other (sometimes called “Dinner for Ten” or something similar)
- Panel discussion by adults on romance topics
- Talking about not simply the “rules” of dating but being a good couple
- Talking about not simply the “rules” of singleness but using your singleness well
- Honoring couples in your ministry who have done things well (by them sharing their testimony, discipling other couples, etc.)
- Loving on others around Valentine’s Day (older people, the homeless, students’ own parents, international students, etc.)
- Facilitate special date nights for couples in your ministry
- If you’re a married (or dating) college minister, go out regularly with student couples in your ministry
Lots of ideas that certainly center on different purposes. And I’m sure we could all come up with more!
valentine college ministry
February 9, 2012 in current events, for community-building, for fun & social activities, for large group meetings, for service, for teaching & small groups | 1 comment
Do you see Valentine’s Day as an important opportunity in your campus ministry? Here’s a post from a couple of years ago that could give you some thoughts for next Tuesday…
One of the best projects I was ever a part of involved giving roses to the girls in our small group during Valentine’s week.
I led a co-ed freshman Bible study my sophomore year of college. So before Valentine’s came around, I got all the guys in our group to secretly donate, come particularly dressed up that night, and then meet together just before group time. I handed out roses I had ordered, and s our lovely ladies walked down the hall, we were looking sharp and carrying flowers to give to them.
Valentine’s Day is possibly in the Top Ten of regular opportunities college ministries have to
- be counter-cultural and redefining
- shine
- serve
- make people’s day
- develop group community
- raise expectations for all these future spouses
- or all of the above.
Whether ministry-wide or within individual small groups, this is a chance for people to think about making each other feel special – whether they’re just buddies or they’re more.
Tomorrow, Frideas on how we can help students love each other well (at Valentine’s time or otherwise).
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love thy neighbor (a fridea)
January 27, 2012 in campus integration, for evangelism, for fun & social activities, for recruitment, for service, for using student leaders, frideas | 1 comment
The college ministry I volunteer in meets in a large theater on the SMU campus, inside the Student Center. But like a lot of campus Student Centers, there are several other meeting rooms down there. So as students arrive and as they leave, there are often other meetings taking place (or people coming to / going from those meetings).
So I’ve often wondered if there’s any great way to connect with these students or their organizations. Could we feed them? Invite them to our large group after their event gets done? Serve them in some way? Or organize a “mixer” event for our group and theirs?
I know this Fridea doesn’t apply to all college ministries out there – some of you meet in an area of campus where other organizations don’t, and others meet off-campus. (Of course, you can still do those sorts of things for groups, even if they’re not your physical neighbors week-to-week.) It’s not tricky (usually) to figure out what groups are meeting in certain rooms on-campus – making it all the easier to provide targeted impact, whatever it happens to look like.
Whether the groups that meet near yours are different week-to-week or (like you) they have a standing arrangement, the point is that they’re near you. Why not take the opportunity for hospitality, service, invitation, or fellowship?
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tweaking your Finals plans (an abundance of frideas)
December 2, 2011 in end of the semester / quarter, for community-building, for evangelism, for fun & social activities, for large-scale efforts, for recruitment, for service, frideas | Leave a comment
I’ve written (and even spoken at a conference) before on a method for brainstorming that not only makes “creativity” easy for non-creative people, but also allows college ministers to tweak their present activities to accomplish our purposes best. I call it “exploring the edges” or the Slider Method.
If you’re interested, you can find audio of my “Better Brainstorming” talks via Campus Ministry United. Here are the links; you can download them or play them directly: “Better Brainstorming With Benson” pt. 1, “Better Brainstorming With Benson” pt. 2. (There’s a shorter, somewhat different explanation at this post, too.)
So I thought for today’s Fridea, I’d use that method on the classic “Finals Study Session.” This should provide some Frideas you can actually use, but hopefully (and more importantly), it’ll give you a tool for tweaking any other Finals Week ideas you’ve got for maximum effectiveness.
The Classic Finals Study Session
Lots of college ministries (and other student organizations) establish some kind of presence on campus to help students study (and/or provide a break from studying). Of course, other purposes can be accomplished besides this act of service – like connecting with students, recruiting, and so on.
The “classic” method may be exactly what a campus ministry needs to best hit its aims. But what if a method can be tweaked to do that even better? Let’s explore some various “axes” of this particular method and see what versions we come up with. Would any of these fit your purposes better?
The Who Axis (thinking bigger, smaller, or crazier)
bigger (on the who axis)
- Advertising all across campus, not just to your ministry
- Specifically urging students to bring friends
- Bringing together students from multiple campuses (which might affect WHERE you have it, too)
- Do this in conjunction with other collegiate ministries
smaller
- Holding this for only a single major
- Offering it for one dorm or apartment complex
- Establishing a “guys only” or “girls only” or “Seniors only” study break (etc.)
- Purposely holding it only for your campus ministry’s students (and maybe any friends they bring?)
crazier
- Encouraging professors, tutors, or staff to attend (for the fun, to connect with students, or to help students)
- Bringing in people from a local church or churches to facilitate, connect with students, etc.
- Limiting the invite to different groups on different nights (maybe even mixing groups interestingly)
The What Axis
bigger (on the what axis)
- Offering not only study time but… food, tutoring, video game breaks, board game breaks, napping couches, movies…
smaller
- Limiting it to only those who need a certain kind of studying – like group study, or completely silent study
- Not offering study space at all, but only relaxation, food, tutoring, or any of the other things listed under “bigger”
- Focusing on large-group study sessions around a single test or single major
crazier
- Taking a “study road trip”!
- “Crash” a local restaurant or coffee shop to do this (you might wanna let them know)
- Coordinate with professors to provide extra special study aids for particular tests
The When Axis
bigger
- Offer this far more than you’d planned – maybe throughout Finals (or even start before Finals start)
- Offer the session(s) for longer than usual – all day, all night… or both!
smaller
- Offer this only once
- Make the time especially short (but do it really, really well)
crazier
- Offer several of these at different times and in different locations (which affects WHERE axis, too)
- Make it a “cram session” offered early every morning
- Put it in the middle of the day instead of at night
Get the idea? By focusing on one “axis” at a time, we can take any method and think through potential “tweaks.” And we only explored three axes here - you could still brainstorm the Where Axis and the “newly discovered” With Whom Axis.
And of course, this method can be applied to any of yesterday’s 29 ideas… and anything else you’re planning to do during Finals this year. Are you accomplishing everything you could? Tweaking can be a lovely thing…
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use parents’ visits well
September 15, 2011 in campus integration, college ministers, for communication, for community-building, for fun & social activities, for funding, for large-scale efforts, supporting college ministry | Tags: campus ministries and parents weekend | 1 comment
Maybe I’ll have a chance to ponder some concrete ideas in the future, but the title of today’s post pretty much speaks for itself! And every campus – and every ministry – is different enough that your interactions with parents and the potential there will differ pretty widely.
But since Parents’ Weekend is coming up this weekend at SMU here in Dallas, I did want to encourage you to take full advantage of those kinds of opportunities – and not only official “parents’ weekends” at your school (though they present HUGE potential), but also other times when individual students’ parents make their way to campus.
Have you thought and prayed this one through? You may be missing chances for recruiting prayer warriors, encouraging students to get more involved, support-raising, finding good contacts, recruiting mentors for students, and probably a lot of other things. Whether it’s a full-scale parents-invited large group meeting or a standing offer for free lunch with students and their parents… or other ideas… I’d weigh how this can fit into your semesters!
(And a bonus: You might be able to integrate with your campus in helping its Parents’ Weekends go well. Another win!)
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college ministry, bieber style (a fridea)
July 22, 2011 in assessment & strength, campus integration, college ministers, for community-building, for evangelism, for fun & social activities, for service, for using student leaders, frideas | Leave a comment
(If you can’t see the video above, you can see it and the Good Morning America story here.)
Don’t know if you’ve seen this story or not, but it’s pretty great.
And there’s something big we can learn from Justin Bieber here: Unexpected attendance can sometimes be a phenomenal blessing.
I’ve written about this before (so read there for more), and this Fridea is simple AND powerful: Consider ways your group’s presence (or even your presence as a college minister) can be a surprising blessing.
What does your group “show up for” that you don’t plan yourselves?
- Campus functions?
- Other ministries’ campus-wide outreaches?
- Graduation ceremonies?
- Recitals, exhibitions, art shows, speeches, class presentations?
- Service projects run by secular groups?
- Parties organized by other groups?
- Athletic contests (especially the less-popular ones)?
- Intramural games?
- Student government meetings?
Even if your group is small, it’s likely the presence of some of your members could encourage, impact, or build relationships with somebody – just by showing up. And imagine if you can bring a few dozen – or a few hundred – with you!
Now I get a little bolder, but I believe this: If everything your campus ministry does was planned by your campus ministry, you’re likely a poor member of the campus community.
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez gave that whole wedding party something they’ll talk about for the rest of their lives. In just 10 minutes of presence.
We may not have their star power… but we’ve got more minutes to spend!
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when it’s just one, it’s just one
June 9, 2011 in assessment & strength, for fun & social activities, for large group meetings, for large-scale efforts, for mission trips & other trips, for service, for teaching & small groups | Leave a comment
It’s okay to have only one ministry purpose.
I don’t mean having a single aim for your entire college ministry – although that’s probably okay, too, if you see your ministry as complementary to other ministries students will be impacted by.
But what I mean today is that it’s okay for a campus ministry activity to be focused on achieving one thing.
It’s okay to build a night around fun – without including a Bible study, worship segment, recruitment aspect, or attempt to fulfill another purpose.
It’s okay to have a message focused on helping students know, feel, or do ONE thing… instead of trying to cram five applications in.
It’s legitimate to build a retreat around rest. Or prayer. Or leadership development. Or covering one Biblical topic. Or serving a specific group of people. Without including any other purposes but the one, focusing the entire effort on achieving that one thing really well.
It’s fine for a session of a small group to be spent entirely on encouragement, if that’s what’s needed most.
There will be plenty of times when God reveals multiple purposes for an activity. But sometimes our best impact will come when He only gives us one – and we marshal all aspects of that activity toward accomplishing that one thing or getting that one point across. We may think we’re doing more by aiming for more, when in fact we may be only halfheartedly accomplishing four purposes when we could have really taken some ground in one.
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daily deals as campus ministry opportunities
June 1, 2011 in for community-building, for fun & social activities, for funding, for large-scale efforts | Leave a comment
I’ve posted this idea before, but it seems like a particularly summery thing to do… and at this point, a lot more people are familiar with Groupon and sites like it (Living Social, for example).
Yesterday I tweeted news of Living Social’s amazing $10-for-$50-worth-of-VistaPrint deal. Knowing VistaPrint is what many college ministers use for rave cards, business cards, etc., it seemed like a cool chance to get some savings.
But as sites like these (and now Facebook Deals, as well) have taken off around the country, I’ve pondered how college ministries might take advantage of the offerings. Clearly, these things mean getting quite an enormous “bang for your buck” – if you remember to use them before the expiration date. So I figure we should try to take advantage of this little goldmine. Right?
Here are some thoughts – so far – on how to use Groupons and similar “Daily Deal sites” for college ministry:
- Giveaways (you probably already give away gift cards, right?)
- Groupon donation drives: Occasionally encouraging your students (or supporters, or church members) to buy specific Groupons to donate to fellow students (including international students), faculty / staff / administration at your campus, or others who could use it.
- Getting students to buy Groupons for an upcoming college ministry hangout – like at a restaurant – so everybody’s money will go a lot further. Schedule it!
- Buying (or encouraging students to buy) extra Groupons so they can invite friends – like unsaved friends, whole fraternities, all the freshmen, etc.
- Figuring out the Referral and Affiliate programs of the various sites, generating revenue for your campus ministry.
- Simply using Referrals to earn some free credits for you and your family!
- Using these sites to identify local restaurants that may be willing to cut your ministry a deal in the future. (If they’re willing to do the Groupon thing, they’re probably willing to think about other advertising avenues.)
- Encouraging your college ministry sponsors to purchase Groupons for you as a little “bonus support.”
You might as well sign up to get the daily Groupon emails, and Living Social is the other BIG one these days. But others may be well worth checking out, as well.
What other creative (or non-creative) uses can you think of, or have you seen? Let us all know in the comments!
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ingredients #1: dancing around your grill
May 9, 2011 in assessment & strength, for communication, for community-building, for fun & social activities, for large group meetings, for recruitment, ingredients for the mix | Leave a comment
For many of you, you’re in the middle of Finals Week (or it just ended – or will begin shortly). So this week I’ll be “peppering” the blog with some quick posts that may help as you plan for the future.
The “Ingredients to Consider” series will highlight some characteristics that – I believe – some college ministries might want to add a little more liberally!
First up…
I have no idea if you’ll agree, but I’m fascinated by the Weber Grill commercials. Apparently this campaign’s been going since last year, so maybe I’m only noticing because I’ve been watching some Texas Rangers baseball.
In any case, the folks at Weber have clearly taken a product already connected to rest & relaxation and added an extra dose of… fun. More fun than might be normally associated with a grill. In fact, the tagline for this campaign is “Have Fun with It” – and to an awkward degree, these people are indeed having fun in proximity to their backyard grills.
Honestly, that commercial is super-cheesy and random and a little ridiculous… and I really, really like it. If I was in the mood to buy a grill, I would actually check out a Weber now. But whether you agree with that or not, the point is this:
Fun is an ingredient many college ministries could add more of. Because I’ve seen some ministries really have a lot of fun, it’s very clear to me that many could sprinkle a little more Fun into their weekly meetings, into their communications, into their calendars, and into their ministries as a whole.
I’m not saying that “Fun” has to be the ultimate characteristic of every ministry. But the point of this post is to encourage you to think through the different aspects of your college ministry. As you evaluate your campus ministry for the future, are there places you should add even more Fun to the mix?
(And I know if I was a freshman, I would notice the fun-like-a-Weber-commercial college ministry standing out among all the other like-other-grills ministries…)
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