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Last semester, I had the chance to help my church out on our Local and International Service team. And one of the things I really appreciate about those guys is that they have a major partnership bent. Even though our church is big and could do a lot of service activities on its own, instead our M.O. is partnering with those in our community (or overseas) who are already making an impact.
Clearly, lots of churches don’t take that same stance. But the truth is, lots of college ministries don’t, either. In our case, I believe there’s room for a lot more partnership in service activities – as well as other functions of our ministries.
How often do you consider questions like these?:
- Before we launch a Bible study for that sorority, do we know of any other ministries with students in that club?
- Instead of assuming nobody’s already reaching that dorm, have we tried to find out and maybe join them?
- We’ve thought about advertising to that nearby community college – is there a church that might want to help with that outreach?
- Are there any other secular clubs on campus that could partner with us for this campus-wide party?
- Before choosing a new service project, have we considered the ones the campus is already getting behind?
- Instead of having our five students with a passion for _____________ do that on their own, what if they joined forces with similar students from other ministries?
Believe me, I recognize there are sometimes great reasons NOT to partner. But I feel like we’re more often erring on the other side of things, on the side that needlessly recreates wheels and misses opportunities for a little extra unity. We have to be open to considering partnership often.
One more note – When it comes to partnering with other ministries, let me say this: I am by no means a naysayer when it comes to having multiple college ministries on a campus. I understand the role they serve, and I know there are real differences between groups. (It is a misunderstanding of biblical unity to declare that things shouldn’t be this way.) But the fact that there often should be multiple college ministries on one campus doesn’t mean that the next activity can’t be done in unison – whether it’s starting a niche ministry or holding a Service Day downtown.
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Short and simple today, but it’s still a chance for brave, strategic college ministries to “go for broke”:
Start a (school-serving) tradition on your campus.
Believe it or not, your ministry would be far from the first to begin something that a campus tribe rallies around. There are instances of Orientation Week events that have been adopted by the school itself, T-shirts that have “made it big,” campus-wide games that have caught on far beyond the ministry’s normal circle, and so on.
And when this works, it has the potential to serve students – or even the campus and its long-term aims. There may be a strong recruiting or evangelism angle to some new traditions, whether through direct contact or through building bridges from the tradition to those things. Maybe certain traditions could help bring some needed funds to your ministry (like through T-shirt or other sales), or maybe by building this tradition with other organizations (Christian or otherwise), you’ll grow some amazing connections!
There’s no way I can wade into all the possibilities, though, because traditions are possibly the most contextual of all the characteristics of the campus tribes. So coming up with new traditions is a contextual art – and it’s also an area that would be really easy to fail in.
But that’s the idea of this “Going for Broke” series: Offering ideas that require a lot of wisdom and skill, but that might just be worth considering!
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Sorry that this Fridea is coming kinda late, but it could at least help toward planning how you’ll respond to next year’s Halloween!
I do recognize that October 31st is “celebrated” differently campus-to-campus, and many schools may not see much when it comes to this weekend or the night of Halloween. But other schools see quite a bit – it’s the moment when everybody drinks, perhaps, or when the costumes come out (and not unto holiness), or when debauchery is otherwise at its worst.
So my Fridea and encouragement this week is to respond as God leads you and your ministry. The subject line offers some thoughts on that:
- View what takes place, like a missionary would / should. Let it break your heart. Let it open your eyes and your students’ eyes. Let God use what’s actually happening – not just what you assume is – to provide ministry ideas for next year. (I’ll likely prayer-drive through the “scene” myself tonight or tomorrow.)
- Serve students. Like Spring Break mission trips or finals week, your campus might respond well to free midnight pancakes or van rides. Yes, you’ll need to work through what’s best (and what might only encourage more problems), but it’s worth considering how you can serve – and build relational bridges to – students.
- Think long and hard about how you can best serve, impact, and encounter your campus at the Halloweens to come.
- Pray. Pray as you view, with your students, or otherwise. This might be a night for all-night prayer, or it might be something you intercede about regularly, leading up to next year’s Halloween.
- Teach. The issues raised by Halloween – and not just the occult issues, though those are real, too – are worth discipling about, right? Why shouldn’t a girl “dress to impress”? Why wouldn’t a college student drink to excess? What’s so wrong with a night or weekend of debauchery? How can we serve our peers when they’re wrapped up in these things? Have you taught even your Christian students this stuff?
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I’m moving to a new house here in Dallas this week, so a Fridea springs to mind:
Serve students by helping them move (in or out) at times other than the start of school… and even in places other than the dorms!
I recognize “Move-in” is a widely used, classic method for service and recruitment each Fall. But students can be served at other times, too – like when they’re moving out of their dorms at Christmas or Summer Break. They need help moving back in after Christmas, too, and sometimes summer students could use some help, too!
Further, it’s not just dorm-living students who have to move stuff. While it may look a little different, it’s probably not too hard to get a crew of students to look for moving trucks (and then offer to help) at student-oriented apartment complexes.
Like a lot of our methods, we can often accomplish new purposes (or old purposes better) simply by thinking creatively about the classic methods that we’re already using (like start-of-school Move-in)!
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I’m sick today. Some sort of head-cold. Ug.
Apparently I was sick right about this time last year, when I wrote the post below (but I’ll add a little bit for today). It’s a good one (in my humble opinion), and there’s a lot you could do with it here at the beginning of the semester!
What if your college ministry developed a “care team” to encourage, minister to, and practically help students who are sidelined?
While my original thought here was loving on sick students, this could also work (and might be even more important for) those sidelined with other situations – family stuff, funerals, a service project or mission trip that cuts into school days, etc.
Before a team was developed, staff could be ready to handle this simple, awesome chance for service. But the more preparation you can do beforehand – assembling a team, buying materials for Care Packages, writing up a few plans – the better you’ll serve students in tough (or tough-ish) times.
This is all a chance to serve your flock – whether it’s as simple as having a stash of Get Well Soon cards ready to send, or something extravagant like sending in the troops to hand-deliver flowers, notes from their friends, or a blanket and candy (or whatever a student’s mom says they might enjoy – yes, you can call their parents to get ideas, and their parents will likely really appreciate your gesture).
For those missing school: Unlike high school, missing a college class often matters, especially when a student hasn’t planned ahead for the missed day. Does a student need to borrow somebody’s notes from class? Do they need info on assignments they can be working on? Talking to their profs about why a student is out might help, too. So could “filling in” if they have some sort of commitment that really needs a fill-in.
Of course, the ability and mobility of campus ministries vary. In fact, this kind of ministry might actually be easier for a smaller group, I’d imagine. But any group that generates community and networked-need-sharing could pull this off.
(In fact, if we can’t even imagine our students getting behind this kind of effort, we might not have developed much of a true “community” yet.)
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Does your campus do “Move-in”? Do you have the opportunity to help students (and their parents) unload cars, trudge to the dorms, trek up the stairs, cram into closets?
That’s now available or allowed on every campus, but for some campuses, it’s an awesome way to serve – in a way that, we all have to admit, actually serves. Moving help is help indeed.
But I hope that’s not the only way our college ministries try simply to help as school starts. It might be easy to be focused nearly entirely on recruitment, planning the first large group meeting, organizing that big event, or… recruiting some more. And while those things matter – a LOT – there are chances to serve.
That’s this week’s Fridea: Take an hour (perhaps with actual students) thinking about the actual students – Billy, Jamie, Todd – who will walk onto campus. What will students (freshmen and otherwise) NEED in those moments?
Consider the Billies!
They don’t have a “felt need” for you to recruit them. (Although they may need you to help them decide among opportunities!)
They don’t have a “need” to come to your event. (But they may need directions to their classes.)
They don’t “need” to know who helped them move in (so if you’re not moving people in simply because your school won’t let you advertise…)
They don’t “need” a flier – pass as many out as you can, but passing out lemonade during move in may be the greater act of service.
If you think through (and pray through) various students’ first-steps-on-to-campus, you’ll come up with a handful of needs. Some will be needs you could meet. And some may be needs you should meet. Don’t think about what it was like for you – think about what it’s like for the class of 2015 (as well as the sophomores and older). Think about various groups on campus, too. If you can only meet the needs of one group really well, choose THAT over meeting a large crowd’s needs in a so-so way.
That’s the tips I’ve got, but I’m sure you could come up with more!
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Yesterday, I wrote a little encouragement toward looking for partnership opportunities among your student leaders. “Just about anything one student leader can do,” I wrote, “two student leaders can do!”
It’s true.
And two (or three or four or five) can likely do it better, whether we’re talking about organizing clean-up after a party or leading a Bible study for a year. Here are just a few reasons why:
- The approach will be more complete.
- The approach will be more balanced / well-rounded.
- Each leader’s individual weaknesses will be balanced out.
- Areas of the task can be delegated based on various leaders’ strengths.
- Greater accountability for the task(s) involved – like being diligent in preparation, praying for the task/people, working ’til the job’s done, etc.
- Different perspectives always help.
- If dealing with people (like in a Bible study or on a ministry team), there’s a better chance for people to “click” with one of their leaders. (This often leads to greater impact!)
- Leaders have a better chance of staying encouraged – and avoiding burnout – and therefore will be better leaders.
We all recognize that “two heads are better than one,” even while we also recognize the danger of “too many cooks in the kitchen”! Of course, there’s a balance to be struck here.
But even for the sake of getting the task done well, we should consider partnership!
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