Based on my own experiences and my encounters with numerous ministries, it appears the time needed to “establish” a new or restarting college ministry is very often 2 to 3 years – at least. That means that before this time, evaluating a ministry should be done especially carefully, and its …
It’s easy to assume that college ministry works as a “take the ball and run with it” ministry. Or maybe a “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks” ministry. Or a “just get in there and love ’em” ministry. While God grows many great things from humble, unstrategized …
One of the most important principles for college ministry I ever learned was… Spend most of your energy on the students who are going with you, not the ones who are resisting. This is going to be particularly applicable in any ministry that is “rebooting,” with even a few students …
I’ve been posting thoughts on some college ministry “first step” priorities for starting or restarting a college ministry. For the complete series list, see this first post. I would suggest that another key for building a new college ministry is identifying and developing leaders. In the early days of a …
What spiritual teaching should students get as we start / restart a college ministry? It feels natural to teach students in one of two ways: Teach now in the same way you intend to teach later. Why not hit the ground running? Teach something now that will catch students’ attention …
Continuing the series on “first step” activities for college ministries… Two more things I would focus on if I was going to (re)start a college ministry right now are things I’ve discussed before. So I figured I should link to those posts while we’re in this series, with quick explanations …
Yesterday, I posted my personal default when getting a college ministry off the ground: I make student recruitment a pretty low priority. When I say “default,” I’m purposely leaving room for situations that could call for heavy recruitment right off the bat. Yet I believe that most instances of new …
While we’re talking about how to begin a college ministry, of course we want to talk about recruiting students. We’re starting (or restarting) this college ministry, so let’s fill it up! Right? Honestly, I lean the other way. I haven’t (and wouldn’t usually) focus on recruitment in a ministry that …
Yesterday, I blogged about the (obvious) need for special “start up” methods for college ministries. So here’s one of the first steps I would use / have used, with more to come this week. In the first semester of a new (or renewed) college ministry, I’m going to make a …
Much of the development we need in Collegiate Ministry includes the methods and models that will take solid, established ministries to long-term greatness. We need more college ministry pros sharing their wisdom. We need more seminary classes probing the depths of theory and principles. We need to increase our creativity, …
