Resource Topic: Leadership

It’s been said that who leads your college ministry will largely determine who your college ministry will reach. I’ve seen this to be true over and over again. The selection of staff and lead team members matter, and it ripples (or doesn’t) throughout campus. 

When selecting lead teams, select leaders from the parts of campus that you want to reach. If you want to reach all sections of campus, ask God to open doors with leaders who represent all parts of campus. This includes gender, melanin, and campus activities such as sports, clubs and Greek life.  Seek students who spend time in a variety of campus locations as well, including an assortment of residence halls, apartment complexes, and academic buildings. 

Share a clear and honest vision and invite leaders into the vision.  King Solomon’s wisdom in Proverbs 29:18 speaks to this; “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  Repeat the vision of your ministry often, keeping leaders on track and affirming the part they play in it. 

Enlist people who are NOT like you yet have chemistry with you and are unified with the vision of your ministry. Try to include people who are introverts and extroverts, morning people and night owls, planned and spontaneous, detailed and big picture, grace and truth, risk takers and safe players. Paul encourages believers in I Corinthians 9:20 to “be all things to all people so by all means possible some might be saved.”

Engage people who are already leading, not necessarily in your ministry but on campus. These are the students who people want to be around. If they throw a party, everyone will want to come.  In Henry Blackaby’s Spiritual Leadership, he states that “a spiritual leader leads all people not just church people.”

Some common characteristics of next-level leaders include:

1. Next-level leaders can lead themselves. 

Spiritually and emotionally, they aren’t perfect but they are committed to the journey of growth. John Maxwell has said that “the secret of your future is found in your daily routine.” Eugene Peterson writes, “The spiritual life is long obedience in the same direction.” Next-level leaders are committed to following Jesus, one good habit at a time.

2. Next-level leaders relate well to a wide variety of people. 

Romans 12:10 says, “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” This kind of leader can walk in the middle of campus and be at home with whoever they may find there, showing honor to the sinner and the saint alike.

3. Next-level leaders are humble.  

Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests but take an interest in others too.” They have the correct perspective about their own weakness, sin, and need for God. This allows them to easily enter into another’s life with grace and humility.

4. They are spiritually aware. 

We read in Galatians 5:25, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”  It truly is a paradox – God has called us to do something that only He can do.  Spiritually aware leaders get this. 

5. Next-level leaders are eager for more. 

Jabez’s mom named him a Hebrew word similar to a word meaning distress or pain because his childbirth was so painful. He prayed the opposite of this for his life, and God granted his request. His prayer is found in I Chronicles 4:10.

“Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory? Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain?” Next-level leaders hope for more, pray for more, and plan for more!

6. They are high-capacity leaders. 

Galatians 6:10 teaches, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone…” Next-level leaders tend to respond to opportunity with, “YES!” They are committed to excellence, which is different than being a perfectionist, and they don’t get too bent out of shape with lots of moving parts. 

7. Next-level leaders have a bend for both visionary leadership and practical leadership.

They will likely have a natural gift of one or the other, but they see the value of both seeing the big picture of where we would like to go and how we can move from point A to point B. 

Next-level leaders need and appreciate several things from you, including clarity, freedom, and time. Lead with clarity. Let your leaders know what you want from them, what result is desired, and the why behind the tasks. Repeat the why or the vision often. Give your high-capacity leaders freedom to lead with a safety net if needed. Show them how something is done. Do it with them. Watch them do it and give feedback. Finally, let them do it alone. Let them know you are in it with them and have their back. Failing forward is still a win. Give them regular time with you to share life, speak truth, and develop them as leaders and disciples. This can be as little as 45 minutes every two weeks or as much as an hour per week, but the key is for it to be a consistent priority. 

Once these high-capacity leaders say yes to serving on your team, invest in them in a way that makes them want to continue!

Linda Weir is Director of Ministry at Pinelake Church in Starkville, Mississippi. You can follow Pinelake’s Starkville campus on Instagram @pinelakestarkville.

Why do you do college ministry? What is your ministry’s specific mission? How do you accomplish it? How do you know if you’re on target? Can you put these things into concise and compelling statements? 

Getting clarity on your mission and vision is essential for a leader who wants to impact the next generation for Christ. Moreover, putting your mission and vision into clear, concise statements allows you to recruit others to the movement. A good mission statement becomes an anchor that reminds you of “why” and “what” you’re doing. It also allows you to share the mission with others and invite them to join!

Lots of college ministries know WHAT they do. They engage in outreach and promotion, organize Bible studies and worship services, and plan mission trips and social events. Fewer still can clearly and concisely articulate WHY they are doing it and how it connects to Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28. A good mission statement communicates both the “what” and “why” of your ministry. 

Will Mancini differentiates a mission statement from a vision statement. In Church Unique, he describes five facets involved in building out your “Vision Frame” for your ministry.

1. MISSION (mandate) – What are we doing? A clear and concise statement explaining what your ministry is committed to be doing. The mission MUST be connected to Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 but applied to your specific context.
2. VALUES (motives) – Why are we doing it? What is important to us? These shared convictions guide actions and reveal the ministry’s strength. 
3. STRATEGY (map) – How are we going to do it? Strategy is the process or picture that demonstrates how your ministry will accomplish its mission on the broadest level. Strategy is a plan. It shouldn’t be overly elaborate. Focus on doing a few simple things like disciple-making, evangelism and leadership development really well.
4. MEASURES (marker) – When are we successful? Measures are attributes that define or reflect the accomplishment of the mission. They are things you track! Measures are milestones that allow you to evaluate progress. Measures could include the number of small groups, the number of students engaged, the number of alumni joining staff or being sent, etc. There are both “lead” measures and “lag” measures. Lead measures are things you have control over, such as the number of new students you contacted and how many gospel shares you made. Lag measures are the results of your activities, like how many people attended an event or how many professed faith in Christ. Which should you track? Both! 
5. VISION PROPER (mountaintop + milestones) – Where is God taking us? Vision Proper describes an anticipated future. These are God-sized but measurable and attainable goals. Ideally, Vision Proper describes success as 2-5 years in the future. This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky wishlist like, “We want to see ten thousand students saved!” It answers the question, “If God blessed all of our current plans, where would we be in 2-5 years?” It’s attainable with God’s help. 

Mission never ends because the work is never done until Jesus returns. Vision keeps us motivated because, by faith, we can see God accomplish it in the intermediate future. Andy Stanley says, “Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” Mission is a not-until-Jesus-returns activity of the church. Vision CAN be accomplished. We can’t just stay motivated by mission because it’s too far off. We need a VISION of where our ministry could be, by God’s grace, in 3-5 years.

In the campus ministry that I led for 21 years, BSM at the University of Texas Arlington, here were ours:

1. MISSION: To lead college students to become lifelong disciples of Jesus.
2. VALUES: Christ as the Center of Everything, God’s Word, Prayer, Accountable Community, and Witness. (You might recognize these from the Navigators Discipleship Wheel, a resource we utilize in our discipleship. Don’t be afraid to borrow stuff that works!)
3. STRATEGY: Evangelism, Discipleship, Missions. We strive to WIN college students to faith in Christ, BUILD them into mature disciples of Jesus, and SEND them as lifelong Gospel workers.
4. MEASURES: We track lots of stuff!
5. VISION PROPER: To increasingly saturate the campus with a gospel witness by pioneering two new niche ministries per year and to pioneer a new campus ministry at an additional local campus every 2 years. To have 10% more students meaningfully engaged in discipleship every year for the next 3 years. To send 25 graduates to campus ministry staff or the mission field in the next 5 years.

If your mission statement is clear and also emphasized repeatedly, then it helps keep your ministry from drifting away from the mission. 

One question that I’ve been asked is, “Should you share your mission statement word-for-word or paraphrase it?” The danger of reciting it word-for-word is students may feel like it’s canned or that you are trying to brainwash them. It can feel inauthentic. When you share it word-for-word, make sure you communicate naturally and from the heart. The danger of paraphrasing is that students might not catch the vision. It’s not clear and sticky enough, so they don’t remember it and can’t repeat it. 

In our campus ministry, we repeated the vision like a broken record. Sometimes paraphrased, sometimes word-for-word. “God put you on the campus to help reach others for Christ.” “God wants to grow our faith so we can reach people Jesus for the rest of our lives.” Repeating the mission and vision is one key to creating a strong culture in your ministry. So, repeat the mission. And repeat the mission.

So what are yours? Do you already have a thoughtful statement of your mission, values, and vision? Does it need improving? If not, take some time to pray, dream, and create a God-sized, Great Commission mission statement!

Gary Stidham is the Director of Training for Texas BSM and Adjunct Professor of Collegiate Ministry at Southwestern Seminary. For more helpful articles and information, check out garystidham.com.

This article was originally published on Via Students.

Whether you feel like you are killing it or barely surviving, it’s easy to lose sight of why we do college ministry. Too often, we lean on large turnouts and ministry “successes” for confidence in our call, or allow facing challenges to make us question it. That is a recipe for burnout. If we’re not careful, the rigors of ministry, the disappointments of unmet expectations, or the challenges inherent in student work will wear us down. There will be times when students are flaky, stats don’t reflect the effort you’ve put in, budgets are slim, friends in ministry are distant or nonexistent, family members wonder when you’ll get a real job, and there’s more work to do at every turn. Remembering why we engage in college ministry and how God called us to do this work is so important for ministry longevity! 

In 2 Timothy, Paul clearly perceived the need for Timothy to be encouraged in ministry and, perhaps, to remember why he was in ministry in the first place. In this letter from mentor to mentee, we find four simple, biblical motivations for ministry to encourage us as we remember why we do this work. 

Remember the Gospel.

Paul reminded Timothy: “He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Tim. 1:9). We are God’s children by his grace alone, and we serve in ministry by grace alone. I must frequently remember that God could accomplish his purposes in collegiate ministry just fine without me. It’s a gracious gift to get to be a part of his redemptive work in the world! By his grace, you are his child, and by his grace, you are a minister of the gospel! Remember, God doesn’t need us to do ministry but he wants us to be with him! A missionary friend recently shared, “Passion will only get you so far. Obedience will take you a little further. But loving Jesus will sustain you.”

Remember the Call.

Paul encouraged Timothy in the simplicity of his calling: “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:1-2). Timothy was to stay rooted in Christ, pass on what he had learned and experienced, and teach others to do the same. If we overcomplicate our calling, we are in danger of becoming strong in strategy and measurable success but weak in “the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Steve Smith challenged that while effective methodologies are crucial, “methods are mere mechanics without the Spirit of God.” Admittedly, simple doesn’t mean easy. Whether your “calling” to ministry was a memorable experience or a gradual progression of steps of obedience, remember, God is the one who called you, equips you, and empowers you.

Remember your Mentors.

Paul reminded Timothy that his understanding of the gospel and calling to ministry were not experienced in a bubble. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it” (2 Tim. 3:14). As Timothy’s mentor, Paul had vivid memories of Timothy’s call and a unique position to remind him of God’s work in his life. We need true brothers and sisters in Christ who can speak into our lives, encourage us, challenge us, hold us accountable, and remind us why we do this work.

Remember to Persevere.

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5). Paul knew there would be times when ministry would be rough, people wouldn’t listen, and some would replace Timothy’s voice with “what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4:4). Paul expected Timothy to remain faithful to his calling even when things went poorly. I’m convinced that Paul would reject a myth often believed in our culture: that hard means bad, that if things are not easy or fun, something must be wrong. Ministry challenges can teach us more about God’s character and faithfulness and help us better understand ourselves. Facing challenges as learning opportunities is a far simpler prospect when we are confident in the gospel, remember the substance of our calling, and allow our community to speak into our situation. 

Years ago, I spent an entire summer wrestling with whether I was “still the guy” for our ministry on campus. After much prayer, reflection, and even a little looking at other job opportunities, God made it clear that I’m not the guy; HE is…and that I needed to stay as a participant with God in HIS ministry. I have had to relearn this lesson over the years and have found it helpful to define roles and establish a personal mission statement. When I face a challenging season, need to make a significant decision, or just remember why I’ve given my life to collegiate ministry, it is helpful for me to remember God’s role, my role, and what he’s called me to. 

I’ve written mine from my season as BSM Director at UT Tyler below (I’m working on a new one for a new role in TX BSM). Perhaps developing something similar would be helpful for you as well.

By God’s grace, I am a participant in His ministry and get to work with Him… 
To: Saturate the harvest fields of the world, domestic and foreign, with thoroughly equipped workers.
By: reaching, discipling, and sending UT Tyler students to the nations.

Joe Osteen serves as the East Texas Regional Director for Texas BSM. You can follow him on Instagram @JosephOsteen.

This summer at Collegiate Week students engaged in a session to help them explore their gifts. Many students found this session helpful in discerning where God is calling them to serve. We want to share this resource with you. 

Knowing the spiritual gifts that God has given you is an important element in discerning a call to ministry. Do your students know what their spiritual gifts are? Even students that aren’t currently exploring a vocational ministry call can benefit from uncovering their gifts for kingdom service. 

Three ways students can uncover their spiritual gifts:

Through the Exhortation of Others

Often there will be other people in our lives who will affirm the gifts that God has given us, even before we have noticed those giftings in our own lives. Ask students the following questions: Think about times you have served others, went on mission or led something in the church or in your campus ministry. What positive feedback have you heard from others in these moments? Is there a common theme? 

Through Gifts Assessments

There are some great tools that pair with scripture passages that list spiritual gifts. These tools can help students have a more thorough understanding of the variety of gifts and how their lives, passions and personalities align with these giftings. There are a variety of tools, some are more lengthy than others combining several assessments that include personality profiles, skills, and life experiences. Lifeway has provided a good, simple tool that you can use in one session in a downloadable pdf format: https://youngadults.lifeway.com/2010/06/spiritual-gifts-survey/

By Serving

Encourage students to recall times when they have served on mission, in their church or on their campus. Ask them the following questions: What do you love to do? When have you served on your campus, in your campus ministry, on a mission trip? What do you think you did well? What gave you joy?

Be the one that challenges your students to serve and explore their spiritual gifts. One mission trip, small group experience or outreach activity could be the thing that opens their eyes to what God is calling them to do. Give them opportunities, and have those “I see in you” conversations that will affirm the gifts God has given them. 

Ginger Bowman, Church & Campus Consultant/Program Specialist, TXBSM

When I think of collegiate ministry, I equate the year-long experience to an incredible ride down the rapids of the middle section of the Ocoee River in southeast Tennessee.  The fall semester is the immediate launch into Class III rapids called “Grumpy.”  It is typical to be launched out of the boat with the only choice of riding the rapids with your body tucked and your feet in front of you until you reach the calm waters a few hundred yards downstream.  And this is just the beginning of an exhilarating ride of Class III and IV rapids for several hours.  In the fall semester, instead of several hours, we have several months of full days of ministering to a strategic group who desperately needs to hear the Gospel, to mature in their faith, and come to a place where they can reproduce the Gospel into others’ lives on campus and beyond.  By the end of the spring semester, you come to the end of an incredible journey where you are completely exhausted.  But, like any journey, you need a quiet season to recuperate, which is called summers for us.  What do you do to make the most of this slower season of ministry?

Here are a few suggestions I have learned from my years of serving as a campus-based minister:

1. Celebrate the “wins” from the school year.  How have you seen God move in the lives of your students and yourself? 

Someone came to faith in Christ… a young leader grew in their leadership skills… a student who has a deeper, consistent, and growing walk with Jesus… a disciple-making student who has made a difference in the lives of other students… a student who overcame his/her fear to share the Gospel for the first time… a student who took the plunge to spend his/her summer on mission for Christ… etc.  I make sure to share these God stories with our ministry supporters.

2. Rest…Play…Recalibrate. 

There is no way you and I can keep a year-round pace like we live in the fall and spring.  Soon after students have departed for the summer, take some time to rest your body, mind, and soul.  Then play! You need a hobby that recharges you.  For me, it is exercising and fishing.  Then, I learned this next idea from a fellow campus minister.  I take two consecutive weeks off without doing any ministry-related activities.  I will take a week to enjoy with my immediate family and a second week just to be at home or visiting extended family.  This allows me to recalibrate to a more normal pace.

3. When I am not doing #1 and #2 in May and June, I work on personal development and the BCM facility and grounds. 

I want the BCM to be a student-friendly, welcoming, and functional place of ministry.  There are some maintenance needs that are best done when students are not around.  Additionally, I focus some time on personal development through reading and listening to others who have a pulse on Next Generational ministry and trends.

4. July is my “framing” season. 

This is where I take the input from student leaders from the end of the spring semester and my evaluation of the previous year to begin developing a “frame” for what the upcoming school year needs to look like.  I am consistently evaluating and making adjustments to improve the quality of the ministry from year to year.  Much of my evaluation and framing is built around connecting with new students those first three weeks of the semester, most effective practices of evangelism and strategies of evangelism for students, fine-tuning our discipleship model, making plans to teach and mobilize students to live on mission for Christ through our mission partners, and best practices to partner with local churches in significant ministry opportunities.

5. August is equipping and empowering the students and local churches…

to engage the campus through ministry platforms which focus on evangelism and disciple-making to “people-groups” on campus.

I pray you have an incredible summer of being recharged!

Ben Maddox is the Campus Minister at TN Tech BCM in Cookeville, TN. You can follow him on Instagram @benmaddox98 and the ministry @tntechbcm.

As a husband, father, and minister it is without question my family is my primary ministry calling. My wife and I are blessed with three children who are currently 22, 19, and 17. While I have always desired and prioritized my wife and children being involved in my ministry, each season has been different. The season we are currently in has been one of the most unique and challenging related to my family’s involvement in ministry. For most of our married life, my wife had part-time jobs and she ministered alongside me. She was the stereotypical minister’s wife who worked part-time plus for free. We wanted our children to minister with us teaching them how to serve others and live sacrificially. Now my wife has a full-time job and her availability is not the same. Our high school children have been busy with school, extracurricular activities, work, and hanging out with friends. Our college-age students are busy with the same sorts of things as they are becoming independent.

There are three things I have sought to do regularly and with intention related to my family’s involvement in ministry during this current season. 

The first is that their involvement is an option that is always available, but never a requirement or expectation.

When our kids were younger and my wife was not working full time, they were involved in most of the aspects of ministry because it was the rhythm of our family. As they grow older our kid’s faith has become their own. As they grow in their faith and find their own passions and interests, we offer them to be involved in the campus ministry I lead, but we do not force them to. My children and my wife know they are always welcome at anything we do, whether it is a time of worship, small group bible study, outreach, or just a fun event. I would love for them to be at everything, but I also realize it is just not possible and many times they don’t want to be, and that’s ok. Our middle child is currently in college and this semester is a participant in my campus ministry. I have loved every minute of it. I love seeing him grow in his faith as a college student and my son; it’s the best! When he is at our events I try to treat him just like any of the other college students. I want to give him his space and for people to know him as an individual rather than my son. Recently he went on a mission trip with our BSM. I gave him his space, treated him like one of the group, and of course stole moments as a dad to see how he was doing. It was so special having him there and seeing God work in and through him. It is not an expectation that I place on him as his dad though, it is his decision to be involved. 

Secondly, as our kids have entered adulthood, we are very careful concerning the ministry conversations we have in their presence.

We should always do this, but I feel it is even more important during this season. We do not want to gossip or be overly critical concerning ministry and the people involved in their presence. 

The third thing is the most important and probably the hardest. I strive to be the same person at work and home.

I want to be the same man at an event with college students as I am on Saturday doing chores with my wife and kids. If I am fun, energetic, and always talking about Christ at work but am grumpy and never speak of God at home what message does that send to my family as they witness both? If there is a disconnect between who I am when I minister and who I am at home it can have disastrous consequences on my marriage, my children’s faith, and for our relationship. My wife and teenage/young adult-children deserve the very best I have to offer, not the exhausted grumpy leftovers after a full day or week of leading and ministering.

Eric Hunter is the Campus Minister at West Texas A&M. You can follow the ministry on Instagram @wtamu_bsm. 

Do you have the ability to recruit recent graduates to join your campus ministry staff? Wonderful! Recruiting young campus missionaries or interns is a double win. First, a growing team allows you to engage more of your campus with the gospel. Second, mentoring these young staff helps shape them into lifelong disciple-makers, ministers, and missionaries. It’s a sacred privilege to have a campus missionary on your team! Campus missionaries and interns multiply your ministry effectiveness. And you have the privilege of mentoring an up-and-coming minister eager to learn. It is 2 Timothy 2:2 in action. What a fantastic opportunity! 

Many young staff joined our team during my twenty years leading a campus ministry. In my new role with Texas BSM, I oversee our Campus Missionary program, where recent graduates serve 1-2 years on campus ministry staff. They’re an incredible group! And while most Campus Missionaries have a GREAT experience, some struggle due to personal factors. Occasionally, they struggle due to the role being a bad fit. Disappointingly, some interns struggle due to needing more support from their campus minister. Let’s create an environment for them to THRIVE. Here are some things I’ve learned about having a successful intern program. 

RECRUIT THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

• It’s better to have no intern than the wrong intern. Yes, it might be tempting to recruit anyone willing to serve. After all, the harvest is plentiful, and the workers are few. However, this may not set your intern up for success and might backfire for your ministry.
  
• The first question is, “Are they already doing what I’d want them to do on staff?” Are they already sharing their faith, taking initiative in leadership, and investing in younger students? If so, then they’ll probably be a GREAT staff member! Ask yourself, “Do I want to replicate this student’s DNA in our ministry? Would I want more students just like them?” If the answer is yes, they may be a great intern.
  
• The second question is, “Are they spiritually, relationally, emotionally, and financially healthy enough to serve?” The rigors of full-time ministry may be too intense for someone with crippling mental health struggles. A high-conflict person may cause discord within your ministry. A graduate with substantial student loans may need to move into a professional career out of financial responsibility.
  
• Start recruiting early. Like REALLY early. Often, I initiate the conversation with potential interns during their junior year, maybe even joke about it when they are sophomores. Plant the seeds of possibility in their mind. “What if you gave a year or two after graduation to serve Christ on campus?” Then, start talking to them seriously during the fall of their senior year. Many sharp students are already getting other internship offers, job offers, and making decisions about grad school. You’re way too late if you talk to them a few weeks before graduation. 

THEY ARE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.

• Once they’re on staff, treat them as co-laborers and fellow ministers of the gospel. Your intern has received the Holy Spirit, obeyed God’s call to serve, and exhibited leadership abilities. Listen to them. They have invaluable insights that you don’t have about what current students think. 

• Give them Great Commission responsibilities. Their best hours each day should be spent doing evangelism, outreach, and disciple-making with students. Don’t only give them menial tasks. Give them ownership of specific ministry programs. Allow them the freedom to try, fail, get coaching, and try again. 

THEY ARE LEARNERS.

• Help them plan their daily and weekly schedules. This internship will be the first full-time job for many, and time management skills are a steep learning curve. Especially in their first few weeks, check in daily to ensure they have significant ministry tasks to work on. They want to be productive and make an impact. Help them know precisely how!
  
• Coach them step-by-step on how to do each ministry task they are assigned. Many are insecure about their abilities and lack experience in leading campus ministry. Whereas Millennials generally wanted autonomy, Gen Z wants mentoring and clear guidance. They see you as the expert they are eager to learn from. They likely want even more clear direction than you are providing. Give them clear resources for discipleship meetings, Bible study curricula, and evangelism training resources. (We created a handbook packed with resources for our Texas Campus Missionaries: CM Handbook.) Make it difficult for them to fail!
  
• Meet with them regularly. Check in briefly every day. And, at least every week or two, have a ministry check-in meeting with them. Ask them what is going well and what is a struggle. Give them tips & pointers for ministry success. Communicate clearly what they are doing well. Give them coaching in areas where they struggle. Talk with them about their long-term vocational plans. Invite them to “Give a year; pray about a lifetime” in college ministry.
  
• Make sure they have a “personal mentor.” In my program, every Campus Missionary is tasked to enlist a same-gender, older personal mentor who will meet with them regularly to ask about their spiritual life, personal life, mental health, and relationships. This mentor can be you, someone on your staff, or someone in their local church.
  
• Make sure their financial needs are met. While some Gen Z students are conscientious of their finances, others are idealistic. They may commit to serving without thinking through how to budget, whether they have insurance, how they’ll handle car insurance, etc. Have these conversations early and ongoing. 

Finally, have fun and bless them. Take opportunities to do fun things together. Invite them to your home for meals. Let them see your family life. Take staff outings to build camaraderie and unity. Remind them often, “You’re an answer to my Luke 10:2 prayers. I’m grateful to God for you!” 

Gary Stidham is the  Director of Training for Texas BSM. You can email him at: gary.stidham@txb.org. Or visit: linktr.ee/garystidham

Although every campus is different in size and culture, these are general “key holders” to your campus that will positively impact your ability to build relationships across your campus. Even though our primary objection is to reach students through evangelism and discipleship, God has given us an entire campus community full of administrators, staff, faculty, and athletic coaches to invest in and live life on mission with. 

1. University President:

Meeting with the President of the school gives you a chance to hear their vision for the campus, as well as ways that you can get involved and support them. This also gives you a chance to share about your ministry, and how you hope to be a positive part of campus life. 

2. Counseling Center:

In a time where we are on the frontlines of assisting students with mental, emotional and spiritual health, this is so crucial. Who are the professional counselors on your campus? What services do they offer that you can be familiar with for students who may need help?

3. VP/Director of Student Affairs:

In most university structures this person is a major key holder or gateway person over student life and religious life. In many cases where our campus ministry is a registered student organization, we want to be good stewards of that in how we support our university as a student org. 

4. Greek Life Coordinator:

Building a relationship with this individual can be a big win in reaching and connecting to Greek organizations on campus. We’ve been able to help out during sorority recruitment by providing meals and snacks. 

5. Athletic Coaches:

This can be so helpful in reaching athletes and being able to minister to them in unique ways by providing meals or other kinds of support.

6. International Student Coordinator:

Who is the person on your campus responsible for international students coming to your university as exchange students, athletes, or even for an English learning program. You can partner with them in a variety of ways: helping them with airport pickups, providing needed items for students’ dorm rooms once they arrive, etc.  

7. Professors:

These are often the most underappreciated people on campus. Teach your students to love your professors. Find ways to support them and encourage them.

8. Other Campus Ministers:

Practice unity and learning from other campus ministers on your campus. Can you find a regular time to pray over the campus with them? What are ways you can encourage each other? 

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a place to get started. Pray for these leaders and pray for ways to meet them and serve them!

Stacy Murphree is a Collegiate Ministry Specialist at  Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. You can follow the ministry on Instagram @austinpeaybcm.

This information was shared during a New Minister Call, which is a monthly Zoom meeting for Campus ministers who have been serving for 3 years or less, either for the first time or at a new campus. Our next call is Wednesday, February 21 and the topic is Infusing Fun: Building Fun and Community in Your Campus Ministry. Sign up here to join! https://forms.gle/DgMim52LfDwwMwFt7

What is rest? If we are seeking rest, it is good to know how to recognize it! It may be helpful to begin with what isn’t rest. Rest is qualitatively distinct from amusement, entertainment, distraction, or even taking a break.  All of these things have their place, yet they are not the same as rest. To rest is to cease from labor, take ease, abide, keep quiet, dwell. It is more about fullness of Who is there than the emptiness of what’s not there.

Rest is both a command (Sabbath: the longest of the Ten Commandments!) and a gift. We are wired to need rest. The Lord rested on the seventh day.  (What was the first thing God called holy? Time. Time to rest! Genesis 2:3.) And Jesus rested… 

Follow Jesus’ Example

Jesus gave his life for us… and this includes giving us his example of how to live life in a way that helps us become like him… which, in our best moments, is what we most want to do.

“We can become like Christ by doing one thing, by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in.” (Dallas Willard)

And Jesus rested. He observed the Sabbath* (Mark 2:27). He stepped away from the crowds (Luke 4:42). He fell asleep in a boat (Mark 4:38). He called his disciples away to rest (Mark 6:31-32). In You Are More than You’ve Been Told, Hosanna Wong invites us to read the Gospels not through the lens of “What did Jesus do?” but through the lens of “How did Jesus live?” (146) Ask Jesus, your teacher, shepherd, and discipler, to teach you to rest.

Accept Jesus’ Invitation

Remember Matthew 11:28-29? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Here is Jesus beckoning the weary and worn—the needy—to come to him. What kind of person invites that? And what does he offer them? Rest. And what provides the rest? Coming unto him.

What does “coming to Jesus” look like in your life? Being quiet in a sacred space? Moseying through a gospel? Watching the Chosen? Taking a walk with the awareness that Jesus truly is with you? Singing or listening to Jesus-focused music?  

Ask others what they do to come to Jesus and see if you are invited to a new adventure with him. 

Ask Jesus to help you respond to his wonderful invitation to come to him.  He is good at such things. He knows how to draw you to himself.

Not always talking to Him or about Him,
but waiting before Him;
till the stream runs clear;
till the cream rises to the top;
till the mists part,
and the soul regains its equilibrium.
F. B Meyer

Enjoy Jesus’ Dearness

The Lord drew C. S. Lewis to himself by giving him a longing for joy. Then Lewis discovered it wasn’t really Joy that he sought but the Joy-Giver.  He said, “[Joy] is a by-product. Its very existence presupposes that you desire not it but something other and outer. …when I want more joy, what I’m really wanting is more Jesus.  Joy is simply the signpost that points us to Jesus.” I believe it is the same with Rest.  Seek and find Jesus, and you get Rest (and much more!) thrown in.

For those who serve in ministry as a vocation, we can come to view the Lord as our boss and ourselves as his employees; we report to him, and he evaluates us.  And yet this is not the truth of our relationship with the Lord.  At the core of our connection to him, we are his children, his sheep, his workmanship… Jesus even calls us his friends (John 15:13-16). 

Spend time simply enjoying Jesus, the One who also enjoys you.

“Just these two words He spoke changed my life, “Enjoy Me.”
What a burden I thought I was to carry-a crucifix as did He.
Love once said to me: “I know a song, would you like to hear it?”
And laughter came from every brick in the street and from every pore in the sky.
After a night of prayer, He changed my life when He sang “Enjoy Me.”
Theresa of Avila

Practicalities of Practicing the Spiritual Discipline of Rest

• Don’t wait for the ideal time to rest. Even short “minute vacations” restore your soul.
• Be still. Settle. Drop all other occupations or tangles into the skilled hands of the Lord. Leave them there.
• Plan and protect unhurried time. You may have to ‘sacrifice’ time elsewhere in order to have time for rest.  Treat a planned time to rest as if it were an appointment with a person important to you: yourself! And Jesus!
• Find what feeds your soul and feast on it.  (See Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas)
• Practice the Hebrew rhythm of ‘beginning’ your day at sundown.  Then rest is the first thing you do, and you move from rest into all else in your day/life.
• Enlist your community in helping you find and dwell in rest. Ask them to help protect your times of rest.
• Consider the needs of your body, soul, and spirit. All need rest.

What resting practice would you like to explore or to cultivate as a habit during this season?

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62: 5-8

Now: Rest!

“. . . I cannot read.  I cannot pray.
I cannot even think.
Where to from here? and how get there
with only darkness everywhere?
I ought to rise and only sink . . .
and feel His arms, and hear Him say,
‘I love you.’ . . .  It was all my soul
or body needed to be whole.”

Ruth Bell Graham, “The Little Things That Bug Me,” Sitting by My Laughing Fire

• “Sabbath is the refusal to let one’s life be defined by production and consumption and the endless pursuit of private well-being.” Walter Brueggemann

Helpful Reading:

An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus’ Rhythms oof Wok and Rest, Alan Fadling.
Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest, Lynne M. Baab
Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God, Gary Thomas
Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, Ruth Haley Barton
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer.
You Are More Than You’ve Been Told: Unlock a Fresh Way to Live through the Rhythms of Jesus, Hosanna Wong

Additional Reading, “Slow Me Down Lord”,  by Wilferd A. Peterson

Dr. Shawn Shannon is a former Texas BSM campus minister and currently serves as the Minister of Spiritual Formation for Tallowood Baptist Church. Her email is: sshannon@tallowood.org.

If you are campus based you most likely have to raise your ministry budget.  This is a part of my job that I originally hated.  I felt awkward asking others to support our ministry and give sacrificially to the work we were doing.  The finances were stressful!  During my first year we had a major partner restructure their finances and decide no longer to help fund our ministry.  This was a major blow and caused me a lot of stress and anxiety.  I questioned what we did wrong or what we could have done differently.  In that season I learned several lessons that I wanted to share with you.

1. I had to understand that not everyone would want to partner with us and that is okay!

The partner who removed their partnership began to focus their funds in a different direction.  I prayed for their endeavors. They were focusing on good things. It does no good to fester over what could have been. Remember the adage, “If the world were filled with if’s and but’s everyday would be Christmas with candies and nuts.” We have found others who greatly wanted to partner with us who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Move with the movers!  Do not spend your time regretting “the one that got away.” Instead, focus on being faithful.  

2. Cast your cares upon God.  He is better than we could imagine. 

If God is sovereign over your ministry, He is sovereign over your budget.  1 Peter 5:7 reads “casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.”  In the midst of one partner stepping aside, I had to learn to trust in God even more. He opened the door for other partnerships to be strengthened and new partnerships to be formed.  God is good!

3. Don’t put God in a box.

Often when we pray we want God to act in a specific way.  But often it seems God answers our prayers in ways we did not expect.  We pray for a mountain to be moved, but the mountain that was moved was our own hearts towards His will. I won’t say something as cliche as “where one door closes, another door always opens”… that is nowhere in the Bible.  But I will encourage you to leave no stone left unturned, to revisit other partners and pray for new partnerships.  Several of our partners saw the good work that was being done and wanted to strengthen our partnership.  All it took was an ask. 

4. Continue in the mission.

There are many seasons in ministry. There are seasons of abundance and seasons of more utter dependence (we should always be dependent upon the Lord).  Either way God is faithful and we are called to push forward with the mission of building His Kingdom.  People want to contribute to something they believe in and somewhere they believe God is working.  Continue in the mission in the good and the bad seasons.  We have had several new partnerships arise as we were faithful in our mission! 

5. People want to invest, not give to a charity case.

When we lost our ministry partner, it was a huge blow.  We lost nearly half our ministry budget in one hit.  I felt like I had to scramble.  I felt like I may need to call in some favors or start showing people how desperate the situation was.  But people only respond to those dire situations every so often.  People will start to question if you can handle your finances or why others pulled out if you always show those cards.  I am not saying there is not a time and a place for that, but you must be wise.  INSTEAD celebrate the wins!.  Show them how their money is being spent.  Celebrate all that God is doing in your ministry.  Learn to tell your story.  God has continued to bless our ministry.  Last semester we shared the Gospel nearly 900 times. We have greatly increased our freshman ministry.  We are looking at taking nearly double on our spring break trip.  These are the stories and figures that get people excited.  What are some of the things you need to let your partners know about?  Consider a newsletter or a fundraiser dinner to celebrate these stories. 

I no longer hate the fundraising side of our ministry.  Instead I am just bragging on God and asking people if they want to invest in something worth investing in.  It has become one of my favorite parts of the job.  It allows me to meet new people and brag on God.  What could be better?

Daniel Johnson serves as the Lexington Regional Campus Minister and the Campus Minister at the University of Kentucky. You can follow the ministry on Instagram @ukbcm.