Resource Topic: Leadership

The words hit my ears like a foreign language. 

I had just been told that in order to go into college ministry I would need to “raise support” for part of my salary. 

“Raise support?” I knew what it was in general – I had done fundraising many times for short-term mission trips. But raising support for salary was a different thing, an unfamiliar thing. 

Over the next several months I prayed, I processed, and I learned about what is involved in raising support.  What I learned then, and in the seven years since, has transformed how I think about support raising.  To be upfront, much of what I learned early on was from the book The God Ask, by Steve Shadrach.  That book laid an excellent foundation that I have since been able to build upon and apply in my own situation. 

Here are two benefits to remember and two pitfalls to avoid. I hope they are helpful to you as you raise support for your ministry.

Two Benefits

It’s Biblical

This was one of the most mind-blowing revelations for me. Raising support is Biblical! I will only give two passages that speak to this, but there are more.

In Luke 8:1-3 Luke tells us that a group of women was traveling with Jesus and the twelve disciples “to support them out of their own means.” There was literally a group of women that traveled with Jesus while He did ministry and one of their main purposes was taking care of His physical needs so that He could focus on spiritual needs. 

The book of Philippians was basically a support letter written by Paul to the church at Philippi. In Philippians 1:3-5, Paul thanks God for their “partnership in the gospel.” I love that word “partnership” because it contains a mutuality, a unity, that is so central to the gospel. From the beginning of the church, starting with Paul and Jesus, we have a template for people contributing out of their means so that others can be more fully devoted to hands-on ministry. 

It’s Communal

Having a network of supporters for your ministry extends your community well beyond yourself, which is an essential part of ministry in the first place. 

In Philippians 4 Paul tells the church at Philippi that “it was good of you to share in my troubles.” He also says, “You sent me aid more than once when I was in need.” This group of many, who were called the church at Philippi, contributed from their finances so that the one (Paul) could be fully focused on the ministry that God had given him. I encourage you to read the book of Philippians again with this relationship between the church and Paul in mind! 

An older man once told me a story about raising funds for a mission trip. He was going on a trip that he was easily able to fund himself. But when he mentioned his intention of paying for it himself to a woman in the church she told him, “Don’t you rob others of the opportunity to participate in what God is doing through you!” That statement completely altered his perspective. 

Do not rob others of the opportunity to participate in what God is doing through you. 

Two Pitfalls

Ignoring Your Supporters

As we have seen, support raising is communal. One of the implications of that truth is that you need to involve your supporters in what you are doing. The bare minimum of involvement is regular communication.

What does “regular communication” entail? Some would say once a week, some would say once a month, and some would say once a semester. I aim for once every three weeks, or sooner if there is a big event happening that I want to let supporters know about and pray for. You want to aim for keeping them updated without flooding them with updates.

As someone who has supported others for a long time, I will say this: your ministry might not be top-of-mind for your supporters as much as you might think. I know, it stings! But this is somewhat freeing for me whenever I feel guilty for forgetting to update them during the time I had planned.

The bottom line is this: do not take your supporters for granted. This is so easy to do in an age when everything is automated, and you are not as consciously aware of the regular dollars coming in that literally allow you to do what you do. So set reminders and be intentional in involving them in what God is doing through you.

How should you keep supporters updated? It depends on the nature of your supporters. I use a Facebook group (because most of my supporters are on Facebook) and I do a paper newsletter twice a year (summer and Christmas). At Christmas I include a handwritten thank you note with the newsletter. Many support raisers use an email newsletter, which my goal is to do once a month. 

Being Budget-Driven

I know what you are thinking, how is being budget-driven a pitfall? I mean, what would Dave Ramsey say? 

I do not mean that you should neglect planning. I mean that when you are deciding how much support you need to raise to meet the needs of your family, think less, “What is the number I need to pay my bills?” and more, “What is the number necessary to be able to focus on ministry and not stress about bills or the future?” 

Steve Shadrach calls this being “vision-driven” rather than “budget-driven.” Envision what God is calling you to and what level of income will allow you to wholeheartedly embrace it without the burden of pinching every penny to survive.

To be clear, I am not saying to aim for wealth in support raising! I am also not saying to neglect wisdom and frugality. I am simply saying that you can feel free to aim for raising enough support to provide for both immediate and future needs.

Conclusion

Raising support to engage in full-time ministry is biblical and communal. As with any worthy endeavor, there are pitfalls to avoid, such as ignoring your supporters and being budget-driven rather than vision-driven. 

Since the day the words “raise support” first rang in my ears, I have grown in humility, faith, and dependence upon the body of Christ. It can be this way for you, too. Let me know if I can help you or encourage you in any way!

Ben Muir is the Associate Director at UT Arlington. He can be reached at ben@utabsm.com. You can follow the UTA BSM on Instagram @utabsm.

At the risk of losing the reader from the start, I want to share the conclusion as the intro:
“Calling a staff a team doesn’t make it one.”

Likewise, everyone that is given the title “Team Leader” is not automatically a “Team Leader”. A team that excels corporately cannot be legislated, mandated, or assumed in any way.  The synergistic energy of a healthy team is an almost magical thing where accomplishments are both more and better than a group of individuals each doing their own thing.  A team must be nurtured with sensitivity, empathy, and intent.  That effort must be ongoing. The responsibility of the leader is to create and maintain an environment where a team may potentially form over time. This means the team leader should have a clear understanding of the vision for the team as well as the motivations and skillsets of the individual members.  In this regard, leading a team is much more akin to an art than it is a science.  There is no guaranteed list of actions that the leader may follow with complete certainty to ensure a team.  Rather, the leader must prove adept at perceiving the changing dynamics of tasks and interpersonal relationships, choosing to guide the interactions in such a way as to create an environment where a team may form and maintain its identity as a team.  

Are there lessons upon which a potential leader can remain focused to improve the formation of their team? Certainly, there is more than this brief article will contain.  (For a list of 15 Telltale Signs, check out “Leading from the Middle” by Scott Mautz). 

The following are 7 decisions that the leader will make that may determine whether his/her “staff team” ever reaches its fullest potential

1.  Who will be on the team? This seems like such a simple thing but the only thing worse than no person in a position, is the wrong person in a position.  A team member has to fully fit both the shared task as well as the shared “personality” of the team.  This may require self-examination and reflection that approaches painful in its honesty. But due diligence at the beginning of a collaboration may avoid painful experiences later. The best teams avoid members that have less and greater value.  The best leaders avoid having favorite members.  That type of intentionality rarely happens by accident. 
2. Will you allow everyone to share and shape the vision?  How many times have leaders decided what is best for everyone, passed it “down” and expected shared enthusiasm?  That may be efficient, but it creates an instant barrier for a team that they must then overcome.  Your team will have enough naturally occurring barriers to realizing their potential without the leader creating barriers for them.  The best leaders are willing to do the messy work of engaging members and bringing them along on the visioning journey.
3. Will you model your expectations?  Do you want a team that is respectful of one another?  Then you must show them what that looks like.  Do you want a team that works hard?  They need to see you work hard alongside them…as a team member and not just as a leader. Do you want them to show up? Then you must show up too.  Do you want a team that doesn’t ignore problems and talks through them?  You have to be vulnerable and talk through them as well. Do you want a team that cares for one another?  Then they must know without a doubt that you care for them, also. 
4. Will you commit to being a leader more than a boss? A boss expects to be followed because of their authority.  A leader earns the right to be followed because of their character. Being a boss places automatic limits on the trust that others will accede to you because of the perceived power imbalance in the relationship.  A leader earns trust by consistency, fairness, and honesty.
5. Can you value people over programs or products?  People want to be valued for more than what they can/do produce. There is more to your team members than what you see at work.  They have goals and dreams and relationships that they value beyond your work together.  Recognition of that other valuable life and an effort to assist them in attaining a healthy balance may actually result in a more productive team member.  A mantra that was taught to me by Dr. Harry Padgett in a college counseling class was, “If it’s important to you, it’s important”.  Repeating this mantra as you try to lead, form, and maintain a team may help you remember that you are leading people…not programs. It isn’t easy.  The institutional pressure that most leaders feel is centered around producing a successful program or product. A quantifiable product may be the institutional measuring stick used to evaluate your role.  That is the pressure of position…and it’s real. Your best chance of success as a team leader is in forming a healthy, effective staff team.  Take care of the people and the programs will often occupy their rightful, healthy place.
6. Will you really be a servant leader?  Are you willing to become less and elevate your team, individually and corporately, more? Is this team….are these people worth spending a significant portion of the currency of your life? Can you be satisfied in seeing them receive recognition and achieve success? Will that be enough for you? To answer this question, you must be honest with yourself about the person you are instead of the person you wish you were. 
7. Will you choose to be an isolated leader?  There is an oft-used quote that is no less true because of its popularity:  ”A burden shared is a burden halved” (T.A. Webb).  If you are going to be the type of leader that is available for your team, you must also care for yourself.  Isolated leaders tend to make increasingly poor decisions over time.  Do yourself and your team a favor by finding a coach or mentor that will help you serve your team by providing honest assessment and exploration of potential blind spots.  We never outgrow the need for honest, caring feedback. 

Steve Roper is a Collegiate Ministries Catalyst for the Tennessee Baptists. He also works as an associate for Pinnacle Leadership Associates providing professional coaching that focuses on ministry, leadership, and transitions. You can email him at sroper@tnbaptist.org or follow him on Instagram @srroper. 

Transitioning semesters, transitioning from one leadership team to the next, transitioning to new methods of outreach as campus environments change—collegiate ministers live and lead in an almost constant state of transition. In addition to the normal transitions that happen through the course of any year, there are also those exceptional seasons of transition such as moving to a new position, moving into or out of a building, or changes in convention or church leadership. You can probably think of at least a dozen other transitions you have or will navigate. The challenge all collegiate ministers must rise to face is how to effectively lead students and staff through those seasons of transition. 

Over the past (ahem…none of your business) years, I have transitioned in and out of six collegiate ministry roles, plus a short term of service in women’s ministry. Fourteen months ago, I moved back into a collegiate ministry role. Of course, every role change meant a season of transition, but some have included more challenging transitions than others.  I did not intentionally sign up for the “Leading Through Transition” course, but perhaps some things I have learned can be valuable to you. 

 Recently, as I was reading Romans 12-15, I was struck by how much of Paul’s instructions to the church in Rome can be a help when leading through transition. These six principles reflect what I have found to be most critical in even the most challenging of transitions. 

Start With Humility

12:2b-3 “…let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect…Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

I like that Paul starts this whole section with a generous helping of humility! I once heard a Bible teacher say, “you can bend your knee before God or He will break your legs. Either way, your humility matters to Him.” How do you think rightly about God and yourself? Surrender fully to Him daily and allow Him to transform the way you think. At the same time, remember you are in a position of leadership by God’s plan.  Whether you are glad to be there or wish God had chosen someone else for the task, He divinely appointed you for it. Rather than lead to pride, allow this truth to lead you to humility.

Respect The People You Lead

12:5b-6 “We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well…”

Just as God has divinely appointed you for this moment of transition, He has appointed the students, staff members, and colleagues you lead. Each of them are gifted by God and are an important part of the body. Listen to them, learn from them, discover and empower them to use their gifts. 

This is worth repeating—LISTEN to them. Especially during times of transition, everyone in your ministry needs the permission and freedom to express their fears, concerns, and excitement about the future. After you have listened, be responsive to their concerns. When you act on what you have heard, people will know they can trust you and will be more willing to stick with you through the transition. 

Perhaps most importantly, listening to people will give you insight on how to best empower them to embrace their God-given role in the body of Christ. 

Take Responsibility and Work Hard

12:11 “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”

Chapter 12 verse 8 reads, “If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.”  Here, just a few verses later, Paul tells us to work hard—with enthusiasm!  This task the Lord has given you deserves your best attention and commitment. Every leader will make mistakes—be gracious and forgiving with yourself and others; but, don’t allow fear of making a mistake keep you from taking your responsibility seriously and working hard…with enthusiasm! 

Expert Challenges

12:12 “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” 

Don’t be surprised by challenges along the way and don’t give up. Sometimes the trouble will be so overwhelming you may think you completely misunderstood God’s direction. Keep praying. Keep trusting Him in confident hope. Remember, “He who called you is faithful and He will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24)

Shepherd The People You Lead

12:13 “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them.”

Your role as a leader during transition is to steward and shepherd the students, staff, and colleagues in your ministry. A shepherd cares for her sheep and leads them where they need to go. Don’t let the second task overtake the first. When the people you lead are in need, be ready to help them. Even the most difficult transitions can be successful, if students and staff know you care for them by the actions you take to demonstrate it.

Respect Authority

13:1b-2 “…for all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.  So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.”

Every leader is under authority. The authority of God first and then the authority of another leader. Treat those leaders with the respect God commands. Rebelling against authority can look like: speaking of and to them and with disrespect, neglecting the duties assigned to you, undermining their plans, and so much more.  To lead successfully through transition, a leader needs the favor of those he leads, but he also needs the favor of those in authority over him. The quickest two ways to earn favor are to work hard and show respect. 

Finally, the most important thing I have learned: depend only on the Unchanging Father to be YOUR shepherd and leader through every season of transition!

Beverly Skinner is the Collegiate Ministry Catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. You can follow Georgia’s BCM ministries on Instagram @georgiabcm. 

College ministry is hard. It’s a joy, certainly! I’ve never experienced more excitement about Jesus and His mission than I have working with and alongside college students. Their excitement and passion for Christ is infectious and life-giving.

Yet, we should acknowledge that the joy of college ministry comes with great difficulty. We can all think of students who have broken our hearts, leaders who have left us, burdens from lostness on campus, or overwhelming obstacles to effective ministry.

We go into battle daily on the college campus, with the souls of college students at stake. 

The frustration and pressure easily leads to loneliness in ministry. Do you ever feel like a one-man army? That the success or failure of your ministry rises and falls solely on you?

I’m reminded of a time when Moses likely felt that way. Exodus 17 tells us of a time when victory literally rose and fell by the strength of Moses’s arms. As the people of Israel fought, Moses held his staff above his head. As long as he kept his staff aloft, the people of Israel pressed forward, winning the fight! But the moment his strength failed and his arms sagged, the enemy surged forward and prevailed. 

In that moment, I imagine that Moses felt like the battle depended solely on him. 

Have you ever felt that way in ministry? I know I have. I can think of countless moments where I felt like, were I to run out of steam, the ministry I worked tirelessly for would crumble to the ground. 

For Moses, this was certainly true. The Israelites’ victory depended on his ability to keep his arms aloft. And he recognized he did not have the strength to secure victory.

However, in what was surely a moment of loneliness and defeat, God wanted to teach Moses something: it actually didn’t depend on him alone. Aaron and Hur came alongside him and lifted his weary arms for him, so the army of Israel could prevail. Moses needed to hold the staff up; but he didn’t have to do it alone. 

As you go out to the battlefield of the college campus or your church, who is holding up your arms?

The author of Hebrews echoes this idea when he says this in 11:36: “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” This idea is tied to earlier in the chapter, in verses 24-25, where he calls believers to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 

Although this is in the context of the local church, the principle is clear: every believer needs people to encourage them in ministry, or they can not endure. We need people who can hold up our arms when we have run out of strength, so that we may see God’s victory carried forth.

Building community as a busy college minister

Seek peers.

I serve on the staff at a local church. Those of us who are college ministers at local churches tend to be pretty bad at building peer relationships with other college ministers. By contrast, when I look at my brothers and sisters who work in on-campus roles, I notice that they tend to have networks of peers to support and encourage them.

Regardless of your role, however, we need people who get what we do. As a college minister, you have countless younger people you’re investing in. You may even have a couple of older people who invest in you. But you also need peer relationships with people who truly get college ministry. I love the people I work with on my church staff; yet, most of them don’t get the unique joys and struggles that come with working in college ministry. I have found few things more encouraging than simply sharing my struggles with someone who instantly understands because they have lived it.

If you don’t know where to find peers, start by calling the other college workers in your city or your state. Begin meeting periodically to pray for your city and for one another. Call each other with questions, or to express concerns or frustrations. Hold up each other’s arms.

Seek coaching.

No matter how long you’ve been doing college ministry, find a coach. I spent years thinking that a coach would be nice, but was not a priority. I began working with a coach three years ago, and I can’t believe I didn’t prioritize it sooner. Coaching has helped me identify blind spots in my leadership and has been a constant source of encouragement for me during difficult seasons of ministry.

Seek networks.

If you’re a campus-based minister, there’s a good chance you’re already a part of a network. If not, find one, and lean into it! 

If you’re a church-based minister, however, you probably don’t have a network. I want to challenge you to take the time to find one and invest in it. I’ve connected with a few different networks that exist to encourage and equip church-based college ministers. Each time I spend time with these networks, I leave encouraged and challenged to take a step to improve my ministry. Two great places to check out are College Metro and Texas Roundup. These are annual conferences that work to network local churches engaging college campuses with the Gospel.

Develop a leadership team.

If you don’t have a leadership team, you’re missing one of the biggest encouragements in ministry. My favorite part of college ministry is investing in college students who believe in the mission of engaging campuses with the Gospel. Let them grow into the kind of men and women who can stand next to you and hold up your arms when you grow weary.

When you can’t find community, build it!

My final encouragement is this: if you can’t find a community, start building one! Call ministers at churches or in other ministries in your city, and begin by praying together. Praying together on mission will foster community quicker than any other action you could take. 

If you’re struggling to keep your arms up and have recognized you don’t have community, get out there and build some! You are not called to win the battle alone. I’m praying that God will surround you with meaningful community.

Drew Dabbs is the Minister to College Students at Morrison Heights Baptist Church. Follow the ministry on Instagram @moheightscm.

Step into the kitchen with me for a minute. Can you check the spaghetti? Just throw some noodles against the wall to see if they’re ready. They stuck to the wall? Good, they’re done. Now pull the cake out of the oven and check it. Stick the toothpick in the top and pull it out – is it clean? It’s done as well. It is so good to have some clear indicators showing when our food is ready. As the college students that I have the pleasure to work with graduate, I often find myself wishing there were more concrete ways to discover whether they were “done” in terms of life readiness and discipleship.

I look at my seniors and thoughts go through my mind like, “I believe Sally has the spiritual maturity she needs to thrive out there. Michael, however, might need to go back in the oven.” Sometimes my evaluative thoughts are spot on and sometimes I miss it by a mile. Sharp Sally can drift. Meandering Michael can begin to show signs of being deeply rooted.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we are left with zero inputs about the spiritual readiness of our students. We may not have walls and toothpicks, but Jesus gives us some pretty clear indicators of maturing discipleship. John 13:35 and John 15:4,8 are a great help. Is this student adding to a “love one another” type of Christian community? Is this student bearing fruit in their life that reflects an ongoing abiding in Christ?

With this in mind, how do we in our first steps with freshmen (or first steps with any student) invest in a way that sees them graduate as loving and fruitful disciples? How do we begin with the end in mind? There are several mindsets that have been helpful to me as a discipler of students, and all have been borrowed from ministry mentors and heroes who have lived and communicated these better than I ever could. My church-based and campus-based college ministry friends are a pretty smart lot, so I apologize in advance if these seem like Captain Obvious type observations. You may already know these ideas, but to borrow a pretty cool phrase from Jesus, blessed are you if you do them.

It goes without saying that you cannot personally disciple every single student you encounter. Whether as an individual collegiate minister or working with a staff, I have tried to invest most of my discipling efforts in student leaders. Those student leaders need to learn and live a “spiritual multiplication” mindset in which they learn how to invest well in others (who will in turn invest well in others). I am indebted to Milt Hughes, who taught me this mindset when I was a freshman. As he was emphasizing and embodying 2 Timothy 2:2, I was captivated by the idea of ripples of influence touching lives that would create their own ripples of influence.

Roland “R.B.” Byrd is my former college minister and a continued mentor of mine who taught me often an intentionality mindset. R.B. loves the old adage, “If you aim at nothing you’re sure to hit it.”  Without a doubt, “Where am I aiming?” is a huge question. But the next big question (especially if you embrace a spiritual multiplication mindset) is, “Do my students have a clear understanding of where we are aiming together?” On the local campus where I serve, we have emphasized our aim to be “after God’s heart, in community, and on mission.” We want our students to receive and extend discipleship that intentionally reflects God’s purposes and heart, is committed to our connectedness in the Body of Christ, and mobilizes students to live missional lives. 

For students whom I’ve had the pleasure of investing in for all four years, we have been able to provide a bit of a steroid shot at the beginning and the end of their time on campus. (Okay, the steroid analogy is not the best, but stick with me here.) Offering a purposeful start, a consistent middle, and a strong ending of preparation and affirmation provides a consistency mindset that builds well on the intentionality mindset. Arliss Dickerson taught me practical and intentional strong on ramps and off ramps for transitioning students. On our campus, one of those “on ramps” is a six week training in leadership and discipleship (Freshman/Transfer Leadership Team) each fall, our best “off ramp” is a weekly “following Jesus post-college” Senior Bible Study in my home at the latter part of the Spring semester, and it is our aim to provide a consistency in our discipleship and encouragement for the years in between.

Bruce Leafblad was one of my professors in seminary and a regular reminder from him went something along the lines of, “As a minister, people will come to you often to draw from your well for spiritual encouragement. When they do so, will they find cobwebs or living water?” This don’t-neglect-your-own-well mindset has been invaluable to me over the years. Is my own personal walk with Jesus fresh and personal? How am I doing nurturing areas such as prayer, Sabbath rest, and testifying to the goodness of God? I have found that I always teach, disciple, and encourage best when I am passionate about the truth that I share. Limited passion often equals limited discipleship impact. When I am attentive to the well of my own heart, I am blessing myself and my students.

We are constantly saying good-bye and launching students. This is both hard and wonderful. One of those wonderful things is that it brings built-in safeguards against the illusion that our time with people is unlimited. We want to properly view the shorter long-haul of their time on campus to prepare them for the longer long-haul of walking with Jesus for life. The joy of being a minister to college students (along with these discipleship mindsets that friends have taught me) give a nice resonance to the truth of Romans 13:11, “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Darrell Cook is the Senior Campus Minister of the BCM at Virginia Tech. Follow them @bcmvt.