When it comes to college ministry, there is no season quite like the fall!
The first 4 weeks are critical for your ministry and will make or break the rest of the year.
Heading into my 18th fall semester on a college campus, I still get some nerves in anticipation of students moving back in. I’ve know how significant this window can be but I’ve also seen how it can be squandered.
If you want to make the most of this time, you have to avoid the most common mistakes!
I’ve guilty of making them and, over the years, I’ve seen campus staff and student leaders repeat them time and time again.
Don’t let that be you this year. There is too much at stake!
To capitalize on this fruitful season, here are 7 of the most common campus ministry mistakes to avoid the first few weeks:
1. Lack of Preparation
Too many staff come into the semester unprepared to get contacts, host events, start Bible studies, or lead their disciples. As a result, when an opportunity comes up they waste valuable time that should’ve been spent with people scrambling to get ready.
My first day on campus as a full-time staff person I knocked on the door of a fraternity house to meet the pledge trainer and ask to set up a pledge meeting.
A junior answered, “Oh, I’m the pledge trainer. Our guys are coming over in an hour, could you come back by and speak to them then?”
AN HOUR?! The look on my face probably said it all.
This open door was incredible, but I wasn’t ready.
Of course, I masked my sense of fear and said, “I will be right back over.”
I hurried back to our office, typed up a quick card, and sped to Staples to get it printed. I rushed into the house just in time to give a short speech and introduce them to our ministry.
I got their contact info but, because I wasn’t ready, I was stressed, rushed, and lacking in prayer headed into that pledge meeting.
Don’t get caught unprepared. There is more to get ready than you typically think.
It would be a disaster for a soldier to go into battle without enough ammunition and supplies. It’s the same for the unprepared laborer in the fall.
You likely have made some plans to get ready for the semester, but too many staff underestimate the amount of preparation that goes into the first few weeks. If you end up running to Walmart multiple times to get supplies or baking brownies in your apartment in the afternoon, you’re not maximizing the time (just go buy some brownies and save the time).
Are you ready for students to get to campus?
I’ve found it helpful to write out a checklist of all the things I need heading into the fall. These will obviously change based on your role on campus and responsibilities for the movement. But each of you should do a lot of work on the front end to knock out these to-do lists.
Here are some sample items:
- Print contact cards
- Get gift cards for giveaways
- Order supplies for events
- Have first 4 weeks of investigative Bible study prepared and printed
- Plan and have first 4 one-to-ones planned for each disciple
- Plan and, if necessary, book space for Bible studies
What else could you knock out this next week before campus starts so that when the time comes you don’t have to pull off campus to do administration?
2. Relying too much on pledge meetings & events for contacts
Another big mistake I’ve seen staff make on campus is relying too much on new member and pledge meetings to get phone numbers. Knowing the pledge meeting is a week or two away can make you less bold meeting people than you might be otherwise.
When you’re sowing on campus and meet a group it’s easy to think, “Oh, I’ll get their numbers at the pledge meeting!” Or you’ll run into a group and invite them to your event that night and think you’ll get their numbers then.
Big mistake.
I learned how significant this mistake can be after spending several years on a campus that did rush in the spring. We didn’t have pledge meetings to rely on in the fall so we were forced to initiate more and get more numbers face-to-face around campus, in the cafeterias, at the gym, etc.
That experience showed me how much bolder and better I COULD have been at sowing on my previous campus.
When you get someone’s number at a fraternity/sorority meeting that’s a phone number, not a contact.
Following up with them is essentially cold-calling. They don’t know you yet and responses are hit or miss.
But when you meet someone face-to-face, connect with them, get to know them, and then get their number, now there is a relationship. You have actual “contact” with them and the likelihood of meeting up later increases.
I’m all for events and pledge meetings. Do them! But don’t rely on them exclusively for your contact-making.
As you walk around campus you need to be thinking, “God has sovereignly led me to this person and I need to be bold to connect with them and get their number now.”
You’ll end up with better contacts. And then when you see them at the pledge meeting you’ll already have their number. They’ll be that much more likely to respond when you initiate with them.
3. Overestimating how many people you’ve actually met
New staff can’t believe HOW BROADLY they have to sow.
You’re likely coming from a dorm or a Greek house where you had 30 or so friends among whom you did ministry. Learning how to meet, connect and keep up with 200-300 contacts is a new ball game.
Here’s how it typically goes:
You head on campus the first week, are bold to initiate with people, and then get fired up that you connect with two groups of amazing freshmen. Each group has 10 friends. You’re pumped! These could be the next laborers in your ministry. After speaking at a couple of meetings you set up you get 100 phone numbers. You look at your list and see 120 contacts on your sheet. You’re feeling pretty good.
You’ve got 120 phone numbers.
But you’ve really only talked to 4 of them.
It’s easy to overestimate the amount of sowing you’ve actually done. You’ve still got sowing to do.
Another danger is getting too comfortable with that group of 20 at the expense of the 100. You know they’re more likely to respond so it’s easier to meet with them than the 100. I’ve seen staff meet up multiple times with the 20 before ever initiating with the 100.
Remember the parable of the sower? You can’t put all your eggs in that basket.
Our team in Dallas made a great switch that I believe has helped them in their sowing. They not only track the number of phone numbers they get, but they also measure the number of people they meet up with face-to-face.
A phone number on an excel sheet doesn’t mean a whole lot if they never respond to an invitation. Tracking face-to-face meetups has helped them focus on sowing towards a more meaningful goal.
You need to meet more people than you think you need to meet. It’s helpful to keep reminding yourself that every contact you DON’T make the first 4 weeks is that much harder to make after that.
Set a goal to meet a certain number of people and keep sowing these next few weeks until you reach it. If you get numbers at meetings, set a goal for face-to-face meet-ups in the first 2 weeks after you speak at that meeting.
It would be so helpful to discuss with your staff what some good, realistic goals would be for you.
4. Forgetting your current leaders
While you’ve got to avoid #3, you can’t let it tip you into mistake #4 — forgetting about your current leaders.
Unless you’re a brand new ministry, you’ve got a group of student leaders or involved new believers in your ministry. Hopefully, you’ve been investing in them over the course of the summer. You probably have plans to help them grow this fall.
Don’t let them fall to the back burner. You have to make sure your first good touch with them isn’t in October. It sounds simple, but in the rush of the fall I’ve seen it happen.
The longer you sow and the more contacts you make the more pressure you’ll feel to meet with those new students and it will be even more difficult to include your leaders in your schedule. You need to build them into the rhythm of your week now.
It’s not enough to JUST take them with you to go meet people. There have been too many years when I’ve seen student leaders feel used or uncared for because all the focus was on meeting freshmen. Think how tiring and exhausting this season is for you! Now imagine a sophomore new believer trying to do this with you.
Meeting freshmen IS THE focus, but it’s not the ONLY focus.
I’m not saying you need to coddle your current leadership team. They need to be on mission with you. But I am saying you need to be looking out for them. Multiplication is the ultimate goal of your sowing.
This is a great season to disciple in the context of evangelism (DICE), but it’s also crucial that you pour into them as you do it. Jesus would pull away from the crowds to invest truth and doctrine in His disciples. You can do the same. It doesn’t have to be 3 hour 1-1s. It can simply be checking on their time with the Lord, praying through key Scriptures together, and re-evaluating their convictions for why we do ministry.
Show them you are committed to leading them, not just using them to meet more people.
5. Lacking the emotional & spiritual energy needed to endure
I’ve seen a lot of staff go hard for a week, but then slow the pace down after that.
The start of fall is not one week…it’s 4-6 weeks.
I was an accounting major and all my friends who graduated and entered that field count their experience by “busy seasons” — the weeks leading up to tax filing. They all grind through those weeks and know it’s going to take all their effort, late nights, etc.
What if those accountants worked hard on those tax returns for the first week but never finished? That wouldn’t fly.
Are you emotionally and spiritually prepared to fight this 4 to 6 week battle until its done?
Here are some of the signs you’re losing spiritual steam:
- You might go sit with 4-5 groups of students in the cafeteria the first week on campus but by week 2 or 3 you’re only sitting with one before leaving.
- You’re constantly checking the time counting down the minutes until you can go home.
- You catch yourself complaining about hours or how tired you are.
- You’re skipping devotional times.
You’re going to get tired in this season. But it can be a good tired.
Jesus’ most famous miracle, the feeding of the 5000, occurred as he was trying to get away to rest after a busy season of ministry. He had the energy to endure.
You have “remain in the vine (John 15:1-5). This is not the time of year to cut short your time with the Lord.
When you notice your energy and perseverance begin to fade, it’s time to ask God to fill you with His Spirit and empower you to keep going hard.
6. Wanting to look cool
Lots of new staff members struggle with their identity on campus. When you are making the transition from peer to staff member, you still have that tendency to want to look cool, be friends with the students, and make your ministry look attractive.
Some staff resort to being too vague about their ministry for fear they will turn off non-Christian students. This is a subtle mistake that staff make that hurts their influence with students.
A student asks, “Oh, what do you do?”
The staff answers, “Oh, bro, I’m a part of this thing. We do fun things on campus.”
Brutal.
Guess what? Your students don’t need friends. They need someone to lead them spiritually. That’s your job!
God has given you the amazing responsibility to represent Him on campus. Do it!
Can you be fun and engaging? Absolutely. Obviously! But tell people you meet exactly what you do. You are here to help them process through their faith in college. You would love to take them to lunch to tell them about it. You lead Bible studies and small groups you’d love to check out. You mentor and disciple leaders.
Your goal is NOT to convince students to become interested. Your job is to call out the students in whom God is already creating interest.
Be faithful to that call.
7. Unguarded from the first gut punch
The last mistake I’ve seen staff make is a spiritual one – being unprepared for the first gut punch.
You go into the semester so excited and so hopeful for what God is going to do that you forget that there are going to be setbacks. I’ve seen so many staff limp into October because they weren’t expecting the hardships.
Don’t get caught off guard and let discouragement slow you down.
You are doing battle against a real enemy on one of the most strategic battlegrounds in the world. There is no doubt in my mind every fall you are going to face pushback. If you don’t, I’d question whether you are really in the fight.
It might come on campus. It might be at home. It might be something in your personal life.
Inevitably, we know, “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33a).
- How will you respond when you get rejected on campus the first time?
- What will your attitude be when no one shows up to your first Bible study?
- What will you think when the A/C goes out at your house and you’re dealing with discomfort or some financial strain?
Remember what Jesus said. “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).
Put in into Practice
This season is crucial. Are you ready?
Can you avoid these mistakes?
It would be so helpful to get together with your team and discuss which mistakes you’ve experienced in the past.
Discuss:
- What mistakes are you most prone to?
- Are there others that have hurt your effectiveness in the past?
- What can you or your team do to help you avoid these this year?
I’m praying for your labors this fall that God would bless and multiply your sowing this crucial season of ministry.
