College Union

If you were to ask most any campus minister what one thing they need more of, most would say money. Specifically, money for better facilities and more staff. But the reality is large funding increases are probably not coming soon. To wait on our annual conferences to better ante up is probably not an effective strategy for building a ministry staff.

One solution that is working well on many campuses is recruiting missionary staff personnel. Though the concept is relatively new to many of us, non-denominational campus ministries have utilized missionary staffs for years. But here’s the key question: what would convince college graduates to forgo the opportunities before them in order to join our staffs, all the while living only on the support they raise?

I believe much of the answer lies in our willingness to invest in them. When a young person is hungry to grow in their knowledge of the Lord and their ministry gifts, they will sacrifice to be in a place where they believe they will be significantly invested in. But for many of us, this requires a radically different approach to staff than we’ve ever had before.

Often we are placed in situations where the demands of ministry are overwhelming. We know we need help. Self preservation sets in. As a result, when staff becomes available our focus becomes one of getting all we can out of them. We’re not nearly as concerned with their growth as we are with them shouldering a fair sized portion of the ministry load.

But, the vast majority of campus ministry staff are going to be in their early to mid twenties. Many will be in their first full time ministry assignment. Most are still very much in a season of preparation, where although the Lord will use them, He’s far more concerned with what is happening in them than what’s happening through them. If we’re to be good stewards of these incredible young people, their development has to be one of our primary responsibilities.

In recent years, one of my ministry mantras has become that we need to seek to invest as much or more into staff as they invest into our campus ministries. What that means is that we make their spiritual growth as important as their ministry effectiveness. So staff who disciple student leaders are themselves discipled. Staff are afforded opportunities to connect with other ministries and leaders where they can learn and experience new things. We intentionally develop curriculum to facilitate their continued spiritual growth. And we try to hold each other accountable when it comes to taking time for study and prayer.

Often as we are recruiting ministry interns, the Lord challenges me with these questions: Why would He want to bring this young person to our staff? What would be the impact of them serving here and learning from me? Two or three years from now will they be stronger and better for having served here as opposed to other things they might do? These questions help me realize that one of the primary responsibilities given to every campus minister is to invest in the staff the Lord entrusts to them.

If you will click on the “Additional Resources for Staff Development” tab, you’ll find among other things a listing of materials that are being used to invest in ministry interns. If you have further questions feel free to contact me or Clay Kirkland (ckirkland1@hotmail.com) who compiled the list and serves as our Director of Staff Development at the UGA Wesley Foundation.

Bob Beckwith is the Director of the UGA Wesley Foundation beckwithga@aol.com

Categories: Staff Development
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