The Ups and Downs of Collegiate Ministry

Last night I had my final meeting of the year with the ministry leadership interns of our collegiate ministry at McKendree College. It is always a sad time for me. Most of my interns are Seniors in college, and although I know we have helped to equip them to take the baton and run the good race, it is difficult to see them go. It gets me thinking about collegiate ministry in general and how difficult it is. Here's a few random thoughts on collegiate ministry:

1. It is like trying to put together a collegiate sports team. Every year the group has a different dynamic. The Seniors from the prior year are gone and replaced by Freshmen straight from High School. Stealing a line from Forest Gump, collegiate ministry is like a box of chocolates....

2. We go full speed from the end of August through the beginning of May. There is no let up during the school year, and with minimal staff it is always challenging to get everything done. Planning is difficult; when we have time to plan (during the summer months) all the students are gone. When we have our students (during the school year) it is too late and we are too busy to do strategic planning. It seems like we are always playing catch up. It does make for a very fluid ministry where we are able to do a lot of experimenting on-the-fly. I just have to trust that the Holy Spirit will lead us where He wants us to go.

3. There always seems to be a mad sprint to the end. The Seniors realize that they only have a limited time left in college and want to make as big of an impact on campus as possible before they move on. I commend them for this, but sometimes we settle for a short-term impact rather than aim for the long-term results. It is hard to get Seniors interested in strategic, long-term, thinking when their time on campus is coming to an end.

4. I am very impressed with today's college students. They are much bolder in their faith than I was in college, they want to make a significant impact on their campus and those around them, and they have so much energy. It also seems like they don't have to study nearly as hard as I did when I was ini college. I think that is my problem, not theirs. I have always been very dense when it came to having concepts sink in. A quick 2 x 4 to the head has worked much better on me than persuasive language.

I'll post more later, but for now those are the few unconnected thoughts running around in my hed.