preparing the next generation of leaders

With just a couple of days before our student leaders return to campus, I find myself thinking about the importance of the task at hand:

preparing the next generation of leaders to be the men and women that God desires them to be.

What an important task!

No, not a task to be completed and checked off a 'to-do' list, but an ongoing task to be invested in over the course of all of the years that we have with these students!

Yes, a significant part of our ministry is to the masses, but I would dare say that the most critical part of the work that we do comes in the training and equipping of student leaders.

How large a role to student leaders play in your ministry on campus?!

In today's student culture, I believe that student leaders are one of the greatest assets to successful ministry on campus!

• They have a trusted voice among their peers
• They have unlimited access to people and place we don't
  
• They have the ability to speak most clearly to their generation
• They often have a contagious passion
• They have a greater understanding of one another

We need to utilize these key students that really want to make a difference!

So how do we equip them?

I think there are a number of areas that we need to address with student leaders - not only during times of training, but throughout the year as a way of reminding them of the importance of the ministry they have. Some key areas I believe we need to focus on are:

• The mission of your ministry - the need to learn why you/they do what you do.
  
• How the work you/they do fits into the greater work of God, the Church and the University - they need to see the connections beyond your ministry.
  
• Soul care and self-care of the leader - they need to learn the importance of how to be healthy as a leader and why.
  
• What it means to be both accountable and responsible - these are two areas that most of today's student culture seem to shy away from... we need to help them learn the significance of both of these areas... not just for their work with us, but for life in general!
  
• Time management - another oft neglected area that will benefit them now, and later in life, as well as your ministry efforts together.
  
• Specific skills necessary for the specific area of ministry they are leading in - passion and Christian commitment don't necessarily translate into good leadership... we need to help them learn in areas that they might not yet have experience.

While student leaders are essential to the work and mission of campus/college ministry, their role as a student leader is one of the greatest contexts I know of for their ongoing spiritual formation and leadership development as a college students!

What do you think?

How significant is student leadership?

How do you train and equip students to be leaders within your campus ministry?

Let's keep the conversation going!