Ideas for June

Well, we've made it to June.

For many of us this means that students have been gone close to a month... so, how's your summer going?  If the answer is 'too quickly' than I can relate.

As much as I might like to spend each day of the summer months immersed in the scene to the right, making good use of our summer can be the difference between fumbling our way into the new school year or a GREAT start, between a strong, well-planned year or a chaotic, hap-hazard one.

Here are a few thoughts on how to make good use of the month of June :: please share your additional ideas, thoughts and comments in the comments section below!

• Take a vacation - there's nothing quite like getting away from campus, and work, for a while to renew our focus, passion and perspective.
• Attend a retreat or conference - I'm personally more of a 'retreat kind a guy,' but taking some time to intentionally grow - how ever that looks for you - can also go a long way in renewing focus, passion and perspective.
• Spend some extra time at home - consider working shorter hours (if you can) or 'summer hours' that allow you to come in earlier/later so that you can spend some extra time off campus and with family (if that's you).
• Assessment - if you haven't done any intentional assessment of your ministry efforts from the past year, since your school year concluded, now is the time.  Soon our attention will be fully on prep for the upcoming year... and if we want that time to be fruitful, and tracking in the right direction, assessment is a necessity.
• Soul Care - as a part of our assessment, it would probably serve us well to take our 'spiritual temperature' to see how we are doing in our own relationship with Jesus.  It can be easy, in the midst of walking alongside college students in need, to pay more attention to their spiritual lives than our own.  The summer months can provide some much needed space for renewing our pursuit of the One we believe called us to this important work.
• Connect with your team - if you've got other professional staff that you work with, find some intentional ways to connect now that students are away.  Consider a staff retreat, some extended casual (but intentional) one-on-ones for processing the previous year, staff lunches, a BBQ at someone's house where you can invite families, etc.  Continuing to build bonds with you team during 'slower months' can really serve you well during the fast-paced school year.
• Connect with other key ministry partners - June can be a great time to connect with other ministers who serve the students on your campus, whether they be faculty and/or staff on campus, pastors in local churches or fellow college ministers on campus.  Now is a great time to initiate or further invest in relationships with these important 'co-laborers' in Christ.
• Map out the rest of your summer - I usually like to operate pretty spontaneously, but in order to make sure we aren't scrambling at the end of the summer to get everything ready before students' return, it might be worth spending some time intentionally mapping out the rest of our summer months.  When do I start that new initiative?  When do I take that much needed vacation?  When do I start writing that series of talks or studies?  Can I take care of some of the details for the mission trip that might be close to a year away?

The summer months provide us some much needed space for rest and 'uninterrupted' work.  I believe that God calls us all to be good stewards of this 'off season' on campus.  What are your plans?

Grace and peace to you!

Profound Change

I just read a quote from a study conducted at Abilene Christian University (ACU) a few years ago that stated:

When we asked students to think of a specific, critical incident or moment that had changed them profoundly, four-fifths of them chose a situation or event outside the classroom.

Does this surprise you?

It's definitely not the message you hear communicated by admissions staffs or administrators... those messages are almost always focused on the significance of what happens in the classroom.

And this post is not meant to downplay what happens in the classroom... I myself have taught in the classroom for the past 4 years - and I love it - and I know students are impacted in that setting!

This statistic does suggest, however, that the kinds of opportunities we provide for students through our ministry opportunities - and God's ability to profoundly change students through those same opportunities - have the potential to be some of the most meaningful and life-changing of a students experience!

What an important reminder - as we move towards the middle of the term and the season of spring break mission opportunities - of our need to be:

• prayerful
• intentional
• unceasing
• and expectant

as we go about the work God has called us to!

Our call is to be faithful to the One who has called us, and those He has called us to... and the profound change is something we can only leave up to Him!

extending a hand across campus

with just a week left before students begin to return to campus, it's time to start crossing off some of those "to-do's" from our list...

for all of us involved in campus ministry, whether we serve on the campus or from off-site, one of the most important things we can do to further the reach of our ministry is to establish important partnerships with key individuals on the campus/es we serve.

university life is interesting...

during the summer months, when campus is quiet and minds are a bit more clear, we have grand thoughts of new endeavors and partnerships... but too often too little effort or energy as we are recovering from the year of ministry that was...

and as the new academic year looms ever-closer... what once was just a dream of what "could be" has the chance to be easily pushed off the table because of what seems more urgent in our final days of preparations...

but i ask:

is there anything more important, more valuable, then new and growing relationships with people on and around campus?

as people who minister to college students we need to be in their world... and known by those in that world that will long outlast our students - namely, the faculty and staff.

to have a well-respected faculty and/or staff speak highly of you/your ministry, to advocate for you in the presence of other fac/staff/students, to point students your direction, etc., is one of things that can strengthen and grow your ministry the most from one year to the next!

conversely, it doesn't take too many faculty, staff or students for that matter, talking badly about you or your ministry to bring it crumbling to the ground!

finding ways to partner with different campus figures for different ministry initiatives can serve to add legitimacy (in the eyes of some on campus) to what you're doing, as well as new levels of breadth and depth to what you are offering.

recognizing the season of life (the university years) that the people we serve (college students) are in needs to shape how we do ministry... how we approach them!

we need to be advocates of education, higher education, the learning process, the role of faculty and staff in the educational and formational process of students...

and we hope, and pray, that they become that for us!

i believe that God desires for us to see one another (campus ministers and the institution) as partners - and not adversaries - in the formation of students during the critical college years...

what do you think?

what challenges do you face in this area?

let's keep the dialogue going...