(part 1 of a week long series)
“A busy schedule is not overwhelming to me but over-complexity is. Simplify stuff as much as possible at staff meeting”
Brian McCollister (Cru director at Ohio)
Our ministry is moving into week 4. For us, that means shifting from 100% focus on reaching new freshmen to sorting thru the hundreds/thousands of contacts and deciding who to invest in.
During this season of college ministry, we’re flooded with students and last week I felt Iike our team hit a wall — they were ready to throw in the towel (I alluded to it in my last post).
The cause?
- Not lack of fruit/success — this is the best fall we’ve ever had. God is moving and they’re getting to be a part of it.
- But lack of focus. Feeling overwhelmed with the sheer number of students to track with in their areas of campus; and not sure how they should be spending their time.
We break our campus into 3 areas (stole the idea from NC State Cru) and have Student Staff (stole that from Oklahoma Cru) lead those areas (2 per area).
It’s impossible for the Student Staff who is the Area Director to even know the names of all the students coming to Bible Studies in their area, much less know how to invest in them spiritually.
So this week we sought to clarify/simplify their job (with a heavy emphasis on the third):
- Set direction for your area
- Keep tabs on everything in your area
- Pour into your leaders (who lead Bible studies in your area) and make sure they are doing the right things with the right people
You don’t have to reach everyone in your area. Â You just need to pour into the 12 students who are leadings studies in your area and make sure they’re investing their time wisely.
Same goes for our staff. Â Success for them this week means starting to meet weekly with the right people.
More on that tomorrow.
photo courtesy of PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE via Flickr