Separation of Church and…Ministry?

For college ministers it is easy to get wrapped up in growing your ministry and begin to tailor your ministry specifically for collegiates.  While this is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, it can lead to your ministry separating itself from the church which is bad. 

Chuck Bomar recently wrote an article regarding this problem he struggled with early on in his ministry titled Para-confused in the Church.   In his article, Chuck reminds ministers that our goal should be plugging our college students into the local church body that is seeking out a common mission.

Our number one priority for our ministries should relate to the church body as a whole and be careful not to single out the college ministry as a para-church-like organization.  Chuck’s article provides two questions that serves as a check against this mentality:

1.    Do I view the church as a means to grow my ministry, or do I view my ministry as a means for growth in my church?

2.    Am I just as concerned with making sure people are connected in our church once they leave my ministry as I am with getting high school graduates connected to our ministry as freshmen?  Another way of asking this questions might be: Do I view my ministry as an end, or a means to an end?

I encourage all ministers to ask these questions personally and make sure that you do everything with the purpose of growing your church body this year in your ministry.