Keeping Collegiates in Your Ministry…or Keeping them from Running to the Back Doors!!

By Pat Reho 

This is a constant battle of local churches, how do you keep young people here?  We sometimes give them their own music, they have their own time slot with the ministry focused around them, and yet they still do not stay active in the church…What is the deal here?  Familiar questions, you’ve been there, or maybe are having this crisis now…

As I was reading through the Old Testament, I ran across David and his great horrific downfall.  If you think about it, the root of his problem was idleness.  David was not where he was supposed to be and thus got off track despite having a strong desire to serve God.

Now we, as the church, sometimes don’t encourage healthy growth in our college students, almost like we stop caring about them after they graduate from high school.  This, like in David’s case, allows them more of an opportunity to get off track.  Idleness often leads to more bad than good and that is something we need to take into account in church ministry as well.

Students don’t want to sit around and be idle, but prefer activity. Some suggested activities to get them involved in are: leadership teams, mission teams (that work on planning yearly trips, raising funds, etc.), student newsletter or church blog (you know Facebook is hot now.)  It is important for you to realize that these students want to be a part of a team and that they have great ideas and servant hearts.   If we don’t challenge them in our ministry, they may leave the ministry altogether.

What activities have been most successful for you? Share your thoughts.

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity.  If you have any questions please contact our offices.