Following Your Roadmap
A. Prayer – “Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 We can get busy doing a ton of things to build our ministry, but ultimately, GOD has to show up and work. Only He can do the deep work in people’s inner-life that makes the difference. Do we have a plan for prayer? Establishing a brief 30 minute weekly prayer meeting – where the focus is on the spiritual needs of the campus.
B. Leadership Team Who’s on the team? – When is your first leadership meeting? What’s on the agenda? Aim for a minimum of 4 committed leaders, and then plan to meet weekly to plan your ongoing events. Find out who has a heart for and give direction for evangelism, prayer, weekly meetings, and socials.
C. Visibility / Publicity – One fourth of the students will be brand new to your campus. How will they know we’re here? Will they be able to find us? Posters ready? Social Media ready? How do people on your campus usually find out about events, clubs, and activities? Are we visible through those channels? Other publicity ideas include “table-tents” in the cafeteria, a large banner in the Student Center, an Info Table in the Student Center, a listing on the school’s web site under Clubs.
D. Surveys and Questionnaires – Here is one of the easiest and most effective ways to engage hundreds of students in the first week back and even throughout the semester using different surveys. On the survey we’re only asking key questions – mostly to see if people would like to hear more about Cru. For anyone who answers Yes or Maybe, we send a quick follow-up email to invite them to our first events.
E. Get your Mission Hub up and running – This is a great way to help track with everyone involved in your group, from those who fill out surveys to your leadership team. Find more information here. There is a slight learning curve, but once you figure this out it will serve you well.
F. Bible Studies – Whos’ leading them? When and where will they meet? What topic? How can people get involved? Planning is paramount. Don’t just wing-it. Consult with your staff coach. Transferability is an important factor.
G. Social Activities – What FUN opportunities are we planning to give people a chance to connect and make friends? Everybody is looking to form a circle of friends when they first arrive. Some ideas for this…. A hike, an outdoor cook-out, pizza/movie party, bowling, volleyball, apple-picking, blueberry picking, …. Be creative. And HAVE FUN!
H. Fall Retreat – Is your Cru ministry doing a Fall Retreat? Many smaller campuses tie into a larger staffed-campus in the area for their Fall Retreat. These weekends can be powerful and life-changing. If you are doing a Fall Retreat, it’s best to mention this as early as possible. Cru Winter Conferences will be a major emphasis in October.
Here are some weekly reminders Throughout the year:
The following matrix might be helpful for you as you continue to guide your Cru ministry for the rest of the semester. A full-functioning, well-balanced Cru ministry is actively moving forward in these Four Key Areas:
Bible Teaching – how are we providing transferable biblical content through our fellowship meetings, Bible studies, retreats, other means?
Prayer – what are we doing to pray regularly for the spiritual needs of people around us, especially people outside the faith?
Outreach – what opportunities are we providing for outsiders to engage spiritual questions? What are we doing to stimulate spiritual interest on campus? What opportunities are we creating for everyone to hear the gospel? Consider a weekly emphasis of personal evangelism and possibly a monthly big event to spread the gospel message widely so that you will gather new contacts for follow-up.
Fellowship – Christian students want to connect with each other for encouragement and support. What are we doing to meet this need? People will come to your meetings because they come to see their friends.
Throughout the year the leadership team needs to evaluate each of these 4 key areas and continually seek ways to improve. The life-change you experience, and see in others around you will be a powerful motivator. Few joys in life compare to the JOY of seeing God work through you to make a difference!