End of the Semester Checklist November 30, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Evangelism, Leadership, Personal Growth.add a comment
If you are like me, you have a ton going on right now. You are still recruiting for the Christmas/Winter conference, thinking about Christmas outreaches and you want to end the semester well. You know you need to think about the Spring semester, Spring Break opportunities and talk to students about asking parents over break about going on a summer project. Oh, and you probably are working on your end of the year ask, doing Christmas cards and some shopping and parties…Gotta do the parties! So, how do you do it all?
My friend, Ben Rivera, Student LINC Consultant, sends out a weekly ministry tip to over 600 student and volunteer leaders around the country. His tips are always very practical and cut right to the meat of what needs to be done. So I went to an archive of his tips to see what he had talked about last year at this time. Your leaders can sign up for Ben’s ministry tips.
Here is a check list of his thoughts from some of those tips.
- Christmas/Winter Conference.
- http://godsquad.com/getinvolved/christmas.htm
- Begin to finalize and encourage people to attend your regional Christmas conference.
- Do some fund raising to help people go.
- Arrange rides before you leave for home.
- Exchange email and cell phone numbers.
- Summer Project Opportunities
- http://gosummerproject.com/explore_projects.php
- Want to potentially have the best summer of your life? Think about a summer project, but don’t wait too long.
- End the semester well
- In your final end of year party on campus, take the time to praise God for what He has done this semester.
- Begin now to plan with your leadership team for your Spring semester. The time will catch up to you quickly. Here are some things to think about:
- Try to reserve the same room you met in this fall, for next Spring. This will give you some consistency.
- Reserve a place and the time (first week of classes) to do a campus wide survey. This is always a great start and helps you to meet new people.
- Print off posters and flyers to advertise your weekly meetings so everyone on campus knows where you meet.
- Plan a solid monthly evangelistic event each month. This helps you to keep the gospel message as an emphasis each month.
- If you are graduating or transferring after this Spring semester, be sure to reproduce yourself into some one else’s life so the movement with continue when you’ve left.
- Finally, be sure to have a regular devotional and prayer time during the break. Don’t let your walk with God run dry.
That last one is really important. You will want to prepare your students for the break and their time home. The advent season can be a very worshipful and celebratory time as we focus on the Christ’s coming on our behalf. But it can also be a time of letdown for many students if they go home to the rush rush or less than favorable family situations. For all of us, the time spent in the Word is vital.
Christmas Outreach Ideas November 23, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Evangelism.add a comment
I realize many of you reading this are at regional staff conferences. Why not take this moment to forward this to your student and volunteer leaders? That is who John Mitchell, Southern New England Campus Crusade, sent this out to last week.
Most likely as you read this, you are eagerly anticipating your upcoming Thanksgiving break! Chances are, that you may think there is plenty of time to consider Christmas outreach after Thanksgiving but even with this celebration just over a week away, most of us only have a few weeks before exams end. That means right now is probably just the right time to plan for some Christmas outreaches. People are usually much more interested in spiritual things at Christmas time, so I encourage you to be ready to share the hopeful “news of great joy” that we have with your friends and classmates.
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”" Luke 2:10-11
Some outreach ideas to the campus may include:
- Giving out any remaining evangelistic books and resources and/or give out the Case for Christmas at a table, or bringing them to a weekly meeting or small group and encouraging members to take 2-5 with them to give out to friends.
- Giving out candy canes and/or hot chocolate at a table near the campus bookstore when people are selling books back. (There is an interesting story about the Candymaker using/designing candy canes to tell others about Jesus–not sure if it is true or not but there is some interesting connections in the design.)
- Showing the Charlie Brown Christmas special (there is actually gospel content in it!) or the Nativity movie and having a party where people invite friends. Play some fun games and decorate Christmas cookies (made in advance).
- Get together as a group and bake cookies to give out to non-Christian friends and to the people on campus that you want to thank.
- Use the EveryStudent.com Christmas posters found at http://everystudentpromotion.com/campaigns/20-christmas/index.html to offer students an opportunity to seek Christ this Christmas.
One other thing we would like you to consider is taking a few moments to thank those who help to make your ministry possible on campus. (Phil 1:3 “I thank my God every time I remember you.”)
Some of those people may include:
- Faculty Advisor
- The person who approves your posters
- The worker who reserves rooms for you
- The accounting person who you go to with your financial questions and for money
- Etc….
There could be many others, but consider how you might show some appreciation to them. A card signed by those in your ministry or leadership team, a small plate of homemade cookies etc. Nothing expensive or elaborate but it shows care, appreciation and the love of Christ.
We pray that these ideas will help you reach out with the love of Jesus in a couple weeks as we enter the Christmas season. If you don’t use one of these ideas I hope it helps spark your imagination to develop other methods of reaching out!
Praying for you,
John
John makes use of a number of coaching strategies. He visits his campuses once or twice a semester. He calls his leaders every week or two. He sends out an email to all of his leaders every Monday with a couple of paragraphs on the topic and a link to his blog where he posts the rest of the content. These are always very well written and offer great practical coaching for leaders.
Constitution for recognition November 16, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Launching.add a comment
You participated in Cross 09. You found a leader. You launched a movement. Perhaps you think that new movement should become a recognized student organization on campus. If so, writing a constitution is typically part of that process.
Campus Crusade’s Office of the General Counsel recently posted some helpful information and a sample constitution on the Staff Web. From their experience, problems registering as a student organization often stem from language in the constitution in the areas of membership and leadership requirements. Their model constitution speaks to those concerns and they believe it has strong legal grounding.
Obviously, we want everyone to be welcome in our ministries. But it is important for us to maintain leadership standards in keeping with our vision and beliefs. It is also important for us to see consistency across our ministries. The General Counsel’s model helps with that language.
On some campuses, recognition is not a big deal. But for many, organizations cannot schedule rooms or put up posters unless they are approved. Often the campus provides a constitution template in their recognition information. You will also want to make sure you have included the requisite topics as you apply.
What to do after Cross 09 November 9, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Evangelism, Launching, Student Ownership, Trusting God.add a comment
You have prayed for open doors. You have made your plans. You are going to initiate conversations with students or faculty in a different ethnic community during these next three days. And you are trusting God to launch a movement.
On last week’s podcast from Sam Osterloh and the Cross 09 team, Anna Pratt offered some suggestions for what to do now that you have found a leader or you have some students who want to start a movement.
- You don’t need to shoulder the responsibility for starting the movement. Encourage the students to take the lead.
- If you really connect with them, you may want to coach them yourself as they lead. The Student LINC team in Orlando can offer coaching suggestions. 1-800-678-5462.
- In any case, you will want to connect them to the particular strategy for more resources and upcoming opportunities. There are “go to” folks for each strategy.
- Bridges International: Linda.Woods@uscm.org
- Destino: Jim.Sautner@uscm.org
- Epic Movement: Darrin.Mabuni@uscm.org
- Impact Movement: Scott.Crocker@uscm.org
- KCCC: Bobby.Oh@uscm.org
- Nations: Mike.Kelly@uscm.org
When you talk with any of these folks, they can let you know the extent of the coaching the strategy can offer you and/or your leader and you will want to let them know the level of participation you can have in the future. You can find all this information, the podcasts and more here.
And now for something fun! Stacie Fletcher and the Cross 09 team have put together some ways of passing on stories. Basically, you can use whatever form of communication you prefer.
- Leave a voicemail or text (321) 895-425.
- Send an email to Godatwork@uscm.org.
- Post to Facebook.
- Upload to AllCallings.
They are offering a thank you gift to the first 5 stories submitted and everyone who submits a story will be entered in a drawing for an iPod touch. They also have separate photo and video contests. Categories are evangelism, location, movement launching, cross-cultural ministry and best overall. Visit this contest page for more info.
You may recall what Sam Osterloh wrote in his Cross 09 email last week:
“Where did God find you? Who took the step of faith to tell you about Christ? They were loving you as Christ had loved them. Ask God to give you the ability to lovingly proclaim the gospel clearly.”
This is a faith venture. We are anticipating what God will do in our own lives as well as raising up new movements. Thanks to the Cross 09 team for all they have done to prepare us for these days.
The Skills to Lead Small Groups November 5, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Student Ownership, Volunteers.add a comment
I happened to read something last week that was interesting. No doubt you have seen it.
“Last week, I was invited to a friend’s home for dinner. We hadn’t had a chance to see each other for a while, so I was eager for the companionship, as much as a good meal. Shortly after I arrived, we were alerted that dinner was ready, so we headed into the dining room, When I got there, I was expecting to find some sort of main dish— perhaps a casserole, or maybe some baked chicken. I was also hoping for a steaming dish of vegetables, and maybe some bread, served in a basket. Instead, sitting in the center of the table, with its jagged lid mostly pried back, was a five-pound can of cold green beans. “Dig in!” my friend said.
“Disgruntled may be too strong a word, but I was certainly hoping for more. The beans were fine, and no doubt full of good nutrients. The can itself was sturdy and clearly labeled. But the meal lacked a certain presentation, not to mention flavor…
“Every week, on campuses across the country, our students attend Bible studies that are served right out of the can. This year that “can” may have had the label Cru.Comm emblazoned on it. Cru.Comm is, unapologetically, Bible study in a can.”
This came from the first of seven short, but very helpful, articles on “How to Lead a Bible Study” from the folks who gave us Cru.Comm.
Healthy small groups are the essential building blocks of a growing movement. That article goes on to explain that quality Biblical content, community, self-discovered learning, progressive life change and outward impact are elements of a healthy small group. Cru.Comm helps provide that quality biblical content. But it is the role of a small group leader to bring that biblical content into an environment where community is fostered, life change happens and impact for Christ ripples outward.
These seven articles are mostly one or two pages in length.
- How to Use Cru.Comm
- Crucial Elements
- Preparing the Lesson
- Planning Your Group Session
- Designing the Right Environment
- Ten Suggestions for the First Group Meeting
- Guiding a Discussion
They are a must read for our new Bible study leaders. Even our veteran leaders will be reminded of how God works in the small group.
For the last few weeks, I have been talking about growing movements in their various stages of development. We talked about filtering a leader, developing a leadership team and seeing evangelism and discipleship become a part of the movement. If we hope to see our movements to grow from launched to multiplying, we must give our small group leaders the skills to lead quality small groups.
While the entire curriculum of over 100 lessons, complete with posters, studies, articles and leaders’ guides, is available for only $9.00 per disk, there is a semester’s worth of free sample lessons. This will give your leaders enough experience with Cru.Comm to confidently invest in the rest.
Growing from 10 to 50 November 2, 2009
Posted by Gilbert Kingsley in Coaching, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Prayer, Sending, Student Ownership.add a comment
We are in the middle of a series of tips about going through the various stages of development of a movement.
- I started with explaining those stages and the skills necessary at each stage.
- Then we looked at filtering a leader.
- Last week we focused on building a leadership team.
Today we consider how to grow a ministry from 10 to 50. Sometime ago, a team put together and sent me a copy of a strategic plan for growing from 10 to 50. Here is their plan.
Vision:
- Exciting/momentum building to give every student an opportunity to say “Yes!” to Christ.
- It will only take 1% of the student body to influence the whole campus.
- What is most influential group on campus? How many from that group are involved?
Situational Analysis:
- There are examples of growth for 10-50.
- There are specific challenges/obstacles to overcome.
- Leaders with limited vision/passion.
- Leaders who can’t gather/lead.
- Beware of becoming ingrown.
- Want to develop authentic community.
- The weekly meeting becomes the ministry.
- Leadership not multiplying.
- Not looking outside for other critical mass resources/volunteers.
Critical Mass:
- A student leader.
- A staff/intern coach.
- Aligned students.
Critical Path Steps:
- Prayer.
- Depend on God to reach the campus.
- Develop real opportunity for worship.
- Evangelism.
- Training in evangelism.
- One on one and large group evangelism opportunities.
- Exposing the campus with EveryStudent and FSKs.
- Discipleship.
- Effective small group strategy.
- New groups starting.
- Discipleship happening.
- Know how to get resources.
- Bring staff in for training and recruiting.
- Sending.
- Attending faith-building events.
- Expose to vision of others.
- Cross-pollination.
- Training.
- Extended time with staff.
- Defeats isolation.
- Leadership Development.
- Growing from one leader to a team.
- Instill vision and mission.
- Asking what the next step is.
- Invite others to ownership/responsibility.
- Train volunteers.
- Keep connected with staff coach.
There is nothing complicated about any of this. Of course, we know that there are challenges and obstacles to growth. But we start with the assumption of having the right leaders and then we need to be intentional in coaching those leaders in win/build/send and leadership development.
One coach (wish I could remember who) told me that she gives her leaders a bite of the campus in which they can see success (some target area). She works to move from one key leader to a leadership team. She makes a point to know GodSquad and sends students there with links to specific resources. Finally, she develops a master calendar for herself each year where she puts recruiting, sending, events and outreaches on it. This is really more about helping her help her leaders lead.
