It’s exam time on campus…

And I guess it only makes sense that at the end of the semester we would put ourselves through a “final exam” of sorts… right?

With all that has happened and hasn’t happened — with all of the feelings of relief, release, regret, ready-to-be-done-ness that we feel at the end of the term, it is important for us to consider how we might make these final couple of weeks before the Christmas holiday as fruitful as possible.

It may very well be that REST is what’s most necessary — especially if we’re not feeling like there are major issues that need to be addressed in preparation for the spring term of ministry.

However, if your semester was not what you had hoped it would be, then the next couple of weeks might be critical to turning the tide of your ministry.

But where does one begin???

Here are a few ideas for how to get started in the process of charting where you are, where you’ve been and where you’d like to go in the term to come:

Assess your ministry context and ministry opportunities — what do you really know about this place? Do the ministry opportunities you offer really meet the needs of your students? How do you know this?

Re-visit your mission, vision and purpose — given the insights and revelations from your time of assessment, does your mission, vision, and purposes for ministry on campus still make sense? If not, what changes need to be made?

Examine your current model of ministry — are there any changes to your ministry efforts that are deemed necessary? It might mean that a new model — or framework — for ministry might be required. What has worked in the past, or on another campus, may no longer work in your current ministry environment.

Identify promising strategies — what are some of the key relationships and partnerships (on and off campus) that need to be invested in? How do you need to reconsider your marketing, branding, etc.? What events do you need to re/consider?

Again, this is just a start!

If you have found yourself in this place before I’d love to hear from you about what you have found to be helpful, and fruitful, in this kind of process.

Grace and peace to you this Christmas season!