Three Indispensable Resources

God provides the guaranteed resources of His grace, His Spirit, and His Word. And other factors help build and maintain an effective campus fellowship. Use them wisely.

1. Staff Member
Staff workers are godly, gifted individuals who were most likely strong student leaders during their college years. They join IVCF staff, not for money (that I can guarantee), but because God has given them a deep concern for college students.

They understand from personal experience what it takes to be a Christian on campus. And they bring ideas and experience from other campuses.

Most staff have strong abilities in evaluating programs and developing effective strategies. They want to help Christians mature in their faith and help non-believers come to know Christ. They offer themselves as models, admittedly imperfect, but committed to pursuing Jesus. They offer time to train and teach.

The staff member’s role is complex. Although InterVarsity chapters remain self-governing, staff workers do advise, encourage, and serve as “spiritual coaches.” They don’t replace the initiative of students, or force or dictate. Staff are eager to train student leaders, provide a model and a friend, but they will not do the work for you.

Since the relationship between chapter and staff is not highly structured, tension can occur. Officially, staff members have authority only to recommend affiliation of a chapter with the national organization or to break that relationship with InterVarsity.

These loose ties between staff and chapter reflect IVCF’s philosophy of student leadership. InterVarsity wants students to direct themselves, using staff for guidance and instruction, rather than for control. This encourages students to grow as Christian leaders — they hold responsibility for their chapter.

Strive to build a relationship with your staff worker. He or she is on campus to serve you and wants to be seen as a friend. Staff workers appreciate the encouragement of your interest in their lives.

Building a personal friendship with your staff worker is the first step in building a mutual ministry — a partnership. The second step is talking with your staff worker about the chapter’s strategy and how he or she can assist you.

My advice for gaining the greatest benefit from student-staff cooperation is to find your staff worker’s interests and strengths. Put them to work in those areas. Also determine what your chapter needs most and then seek your staff worker’s help in that area.

Below is a list of suggestions about how to work with a staff member. Because time may not permit all of these activities, decide which are most important for your chapter. Have your staff worker:

1. Meet regularly with the chapter president.
2. Attend some Exec meetings to provide insight and advice on plans and personal dynamics.
3. Consult in planning and goal-setting.
4. Lead training workshops on topics such as evangelism, Bible study methods, and prayer.
5. Give evangelistic dorm talks.
6. Teach at your large group meetings. (This is especially helpful early in the school year so students can meet him or her.)
7. Disciple groups of freshmen or sophomores.
8. Train small group leaders.
9. Provide spiritual support to student leaders who often give much but receive little.

These previous nine suggestions may help you avoid the following three common frustrations:

1. Confusion over a staff worker’s role (expecting too much or too little).
2. Failure to plan staff visits well, resulting in misuse of time and an ineffective program.
3. Failure to perceive or use the staff worker’s gifts, abilities and resource material.

The fruitfulness of a chapter’s work will increase as you build a strong bond between the staff worker and chapter, and fully use a staff worker’s gifts and talents.

2. Faculty Advisor
Your faculty advisor is the official liaison between your InterVarsity chapter and the administration of your college or university. Faculty advisors often provide wise counsel and godly influence for your group. They have tremendous potential for ministry.

The quality of leadership ebbs and flows as students come and go. But the turnover among faculty is low. The influence of Christian faculty members who love students can be a strong factor in maintaining a consistent, growing fellowship.

Select your faculty advisor carefully. If the advisor is effective, several years of continuous service may add to the chapter’s momentum. The newly selected Exec committee is the ideal group to select and invite the faculty advisor.

Student leaders must take initiative with the advisor. Faculty assistance is more likely to occur if students maintain a regular flow of contact and communication. Chapter presidents should meet at least monthly with their faculty advisors. Share prayer requests, seek advice, and invite them to your meetings.

It is impossible to write a formula describing a faculty advisor’s role and influence. There are two key variables:

1. The advisor’s spiritual maturity, gifts, and commitment to the campus.
2. The student leadership’s initiative, maturity, and vision.

To avoid confusion, there should only be one official faculty advisor recognized by the administration. However, there are often good reasons for having several faculty members involved in the life of your chapter. Fellowships blessed with several concerned Christian faculty should:

1. Assign a student liaison to each faculty person.
2. Give each faculty a special area of ministry, such as adopting a small group.

In this manner, a large chapter could have 20 to 30 faculty members vitally involved in its life and ministry.

Some chapters find success in designating a student as the faculty liaison. This student locates all Christian faculty members. He or she then informs them of IVCF’s purpose, compiles a list of those faculty interested in the chapter, and regularly supplies them with information on the group’s activities. This student also gives prayer requests to the faculty and informs them of special chapter events. As a result, some faculty may emerge as superb large group or evangelistic speakers. And there may be an opportunity to link faculty together for fellowship or outreach.

Another strategy for involving faculty is for a small group to divide into pairs and visit faculty members. Drop by their offices during office hours, introduce yourselves, and explain the purpose of the chapter. Leave them an interesting article or booklet such as The Appeal of Christianity to a Scientist. With their consent, arrange a follow-up visit to hear their reaction to the booklet.

3. Local Church and Pastors
Michael Griffith suggests that the true test of a college ministry is the contribution it makes to the local church 20 years later. If that is the case, the results of InterVarsity are quite encouraging. Many IVCF alumni serve churches in responsible positions such as lay leaders or pastors.

It’s crucial that students don’t postpone church involvement until after graduation. Student leaders should provide models and exhort the entire chapter to faithfully attend and pray for local churches. Encourage these good habits in the lives of young Christians as early as possible.

The campus fellowship benefits from church involvement in a number of ways:

• Churches’ prayer support for your chapter.
• Student growth from participating in worship.
• Financial support for conference attendees and outreach efforts.
• Pastors’ familiarization with the group (possible teachers or counselors for the campus).

Please note two types of churches: churches located in the same city as the college, and students’ “home churches” elsewhere in the country. Individual chapter members should maintain contact with their home church. The responsibility for building bonds with the local churches lies with the chapter’s leadership.

The chapter members should not all converge on one church; they should spread out. This protects the chapter from coming under the sole influence of one particular denomination. Gently steer new Christians toward churches with sound Biblical teaching.