Met with Brad Baker, pastor of Crave at Saddleback Church, for a bit yesterday to talk through some college ministry stuff. He came on staff there maybe a month before I left so we barely crossed paths before I headed out to Riverside. He's a sharp, laid-back, and humble guy. We talked about several things, but here's some that stood out.

• Think in terms of three seasons - summer, fall, spring
• One retreat in each season - this will propel growth ahead both spiritually and numerically
  
• Teaching in each season divided into series of Topical, Philosophical/Theological, and Exegetical (this is a good thought process for planning out teaching series)
• Core or ministry team consists of: Ministry Team Members (varying, but potentially low commitment), Ministry Team Leaders, Core Lead Team (I don't have my notes with me and may have that wording wrong). That Core Lead Team is the "go-to" people that pour into the ministry team leaders who then pour into the ministry team members.
• Relationships, relationships, relationships - this permeated through everything we talked about and has permeated our discussion at our church regarding college ministry
• Brad estimated they have about 85% of their Thursday night service attendance plugged into small groups. That's a pretty impressive percentage.

All in all some good conversation. Brad's only been there a year so I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with young adults in the future.

Last, but not least - I also got to run into Allison Hibbard, Jason Pogue, John Snyder, and Katie "I need to start blogging" Edwards. Always good to see old friends. I miss seeing you guys every day.

Labels: college ministry

This entry was posted by Mike Lovato, on Tuesday, September 12, 2006. You can leave your response.