The following blog article was posted by Benson Hines on March 9, 2011 and specifically address the importance of networking with other college ministers.  It is very important to have someone you can bounce ideas off of that has already tried out or thought through some of the ideas you may have.  You can follow Benson's blogs at his blog site exploringcollegeministry.com, and start networking today!!

What should I do when I need to confront a student?

How have you gotten your students to serve more?

I’ve got a problem with one of my supporters – what would you do?

Like any field of ministry, college ministers have a variety of sticky, tricky issues that come up. And like any field of ministry, our set of issues is somewhat unique to what we do.

Clearly, I’m a big fan of broad collaboration, in-depth training, and other efforts to learn from other college ministers in a large-scale way. But there’s a “lite” form of that collaboration that is probably worth taking very seriously, too: Having college ministers in your life you can simply “hang with” and discuss ministry with on a regular basis.

For some of you, this is a Duh suggestion, for sure. But I think a surprising number of us might not have taken the step to forge friendly, mutually beneficial relationships with other college ministers. We may not have somebody we could ask those three questions (above) while chowing down on a Moe’s burrito or an In-and-Out Burger. Nor do we have friendships in which we can share ideas and wisdom with other college ministers. Bummer!

I think it’s worth finding yourself a buddy. Or a few of them. Yes, get after the more formal methods – conferences and roundtables and blog-reading. But just having a college ministry “buddy” will be a powerful blessing, too.