Campus Life Relational Ministry Action
Student Leadership
Definition:
“Christian Students who are committed to personal growth and influencing of
the people around them for Christ.”
WHY DOES CAMPUS LIFE USE STUDENT LEADERSHIP AS AN RMA?

HELPING STUDENTS LEARN TO ABIDE IN CHRIST
Student leadership helps students to grow in their relationship with
God becoming like Christ by practicing spiritual disciplines.

TRAINING AND EQUIPPING STUDENTS TO REACH OUT TO THEIR
FRIENDS FOR CHRIST.
Many Christian students have a desire to influence their friends for
Christ. Student Leadership takes this a step farther and provides
encouragement and training on how to effectively reach their
friends for Christ.

SHARED OWNERSHIP OF THE CAMPUS LIFE MISSION
When it comes to reaching students with the gospel, our mission is to
be about reaching “every”. A Campus Life Director alone can
impact only a limited number of students during a limited number of
hours. Student Leaders are in school five days a week and can
greatly multiply our presence and enhance our efforts. A very high
percentage of their time revolves around the mission field!

POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCE
It is always easier to take a stand when you’re not alone. Student
leadership serves as a place for Christian students to encourage
one another, pray for one another, and build positive relationships
with each other. The positive relationships that are established will
in turn attract other students to Campus Life. “Your strong love for
each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John
13:35, LIV).
HOW DOES CAMPUS LIFE USE STUDENT LEADERSHIP?
Use the following six principles to create an effective, efficient
Student Leadership team in your Campus Life ministry.
1. ESTABLISH YOUR TEAM
When pursuing students to be involved at the leadership level, it is
important to look for students who:
1. Have a growing relationship with Christ.
2. Exhibit positive moral character and are respected by
their peers.
3. Have a heart to see their friends come to know Christ.
RECRUITMENT STRATEGY: Where do I find these kinds of students?
The Church

In theory, ready-made Christian leaders can be found within strong
evangelical churches and youth groups in your area. Area youth
pastors can recommend the names of solid student leaders.
Communication with the area youth pastors is key not only for
providing names of potential student leaders, but also to explain
that Campus Life uses Student Leaders for evangelism, and is not
trying to steal kids from their youth groups.
Inside/ Outside Recommendations
Other sources of student names are:



Adults (parents, teachers, volunteers). Any adult aware of the
mission of YFC and who knows Christian kids with the potential to
become leaders on their campus.
Current Student Leaders. Student Leaders who understand the
mission can be given the opportunity to refer their peers to you as
potential student leaders.
Home Grown Students. Look for those students who have become
Christians or have been discipled directly through the ministry of
YFC.
RECRUITMENT STRATEGY: When should I recruit student leaders?

Student Leadership recruitment is an ongoing process, so always be
on the lookout. However, there are specific times of the year that
are key to Student Leader recruitment.
1. Spring and Summer: These two times of the year are
critical when it comes to student leader recruitment
because both give you adequate time to build your
group dynamic in preparation for next school year.
2. January: Right after Christmas break is a good time to
add those students whom you may have been
discipling over the past few months and feel that they
are now ready to step up to the leadership level.
RECRUITMENT STRATEGY: How can I make sure I’m getting the right
kids?

SCREENING/ APPLICATION PROCESS

CONNECT WITH YOUR TEAM
How can I build a strong bond with my leaders?

CONTACTING: As we visit school, go to practices and ballgames,
we always need to be working on our relationships with Student
Leaders.
1. At School: connect with your Leaders during lunch,
before or after school to talk to them, and to meet their
friends.
2. Practices or Games: attend activities they are involved
in or take your Student Leaders with you when you go
out to various events. This can be a great time with
your leaders as well as a great way to meet other
students.

BUILDING TIMES: These times are designed to be more intentional
times with your student leaders with the purpose of sharing an
experience and building a memory. The following are just a few
suggestions of some creative and memorable building times:
- Overnighters/ Getaways
- Paint-balling
- Eating out
- Game nights
- Shopping at the mall…

APPOINTMENTS: Appointments provide the opportunity to meet
with Student Leaders individually and find out more of their story.
Appointments are great for finding out more about your Student
Leader’s spiritual journey and where they currently are in their
relationship with Christ. Appointments are also a good time to
strategize with them about impacting their friends and their school
for Jesus Christ.
2. ESTABLISH ADULTS AS MINISTRY PARTNERS
Research continues to point out the necessity of adult involvement in the
development of our Student Leaders. Adults are essential to the fulfillment
of our purpose in discipling and training our Student Leaders effectively.
Thanks to the research conclusions from National Student Leadership
Research Project done by Huntington College Link Institute. Under the
direction and leadership of Terry Linhart & Dave Rahn, we have
concluded that Adults function in four ways that contribute significantly to
the evangelistic effectiveness and development of student leaders.

Visionaries: they understand that student leaders are persons
worthy of disciple-making investment themselves BEFORE they are
the means to get evangelism done. The best adults invest
considerable energy in their student leaders.

Models: they recognize that they have a catalytic role in modeling
evangelistic values among their teens. Our research shows that
student leaders who saw adults lead others to Christ most frequently
were more likely to be the most effective in
their own evangelism. This result dramatically multiplied if student
leaders saw other teens model this kind of evangelism. Thus, adults
need to recognize their students need to see models and be willing
to be their first models they observe, recognizing that they won’t be
the most influential models once teens “catch evangelism.”

Programmers: adults should create structures that guarantee a
mature adult is meeting at least weekly with each student leader.
These meetings do not necessarily need to be individualized, but
one of our strongest research findings links the frequency of these
life-faithfulness coaching times to the fruitfulness of student leaders
in evangelism. Adults also take on the responsibility of providing
consistently appropriate, distinctly Christian programs, which their
students can have confidence in as they invite their friends to hear
the gospel.

Resources: adults function to teach the Bible to their student
leaders, and create structures for their continued growth and
development in the faith.
3. ESTABLISH STRUCTURE
Now that you’ve established your team, the next important step is
to establish what your meetings will look like.
Where Should We Meet?

Location is a key decision when establishing the structure of your
student leader meetings. Your location should be large enough to
accommodate your group and it should allow for growth as well.
Another important aspect of your meeting place is that it should
give you an element of privacy that keeps you away from
potential distractions. Finally, look for a location that will allow you
to be creative in your programming. The following are a few
suggestions:
1. School: Meeting at the school is usually considered the best
option because students are planning on being there
already.
2. Church: Meeting at a church can be a good option in that it
can often be a place away from distractions.
3. Homes: Meeting at someone’s home can be good in that it
gives a comfortable feel to your meetings.
4. The Campus Life Building allows you to have ready access to
resources.
When Should We Meet?
 The Time of your meetings is also an important factor to consider. In
considering the time of your meetings one of the most important
questions to ask yourself is, “ What time will enable me to have
maximum participation from my Student Leaders?” The following
are some suggestions:
1. Before School: Mornings rarely are filled with potential
activities that would conflict with a student’s participation.
2. After School: After school may mean your students are more
awake, but the potential for conflict is extremely high at this
time.
3. Evening: Evenings are an option, but again, it may be a time
that is filled with more potential for conflict.
4. Lunch Time: Lunch Time can be a great option if you can
find an appropriate room in which to meet, e.g. the choir
room.
How Often Should We Meet?

Student Leadership should be done on a weekly basis. Having
weekly contact with your Student Leaders gives you the
opportunity to build your team, to provide accountability to your
mission, and to adequately train your leaders.
How Long Should The Meetings Last?

The length of your meetings will probably be directly affected by
where and when you choose to meet. The suggested length of a
Student Leader meeting is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Make sure when determining length that you give yourself plenty of
time to be creative and to accomplish your intended purpose.
Make sure you don’t error on the side of making your meetings too
long either. Don’t try to do so much in your meetings that you
need any more than an hour to accomplish it.
4. ESTABLISH A GAME PLAN
Structure answers the questions “where?” and “when?” while a
game plan answers the question “what?” Establishing a game plan
means establishing a purpose and a direction for your meetings.
PURPOSE

A purpose can be specified for your group as long as it falls within
the realm of the overall purpose of student leadership. Developing
a purpose for your group helps you to begin with the end in mind.
DIRECTION

Once you have your purpose in mind, you can begin to map out how
you will get there. Establishing your direction requires three important
elements. 1) Goal Setting 2) Developing Curriculum and 3)
Developing a Calendar.
AGREEMENT ON PURPOSE & DIRECTION

Finally, it is important to get your Student Leaders on the same
page. To help them understand and embrace the purpose and
direction you will take, it is important to establish a written
application to which they can agree.
5. ESTABLISH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Throughout the year it is important to provide opportunities for your
students to find real, practical, hands on training on how to
effectively reach their friends for Christ. Opportunities like this can
be found in Student Leader getaways, conferences or retreats.
WHY GETAWAYS?

Student Leader getaways are smaller events such as camping trips,
out of town excursions, overnight hotel stays, lock-ins at a church,
or even sleepovers at home. These smaller getaways offer
opportunities that help build strong and effective student leader
teams. The extended time you get to spend with your leaders
affords you the opportunity to zero in on spiritual issues, build team
unity, and provide practical training in a variety of areas.
WHY CONFERENCES & RETREATS?

Conferences and Retreats are larger scale events often done in
cooperation with other student leader groups from other schools.
These types of events create a bigger picture and provide a variety
of training for students on different levels. Conferences and
Retreats provide a place to build enthusiasm. The enthusiasm and
training help encourage the student leaders to go back to their
schools, share their faith with their friends, and make a difference
on their campus.
6. ESTABLISH “OUT REACH” OPPORTUNITIES
Our overall purpose is to develop and train students to be
influencers in their schools. In order to help them actually reach
their friends for Christ we need to provide them with opportunities to
do that. The following are some opportunities you can provide your
students.
HEALTHY CLUB

One of the best things we can do for our student leaders is to
provide them with an exciting, safe, non-threatening place where
they can invite their friends to hear the gospel presented. Club
should be a place where our student leaders feel comfortable and
excited to invite a non-Christian friend to on any given night.
PARTICIPATION IN RMA’S

Our student leaders should be given the opportunity to join us as
we carry out some of our relational ministry actions.
- Small Groups: student leaders should be given the
opportunity to participate in or lead a small group that is
designed to reach their friends for Christ. (See Honest to God
material by Bill Muir & Dave Bartlett)
- Appointments: encourage student leaders to be a part of
appointments you may have with their friends. Make them a
part of the evangelism process.
- Club: give student leaders an opportunity to share their story
within a club setting.
- Building Times: use building times as an intentional way of
connecting Non-Christian students with student leaders.