Are your students even interested?

We know YOU are interested; you’ve let us know in so many ways already.

But are your STUDENTS interested?

As we’ve shared here with you in the past, adding a residential component to your college ministry may or may not be right for your organization.  And if a Student Living Center™ doesn’t forward your ministry’s objectives and philosophies for serving your campus, and thereby strengthening your organization’s impact, then there’s no reason to pursue this.

But if having such a place, with the potential of taking your “college ministry, to the next level” (see the blog post by Benson Hines at exploringcollegeministry.com), then there are still several questions you must answer for yourself in order to determine if a Student Living Center  will really work for your ministry.

One major factor, dramatically impacting whether or not a Student Living Center™ is a good idea for your college ministry, is if your students are even interested? A Student Living Center is not just an apartment building with a different name – it is a place designed to foster intentional community.

One of the main drivers of community, for example, is a shared vision. Are there 100 students, let’s say, on your campus, that your ministry could attract to share your vision? Would they be willing to live that vision 24/7 for 3 – 5 years? Would it make a difference for them AND for you AND for the campus?

Could you communicate your vision in such a way that it would attract students to it, maybe even more so then without a building? If not, we got a problem.

We’re working on a survey to determine how interested students would be in living in a College Ministry’s residential facility.

As always, we would like to get your input.  If you were to survey your organization’s students for this same reason, what questions would you want to have answered? Let us help you get them.

We plan to cover some of the other steps you would have to take to determine if a Student Living Center™ is a realistic vision for your organization in future posts, so stay tuned.

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