You shouldn't do college ministry if:
You are uncomfortable with making new friends or losing touch with old ones.
I recently read a blog post asking church leaders how they feel when good people leave their church. Many of the comments in response came from pastors who expressed a great deal of angst at the thought of "losing" their solid leaders and faithful attenders to another church or town.
For a college pastor, seeing people leave is par for the course, as is seeing new people constantly arrive. From the moment a person walks in the door, a college minister recognizes that he has four or five years at most to invest in this person's life. Not unlike youth ministry, each year brings the bittersweet experience of seeing dear friends and ministry partners graduate and depart. It's simultaneously the best and the worst part of serving college students.
It's the worst part because of the pain of seeing friends leave, knowing that they won't be a daily part of your life anymore.
It's the best part, though, because we know that those friends are going into the world to reflect Jesus in their homes and workplaces and churches. We are hopeful that in some small measure our ministry has had an impact on the way they view their lives and their walk with the Lord. And we pray that they will transform their communities for Jesus.
It's the best part of the job because our congregations are literally scattered across the globe making disciples. Not every pastor has the privilege of seeing such a worldwide impact in just a few years. And each year we welcome new students who are eager to change the world for Jesus, and the process begins anew.
Not too long ago another pastor asked me how I cope emotionally with the constant revolving door that is college ministry. I told him that I remember on important fact: We're not losing them, we're launching them.