Planning ahead in Student Ministry is hard, especially when there’s often a pastoral or logistical crisis that needs navigating. Finding time to plan next week’s Student Night or Small Group can be challenging, let alone a whole three year ministry cycle. However, the value of gradually taking time to develop a curriculum now will not only be beneficial for you in your role as a Student Worker, but can help your church’s student ministry be sustainable and healthy. This is because establishing a curriculum:
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Allows you to plan more efficiently and build a long term strategy.
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Encourages you to consider a whole range of experiences a student could engage in.
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Lets you clearly identify and action your priorities.
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Helps you more effectively disciple your students.
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Equips your students for life beyond University.
The following blog offers some tools and reflections that can help you when it comes to building a student work curriculum.
Firstly, make a grid of four squares, and write in each quadrant one of the following four words: Truth, Value, Skill and Habit.
Truth – Something you want students to believe is right and has power, relevance and merit.
Value – Something you want students to actively value and prioritise in their own life and not just believe to be true.
Skill – The ability to practically do a certain task which gives your students the means to properly action something.
Habit – A discipline that your students can maintain and practise on a regular basis.
Spend time thinking about what things you would love students to actively engage with, or that you think are vital they learn, over the course of a three year period. What do you want them to experience and understand whilst being part of your church? Write these things down in the relevant quadrant.
Note: Of course certain areas like ‘Reading the Bible’ come under all four categories. However, what aspect of this do you need to focus on? For instance, do your students not believe the Bible is necessarily True, in which case is this something you need to offer teaching on? Or do they not Value how it should shape their lives? Do they believe it's True and Value the Bible, but currently lack the Skills to engage with Scripture in a fruitful way? Or do they have the means to read it, but they are just inconsistent, so need support making it a Habit?
Now put a star next to something if you think it is crucial; in other words you want your students to be engaging with it regularly i.e. a minimum of once a year if not termly or weekly. Then put a tick down next to the things you think are important enough for your students to be equipped in at least once during their time at your church. If there are things which have not been starred or ticked, prayerfully reflect if this is something worth integrating into your curriculum.
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On a separate page, draw a new four square grid, and label each quadrant Public Space, Social Space, Personal Space and Intimate Space separately. In each quadrant, make a note of all the different things you currently run or offer as part of your student ministry that students can engage with. *Based on Josephy R. Myers ‘Search to Belong.’
Public - Where can students share a common experience with others as part of a larger gathering. Usually communication is one-way. I.e. Sunday Service.
Social – Where students can begin building relationships with each other. A space of 20 – 50 people where they can begin to share and form community, but can also be mobilised. I.e. Student Night, Weekend Away.
Personal – A space where students can develop greater closeness with others. I.e. Small Group or Bible Study.
Intimate - Where students can be honest and vulnerable on a much deeper level, with no more than 2 – 4 people present. I.e. Prayer Triplet or Accountability Group, Personal Mentor.
Reflect on what you have written down. Is there any ‘Space’ you are currently lacking in your student ministry? Is one ‘Space’ trying to achieve something it is not realistically able to? What ‘Space’ could you do more to develop in your ministry? What ‘Spaces’ would allow the things you have starred or ticked to have more fruitful engagement?
On one final page draw six columns to represent six semesters across three years. Label each column accordingly: Year One – Semester One (Autumn), Year One – Semester Two (Spring/Summer) etc. Start plotting where the Truths, Values, Skills and Habits you want your students to embrace could realistically be communicated according to the ‘Space’ which feels most helpful. For instance, if you think ‘Healthy Relationships’ is an area your students consistently need to learn about, you may choose to do a seminar on that topic at a Weekend Away during Semester Two of each year. Another example could be that if you want to prepare your students for Graduate life you could plan a session with final year students in Semester Two of Year Three.
However you want to approach this process of building a student work curriculum, invite the Holy Spirit to help you discern what it is God is wanting to do in and through your ministry to students as it is ultimately His ministry.
