Like many blokes I sometimes fantasise about getting onto the tools - wearing a leather tool belt, buying big metal things and electric thingys and hitting, scraping and banging the different bits. You know what I’m getting at. My point is that I’m at a stage in my ministry where I need some tools.

If only it were as easy (or difficult) as heading down to Bunnings! The kinds of tools that I’m talking about are strategies - strategies that help me to move from being a-guy-who-can-help-another-guy to being a a guy who can lead and train 100 Uni Students to mature in the faith and effectively witness to the Kingdom of God. So what I’m going to do is spend some time thinking out loud, reviewing a couple of books and thinking this topic through over the summer.

I’ve done about 10 years of training (including MTS and Bible College) and just started this year to lead a University ministry in Canberra at the ANU. I’ve inherited a ministry almost exactly as I’d experienced it as an undergraduate and so there is much that is familiar about it. Except, of course, that I’m leading it! Consequently, this year I have enjoyed reliving my Uni days but also repeatedly asked myself whether questions about leadership.

There are many questions specific to my situation but some key broader questions are as follows:

• Do I meet up with everyone once, or just a few people often?
• Do I meet up with first years because they’ll be around longer, or do I attempt to train first years through those in latter years?
• Do I take time to write a killer talk and market the group through it’s quality? Or do I spread myself right out to influence as many people as possible?
• Do I place myself as an evangelist, trainer and teacher? Or just focus on two out of three?

Now I know that there are no silver bullets but I’m pretty sure there are some bullets. And I’d like some please.