Create a Ministry Plan

You want to start a ministry on a local campus. You’ve done your homework and gotten to know your campus, and now want to put that information to good use and see what God will do through a campus ministry.

Whether you’re a teacher sponsor for a campus club, a student leader with a heart for your school, or a youth pastor desiring to impact a local campus, you’ll need to define your vision, consider your ministry resources, and put a plan in place.

What is your Vision?

When you think about your future ministry, what do you see? What do you imagine that excites you? Do you see students coming to faith in Christ? growing in their faith? sharing their faith with other students? impacting the campus for their good and God’s glory? forming strong relationships with one another and supporting one another in the faith?

If you are just starting, you may want to consider one thing you want to see this first semester. For example, you’d love to see a group of student leaders coming together to pray for their campus weekly or encourage one another as a small group Bible study. Vision is helpful because it gives us the place we want to end up, but it also informs our first steps. And sometimes God gives a broader vision as we move forward.

What Resources do you have?

As you’ve investigated the campus, God has shown you that He has been at work even before you were, calling others to join you and providing resources to make the vision a reality.

What student leaders and adult volunteers are ready to come alongside you to impact the campus? Is the campus open to a club or is a local church ready to host your campus ministry? Lay out God’s provisions and move on to the next step – formulate a plan.

Let's make a Plan

A starting plan needs to have two elements.

Who will you plan with and when will you meet to have regular planning times?
For example, will you meet once a semester with a few student leaders to plan out the semester? Or once a month with a leadership team comprised of students and adults to plan a month at a time? It’s up to you how you do it, but planning and giving students leadership is the first step in leading a ministry.
What will be the centerpiece or main element of your ministry?
Will a student Bible Study be your main emphasis to start or a campus club meeting, will it be a weekly meeting to gather new students? In your plan, you’ll want to put in the basics such as when you’ll meet and where. And you’ll also want to decide what you’ll do when you meet, and who will lead the time together. Remember the vision! What main element will help you reach your vision?

"When you think about your future ministry, what do you see? What do you imagine that excites you?"

After you get these primary elements in motion, you might consider these options as your ministry grows:

Prayer can involve adults such as Moms In Prayer as well as student prayer. Ideally, your ministry will be undergirded in personal and corporate prayer from the beginning, but you can add opportunities for students to grow in prayer. Several options are:
- Concerts of Prayer
- Prayer Triplets
- Prayer experiences
Outreach once a semester or once a month, provide an opportunity for students to hear the gospel and make a decision for Christ. It also shows our students the importance of sharing their faith and gives them the opportunity to lead others to Christ. Check out our articles on putting on a Large Group Outreach for more on this.
Bible Study offered regularly gives students the spiritual food they need to grow in their faith. Cru has developed the Thrive Studies that provide students and volunteers with all they need to teach God’s Word.
Community-builders are important to help students connect relationally and form solid friendships that will help them live out their faith in everyday life. Service projects and socials are great ways to build community.
Conferences/Retreats offer time away from everyday pressures to invest in getting to know God. God often works mightily in students’ lives in camp environments. Even a day-long retreat can be useful if you don’t have the resources for an overnight retreat. Cru has conferences twice a year that might work for your students.

Planning Tools

The difficult thing about planning is taking your big vision, and making it practical with decisions about when to meet, what you’ll do, and who is responsible for what. We’ve created some tools to help you turn your vision into reality.

Ministry Planning Sheet [PDF] [Google Doc]
This is your starting point. It will help you lay out your vision and resources and plan by semester with an evaluation between semesters.

Semester Schedules [PDF] [Google Doc]
We’ve created a form you can use to plan your own semester schedule. This is a great place to write down your plans for the semester and share it with your team. We’ve even filled a few in to help you get started and to give you an idea of what’s possible (one for a weekly meeting schedule, another for a small group schedule with monthly outreach meetings). These forms are just starting points for you. You will need to adjust the dates, change the column names and make whatever changes will best serve you and your ministry. Each tab has a different schedule.

Mapping Your Campus Worksheet [PDF]
This form will help you brainstorm the different groups on campus and consider how to reach out to them. Doing this at the beginning of the year with your leaders will help you know what your next best outreach steps are.

Planning your ministry well won’t solve all of your problems but it will help you get everyone on the same page, help you feel less stressed about the year, and give you great next steps to move your movement forward.

Helpful Principles

As you plan your ministry, consider these ministry principles:

Sow broadly

It can be easy to focus on a few students that you gather at the beginning, but continue to consider other groups you can reach into. The biblical principle of sowing broadly will result in greater visibility, more students involved, and greater campus impact.

Share your faith

As with sowing broadly, sharing your faith will infuse energy and faith into your movement. Students will be challenged to step out in faith and encouraged as they see God use them to have significant conversations with others. Not only will your students grow in faith, but you will see students respond to the gospel and get involved in your movement!

Empower students to lead

We repeatedly hear students say they are thankful to hear from their peers rather than adults. As well, a diversity of student leadership provides for a well-rounded ministry and prevents one or two students from carrying the load. Student ownership results in a more dynamic ministry as students diligently promote and invest in projects they own.

Partner with the community

Involving the community gives visibility to your ministry, provides resources such as prayer, manpower and finances, and helps you network with other believers. Some ideas for community involvement include speakers, meeting refreshments, volunteers, and event partnerships.

Go to the campus

You may start small, but as you grow and have the resources, a diversified ministry offers students a multitude of benefits. Small groups provide for community, accountability and growth. Large group events provide visibility and momentum. Prayer undergirds your whole ministry and teaches students that God is the builder and we are his helpers.

Next Step

Gather student leaders, define your vision, and make a plan to get there using the tools provided in this article.

5 Key Features of the Claim Your Campus App

Pray Now:
This section is designed to lead any student through a daily 15-minute prayer time for their school. The format is simple: Listen, Thank, Ask. Each day students read a passage of scripture, thank God for something specific He is doing in their school, and ask Him for help at their school and schools across the country.

21-Day Challenge:
Habits take time to build. The 21-Day Challenge can help you and your students build the habit of praying together daily.

Share Your Story:
Students from all over the country are using Claim Your Campus at their schools. This video feature gives students one minute to capture what God is doing at their school and then share it.

Groups:
Use the Groups section to form your own prayer group and/or join other groups. Students praying together in community for their school(s) is the foundation of CYC. The group feature keeps students connected, motivated, and encouraged to keep pressing on!

Prayer Walk Your Campus:
This feature describes how to prayer walk a campus in three easy steps. Invite. Pray. Report. It includes a brief tutorial and a downloadable prayer walk guide.

Social Media:
Stay connected through Tik Tok, Instagram, and Youtube pages; News and Updates can also be found in the app.

Cast the Vision: Prayer Equals Change

Use these videos to get excited about how God could change your campus through prayer and how He could use you to build a prayer movement at your school.
General Promo video
Marion School video

Invite Students to Be One in the Million

Students download the app using the QR code graphic & claim their campus!

We encourage all campus movements to emphasize prayer and the Claim Your Campus app is a great way to engage students in prayer.

4 Different Ways Students Can Claim Their Campus

Start a Weekly Prayer Group. The CYC app provides prompts that change weekly.
Host a prayer walk around your campus. The CYC app features a Prayer Walk Guide.
Embed 5-10 minutes of Prayer into Your Weekly Cru Club Meeting. Build a CULTURE of prayer. CYC has done all the work for you. Click here for the Leader’s Guide and here for premade slides for up to 20 weeks. That is enough for an entire school year. CYC’s GRAB-N-GO resources make praying EASY.
Participate in Annual National Events such as SYATP.

Invite the adults in your community to support SYATP by signing up for The Prayer Walk Project. This project offers a way for caring adults to join hands in prayer on the Saturdays before and after SYATP.

Prayer is the real power in any campus movement. Make it a non-negotiable in your ministry to emphasize prayer with adults and students and see how God moves.

Next Step

Download the Claim Your Campus app and consider how you could use it on your campus today. Do you have a prayer strategy for your plans? If not, send the app to a few student leaders and invite them to start praying for their campus!

DOWNLOAD THE APP

4 Ways to Prepare for a Prayer Walk

Prepare Your Heart

Surrender the Prayer Walk to the Lord. Ask the Lord for one or two scriptures to help prepare your heart. Jot them down. If you like, use them to inspire the people you invite, or share them with your team the day you meet to prayer walk. Pray for:

Divine appointments with people.
Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help.
God to guide your steps.
Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Team

Pray for Names. Ask the Lord to bring to mind specific names of students, volunteers, parents, pastors, and/or faculty you can ask to join your prayer walk. Keep in mind, this is not about numbers. Even one prayer partner is enough. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.”

Invite the People that He brought to mind. Decide what mode of communication is best: text? social media? phone call? Give them a brief description of what a prayer walk is and what they can expect that day. Share what has motivated you to gather a team to pray. Be sure to tell them the date, the start and end times, and the location. Give them an RSVP date.

Send them any final details on the day before. Remind your team what time you will begin and end and the location to meet. Let them know what to bring and any adjustments needed due to weather or other factors.

(During a Prayer Walk) Pray for: Divine appointments with people. Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help. God to guide your steps. Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Campus

Check with an Insider at Your School. Once you choose your campus and gather your team, you may want to check with an insider at the school to see if there is anyone you need to notify ahead of time. Most likely, it will not be an issue if you are prayer walking after school or over the weekend on the parts of the campus that are open to the public. Avoid prayer walking on campus during school hours without permission.

Prepare Your Details

“WHO” DETAILS: By now, you know WHO is coming. But here are some other “WHO” questions to think about if you have a larger group. Who will…

begin the prayer walk (introduce/explain it)?
end the prayer walk?
lead smaller groups (if your team is large)?

“WHAT TO BRING” DETAILS: You may want to bring copies of the Prayer Guide and the Leader Guide.

“WHERE/WHEN” DETAILS: Make sure everyone knows the date and time you will meet. Include starting point (address of meeting spot) and ending point (time and meeting spot).

“HOW” DETAILS: For your convenience, this Campus Prayer Walk Leader’s Guide provides a general flow and includes sample scripts of what to say from start to finish. If you can read it, you can lead it. But you may need to think through the unique needs of your prayer walk.

Would you like the prayer walk to be more casual or more organized? Do you have people who are comfortable prayer walking or more new people who may need more instruction?

You have prepared your part. Time to grab your walking shoes. Let’s do this!

Next Step

It is time to get on the campus to pray. Text one friend today and ask them if they would be willing to go to the school to prayer walk with you this week. Get your feet on the campus and pray together. Once you have done it yourself, it will be a lot easier to gather others to do it with you.

Prayer Walking

After the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert, God called Joshua to bring His people into the land He had promised them. The commander of the army of the Lord appeared to Joshua with instructions essentially for a prayer walk around the city of Jericho. And let’s just say the Israelites’ obedience to his words, made history. (If you are unfamiliar with this incredible story, you can read the whole story here.)

What is Prayer Walking?

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk. And you can do it anywhere: around your neighborhood, through your city, or even on your daily commute. Invite others to join you! As you walk together, let the Spirit of God use what you see to guide your prayers. Then, trust God to respond in His perfect way and timing.

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you. It puts you right where the students are—like God’s boots on the ground—allowing you to connect your heart to that specific location as you pray. And who knows? It might even lead to a chance meeting with a key person on campus. Many ministries have started with a simple “Hey there!” to a student or administrator during a prayer walk. A casual stroll can open unexpected doors!

If you have never done this before, no worries! Joshua—the young leader from the Bible—had not done it before either. It was his willingness and availability to God that mattered most. And the same goes for you—no experience required!

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk.

Prayer Walk in Three Easy Steps

Meet Up (5 minutes)

Grab a friend or two and meet on campus- ideally after school or on the weekend. Select and read a meaningful passage from the Bible together. Take a minute to pray a blessing over this time, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayers.

Walk & Pray (10-20 minutes)

Start walking the perimeter of the campus and let the Holy Spirit use who/what you see guide your prayers. Here are 5 ways you could begin praying:

Ask God to move by His Spirit on this campus and be glorified.
Pray people here would hunger and thirst for God.
Pray for the believers here to live wholeheartedly for Jesus and make others feel seen, known, and loved by God.
Pray for leaders in this school’s community (students, parents, administration, faculty, coaches, etc.)

Wrap It Up (5 minutes)

Select a spot to close your time together. Talk about how it went. Was there anything that stood out as significant or meaningful? Take a few minutes to thank God for this time. Express your love for Him and your confidence that He will respond to the prayers He heard today.

Other Prayer Walking Guides

If you would rather have a more specific guide to help you in your prayer walk, try one below:

CYC Prayer Walk Guide
Locations on Campus Prayer Walking Guide
The Launchbox Prayer Walking Guide
Make a list of prayer requests to pray about your specific campus
Just invite people to pray for things that come to mind as they walk

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you.

Why Do It?

Prayer Walking Knocks Down Walls

What effect did Joshua’s and the Israelites’ obedience have on the fortified and powerful ancient city of Jericho? Well, the God of the Universe infused their faith-filled feet with power, causing the otherwise insurmountable walls of the city to collapse. That’s how they fought and won the battle of Jericho—without ever throwing a punch!

Now, maybe you are not planning to tear down any physical walls around your school—in fact, let’s definitely avoid that! But in the spiritual realm, every school is a battlefield for souls. On every campus, there are barriers to the gospel that need to be broken down. Inside every person, there are walls that separate us from God or keep us from fully experiencing the abundant life He wants for us.

Looking for a more current example of a battle fought and won with prayer? Check out this powerful story of what happened when a group of students in Marion, Indiana consistently and prayerfully put feet to their faith and watched God win the battle for their campus. If you want to read about more victories won with praying feet, check out Exodus 14 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Some Other Great Reasons to Prayer Walk Your Campus

It is a place to gather other believers who have a heart for the campus.
It is a way to be on campus with a purpose.
Sometimes God uses these times to introduce us to key gatekeepers on campus.
It might surface some needs on the campus with which you could help.
It helps your team become more familiar with the campus and less fearful of going there.
It is better than doing nothing. Sometimes God moves when we take action.

Within the campus ministry of Cru, prayer walking has actually been shown to be the single most effective strategy in seeing new gospel movements started.
– Dan Allen, Director of Mission Expansion

The powerful presence of God always has and STILL does mix with our prayers and supernaturally connects us more deeply to God, ourselves, and others. Prayer breaks down barriers that lie between us and wins the battle for souls.

Prayer walking can be your lead foot on any campus. Ready to grab a friend and step into the unknown with Him? Prayer walking is something anyone can do.

Next Step

Plan 15 minutes this week to stop at your local high school, walk around, and pray for the school. Bring a friend or do it alone; just get your feet on the campus and pray. Ask God to show you what next steps He would like you to take.