Want to know how we do ministry in Portland…here’ you go.
A while back Tim Casteel inspired me to do a one page document (albeit a long one page) on how we do ministry with his version in Arkansas. I stayed up late one night and got busy on ours. Many thanks to Tim for allowing me to plagiarize some parts. 
Portland Metro – How We Do Ministry Fall 2011 – One Page
Our Audience
- 100 thousand students of Portland Metro area.
- City savvy, socially liberal and independent activists
- Post-Christian free thinkers
- Majority are local to Portland
Everything we teach should be gospel infused and Christ-centered – (discipleship, Cru Talks, Life Groups)
- Religion has baggage in Portland, thus a need display Christ and the grace that is found in him in all that we communicate.
- The Gospel is that “I am far worse off than I ever imagined, but far more loved than I ever dreamed.”
- Our desire is not to create moralistic doers, but lifetime lovers of Him.
Our vision is “That everyone would know someone who passionately follows Christ”
- Everyone – This is our Scope – Every student (and faculty) on the campuses of Portland
- Would Know – The gospel travels along the road of relationships (when we say “evangelism” we want students to think “share Christ with my friend, neighbor, etc.” not “share with random dude on the Park Blocks”. We talk about Jesus every chance we get while building trust through relationships.
- Someone – This is our means of reaching scope. Spiritual multiplication. Mobilizing college students to reach college students within their spheres of influence. Students empowering other students to the same.
- Who passionately follows Jesus – This is what we desire of students involved in our ministry. Staff and students infused and motivated to do ministry because of the work of the Christ in their lives. People who are compelled to share the love of Christ because the Spirit is at work in them.
Our mission – To help students know Christ, grow in their understanding of how to walk with him, go into their sphere of influence now and for a lifetime proclaiming the message of Christ.
Staff’s Job
- Walk with Jesus – Spirit filled life is key
- Talk about Jesus wherever you go (this includes a campus target area for staff)
- Teach the right people how to do the first two. (develop spiritual multipliers)
We reach Freshmen
- Reaching freshmen is a critical ingredient to seeing movements built over time
- We target specific areas of freshmen strategically (personal evangelism, outreaches)
Life groups are the backbone of spiritual movements
- Significant life change happens in small groups as students live life with the roof off and the walls down.
- Life groups will be the backbone of developing spiritual multipliers
Holding ministry focus and scope in tension
- We value the health of our team – we are careful about commitments
- We long to bring Jesus to the edges of our scope – we are full of faith and open to the Spirits leading
- Staff focus downtown while mobilizing leaders/partnerships on various catalytic campuses one day a week.
We partner with others
- The fulfillment of the great commission in Portland will not be the result of one organization
- We value relationships with kingdom builders before opportunity
- We desire to partner with volunteers, churches, other organizations to see the campus reached and to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the city.
We have the world in view – we are a sending pipeline to the world
- We cultivate a heart for the world in our staff and students.
- We passionately send staff and students to minister around the globe
- Everything we do should be sustainable in producing life-long laborers
Matt,
This is a good list, definitely helpful for new people joining your team as staff or volunteers.
An area you could improve would be in the “Our Audience” section. What arethe ethnic breakdowns of your scope? How does it compare with 2-year and 4-year colleges? I’m willing to bet that Hispanic students on your campus have a different outlook towards religion than your average majority culture student.
I think the better you know your audience the better you can tailor your strategy to reach them.
Hey Eric, that section is where I left out some info in favor of a 1 page document. Also in a metro context the “our audience” is super complicated due to varying campuses. University of Portland = white, catholic, Portland State = international, asian, diverse, crazy. So you’d really have to do an “our audience” for each target area that you’re commiting resources to.