Expansion
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few
“There are thousands of students at our local university, but our church struggles to reach them effectively and sustainably. We have the heart, but we need practical help.”
We hear this all the time from churches around the world. Our mission expresses Jesus’ heart for the harvest when he said, “The harvest is plentiful.” Our passion is to see a new generation of laborers raised up from the campus and sent out into the world as redemptive agents of change for the Kingdom.
So, we build laborers for the harvest
Campus Outreach believes that the most effective way to grow big is to stay small. We are a network of more than 30 “ministry franchises” worldwide that share the same vision, values, and strategic commitment to build laborers. Each franchise partners with a local church to reach university students on campuses in proximity to that church.
By sending new teams to partner with new churches to reach new campuses, each franchise stays relatively small while the overall movement of Campus Outreach grows. This creates more leadership opportunities and builds more laborers.
What is the process to partner with Campus Outreach?
If you’re a church leader interested in partnering with us to share the gospel with students at your local campus, read about the process below.
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We want a Campus Outreach ministry. How do we get one?
Each new expansion opportunity goes through an extensive vetting process. Relational and theological alignment with the church is critical. Campus dynamics such as student population and accessibility are considered, and the surrounding city and culture are assessed for the viability of embedding a Campus Outreach staff team.
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What is the timeline?
It can be surprising to hear, but the expansion process from initial contact to a new team on the ground can last several years. The new sponsoring church is not simply “hosting” the local Campus Outreach ministry. They are becoming “owners” of the Campus Outreach vision and values, receiving and employing a new team of missionaries to reach the local campuses, and agreeing to participate in the global Campus Outreach network.
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What are the initial and ongoing financial costs?
It is different in each location. However, each new CO expansion team forms an agreement with the sponsoring church outlining the financial and other commitments required to see the ministry thrive in that location. It can range from a few thousand dollars early on to much more significant investment over time as the ministry grows and multiplies.
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What are the eligibility requirements for a church?
All churches in the global Campus Outreach network are theologically reformed, broadly speaking, and on the evangelical end of the spectrum. A sponsoring church will hire and employ the initial Campus Outreach team of 4-8 staff members and provide oversight and governance of the campus ministry work. Finally, a sponsoring church will sign and adhere to the commitments outlined in the Campus Outreach Constitution, agreed to by all churches in the global Campus Outreach network.
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Can our church use your curriculum?
Though we do have ministry tools for evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development, we do not have a curriculum in the traditional sense. Given the relational nature of modeling and imparting vision, values, character, and skills from one person to another, the impact of our ministry is more caught than taught.
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Can you send us a campus worker?
Campus Outreach leaders are usually developed internally as part of the existing leadership pipeline and then sent out in teams to launch new Campus Outreach ministries. Though it is not impossible for an already existing college ministry at a local church to “become a Campus Outreach,” this is not our traditional model of expansion and growth.