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.

From Grief to Purpose: Finding God in the Storm

Growing up in a Christian home, she always knew about Jesus, but her relationship with Him didn’t feel personal until tragedy struck in eighth grade. Transitioning from homeschooling to public school had already pushed her out of her comfort zone, and anxiety loomed as she struggled to find her place. Then, during the fall of 2020, both her parents contracted COVID. While her mom recovered, her dad’s condition worsened, leading to months of uncertainty. She vividly remembers the day he left for the hospital and the long, heartbreaking journey that followed. Despite moments of hope, her dad passed away on February 20th, 2021. At just 13 years old, she faced the devastating reality of losing her father—a loss that shook her world and her faith.

In the midst of that grief, she began to see God’s hand at work. During sleepless nights and moments of overwhelming sorrow, God surrounded her with people who cared—friends, family, and a community that embodied His love. Though the pain of loss didn’t disappear, she found comfort in the truth that this life is not the end. Inspired by Paul’s words about eternity, she started to see her father’s passing as a reminder of the hope we have in Christ. That hope spurred her to action. On a family mission trip to Thailand, she met students leading Cru groups at their schools, and the seed was planted to start something similar back home. Despite initial uncertainty, God provided resources, opened doors, and brought others alongside her to launch Cru at her school—a ministry that has been thriving for nearly a year now.

"Anxiety loomed as she struggled to find her place."

Her story is one of resilience, faith, and transformation. Through unimaginable grief, she discovered the depth of God’s love and the strength found in trusting Him. The loss of her dad deepened her desire to share Jesus with others, knowing firsthand how essential His presence is in life’s hardest moments. Cru has given her a platform to do just that—to tell others about the God who redeems brokenness and uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Her journey reminds us that while pain is inevitable, God is sovereign, faithful, and able to bring beauty from ashes.

Next Step

Check out Christina's Story and consider how God might use an international mission in your or another student's life.

christina's story

The Six Milestones Every Student Needs to Grow in Faith

Why These Milestones Matter

If we are not careful, students can float through our ministry without ever taking real steps forward. They might show up every week, but never really grow or take ownership of their faith. Milestones give us a simple, clear map for helping them keep moving. They help us answer the question, “What’s next for this student?” and give students the courage to take that step.

When we guide students from milestone to milestone, we are not just helping them stay involved. We are helping them grow into strong, confident followers of Jesus who are ready to lead and influence others.

Share Christ with a Student Who Doesn’t Know Jesus

Before anything else, a student needs the chance to hear the good news of Jesus in a clear and personal way. This is where it all begins. Many teenagers have never heard the gospel explained in full, even if they have been around church. Take the time to share about God’s love, our need for forgiveness, and the hope we have in Christ. The first step in their journey is not about them sharing their faith — it is about them hearing it for the first time.

Helpful Resources:

Lead a Student Through Their First Follow-Up

When a student says yes to Jesus, it is just the start of something new and exciting. The first follow-up meeting is where you can help them understand what it means to walk with God daily. It is also a chance to build trust and start a discipleship relationship. This step anchors their new faith and helps them grow instead of drifting away.

Helpful Resources:

Help a Student Understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit

Helping students understand the Holy Spirit is a game-changer. Too often, new believers try to live the Christian life in their own strength, and it leaves them frustrated. Teaching them about the Spirit-filled life shows them how to depend on God’s power for both living and sharing their faith. This is when students start to realize that God is not just calling them to do hard things — He is empowering them to actually do them.

Helpful Resources:

GodTools App (go through the Satisfied tool with them)
Holy Spirit Booklet

Holy Spirit Study in Thrive Studies

First Evangelism Experience

Many students have never had the chance to talk about their faith with someone who doesn’t know Jesus. Taking them out to share, whether on campus, at an event, or in the community, changes that. At first, they might feel nervous, but once they see God working through them, it can be life-changing. That moment when a student realizes, “God just used me to help someone understand the gospel” — that is the spark that often leads to a lifetime of ministry.

Helpful Resources:

Challenge to a Cru Training Event

There is something powerful about getting students away from their normal routine and into an environment filled with worship, biblical teaching, and friends who are chasing after Jesus. Conferences give them the space to grow, hear from God, and take big steps of faith. The bus ride there might be full of nerves, but the ride home is usually buzzing with stories of what God did. Over and over again, we have seen students return from these events ready to lead and make a difference.

Helpful Resources:

Conferences Page

Challenge to Spiritual Leadership on Campus

Teenagers are capable of more than they realize. The world constantly challenges them to step up in sports, academics, and clubs, but sometimes the church forgets to ask them to lead in ministry. Giving students real leadership opportunities — leading a Bible study, speaking at a meeting, planning an outreach — unlocks their potential and sets an example for younger students. Over time, this creates a culture where leadership is expected and contagious.

Helpful Resources:

Student Leader Section – GoToTheCampus.com

Wrapping It Up

These milestones are not a checklist to rush through. They are a pathway to help students grow, one step at a time. Every student you know is somewhere on this journey. Your role is to encourage them, challenge them, and walk alongside them as they take the next step. The goal is not just to build a ministry — it is to build students who live on mission for Jesus for the rest of their lives.

Want to dig deeper? Check out our full conversations about the Six Milestones in these YouTube videos.

Next Step

Write down the names of every student in your ministry. Identify their current milestone and decide how you can help them reach the next one.

The Priceless Project: Impacting Girls in Public Schools

The Priceless Project: Impacting Girls in Public Schools

The Priceless Project is a powerful small-group resource designed especially for girls, offering a safe, encouraging space to talk about identity, value, and purpose. It’s already making a difference in public schools, giving students a chance to connect, grow, and be reminded of their worth.

One of its greatest strengths is flexibility. The Priceless Project comes in two versions:

A Bible study version for church, youth group, or Christian school settings
A public school version with the same strong themes but without Scripture references — making it ideal for campuses that might not allow explicitly faith-based content

The public school version can be a great way to get in the door on a campus that’s difficult to access. It allows you to mentor a group of girls who need it, build relationships with them, and meet real emotional and social needs in a way that schools welcome.

Priceless Project

from Emily French

Why use The Priceless Project?

Creates a safe, respectful space for girls to share and be heard
Meets real emotional and social needs in public schools
Builds leadership and peer-to-peer mentoring skills
Easy to use, with free resources and an app for facilitators
Proven track record in schools through partnerships with teachers and administrators

All digital resources are free for Cru. Use the discount code PricelessCru at checkout. All physical books are available for purchase at iampriceless.me.

A free Priceless Project App is also available for Apple and Android — with digital curriculum, playlists, blog posts, and a safe space for facilitators to connect with the girls they lead.

You can learn more, explore the curriculum, and order resources at iampriceless.me.