Peer Ministry for Campus Ministry Partner Congregations
Designing and Establishing a Peer Ministry Program

• Introduction
• A Philosophy of Peer Ministry
• Selection of Students for a Peer Ministry Program
• The Role of the Local Ministry Council
• Training of Peer Ministers
• Questions to Assist in Development
• The Care and Feeding of Peer Ministers
• Goals for Peer Ministry Programs
• Expected Struggles
• Accountability and Autonomy
• Evaluating Your Peer Ministry Program
• Compensation

Introduction
Peer ministry program models abound across the Lutheran Campus Ministry system. Students serve in many capacities. Some are paid. Some receive other perquisites for service. Some function with a great deal of autonomy, others serve within narrowly defined roles. The scope of this paper does not allow discussion of all of these forms of peer ministry. Rather, the goal of this article is to discuss the development of nonresident peer ministry programs.

The promise of peer ministry lies in the opportunity to involve students directly in ministry tasks while they learn Christian leadership skills useable for the whole Church. Well developed and supervised programs do much to ensure the present and future vitality of the Body of Christ. 

In these pages you will find a number of suggestions to assist in the design and implementation of a peer ministry program. Much of the information comes from a 1996 survey of full and part time campus ministry sites which are involved in peer ministry.